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Wednesday 14th November 2012

Arrived late morning at the workshop to find Wade finishing washing Big Red, all the country grime, dirt and mud from visiting Mat, packard34, on Monday needed to come off. But why was I later than usual? Two reasons, picked up the Santa suit for my festive season job and also picked up a pair of round jaffle irons. Wade had restored a square double jaffle iron for Gina recently but at Bathurst Gina advised she really wanted the round type. My wife Kath, without a word, took this onboard and promptly found a pair of round jaffle irons on eBay locally, bid and won, so I was able to pick them up on the way to the workshop. Speaking of picking things up, seeing I had to pass by Lee Bros, on returning from picking up the Santa suit, I dropped in to pick up the stainless steel dome nut they didn't have last time. Needless to say they didn't have it this time either! But I did purchase nuts, bolts and washers for the pedal pads Noel had given me at Bathurst to go on the Chassis's pedals. At the same time Noel had also come up with a steering wheel retaining nut and I forgot to bring any of these items in yesterday!

So while Wade finished cleaning then Chamoising Big Red, the later done in the workshop, I blasted the pedal pads, steering wheel nut and the jaffle irons. Then Wade tells me Gina really wants a round double jaffle iron! Hmmmm, looks like Kath will be trolling eBay again! In the meantime the two round jaffle irons have received their first coat of stove paint with a second coat to follow tomorrow. Noel's parts were also painted but with that old workshop standby, POR-15. While I was painting Wade, having finished with Big Red, proceeded to start mocking up a platform on which to mount a seat on Noel's chassis. This is so it can be workshop driven and for driving on and off trailers in the near future. Wade's first thought for a seat was a plastic milk crate but that proved to be too high. Next option was one of a pair of bucket seats stored under the ramp going up to the rooftop carpark. They are John's and he was happy to see one of them put to use, albeit temporarily. After recovering one seat from its repository set about cleaning it. A bucket of suds, a scrubbing pad and away I went, although at first I suggested to Wade using the hose but he was averse to doing that. However, nearing the end of the cleaning, he must have thought my suggestion had some merit because the cleaning was finished off with a good hosing down! Took the seat into the workshop and it looked the goods on the piece of MDF on which it will be mounted. By chance it was the passengers side seat so suited the LHD chassis. Noel, cancel your plans for new upholstery. How about a pair of Ford Falcon bucket seats instead? One of which is now quite presentable, the other just needs a clean!

Also had a visit from John, Appin, who had suffered from a blown head gasket on his '40 110 Sedan as well as a manifold gasket on the start of the Packard run to Bathurst last Friday. Although John has a spare head gasket, Wade had a better one on the shelf and John is going to use that instead.

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Thursday 15th November 2012

Had a call from Noel before I left for the workshop. He was enquiring as to my availability late next week to go up to Mudgee, where his mate Tony has finished the body except for the boot(trunk) lid. Noel is going to pick up the body and bring it back to Sydney to be painted. And he and Tony are going to the paintshop this morning which Mat, packard34, had his '55 Caribbean repainted at. Wants to check them out before entrusting them with his Coupe. Noel was also amused with my comments yesterday about the seats and upholstery. Except Noel, I wasn't joking! You'd have the only '41 Packard Coupe like that in the world, one of one!

