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Once I got the head and manifold off, I cleaned up all of the acorns and other items that the rodents had stored in there over the years.

Upon inspection, I found multiple cracks. The #1 and #2 cylinders were stuck. The #2 cylinder was especially stuck.

After some thought, I felt the best way to tackle this was to drop the pan (a job in itself!), remove the connecting rod caps on the #1 and #2 connecting rods, and remove the cylinder block with those two pistons still in their bores.

That actually worked pretty well. Once I had it apart, I was then able to press out the #2 piston.

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A few more photos.

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Once I got things cleaned up, I took the cylinder block to my machinist. He's pretty good and had done several engines for me over the years. I explained to him and his shop how important this piece of cast iron was and they ensured my they would take good care of it.

They repaired every crack using the Lock N Stitch method, installed valve seats, and 3 sleeves. I ordered new valves, valve springs, pistons, and rings for it.

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Here’s the #2 piston. That piston had no intention of coming out but I got it.

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Couple more engine photos.

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With all of that going on, I needed to shift gears and get my garage organized. I had another car completely torn apart that I needed to get finished before I tore into the Phaeton any further.

But, I was able to do some additional detailing on the car and start gathering some missing pieces.

I was able to find a set of 4 reproduction hub caps on eBay for sale. I picked out the best two of the original 6 hubcaps and painted them up.

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I then started going over the car and making notes of any missing or incorrect hardware. I wanted to replace any "hardware store" nuts and bolts and use the "correct" style of hardware. I placed a few orders with "Packard Twin Six" and got a bunch of correct hardware, knobs, running board appointments, etc. Some of the items will not be installed on the car until later but I am trying to gather as many hard to find parts that I can while they are available.

I also started cleaning up a bunch of the chrome and other plated items. Some look nearly brand new while some are showing their age (but I am OK with that!).

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The interior was pretty rough but I wanted to see if I couldn't tidy it up a bit. The door panels were the original leather but in a pretty fragile state. I spent some time cleaning them and doing my best to preserve them.

The front and rear seats had been recovered back in the 1950's(?) and they were starting to fall apart. They had covered directly over the original leather (or what was left of it).

One of my goals was to preserve everything that I could, even if it couldn't really be salvaged. I want to preserve it for other folks to use as reference for their cars if needed. I made it a point to not add any additional nails or tacks into the existing wood.

Here are a few "before" and "after" photos".

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Front seats.

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A few more photos.

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