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Friday 13th July 2012

Do you suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia? If so, read no further and go back to bed, hide under a rock or stay inside for fear the sky is falling! If not, keep reading. Todays workshop installment included cleaning the uni-joint caps of excess POR15, running a tap through their threads, cleaning the excess paint off the flanges on the pinion yoke(Noel?), cleaning the uni joint shaft surfaces, making new felt seals for the caps and repacking the caps with grease. Was also going to install the tailshaft but Noel's arrival, bearing gifts more Packard parts, brought production to a halt for a while. The parts being the radiator collar, a stay for each front mudguard(fender) as well as the brackets which support the front fenders from the side of the radiator collar. Two other pieces came in today courtesy of Steve, the panelbeater, being the pair of underframe brackets for the front sway bar. These were severely bent and Wade determined Steve, with his metal shaping skills, was the man for the job. And a great job it is too, with Noel on departing, thanking Steve for his efforts. Wade re-assembled the gear linkage mechanism, that bolts onto the master cylinder, and reinstalled it all into the chassis. Also reinstalled the new brake lines, that I'd painted yesterday, as well as the rear sway bar. That incurred more digging through the box of bits hoping to find the right fasteners, but it was not to be. The left tie rod was also reinstalled with the right tie rod ready to go on. While Noel was there the "issue" with the '39 120 fuel tank was raised. The thinking is, that seeing it's from a 120, it is shallower than the 160 tank it replaced. Noel also confirmed the filler neck is different and will be modified or replaced when the body goes on and the route of the filler neck to the fuel cap door is known. In the meantime Noel said he'll have Tony drop the old tank down next week for comparison purposes and has authorised Wade to use his discretion to make it work. All I can say is, it will! When Noel left he took with him a short list of parts required but said when he returns he'll also bring anything that he thinks "might" be required.

EDIT - The issue of the too short, not long enough or shrunken hand brake cables is also under review. Wade, in looking closer at their mounting to and through the "horn" on the backing plate, thinks the outer cable sheath isn't correctly positioned. Accordingly next week one side will be disassembled and tweaked in an effort to get it to fit properly. On present indications this looks like it will be a workable solution.

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Sunday 15th July 2012

Today attended the 2012 All French Car Day at Silverwater. Went because one of the judges for the days Concours was the esteemable Noel! He was joined in judging by of all people, another Mal! Must be a good bloke with a name like that! Mainly went because 1) I'd never been before, 2) It's close to home, and 3) To see Noel and give him some support. Turned out to be a great blue sky Sydney sunny winters day, perfect. Met up with a PACA member I hadn't met previously, BruceG, who was there with, no not a Packard, but his Facel Vega! First time Bruce had been too, he'd been invited by one of the organisers when he attended another show earlier this year. Also met up with another guy, FrankW, who was there with his Renault 750 4CV. Frank is a regular attendee and also one of the guys who missed the Road Knights Hot Rod Club reunion in May, so it was great to catch up with him after 40+ years. After the event, where the Facel Vega won its class, it was off to the wilds of Bankstown where Noel has some of his Coupe bits stored! Needed to find his Group 3.103 LINK, Booster spring Part # 335269 which is required to completed the brake pedal setup. Les reckons it isn't at his place and although Noel sifted through his Bankstown stash yesterday, he didn't find it. So I was there today as a second pair of eyes to ensure it hadn't been missed inadvertently. Well, these old eyes didn't spot it either, so HELP! 1 x Group 3.103 LINK, Booster spring Part # 335269 required! Anyone out there have a spare? By the time I write this The Flackmaster is probably already on the case but, just in case he strikes out, thought I mention it anyway. Tomorrow I'm taking some more parts from Noel to the workshop which were filtered out when going through the stash.

Stop the presses! Hold your horses! Whoa there! Get me a new pair of glasses, a white stick and a seeing eye dog! We do have a Group 3.103 LINK, Booster spring Part # 335269! Before hitting the Submit button thought I'd better check the illustration I posted last week identifying the part in question. And guess what? We have it! But why do we have it? Because there was a curly piece of steel(see pic), well that's how I'll describe it, amongst the stash and I said to Noel I'll take that with me even though I couldn't identify it, just because it "might" be required somewhere along the way! Was able to ring and gave Noel the good news, suspect he'll now be able to sleep well tonight!

Link to todays French Car Day album. All you Francophiles should enjoy this!

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Monday 16th July 2012

Arriving at the workshop proudly announced to Wade we have a Group 3.103 LINK, Booster spring Part # 335269 and handed it to him. To say he was underwhelmed sums it up nicely because he too didn't recognise it for what it is! Was only convinced after looking at the Parts Book then trying it on the pedal where it fitted perfectly! After that I was put to work ensuring the uni-joint cap bolts fitted last Friday after I left, were properly tightened then knocking over the lock tabs to secure them. Had to jack the diff up so I could turn the tailshaft, now it's hooked up, to access those on the bottom. Wade had also installed the left tie rod last Friday so he set about installing the right one today, still needs a little work as one of the pic's will show.