Then on the way to the workshop called into the hardware store and surprised Wade with nuts, bolts and washers to bolt the MDF to the chassis and the bucket seat to the MDF. To make the MDF level three pieces of 3" x 2" pine were used, 2 laid on the 2" side on the body mounts on the outside of the chassis, while the other piece was laid on the X of the X-member on the 3" side. Drilled a hole through each piece of 3" x 2" then measured up the distances between the holes selected as the mounting points. Thought triangulation was going to work but obviously didn't measure accurately enough as the hole for the X-member mount was out by 2and5/8"! That sorted, then turned to the seat itself. The seat mountings had suffered when removed from the car they came out of, plus one was much too long. No doubt it fits a Ford Falcon but it won't fit an MDF '41 Packard floor. Removed that mount then Wade fabricated a mount from some scrap brackets he has just for these type of occasions. Used about half the bracket selected, the other half will go back for the next call, and with some bending, Voila, a bracket! Also had to cut off the "ears" which held the captive bolts in place, these had been bent in the seats removal. Also freed up the seat travel mechanism by first running brake cleaner over it and operating it repetitively. Then the same procedure using WD40, works quite well now. Then mounted the seat on the MDF and marked through the footing brackets where holes were required in the MDF. This time didn't need a second go at it, although a couple of the holes were a bit tight. It's hard to get a marking implement under a low seat to mark the marks required. Then the seat came off for a welding repair. One of the original footing brackets spot weld had come apart, probably when it was removed. John did that in his inimitable daredevil no welding helmet fashion, he just closes his eyes! He did a good weld so must be fairly practiced in this technique. Bolted the seat in place and tightened up the MDF to chassis bolts then Wade had the honour of being first to sit behind the '41's wheel, which was now firmly bolted to the steering column with the nut painted yesterday.

Wade had also, while I was measuring and drilling holes in the MDF, fitted the painted pedal pads and new pedal rubbers to the brake and clutch pedals. Next little job was manufacturing a temporary fuel delivery system for the '41 and again an old 5 litre oil container of John's was chosen as the tank. After cleaning out the oil residue, I drilled two holes in the cap one for the fuel line the other much smaller as a vent. Filled the container with the fuel remaining from the 20 litre container, almost exactly 5 litres, couldn't have planned it better! Wade cut a piece of fuel line to length and inserted it in the container and to the fuel pump inlet. The chassis is now just about set to roll except it requires a throttle or accelerator. Looks like we're going back, way back, into time and use a hand throttle. But need a bowden cable, which will probably be mounted to the steering column to dashboard mount and that way will be convenient and reachable.

Wont be back in the workshop now till Tuesday, because Wade and PeterL, are off on their annual pilgrimage to the Bendigo Swap Meet. There, Wade hopes to pick up a suitable bowden cable for the chassis. By the way, when I arrived at the workshop Wade had put the '33 under the ramp again and I assisted in the final part of this by helping to put the cover over it again. This so he could park Big Red inside while he's at Bendigo. And this afternoon I'm off to see 3 out of the 4 grandkids!

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Tuesday 20th November 2012

Did it again, lost what I was typing by hitting the wrong button! You'd think after doing that umpteen times I would have learned my lesson, but no, I didn't! Probably wont be half as good, 'cause I thought I was typing up a storm, but that's for others to judge.

So, here we go again......Arrived at the workshop to find Wade and his Bendigo accomplice PeterL there. Peter had left his daily driver at the workshop and was picking it up for the trip home. Once Peter left, Wade dived into the bag of goodies he'd brought back but, unfortunately, there were no Packard parts. Among the goodies were Holden(local GM brand) hubcaps, don't ask, two NOS bowden cables, some cheap Chinese tools and some cheap fuel filters. Peter and Wade even brought back some trinkets for ME! Aww shucks, you shouldn't have! I made the mistake of saying that to Peter who thereupon immediately withdrew the offer. He was going to keep them himself but relented, he is a good guy. The trinkets comprised a 1 hour VCR of the 2003 PI Tour, an old club magazine with a gorgeous '41 on the cover, an old newspaper with a half page ad for the "Kimes" book on the back page and a couple of old photo albums. The albums were a gift from PepePackard and one of which comprised old photos of PACA members Packards. Included were a couple of photos of The Fossil from years ago.
fellers!
Unpacking and putting away done, first turned to the bowden cables. These although NOS, actually how old they were was unknown, so they were disassembled, cleaned, lubricated and reassembled. The shorter of the two cables was then selected for use in Noel's chassis with a trial fit determing where mounting brackets were required. Then into the scrap and bracket box resulting in two pieces being selected both of aluminium. A flat piece to mount the handle end of the cable to the edge of Noel's MDF floor board. The other, a 90 degree angled piece, to mount to the rearmost exhaust manifold stud. This one being roughly in a straight line behind the throttle butterfly lever at the base of the carb. Also sourced from a carb on the shelf, which was originally mounted on Old Blue when Wade bought her 20+ years ago, was a bowden cable clamp. This carb couldn't be made to work by Wade so as soon as he could it was replaced by a correct carb and then it went on the shelf where it has sat ever since.

