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After some thought I think I know why Wade has his hands in his pockets in his fashionable attire of suit and watch chain which I also like. My answer is that as a real hands on leader type of car guy he has the ever present dirty finger nail look associated with people who work on old cars. Its a badge of honor only given to hands on workers.

Wednesday 20th May 2009

After a morning with the granddaughters arrived at the workshop to find Wade had disassembled the windchimes structure and re-situated the painted parts. He'd also finished the re-assembly of the trans but the gear shift will come off again to 1) make a gasket for it and 2) so it can be put back in BigRed, a little difficult to do so with it in place.

First up was re-installing the steering box and shaft with Wade doing all the work of positioning and lifting while I sat under the fender and pushed the securing bolts through the frame. Then while Wade was putting the pedals back together I was blasting the insides of the hubcaps of rust(the outsides are quite good) prior to POR-15'ing. During that exercise I came back over to Wade a couple of times and co-incidentally was able to assist in 1) pushing the new roller bearings back into the clutch pedal and 2) holding the new machined pedal shaft by it's custom flats so it wouldn't turn while Wade tightened the large nut holding it to the chassis. Marine Cleaned another lot of parts in preparation for Metal Ready and POR-15 tomorrow.

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Al, You're right. it is a "badge of honour" as well as an occupational hazard of working on old cars.

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Thursday 21st May 2009

Arrived at the workshop to find Wade in discussion with John about the roller rockers. Showing John the differences between the spare rockers and those in Big Red's engine. Reason being Wade had called Egge about 8:00am Sydney time(Approx 4:00pm their time on the 20th) and was informed that they no longer stocked the rollers! Looks like this will necessitate a Plan B along the lines of adapting spare rollers, using stainless washers as spacers and replacing all the "collars" like the ones that came adrift to prevent future problems, although Wade is still wrestling with what to do.

I then Metal Readied the parts Marine Cleaned yesterday while Wade Fabrication Industries sprang into action and made 2 gaskets for the Super 8 gear shift. Why two? Because he didn't have one on the '34 and they're the same.

Next was putting the trans back into Big Red. Placed the trans on a block of wood(for clearance) on the trolley jack and wheeled it over next to Big Red. Then with John's advice re-balanced it on the jack. With John controlling the jack and Wade in the engine compartment the trans was wheeled into place in front of the position it needs to be. Where was I? Well apart from one quick pic of John in action I was stationed at the open right front door ready to slip bolts into the trans mounts once the holes were aligned. The rubber backed trans mounts were bolted to the trans and this necessitated the trans being raised enough to clear the brackets the mounts bolt to then being slid back on the jack and then lowered into place. Bolt for the right side slipped in easily while those for the left side went in after a bit of jiggling and a few light hammer taps.

While I started stringing together a new set of windchimes, aka parts hanging from rack prior to PR-15 painting, Wade was under Big Red bolting the trans cross member back in and installing and tightening the nuts and washers for the trans mounts. I was just about ready to start painting when Wade said that Noel had called earlier and said all the rubber parts he was waiting for should soon be here including new rubber balls for the dog bone. Dog bone? Yes, dog bone, the trans stabiliser mounted to the right side of the trans. Hadn't dis-assembled it so took it apart, cleaned and prepped the pieces and strung it up for POR-15'ing.
Painting commenced with me clad in rubber gloves and a long sleeved top for protection. But I was surprised, no is more like it, when after I'd been going about 5 minutes Wade asked if I had any paint on me yet! Now I know I have a reputation that is warranted for having skin that attracts POR-15, but at the least he could have waited until I'd finished painting! As it was there were a few marks above my left knee(I was wearing shorts) and some on the right wrist(Putting my arm down inside the coil spring to paint it) but with some POR-15 thinners managed to remove these, a first! When Wade wasn't insulting me, he was pushing in the right front king pin bushes and the outer lower bushes for the wheel support arm assembly. He then started the reaming process on the king pin bushes using the reamer set picked up from Peter on Sunday.

