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Saturday 1st June 2013

Although officially the first day of Winter here, found Wade had progressed markedly since I left him late yesterday afternoon. Fleurette's engine was up on blocks on the assembly bench with Wade wanting to turn it on it's side. Graeme Wilkins had come over about 7:30pm last night and reamed out the K-Liners to fit the valve stems. All valves are now in, the new timing gears and chain installed, the timing case bolted up including the timing pointer and harmonic balancer installed. Other things Wade attended to were installing the new head studs and re-installing the carb studs and brass fittings to the inlet manifold. Reason Wade wanted to lay the engine over was to torque the rod bolts. Ended up we had to call upon John to give us a hand with the engine. With a whole lot of iron, steel and aluminium(aluminum) now bolted together all that weight needed extra hands to get it to behave in the manner required. While the engine was on it's side the cover was taken off the oil pickup, given a final clean, the cover put back on and the pickup bolted in. Wade also attended to the seals down each side of the rear main bearing cap. Then I gasket cemented up the four piece sump(pan) gasket, both sides, and Wade gasket cemented the sump and block surfaces. Sump back on, and all bolts tight, the engine was then returned to the vertical and supported by blocks of wood fore and aft. Wade's next task is setting the tappets cold, using 0.002/0.003" over hot settings. Lot easier to set the tappets this way then when the engine is back in Fleurette. Must say the technique works, well it did for me. I set the tappets in the Coupe this way when the engine was rebuilt 4 years and 10,000 miles ago. No noises or any adjustments required to date. Then because Wade is working through the weekend(Noel, you won't believe Wade's overtime bill when you get it!) a car shuffle was required. Fleurette was moved from the bay next to the hoist into the hoist bay. Needed to do it today otherwise Wade would have found it hard to move her himself without extra muscle to help. That's where I left it for today with Big Red moved over to John's section of the shop, one of Ricks's vans moved out of the way and Fleurette ready to go up on the hoist. When the time comes for the engine to go back in, with Fleurette on the hoist, the front wheels can come off to permit the engine crane's "legs" to slide under without access impediments. Will return to the workshop tomorrow, a very rare Sunday occurrence, to help as and where required(Noel, you won't believe the apprentice's overtime bill either!).

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Sunday 2nd June 2013

Before heading to the workshop rang Wade and asked "Are you hungry"? He was. So, on my way, supermarket shopped for the makings of bacon and egg rolls, have to keep Wade's Packard energy levels high, don't we? But shhhhh......the less said about cholesterol levels the better. On arrival fired up the BBQ and, Besides Wade, also fed John and his friend Peter who were at the workshop too.

Breakfast over turned then to Fleurette which, when I arrived, had the engine sitting in front of her hanging off the engine crane. But, by the time breakfast came and went, Wade had the engine positioned in the engine bay ready for the final tweaks of up, down, right, left, push, pull, etc, etc for final placement. Wade was on the creeper under Fleurette while I operated the crane for the ups and downs and manhandled the engine for the rights and lefts and pulls and pushes, etc. It's always the final piece that takes the longest, usually because splines aren't quite aligned, but finally it all came together. Bolted up the trans to the bellhousing top then installed the bellhousing bottom, having to leave two bolts out for the engine pipe bracket which gets bolted on as the last piece of the undercar puzzle. I mentioned earlier that Wade was on his creeper for the engine re-install. This continued to the end of the bellhousing bolt installation when, on sliding out from under Fleurette, Wade expressed the view it needn't have been that way, instead he should have just raised Fleurette on the hoist to a comfortable working height!