That done then turned to my staple diet of late, cleaning and painting more parts for the chassis. Todays batch was the Group 3.103 LINK, Booster spring Part # 335269, the snubber, one gear linkage rod, the pair of front sway bar rubber block mounts Steve had straightened, the radiator collar, a repro battery box and one of the battery box supports. But my cleaning and painting isn't finished this week even though Wade won't be there for the remainder of it. After an ultrasound for my hernia tomorrow morning the plan is to continue to the workshop and clean more bits. Then later in the week paint same. That way they'll be done and ready for Wade's return next week.

During my cleaning and painting Wade was working on the too short/not long enough/shrunken hand brake cables. Removed the brake drums, needed the brake drum puller for this but a part turn on the big pullers screw was all that was required, released the cables, undid the mounting horns from the backing plates, pried the jaws of the mounting horns apart, shaved a couple of inches off the black shrink tubing covering the green cable sheath and remounted the horns with the cable sheath correctly positioned. The shrink tubing around the cable sheath appeared to be part of the reason why things weren't installed properly. Then adjusted the cable lengths and installed the clevis pins and securing split pins. So Noel, you are now well on the way to having a fully functional handbrake!

But just to step back to yesterday, Bruce's Facel Vega took out Best Car at the French Car Day. And speaking of the FV, besides Bruce, also present yesterday were his restorer Robert and his upholsterer, whose name now escapes me. Have a look on Roberts Central Auotomotive Restoration Service Site at the FV resto pictures, it certainly was a huge challenge!

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I'm enjoying your coverage of everything Mal, especially the pics of various cars. People certainly have some challenges ahead of them, such as the Caddy. Makes me realize that I don't have nearly as difficult a restoration job as some others!

You've probably mentioned the manifold paint brand & colour in the blog (-it looks very good I must say) but I couldn't find it easily. So if you wouldn't mind, could I get those details please?

Tuesday 17th July 2012

With Wade away what do I do? Why clean more parts for Noel's '41 of course! Spent a couple of hours wire wheeling and blasting things like throttle linkage, front mudguard(fender) brackets and bracing rods, battery cable clips, bonnet(hood) brackets. As well as a couple of things for me, a stub axle and what is supposed to be an old Packard headlight. Bought the headlight off Aussie eBay a couple of years ago to "save it" because there were no other bids. Then when the guy shipped it he forgot to include the rim! He did send the rim later after I nudged him about it. Now cleaning it up, dents and all, and probably just have it as a piece of "supposedly Packard" wall art. Bl**dy H#ll! Just remembered I didn't clean Noel's bumper brackets. I'd put them on the floor under the bonnet(hood) for Big Red which is sitting on a trestle, out of sight and out of mind. So instead of painting tomorrow morning, it'll be more cleaning. Painting of all the parts will then be done on Thursday morning.

Bl**dy H#ll!#2 ...You've probably mentioned the manifold paint brand & colour in the blog (-it looks very good I must say) but I couldn't find it easily. So if you wouldn't mind, could I get those details please?... Lee, sorry forgot to do that too! As Big Bad Barry says....It's egg timers disease, you forget things in 3 minutes! Maybe tomorrow, I'll try but recent events don't hold much promise.

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Wednesday 18th July 2012

Finished the parts cleaning and have everything strung up in what could be the best set of wind chimes yet! It has a wonderful tinkling effect, when moved, with metal on metal contact providing a lovely melody of Packard parts. Tomorrow, painting!

And Lee, actually remembered the manifold paint brand & colour, this in the midst of wire wheeling a bumper bracket. So to make sure, the bracket cleaning was temporarily suspended and I took a pic of the paint can in question. Pity I can't post the pic at this moment because I'm unable to download it from the camera! But I can report it's POR15 Factory Manifold Grey which withstands up to 760 degrees Celsius. Also some news for Wade, in case he logs in while away, the bendix starter spring arrived today. Will post pic's once available

EDIT - Pic's added

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Thursday 19th July 2012

After first sorting out some details for my US trip and also for surgery next week for hernia repairs spent a couple of hours adding POR15 to yesterdays wind chimes,

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Thanks for that info on the manifold paint Mal - appreciated! I think 760 degrees should do the trick . . . . even the Packard manifold from Hell wouldn't get that hot!!

I already jumped the gun some months ago, and painted my manifolds black, thinking that was the correct colour. I think Big Kev put me back on track regarding the grey. I think the grey is a more pleasant colour also.

Hope the 'repairs' you mention are a success, had a couple of that type done myself over the years.

Friday 20th July 2012

Dropped into the workshop to:
1) Give Misty a bone - done!
2) Disassemble the wind chimes - done!
3) Take pic's for the Flackmaster - done!

