Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

Not sure of the used leftover parts bit. Originally the cap and short tube was as Joe has on his car and shown in post #1213. They had some sticking valve issues and decided because of excess condensation the crankcase needed better ventilation.

They tried one thing and then another and in the final combination settled on the tall tube and slotted cap. The large slotted area facing forward allowed enough air capture on smaller engines. The 356 engine was different enough they also decided it needed the horizontal tube to direct air directly into the cap and force more flow from the fan when the car was stationary.

All this was done starting in mid 1941 and a suggestion was made to retro fit the earlier engines if the owners had noticed or complained about the issue. How many actually were retrofitted with the latest and complete package is a question. Whether the cap might have been changed later in life is another.

Tuesday 14th August 2012

First order of business today was finishing off the fuel pump for the 356. Necessitated some backtracking when it was realised one seal had been omitted during assembly. Extra parts come with the rebuild kits to cover a number of similar pumps so it wasn't readily apparent because there are always leftovers. Only when looking to discard one of the old diaphragms realised there was a seal on its shaft. Finally all bolted up and bench tested, bl**dy hard to do against the heavy springs but there was suction and the appropriate noises from both the fuel and vacuum sections of the pump. Bolted onto the 356 and......nothing! No suction, no noises appropriate, inappropriate or otherwise! Off with pump more checking against the 120 single action pump and the other double action pump. Measuring of levers, again, and measuring from pump mounting surface on block to fuel pump cam lobe, the 50mm length looked right. But it didn't work. Took the top off each pump section, fuel and vacuum, and checked valves and filters and all were correctly installed, but it still didn't work. Nothing to do but put it aside because Noel had said he had a line on a genuine '41 160 fuel pump! And speak of the devil, who should phone at that moment? Noel! He had been advised by the Flackmaster that the pic's I posted of the pump being rebuilt were of the wrong pump, it's an earlier pump probably for a 120! But it won't go completely to waste as Noel is going to use it in Fleurette, his '39 120. And it looks like with the other rebuilt pump I'll have a spare for my '41 120. Something about Schadenfreude?

That aside I then turned to what else, cleaning parts. A sparkplug wire loom/funnel(?), the steering box outer chassis plate and the battery access cover. Did the first two then a break for lunch. It was Wade's turn to provide lunch today, which consisted of beef and capsicum rissoles, beef sausages, sliced onions, sliced tomatoes, a capsicum cut into rings with an egg fried in its middle. All this BBQ'd by yours truely. Then served on hamburger rolls with sauces, spices and condiments of your choice and washed down with beer, Aussie white or red wine. Although one Aussie, moi, with type 2 diabetes quaffed diet Coke! If you're coming to Sydney, try and make it a Tuesday and come visit us at the workshop. Note 1) Bookings are essential to ensure catering is adequate for the numbers expected. 2) The menu varies from week to week as the person providing lunch usually chooses the type of food and method of cooking, but BBQ's are in the majority. Bon appetit!


After lunch returned to my parts cleaning, this time the battery access cover. But the blasting cabinet wasn't co-operating. Before lunch had cleaned up the sparkplug loom and steering box plate easily. After lunch it was insipid. My thought was that the media pickup tube was starved for "sand" so juggled the temporary pickup tube a number of times to better embed it in the "sand" hopper. Seemed to work a little better but performance quickly fell away. Called in Wade, to trouble shoot, repositioned the pickup tube again and still no joy. Then topped up the hopper with Barry's "sand" which had been replaced by Wade's "sand" last week. With a near to full hopper no possibility now of "sand" pickup starvation. Then I looked at the pressure gauge which had been registering in the vicinity of 80psi earlier to see it at about 20psi. Problem solved, turn the compressor back on! Turned out John had turned it off at the start of lunch thinking I'd finished with the blasting cabinet, I hadn't. Later in the afternoon John came and asked me if I'd now finished with the compressor, I had, and could he turn it off, he could!