Then into the fabrication phase. The piece of flat aluminium already had a number of holes in it, two of which were enlarged for bolting it to the MDF and a third so the bowden cable could be run through and bolted to it. This I did, while Wade was measuring and readying the angle for fitment first with the bowden cable clamp then drilling a hole to mount that sub assembly to the exhaust manifold stud. Positioned the bowden cable and tightened the clamp with the free end of the cable bent and through the end of the butterfly lever. Started up the 356, with a bit of a backfire this time, and it worked. Albeit poorly. Needed adjustment of the bowden cable clamp to allow better run of the cable and a new stronger return spring so the throttle closed properly. While doing this last bit Noel arrived and on start up was able to witness a working hand throttled 356, what a sight! Wade also advanced the timing after checking with the timing light, it had retarded slightly.

Noel was there to discuss and organise going to Mudgee on Thursday to pick up his Coupe body which Tony has finished doing except for the boot(trunk) lid. As part of these discussions we were joined shortly thereafter by Tony himself. The plan was to use the workshop car trailer towed by Wades Holden Ute for this job. But it almost fell apart on the spot. Although both Noel and I had mentioned it, there had been no formal approach to John. And literally 5 minutes before that was done John had had a call and lent out the trailer and it wasn't returning until Saturday! I should have spoken up earlier but assumed all was well, and you know what that means! Anyway long story short, John's booking agreed that he would forego Thursday and Friday and that we could use it. So another
is in order, both to John and to the guy who booked it. Noel also took the opportunity to sit behind the wheel of the Coupe, actually it was at my insistence, because he'd arrived at the workshop last Thursday and tried it out then but I wanted a photo now! Just as well he did because he mentioned the brake pedal seemed very low. On checking, no fluid in the M/C and leaks at the junction out of the M/C, at the fitting into the left front flexible hose and at the right front W/C. Wade wasn't impressed!

At this point Tony bade his farewell and shortly thereafter we were joined by IanH. Ian had been referred to Wade by SamI for advice regarding some of the mechanical aspects of his '36 120B Club Sedan restoration. Ian had bought the car about 39 years ago after a Packard club member found it for him and, now that he's semi-retired, is in the throes of completing it. Although there's still has a lot to do judging by his comments regarding the body work issues being addressed. Able to provide Ian with some advice and also a lower radiator hose pipe after it was explained a full rubber hose wasn't a good idea in that location. The pipe is the the one that was passed over once Noel received the NOS pipe that is now on his 356. And of course I had to get into the act wearing my other hat as Secretary of PACA, asking Ian if he'd like to join the club. Ian wasn't averse to having his photo taken and published here and expressed interest in our National Rally next year so there's some potential there. And I'll be following Ian up about that by email, Ian you have been warned!

Funny thing about losing the post earlier, in fact it was much earlier. I was trying to squeeze the post in before visiting some of the grandkids and that was over 5 hours ago. Then in resurrecting this post had most of this post done when we left, didn't shut down the laptop, and on my return an hour ago hit the Preview Button and it accepted it! Usually after a lapse of time the system times you out. I don't know why it didn't this time round but I'm grateful, although I had saved the partially completed post in Word anyway.