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Friday 22nd May 2009

Wade was busy dis-assembling my latest windchime when I arrived today, this after he's re-installed the newly painted trans stabiliser rod. Finished the dis-assembly by placing the painted parts back in their respective allotted areas. Then the re-built rear shocks and the sway bar were re-installed in Big Red. This operation comprised Wade under Big Red on a creeper and Mal squatting under a rear fender feeding the shock bolts through the chassis. Wade then tightened up the nuts, finishing using a looong bar so they won't come off in a hurry. Next the sway bar went into place but without the necessity for high torque tensioning. Should probably have pumped up each shock individually before the sway bar went in but Wade solved that by doing them together and raised a bit of a sweat doing so.

Tony the other day had said he'd be back by the end of the week with the water jacket sideplate cover and true to his word there he was. Looks great, Wade is certainly pleased with it. After Tony left we turned to Big Red's engine as it needed to taken off it's bench and placed on a wheeled wooden trolley. Reason being, Wade's having the cracked fuel pump boss welded up and then will drill and tap the hole again. Hoisted the engine, slid out the bench, it's on wheels, lowered the engine to the ground, then with John's help muscelled it over so it lying on it's right side and presenting the fuel pump boss for easy welding access.

Turned then to the partly reamed right king pin bushes and completed that task. Also reamed the right lower supporting arm outer bushes. And was just getting organised to press the king pin into the upright support arm when PACA members Barry and Cheryl arrived. They dropped in a power steering box for PACA member Paul's '54 convertible. Needless to say tools were downed and it wasn't long before lunch was upon us. Barry and Cheryl are accompanying Wade today to experience the workshop's long Friday lunch. Unfortantely I had to pass up this opportunity because of prior commitments.

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Mal, we had a presentation at the Texas Packard Meet in Salado in March where the presenter discussed rebuilding front end components. Specifically, he talked about installing new king pin bushings and the need to burnish them for proper fit and wear. He passed around a tool he uses to do this. It has a series of dimples that when pulled through the bushing treats the surface in a certain way for the material to fit and wear properly. Just wondering if Wade has any experience with burnishing bushings after reaming them. This was new to me, but the presenter said it was a critical step for the job. Maybe one of the members can shed more light on this subject.

I really enjoy your posts. I see some folks are wearing jackets now. Must be getting cooler.

Take care - John

Can't remember specifically for Packard, but burnishing kin pin bushings was a very standard practice, all shops I know of that specialized in front end work did it routinely.

PS - and never use any process that can leave an abrasive (like a wheel cylinder hone) behind, or close the lubricant pockets in the bronze. Ream and burnish is the standard method, burnishing "work-hardens" the surface, I suspect for longer bushing life.

Thanks Dave. I was taught never to hone a bushing, always ream it for fitting. I recall my father having many reams, but don't recall any burnishing tools. Probably, my aging memory. Happy holiday weekend.

Since most of my other cars have ball-joint type suspension, I'm a bit confused about the need to burnish king pin bushings.

Mind you, I do understand the difference between reaming to remove metal as opposed to burnishing to compact/polish it. Yet, while the 51-54 shop manual specifies reaming undersize, then burnishing to size, including a pic of the tool, the 55-56 shop manual only talks about pressing the bushing - doesn't even mention reaming. As a mechanic, my dad worked on a variety of automobiles, up to and including medium- and heavy-duty trucks, but he only ever talked about reaming king pin bushings - never mentioned burnishing them.

More recently, I've read that some front-end kits (in general) are being supplied these days with a warning to NOT hone or burnish the king pin bushings as it will damage them and void the warranty - that they should only be reamed to fit.

Perhaps some bushings are of a different material and require different techniques. Any thoughts?

Recent pic's of Barry's '54 Convertible resto.

EDIT - As it has been made so obvious that it's a '51 and not a '54, see the next four posts, I have retitled the pic's to show the correct year but left my post line intact.

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1954? I assume 1951, with this cormorant, PACKARD spelled on the hood and teeth in the grille.

Tom