With progress on the 356 again stalled turned to the '33 Super Eight sitting patiently under a cover under the carpark ramp outside. Wade removed the fuel pump, the sediment bowl of which contained about 1/2" of a very dark brown liquid which no longer resembled fuel in any way. Wade also removed the carburettor. Kits for both these components are on their way to address the woes of sitting for the last 6 years. Back inside took the top and bottom off the fuel pump and PONGO! the residue fuel in the pump section sure caught my attention! No such problem in the vacuum section, instead it had a problem of it's own, oil, obviously the diaphragm had leaked! At least now Wade can say he's started on the '33!

Quote:Joe,

Shhhhh! I hope Noel didn't read that! As I said he's a stickler for correctness. Are you trying to give me more to paint? But it must have struck Noel's stickler nerve as it elicited a post! Well done Noel, keep 'em coming.

Besides Joe I'd like to thank Howard and Dave for their inputs. And of course John for this "...the fan blast tube that directs air into the breather cap (for enhanced crankcase ventilation) is missing...". I said I didn't know what it was. But I now remember it had been in another thread a fair while ago but had faded from memory. It certainly elicited some great responses,

Attach file:

---

  (38.21 KB)


  (27.84 KB)


  (29.79 KB)


  (21.06 KB)


  (25.30 KB)


  (23.30 KB)


  (45.56 KB)


  (36.69 KB)


  (43.61 KB)


  (34.72 KB)

Wednesday 15th August 2012

A day of consolidation. I missed the morning but Wade soldiered on regardless preparing parts for the return of Big Red's engine including the intake and exhaust manifolds. On my arrival what did I do? Why clean parts, what else? Cleaned the '33s double action fuel pump. Took some time to do it, in stages to keep parts separate for the reassembly, first in the parts cleaner, then if required the wire wheel and blasting cabinet(one item only). Now looks a lot better and it's ready for reassembly when the rebuild kit arrives. Speaking of looking better, I was very pleased with my effort on cleaning what was thought to be a 356 pump earlier in the week only to be disappointed when it turned out it wasn't! Irregardless Noel, you have a lovely pump there. Then, just to keep my hand in, Wade pointed me in the direction of Big Red's tappets, they needed a clean too. Now have sixteen almost pristine tappets ready for the reassembly. During all this Noel rang and, among other matters, I'm now painting the oil filler tube Packard engine green.
John!

Attach file:

---

  (40.43 KB)


  (38.55 KB)


  (39.25 KB)


  (30.27 KB)

Mal,

The scupper vent I believe was a 1934 feature. I know that the 33 standard and super eight pretty much used the same generator as is shown in your photos, the 12 may have had a different generator. In the literature section on this site there are some old electrical data sheets which give the correct part numbers for the generator and associated regulator box on top. There were several different model numbers for both the generator and regulator.

Hope this helps

Hobbs

P.S. when is wade getting back on the fossil?

Thursday 16th August 2012

Started the day by going over with Wade to see JohnM and his '39 TJ Richards bodied 110 Sedan. Coming up for registration inspection soon, an annual check, and it'll pass easily. Will also be seeing John again on Sunday at the Eastern Creek Display Day where more than 1800 vehicles, not just Packards, will be in attendance. Earlier in the year when John had the paintwork repaired I drove the Packard to the repairers and back and the floppy interior rear view mirror was very distracting. Told John I'd give him a NOS period correct mirror, not Packard, to replace it. Finally remembered about the mirror today and brought that with me. However it turns out the mirror isn't floppy because the ball pivot isn't worn! It's floppy because the bolt that holds it to the centre windscreen dividing strip is loose, spins and can't be tightened. Will need to remove the centre strip cover and the windscreen garnish mould in order to have a better look at the problem and then fix it. That's a job for the future.