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Friday 23rd November 2012

Yesterday morning met Noel at the workshop and then headed off to Mudgee to pick up his '41 Coupe body. Now it's been over 40 years since I've driven a car towing a car trailer, let alone hooked one up, so I was glad to see Wade arrive at the workshop in time to help with this aspect. And so he should, after all, we are using HIS Ute! Don't know if there's an instructional DvD for this type of thing but irrespective, it wasn't needed, Wade gave an expert hands on, real time, tutorial. That done and with the Ute and trailer now downstairs off the roof carpark Noel and I loaded our gear in and off we went. But not far, actually only to fill up, then we were off in earnest. We'd arranged to meet Tony, Noel's mate who did the bodywork on the Coupe, at McGraths Hill about 40kms west although Tony lives locally. Noel rang Tony as we were leaving and, with our fuel stop, this allowed Tony to arrive at our meeting point before us. From there we followed Tony to Glossodia, another 14kms, to pickup a Hyundai Lantra which Tony is going to work on to return it to the road. Lantra on board then it was off in earnest to Riverlea which was another 193kms. But what happened to Mudgee? Riverlea is near Mudgee, but about 20kms short of it. It's easier to refer to Mudgee which is reasonably well known then Riverlea, which is not!

Arriving at Mudgee Riverlea found Tony's 66 acre property is on a cliff the side of a hill. And he pointed to the top of the hill about 1 km away and said "See those trees up there?" "Yes" I replied. "They're mine!" Seems like Tony is lord of all he surveys. Tony had bought the property about 10 years ago and first built a shed, where they lived at times while he built the house. A remarkable effort but Tony still doesn't live there full time although he takes every chance he can to spend time there. Don't blame him with kangaroos in abundance, brilliant parrots flitting around and he's even seen a platypus, a monotreme, in a nearby river. Very few Australians have seen one of these, let alone in the wild! Anyway, enough of the realtors pitch, on to what we came here for, a Packard body!

But first the Lantra. Stopped at the entrance to the property at the base of the cliff on the dirt track inside the front gate. It was so steep that the Ute, with the trailer and Lantra attached, wouldn't hold on the cliff slope with the handbrake fully on and in park. It just started sliding backwards down the cliff slope until this startled driver applied the brakes very hurriedly! Solved that by driving forward and off to the right so the Ute and trailer were across the face of the cliff slope. Unloaded the Lantra and drove the Ute and empty car trailer up to the shed which is above where the house is built. I believe Tony was first going to site the house where the shed is but sanity prevailed as not all his friends have 4 x 4's. As it is the dirt drive to the house is steep enough in itself!

First hurdle overcome next was a little R & R in seeing the Coupe. Tony has done a magnificent job in repairing floors, body, doors, boot(trunk) lid and although it's not quite as it left the factory you'd have to look hard to find where new meets old. Noel is particularly pleased with the job done. Because of my lack of current trailer maneuvering experience Tony, who often used a car trailer when he owned his panel shop, backed the Ute and trailer up to the shed's door. Then with the aid of a large come-along secured to the trailer and with some metal channels, left over pieces of the metal frame the house is constructed of, the Coupe was slowly winched aboard the trailer. To assist Tony in working on the Coupe's body he'd constructed a framework of square tubing atop some solid wheels and to which the body was bolted. During the winching process the channels were repositioned a number of times, the come-along repositioned once and the cowl variously moved right, left or left, right, or left, left, or right, right, you get the picture as Tony barked out commands to his wiling helpers while he operated the come-along. Also entailed a little muscle power to re-align the framework on a couple of occasions. Needless to say, under Tony's command, this operation was a resounding success. However we were short the necessary tie downs to secure this precious parcel of Packard panels. So the Ute, trailer and Coupe body were left as is while we retired to the house, that Tony built, for some rest and refreshments before going into Mudgee for dinner a little later. Yes, we actually did get to Mudgee and on the way purchased some tie downs at Supercheap Auto.

Next morning Tony, being a very early riser, had tied down the body to the trailer as well as likewise securing the steel framework before Noel or I had risen from the depths of our slumbers. Noel reckons it was because of the clean country air that he slept that well! Packed and ready to go Tony asked us to check the tie downs, one of which was found to have some slack in it! I don't know if this was a test or what, but it's always the drivers responsibility to check his load is properly secured! Tie down re-secured, Noel and I were then off on the trip to the body shop.

