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Can't say I'm a fan of "resale red", but it looks like a lovely restoration on that 51. I shudder to think what the cost was for rechroming the grille!

Mal,

Pretty sure that Convertible is not a '54. Wrong grille, side trim, bumper. Also with the fender ventlets, and "Packard" on the hood I would think that is a 51.

Looks like '51 to me. Those "Pre-War" guys can't tell the years apart!

Doesn't anything get past you guys? Although my Packard recognition skills are not up to speed I did know it was a '51. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I'll blame it on a computer glitch the 6" one between the ears.
and sorry Barry.

Having Wade's cleaning abilities outed on the site I sort of hoped they may have been transferred to the house - not so. However, yesterday wheh he wanted to use the oven, I was overcome with excitement - maybe cooking instead of cleaning! Packard wins again. Gina

Pic posted here is for Gina, Wade's wife. Unfortunately she couldn't get the pic to upload so I've been asked and I'm very happy to do so. What it relates to is, after blasting out the rust in the internal vee between the rounded outer shell and the inner mounting surface Big Red's hubcaps were cleaned with Marine Clean. And although extensively dried using compressed air there would still be some moisture trapped between the inner and outer shell. So to ensure all moisture was removed they were baked in Gina's oven, I'm sure much to her horror! But being the faithful and dutiful Packard wife she is, she obviously acquiesced to Wade's request for him to use the oven

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Wade's reply.

OK, so what's wrong with that?

Hasn't Wade learned to do that sort of thing when the wife ISN'T home???

Monday 25th May 2009

Yesterday only a few hours at the workshop, but first thing I saw was that the cracked fuel pump boss on Big Red's crankcase had been welded up and a new stud was also in place, looks good. Shortly after arriving Wade and I walked around to see Col the old brake guy. As we were walking, because it's only about 300 metres away, noticed some deep tyre tracks in the dirt next to the footpath where the laneway to the back of the brake shop starts. Turns out these were made by the workshop forklift on Saturday which was used to transport the engine attached to the wooden dolly for it's welding repair for the cracked fuel pump boss on the crankcase. I commented that this was a photo opportunity missed as it would have made a great shot. And Wade replied yes, but one of the '26 Essex chassis he restored and then towed around to Mowad's, the panelbeaters, in the same laneway about 18 months ago would have been even better. Turns out a tow rope was hooked up from Wade's Ute to the rolling chassis and with Wade driving the Ute John drove the chassis. That is if you can call standing up on the Essex's frame and steering - driving? Now that would have made for a real great pic! But back to the chase, reason we went to see Col was to scrounge some old king pin shims. The one that came out of Big Red was too thick, 0.060", when used with the new thrust bearing while the spares he had were too thin, 0.030". Ended up walking back with a baking tray full of old shims and stuff to sort through to find some to fit. And we did, used a 0.030" & 0.027" for a perfect fit! And now Wade has plenty of extra shims in many different thicknesses. Wade also installed an angled grease nipple in the king pin's lower cap to ensure it has a good direct grease supply. In the end the right front lower arm, upright and stub axles were all reunited and are ready to go back in Big Red.

Tuesday 26th May 2009

Today, also only a few hours at the workshop. Yesterday, after I left, Wade had been tackling the dis-assembly of the left front lower support arm, upright and stub axle and had managed to push out the pin connecting the lower support arm and the upright. But had come up against very, very stubborn resistance in both the king pin and the inner support arm pin. He'd soaked the inner support arm pin overnight but when we tried to push it out with the 20 ton press it still didn't look like moving. Left it in the press under tension for a while, still nothing. Next step was to apply heat, so with John heating the arm, Wade operating the press and me taking pictures finally there was movement. What also came oozing out was a mixture of molten rubber and old grease, an obnoxious and evil smelling concoction as well as being the dirtiest stuff I've had to clean to date. That accomplished, turned to the king pin which this time was pressed from the other end after removing a very hard to shift grease cap. Success! With that I went away to clean up the parts in preparation for POR-15'ing them. Also took the opportunity to clean up some other parts because if I'm going to get POR-15 on me, and I will, I might as well make it worthwhile. During the cleaning and drying processes, outside in the sunlight, I noticed the old rusted inner panel for the side water jacket cover in the dumpster so took some pic's of that. Wade during the cleaning processes was looking at and dis-assembling the roller cam followers/rockers with a view to have either new ones made or using the spare '34 ones or parts thereof. this is a work in process!

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John and others,

Talked with Wade about burnishing, he advises he didn't know this process was being used in king pin rebuilds and consequently has never done it and in his experience with just reaming bushings hasn't encountered any problems or failures.

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Thursday 28th May 2009

Wade had spent yesterday mainly chasing parts. Got Big Red's radiator back from JJ Smith's after flush, clean and pressure test. Also some more pipe plugs for the Super 8 engine. He'd also received a delivery from MaxM and installed the new tie rod ends on the tie rods. And had started an overhaul of Old Blue's distributor as MaxM's parcel also contained some new bushes for the 120 distributor, which was part way disassembled on the bench.

My task for the day, as I only had a few hours there, was to make up a new set of "Windchimes" and POR-15 it. Took about an hour to wire everything up or fit the bolts and some other smaller pieces into the cardboard used for that purpose. Then POR-15'd everything. And of course got some on my leg again, but a vigorous wipe with POR-15 thinners cleaned it up.

Meanwhile, Wade finished off his distributor rebuild for Old Blue, fired her up and she's running smoother than ever. He'd also taken the baking tray of shims back to Col, the brake guy, and picked up a 3/4" B.S.P.T. Tap. Some may consider this Packard heresy but Wade is looking at the practicality of this conversion from welch plugs to pipe plugs. He's done it to Old Blue, with favourable results, the '34 and it's now Big Red's turn.

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