Back at the workshop, seeing fuel pumps are flavour of the month, Wade finally finished installing a new kit in The Fossils which had been gummed up from just sitting there! Hobbs, the answer to your question of "when is wade getting back on the fossil?" is - when he can. At the moment he's still waiting for Steve to finish the bonnet(hood) top panels. Then it's going to be like the thigh bone is connected the knee bone and the knee bone is connected to the leg bone, etc, etc. Once he has the bonnet, it will be installed then the process of aligning it, the body and the radiator shell will begin, once that is done then the front mudguards(fenders) will be installed and aligned. Also to come, which might be concurrent with the mudguards, are the running boards. Etc, etc, etc. So until the bonnet panels arrive the Fossil is fairly dormant. And thanks for the explanation about the generator on the '33, satisfies my curiosity. While Wade was pumping away, with one slight assist from yours truly to start some screws in a diaphragm cover while Wade held it under tension, I was cleaning parts from Big Red. Cleaned oil pump, oil pump regulator, valve springs, main bearing oil distribution tube, various fasteners, timing case cover and more. Reason being, so all is in readiness for when the engine returns from it's rebuild.

Oh, and Wade had a call from RobT in Adelaide. Seemed Rob wanted to log onto, of all things, this Blog! Wade tried to talk Rob through the process over the phone but wasn't successful. Will now call Rob tonight while sitting in front of his own computer and talk him through it from there. What I think it stems from is that Fred(pepepackard) mentioned to me in a phone call last night that Rob needs a fuel pump for his '40 110 Convertible Coupe. So it looks like I might not now have a spare pump as previously thought. Fred also mentioned he's had an Ultramatic failure in his Clipper and that needs to be rebuilt, fortunately there's a guy in Melbourne who can do it.

Attach file:

---

  (43.03 KB)


  (49.50 KB)


  (18.89 KB)


  (33.50 KB)


  (33.90 KB)


  (61.37 KB)


  (38.05 KB)


  (44.74 KB)


  (36.19 KB)

Monday 20th August 2012

In this thread in the Shows and Events Forum I said this yesterday "...a very enjoyable day.......except for the pic's at the end of the album. All will be explained tomorrow...". What's that about? It's about my misfortune yesterday in my Coupe. Returning home after the display day had a slight misfortune when the Coupe jammed in 2 gears about 1 mile from home. The 70 year old gear linkages are very sloppy, so much so that when shifting from 2nd to first both gears engaged, the car doesn't want to go anywhere and the engine stalls. My usual remedy is to manipulate the bell cranks on the steering column either manually or with one of these -> but using some discretion. Although this remedy has worked previously. it didn't yesterday. Being caught stranded in the outside lane at the start of a turning lane at a busy intersection wasn't exactly fun. Call to Wade, who was still at the display day, brought no joy as he could only suggest what I had been doing anyway, but I teed up with him to open up the workshop and I'd arrange a tilt tray tow truck, or tttt for short, to get me there. Upshot was the first tttt couldn't do it, didn't have a set of dolly wheels to slip under the locked up rear wheels of the Coupe. Second tttt did and once loaded we proceeded to the workshop where Wade had arrived just a few minutes previously. Once off the truck the Coupe was left parked outside, doesn't suffer that indignity often, usually only when on a run or rally.

So this morning the Coupe was the first order of business. Initial inspection found another problem, in addition to being stuck in gears, the clutch arm tensioning spring was broken too! After jacking up the front end and strategic placement of a large jack stand Wade went under the Coupe on a creeper and found still another problem, one of the brake switch connectors had been ripped off its cable, probably by the broken spring! After a few judicious taps, the linkages were free and normal operation could continue. Then installed a clutch arm tensioning spring and finally a new connector on the brake light cable. All done in about 1/2 an hour. Of course this is only a temporary "fix" it really needs all the linkages out and all pivot pins, holes, etc brought back to spec. But to do that will require workshop time as the Coupe will be disabled by taking them out to fix, and I don't have spares! So that along with dropping the fuel tank will be done at a later date. NOTE - By always shifting into first from top it doesn't engage 2 gears at once and that is the shifting technique I try and use. Obviously I didn't yesterday and so suffered the penalty.