But shortly after we had we traversed the 3 kms of dirt road and were on the highway, the Ute beeped at me, we were low on fuel. While Tony had filled up at Lithgow on the trip up I'd foregone doing that believing I'd have enough fuel to at least get us back to Lithgow. Should have listened to the experienced traveller and, as well, I'd seriously underestimated the effect on the Ute's fuel economy of towing the trailer and Lantra then with the Coupe. Although the Coupe was at its aerodynamic best being rear first on the trailer, but any aerodynamic effect might have come slightly undone by the fact the boot(trunk) lid wasn't in place! Made it to Capertee, where we'd stopped for lunch yesterday and about 66 kms from Riverlea, so the warning has a good reserve built in. Although I was sweating all the way and trying not to show it! Didn't fill the tank, instead put 30 litres in with the expectation that would get us to Moorebank about 176 kms distant. Instead, approaching Blaxland, a mere 121 kms from Capertee the Ute again spoke to me, again we were low on fuel. Rather than risk another "splash and dash" we turned fully conservative and filled 'er up!

At the body shop, which we were able to make without the necessity for further refueling, arrived just as Frank the owner was outside the workshop. Is that deja vu all over again or what? Parked the Ute and trailer, with its precious pallette of Packard Parts, in front of the workshop then Frank and Noel went round the body with questions, answers and the like being bandied between the two. Then, while Frank went off to organise space and a forklift to aid in the unloading, I took off all the tie downs and fastenings. On Franks return with the forklift, a hand truck type model, it was obvious it wasn't going to work. Instead the boss, Frank, called forth some of his workforce and the front then the rear of the body were lifted and deposited on terra firma. From there the body was pushed around to a temporary parking space until an indoor space could be freed up for it later in the afternoon. Then came my finest feat of the trip, backing the trailer! For this Noel acted as my trailer eyes, standing behind the trailer and calling out directions. The main problem with backing a trailer is it's counter-intuitive to other aspects of driving. You have to fight your senses to make sure you turn the wheel in the opposite direction to which you want the trailer to go! I think that's the explanation but, if not, please be gentle. Explanations aside managed to accomplish that after only one restart, not bad for not having practiced for over 40 years. Hang on a moment, I'll just reach round and pat myself on the back!

Packard delivered, all that remained was to return the Ute to the workshop. Again this was accomplished without further beeps, or refueling required. There found that Wade, over the last couple of days, had fixed the brakes on the chassis. The leaking fittings weren't the right ones. He'd also been working on Big Red. And he'd just finished painting a 320 block with primer to 1) help preserve it and, 2) keep it clean. This was because Wade is travelling to attend a meeting the owner of the block is also attending. Wade's intention was to return it to its rightful owner. Except......he then found out the block's owner is flying to the meeting and thinks it might just be a little too big and heavy as hand luggage for the return flight!

EDIT - Now early afternoon Saturday in Sydney and I've made quite a few corrections to spelling, grammar, insertion of missing words, etc following from my wife's review of the story. Should have run it past the editor sooner rather than later!

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Tuesday 27th November 2012

Late morning start at the workshop, and when I arrived, found Wade and Michael working on Michael's '54 Convertible. Michael had purchased a front end rebuild kit from Kanters earlier this year and the time was now ripe for it to be fitted. The Convertible was up on the hoist with both front wheels and brake drums off. Wade and Michael were working on the left side suspension with a screw support under the lower A arm, I think that's what it's called, while bolts were undone. As parts were removed I assumed the role of parts cleaner, something I'm intimately familiar with. Wade's experience with Packards has been mainly with pre-WW2 and earlier cars so the suspension on the '54 was somewhat unfamiliar. However Michael had come equipped with a manual which had lots of exploded parts views as well as other documentation. Only removed the left side and started re-assembling components with the parts from the kit today. Also made use of one of the spacers fabricated by Chris to use to set the width of the upper and lower arms when they are torqued to 90-95 ft/lbs, nifty special Packard parts. Assembled the upper arm, using Chris's spacer while the lower A arm was partially re-assembled. It'll be completed tomorrow but I wont be there, instead I'll be painting a ceiling and visiting grandkids, it's a hard life. But will make a workshop pit stop at some stage between finishing the painting and going off to see the grandkids.