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Monday 23rd July 2012

Today was one of small steps. Arrived to find Wade sifting through the Noel's nuts and bolts from which he matched up 4 sets, including lock washers, to hold the front sway bar to the chassis. My task then was to clean all these up on the wire wheel. Part way through Wade arrived at the wheel with another lot of bolts, nuts and lock washers, these to secure the battery brackets to the chassis. Wade took away the nuts, bolts and washers already cleaned and proceeded to run a tap through the nuts and a die over the bolts. When I finished the second lot I took over the tap and die station while Wade proceeded to mount the front sway bar to the frame, then the repro battery box and brackets. Now I was cleaning up the big radiator cradle mounting coachbolt, washers and castellated nut followed by the tap and die routine.

At this juncture I was then put to work taking out the bolts from the right side holding the trans crossmember to the top rail of the chassis. It appears that when the trans crossmember was reunited with the chassis it was bolted in using ordinary nuts, bolts and washers. But in his earlier search today for nuts, bolts and washers Wade had found the 4 "special" bolts which should be there. They are "special" because they have round heads and knurled shoulders which anchors them in the chassis and prevents them from turning. Very important if you need to take out the crossmember which is usually necessary when dropping the trans. The heads of ordinary bolts will turn and cannot be accessed because there are hidden once the body is on. Then cleaned up the "special" bolts and nuts, which were also the next bigger size from the ordinary buts and bolts used in their place, again with the tap and die routine. Next was installing the "special" bolts(forgot to take a pic, very remiss of me) which necessitated some leverage of crossmember to align the holes. Then moved on and did the same for the left side. Could have been easier but because things are now back on, like the engine pipe and the pedal setup, there were movement restrictions when trying to tighten the nuts but Mr Perseverance always gets his way!

Then onto another little hiccup. The rear sway bar! Whoever had reattached the sway bar shock to the sway bar had done so the wrong way round. Not that we noticed, it was only when John drew attention to the fact that the first bump encountered would have had the rear sway bar severely bent by the diff housing that the penny then dropped. Unbolted the shock from the sway bar, pried it loose, unbolted the sway bar shock, turned it round, bolted the sway bar back on and rebolted the sway bar shock to the chassis and problem fixed.

At this point we were running out of things to keep me occupied so I turned to my old Packard headlight again. This time, under Wade's tutelage, managed to undo the screw holding the reflector in the headlight bucket. Last week I thought it was just turning and not unscrewing, but Wade suggested it was just a long thread which it was. Now all apart found the interior of the bucket had had a puddle of water in it at some stage, there was a tide mark of rust. After an initial clean with a wire brush then into the blasting cabinet and cleaned up the interior of the bucket. Then onto the exterior with the wirewheel and removed most of the 90 year paint followed by more time in the blasting cabinet to polish the finish. A session on the bench with the reflector to remove the majority of the built up dirt then a trial reassembly. Wade has also suggested that I ask Steve to knock out the big dents in the bucket so it looks a little more presentable. The reassembly however let me try my hand at some rudimentary metal reshaping. Very minor stuff bending out edges which had been bent in and not involving pounding of metal. After many attempts, tweaking here and there then back to here and over there, was finally able to get it all to fit together. Looks reasonable, even if I do say so myself.

While I was doing that Wade was putting a battery into place, not Noel's but the battery from The Fossil, which is an Optima in a faux case. At least it looks the part! Also installed the new earth strap supplied by Noel, bolting it to one of the battery box brackets. The other battery cable supplied by Noel, from the battery to the starter, Wade snaked along the inside bottom edge of the chassis rail through an opening in the X-member terminating at the starter terminal. Any '41 160 guys able to confirm this is the path that cable should take? And, although there is an old ground strap to earth the engine to the chassis, Wade is going to source a new one for this purpose.

Early on in the piece a delivery arrived for Wade. It was wrapped in a plastic which contained, of all things, an Autolite starter for a '41 120 Convertible Coupe in Sydney. Didn't know there was a '41 120 Convertible Coupe in Sydney! Life is full of surprises. This from a guy who is having starter motor troubles, it's only just turning over. Later, after dissembling it, Wade found is was very oil inside, the brushes don't look healthy and the commutator surface needs attention. Fortunately Wade had a set of brushes on the shelf and will take those and the starter to an auto electrician for a test on the "growler" and to have it rebuilt. Will likely also source the ground strap there too.

Had an email from Noel on the weekend, which I'm sure he wont mind if I share an edited version of, because it's all part of the story, being "...Just letting you know that...Tony is bringing back the doors (finished) and I will take them to Mudgee on Monday...to put on the body. Will also check out a paint shop there. And from Mudgee I hope to go to Cowra and pick up the radiator. It depends whether they have it finished or not - waiting for the core to come in. Will also pick up some '41 rear guards...whilst there..."

Speaking of the weekend, realised on Saturday that the MotorEx was on. Reason I was interested was that during our Packard Club run to Smeaton Grange in May TJ, the guy building the woodie body for Chris(Starliner), said he'd have his '54 DeSoto custom there. This I wanted to see as we'd seen it in bare metal, with still a lot of work to do, during the run. Still not finished, but the body is done and for which TJ picked up an award on the day! Plus it returns me to my, not so misspent, youth of Hot Rods and Dragsters! Link to Picasa Album of pic's from the day.

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