With the Coupe now mobile I drove it home, garaged it, and as I'd left my daily driver at the workshop, walked to the train station, caught the train 3 stops and walked again to reach the workshop. About 30 minutes walk all up, I'll count that as my exercise for the day. Back at the workshop, and hear this Snapey, Hobbs and others, Wade was working on The Fossil! Apparently on Friday he'd refitted the rebuilt fuel pump and today was wiring up the Startix. Once wired up it was tested, and it works. A real nifty electrical/pneumatic device which, when activated, will restart your engine automatically if it should stop. It is to be noted the engine wasn't started, only whether the Startix was operational. The engine will probably be started again in the near future but only to test the rebuilt fuel pump and will use a temporary tank doing so. The Fossils fuel tank will be dropped and cleaned, after the experiences with the carb and fuel pump, and all lines cleaned and flushed too. Speaking of that, the same treatment will be applied to the '33 outside patiently waiting its turn. And in turn, speaking of the '33, Wade had a call later from the owner about teeing up a Sunday visit, thats the only day he's available. This is so he and the guy he's proposing to use for the body and paint work can see the '33 together. Apparently there's no rest for the wicked Wade, has to work 7 days a week!

That left me to setting up another set of wind chimes and POR-15 being applied. Wade also chipped in cleaning up parts of Big Red's shutter stat for paint even as I was painting. And of course a couple of pieces were missed, but not to worry, there's always another day for painting. Also while painting Wade had been outside with the '33, I know he told me doing what, but now can't recall, a bad sign. Left things at that having to return home earlier than usual to fix a shower tap, I love a hot shower in the morning! In my opinion hot running water is one of the most significant advances made in the history of civilisation!

Attach file:

---

  (36.45 KB)


  (34.75 KB)


  (42.74 KB)


  (40.74 KB)


  (43.03 KB)


  (29.18 KB)


  (39.39 KB)


  (37.83 KB)


  (29.16 KB)


  (38.39 KB)


  (63.44 KB)


  (32.60 KB)


  (15.19 KB)


  (26.06 KB)


  (37.21 KB)

I really enjoy the details and pics of the cars being repaired. I am thankful we didn't see a picture of the morning shower - civilized or not!

Mal,

I too enjoyed the photos. You are looking healthy and fit. Recovery from your surgery must be progressing nicely.

Too bad about the transmission shifting problem. You are lucky not to have broken a gear or case. I guess it just goes to show how rugged these Packard transmissions are.

Here is a bit of unsolicited advice concerning your latest problem. You may have worn shifting linkages and maybe worn parts in the steering column, but I would advise you check the shifting interlock mechanisms in the transmission. The interlocks become worn and this is what allows the transmission to engage two gears at the same time. True, the levers can become jammed, but the interlocks are the key to keeping the transmission in one gear at a time.

Stay healthy and keep the activities at Wade's coming our way.

(o[]o)

Tuesday 21st August 2012

Late start this morning and found Wade tackling the left front suspension, reason being to replace the upper bushing. But because there's no weight on the suspension with the engine out and sitting on the hoist a little ingenuity was required, just like in this previous post. Only trouble was, it didn't work, binding up rather than taking up. After a number of attempts Wade put it aside and left it for another day. But now I've found we have a pic from the last time round it might be better luck next time. While Wade was tackling the suspension I disassembled yesterdays windchimes then started on assembling another set for some small parts as well as the air cleaner off the '33. Regarding the aircleaner, I'd never seen inside one before but seeing Wade had ground off the lip and taken it apart now was my opportunity. Now I know why it's called an aircleaner and silencer, similar to muffler technology. That done I then started cleaning up the inside of the frame rails in the engine compartment and the top, back and bottom channel of the front crossmember. With the engine out now is the time to attend to this. Was only going to give it a wipeover as initially it looked reasonable but ended up doing a full scrape, wire brush and wipeover otherwise I couldn't have lived with the result. And fortunately for Wade the kit for the '33's fuel pump arrived so after giving away the comealong exercise he turned to that. But was somewhat frustrated in that the kit from Max was missing a few pieces one of which he sourced from "shelf stock", while the other was "patched" and will work OK.

