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Packard 51,

Great job on getting things cleaned up!

I learned a neat trick for masking off parts that you don't want to paint: aluminum foil! Easy to bend around, masking tape sticks well, and it is re-usable. Below is a fuzzy photo of the 38 getting the front of the frame painted.

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Thanks Owen...I called Valspar, the manufacturer of the tractor paint I saw at the store and they told me right away that I need to use high temp paint. They didn't even ask what temperature it was going to be at. I think I will pick up that brand because they had a lighter gray that looked nice. It's a lighter version of Ford gray. The Massey gray looked too dark. I'll check out the Krylon selection too because I didn't last time I was there (not knowing it was an option).

34PackardRoadsta...That is a great tip! Never thought of that before. I will definately keep it in mind when I paint the frame. Thanks for that.

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10-14-10

Yesterday, I got the engine painted and today I removed the masking tape. I think it turned out pretty good. I'm happy with the gray color (a lot better than the aluminum I thought I would be stuck with). Thanks for letting me know I could use regular paint!

Next is painting the frame...

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10-17-10

Originally, I was going to remove the steering parts and clean them up separately. That seems like a lot of work for little benefit, so I decided to keep it in the car. Problem is...now I have to degrease it! I did the best I could to protect the freshly painted engine from spraying gunk, but I got some on the bottom of the engine. Cleaned up pretty well with a couple of sprays of degreaser and a nylon brush the size of a toothbrush. Noticed some of the paint came off in spots after cleaning. I guess those were not clean enough when I painted. I will have to go back and touch those up before reassembly.

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10-17-10 continued...

Spent some time tinkering with the media blaster. Finally found a way to get it to keep going without blowing a fuse. Resorted to running an extension cord from the front of the house outside outlet to the garage to light the overhead light while keeping everything off in the garage to keep the compressor running. Once all the little bugs were fixed (clogging media, attaching water trap to lines, dust blocking visibility) it worked quite well. Actually was fun when it was blasting at full strength.

Took some time to put the lower arm in the cabinet and blasted at some of the areas the wire brush couldn't get too. Wasn't too particular since most of this part will not be seen anyway. Just want to keep future rust at bay.

Cleaned up the ignition wire bracket, bolts for the lower arm, pins for holding the brake shoes in place, stabilizer bar brackets, spacer from lower arm, the shock and nuts. Noted etching on spacer that had an arrow with 1/2 degree on it. Not sure what that means. Also was able to see the number on the shock (shown in pics name).

After that, gave everything a coat of rusty primer. I don't think I will be buying paint at Walmart anymore. First the silver paint I bought dribbled paint on the top and caused a mess. Now this can did the same thing! Had to use it though since I only had this can. It caused some drips, but it's only the suspension so I'm not worried about it.

Once that was dry, I gave everything a coat of gloss black paint.

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You're not seriously going to reuse that shock are you?

Yes...until I get a new one which won't be until next year. It will serve as a place holder for now. I'll have to source that out. I'm not going to be driving it anytime soon.

Hmmm...cheaper and easier to find than I thought!

rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php

Or you could just take it down to your local parts store and look through their Monroe catalog for a similar shock that has the same mountings and compressed/extended length. Pretty simple to do if you find a competent parts guy.

Much easier to replace it now then to have to tear into it again after everything has been painted.