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Wednesday 28th November 2012

Pitstop at the workshop revealed the left front suspension rebuild of the '54 to be almost finished. Wade and Michael have installed the upper arm, the spring and the lower A arm, which has the longer of Chris's 2 spacers in place. A new kingpin has been installed and they were in the process of reattaching the 'upright', my term, when I left them to it. Also still to be reinstalled is the shock absorber.

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Mal, the last photo reminds me of a comment from a woman customer (many, many years ago). We had doing some work in the top and bottom of another customer's engine. To do this we had the front of the car jacked up to work underneath and a stool next to one of the front tires on which to stand to work on the top of the engine. After watching us work on the top, she said: "Why do you guys jack up a car then use a stool to work on the engine?" So, retorically (sp.?) speaking: Why did Wade raise the car on the lift so high that he had to stand on crates to work on the car?

(o[]o)

Quote:John,

It's conjecture on my part, because I wasn't there when they did most of the work yesterday, but I think it's because of installing the lower A arm and spring. The height required to do that would have to be at an acceptable level. It entails using a long screw support to support the end of the A arm when the spring goes back in and before the upper pin is buttoned down. The reverse procedure was used when the spring was removed on Tuesday, when I was there, so I'm trying to imagine what was required yesterday. So yesterday, once the support was in place, it stayed there until the upper pin was installed and then the support was taken out. I saw that part! In the meantime plastic milk crates, a great workshop resource, were pressed into service for access to the upper pin at an acceptable height. In some of both days pics you can see the screw support.

Mal, this is what I believed to be the case. My question was a bit tongue in cheek. It still makes a great photo. Maybe we could start a caption contest for it? Inject a bit o' humor into the situation. We can all use a laugh from time to time. We could have the respondents agree to donate $5 to Big Kev for each caption. The winner gets something from Wade's Workshop. You be the judge.

Here is my caption contribution: "Wade, won't this lift go any higher?"

Go for it guys, it is a worthy cause.

(o[]o)

Friday 30th November 2012

Quick pitstop only at the workshop where I found the left front suspension had been completed and Wade in the midst of disassembling the right front suspension. Wade was fighting with the upper shock absorber nut which was turning freely. However it succumbed, following a tip from John, using vise grips applied to the piston shaft and a rattle gun on the nut!

And an aside, and there are plenty in this Blog! Yesterday when passing RichardW's house at Eastwood I saw a '23 23/60 Vauxhall on a car trailer in his driveway and thought I'd get a pic of it on my return trip. Lucky I was back about 15 minutes later because any longer and I'd have missed the photo op completely. As I arrived Max Stephenson, the Vauxhalls owner, was preparing to leave and I learnt it was to deliver the car for shipment to South America to participate in the The Great South American Challenge 2013 - February 14 to March 24. Max and son James have competed in and completed many long distance rallies around the world, including the Peking to Paris and the London to Capetown World Cup Rally, in the Vauxhall which is called "Penny". To learn more about the South American Rally go to the H&H Classic Rallies Website and follow the links.

Quote:John,

Sounds good, however I'm not sure what we could offer from the workshop as a prize! Old, dirty, rusty and, might I say, highly valuable Packard parts are probably not going to be easily prised out of Wades grasp. Hmmmm, wonder what else might be suitable? In the meantime, while I contemplate what might be a suitable prize, lets get those entries rolling in! Remember the judges decision is final, no correspondence will be entered into and entries close at midnight on Christmas Eve.

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