Quote:John,

You're preaching to the converted. Wade does this after recent experiences with Fleurette and Juniors transmission shifting problems. This will be part of the procedure when the time comes to lay up the Coupe and properly attend to the problem. In the meantime I'll be very gentle and careful when shifting.

Attach file:

---

  (24.21 KB)


  (40.59 KB)


  (43.24 KB)


  (27.28 KB)


  (23.16 KB)


  (19.88 KB)


  (42.62 KB)

Thursday 23rd August 2012

No sooner had I arrived at the workshop than Wade whisked me off together with a bagful of tools, multimeter, torch, rags, etc to have a look at JohnM's TJ Richards bodied '39 110 Sedan because the headlights weren't working. Although I did manage to take a pic of the '33's carburettor which Wade had rebuilt yesterday in my absence. At John's, Wade first established there was power going to and at the headlight relay and also power coming out of the relay to the headlights. But the headlights didn't work although the parking lights did! Wade was pretty sure both bulbs wouldn't have blown but, on taking the lenses and bezels off, sure enough both bulbs were cactus. The headlight lenses by the way were on the wrong side with left on right and right on left but will be remedied when the new bulbs are installed. How do I know they were on the wrong sides? Because the lenses are marked "right" and "left" and this was something I learned when I had my '38 Eight which have same/similar headlights. But not having any replacement bulbs at hand returned to the workshop where Wade thought he may have some.

But seeing Wade didn't have any of the 3 slot bulbs required and I did, albeit at home, that's where I went. Found the bulbs, including a pair of halogen bulbs. I also took the opportunity to go to Mr Filter at Girraween to try to find a replacement filter for, I thought, the '33. Found a modern filter fractionally taller than the original, which is literally falling apart, but some judicious surgery and it'll fit and no one except readers here will be any the wiser. Then went onto the home of PACA's publication editor Jeff, PACO52, to deliver some mail. There I learnt Jeff is in hospital having just had his appendix removed but is recovering well and expects to be home tomorrow. Get well Jeff!

Back at the workshop found Wade under the bonnet(hood) of the '33 trying to track down electrical problems there. Left Wade to that while I took up where I'd left off on Tuesday and started painting the air cleaner, other parts and finally the inside of the frame and front crossmember. Did the aircleaner first, then realised while painting it that I'd seen the '33's aircleaner sitting on top of the '33's head as a temporary measure. By this time Wade was back in the workshop and, on asking the question, found out it is actually The Fossil's aircleaner! Moved onto Big Red's frame which necessitated Wade raising and lowering Big Red a number of times on the hoist so I could access different parts of the frame rails.

Painting done then it was outside to see what Wade was now up to and found him installing the rebuilt fuel pump on the '33. Also connected up the vacuum lines and is presently in the process of reconnecting the fuel line to the carburettor. The fuel line to the tank will not be connected until the line and tank are both cleaned. During all this Wade had a call from Russell, Russpackaus, who was in the vicinity on business mind you and wanted to drop in. This he did along with a new employee in Russ's business, Rob. Great way to induct new employees Russ, give them a tour of a Packard workshop, never happened to me! So tomorrow all going well, after the rebuilt carb is installed, the '33 will probably be fired up using a temporary fuel source, for the first time in about 6 years.

Attach file:

---

  (32.78 KB)


  (38.54 KB)


  (36.50 KB)


  (43.15 KB)


  (45.09 KB)


  (32.82 KB)


  (16.52 KB)


  (40.01 KB)


  (22.03 KB)


  (41.59 KB)


  (33.92 KB)


  (40.64 KB)