The oil pressure line fitting was reconnected and the road draft tube refitted and next the fuel pump installed and then the intake/exhaust manifold assembly. The manifold assembly took some doing after a trial fit revealed it wouldn't. Being RHD the gear change linkages and the steering box preventing a fit from happening. The gear linkages were disconnected, the easy part, while the steering box was unbolted from the frame, the harder part. Still not enough space, so disconnected the steering column from it's underdash bracket. But still not enough clearance so disconnected the cross arm from the pitman arm and moved the steering box up to the top of the frame and tied it back to hold it away from the manifold. Finally, it fitted. Then the fun part Wade loves, applying the sealant to the manifold gaskets. Besides the gaskets, Wade managed to get a pretty good cover of it on his hands as well. Then it was still another struggle to get the manifold assembly on to the studs even after all that had gone before, trial fit included! But wait, there's more! The brass manifold nuts were of two sizes 9/16" AF and 5/16" Whitworth. Plus not just two nut sizes there were also two different threads, fine and coarse, on the studs. But.....there was no correlation of threads to nuts either, what a mixture! And unless you have extremely tiny hands you have almost no chance of getting some of this mismatch of nuts/threads to be affixed to their respective studs. I'm pretty sure by now that "Perseverance" must be Wade's middle name because he never lets these things beat him, he just perseveres! All nuts finally on, the next drama is tightening them. With space at a premium small ring spanners, to fit most nuts, were sorely lacking. 9/16" AF wasn't a problem, but 5/16" Whitworth was. Wade has a 5/16" offset ring spanner, OK for the nuts at each end of the manifold they, unlike all the others, are out in the open. But no 5/16" Whitworth flat ring spanner required for the confined spaces under the manifold. The solution was a 15mm flat ended ring spanner of John's, fitted a little loosely but, did the job........pheeeew! After reconnecting the gear linkages then turned to reinstalling the steering box. Another mismatch of bolts and nuts had been used here. And because, I wasn't paying close enough attention when putting nuts to bolts, resulted in the partial stripping of the thread on one bolt, luckily only at the end of the bolt concerned. A closer examination of these bolts and nuts, rematching nuts to bolts, re-tapping two nuts and re-cutting two bolts finally enabled all the steering box bolts to be successfully re-installed. The right inner fender panel was also placed "in situ", and will be bolted up later, remembering Wade's struggle the last time in getting it back in.

During all this, exactly when I can't remember because it was a looong day, Noel arrived. He'd brought with him the new Helms Springs hubcap clips, made of stainless steel, they look great! Noel's mate Tony is coming to the workshop tomorrow and will remove the old clips and install the new ones in their place. Noel also shouted us lunch, which ended up being from Macca's because of the lack of offerings from the local shopping centre. And while Noel and I were out chasing lunch Wade had re-installed the starter motor and also the generator and oil filler tube.

The head was also re-installed after cleaning block and head surfaces of any over-paint from Bill Hirsch's fine product as well as of any grease, oil, dirt, etc. Then while Wade torqued the head down, in increments to 63 ft/lbs, I first re-gapped Noel's spark plugs then tidied up the workshop and benches and put the tools away. Then at 6:45pm, Wade was taking the opportunity to accept John's hospitality and going to partake of a roast lamb and vegetables dinner. At least he'll have one good meal today! However after dinner Wade will return to the workshop, where he'll finish the inner fender panel, plumb in the lines from fuel pump to carburettor and vacuum lines, maybe re-install the carburettor and linkages, and more.

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Monday 3rd June 2013

This morning, again 'Breakfast-by-Mal' provided the catering for Wade at the workshop, but this time a much healthier offering, Muesli. Not being Muesli eaters in our household I was confused when confronted by the vast array of different Muesli products available in the supermarket, so glad the one finally selected was to Wade's taste. Also found that overnight, and early morning, Wade had installed the carburettor, distributor, fuel and vacuum lines, fan and belt, the horns, coil, etc, etc. But during the horns install, they'd slipped and broken the rotor in the open distributor. Although it was "suggested" I needn't report on this mishap, I felt it better to do so than not, after all accidents do happen. Besides, Wade was able to supply a replacement off the magic parts shelf.

Next was re-installing the radiator/grill assembly into Fleurette. Because Fleurette has sidemounted spares Wade hadn't taken the front clip off because of the extra work required in demounting and remounting the sidemounts. Apparently it had been a struggle getting the radiator/grill assembly out doing it this way and it proved an even greater struggle to get it back in. Lots of the up, down, in, out, right, left, push, pull, curse, swear, etc, etc before being accomplished. Then it was bolting the grill assembly to the mudguards(fenders), including the chrome trim strips and remounting the headlights. During all this Tony, Noel's mate, had come and removed the old hubcap clips from Fleurette's front wheels and riveted in the new Helms Springs hubcap clips. Tony even lent a hand with the radiator/grill assembly re-install, keeping an eye and detailing instructions on the bolt under the centre of the radiator collar, to ensure it mated with the hole in the chassis. This because, on our previous attempt, the bolt missed the hole and was forced out of it's retaining clip in the bottom of the collar. Meant we had to pull the assembly out, retrieve the bolt, bend the retaining clip sufficiently to permit the bolt to be reinserted and rebend the clip so it held the bolt properly. Fortunately it all worked that time, no doubt due to Tony's deft instructions enabling the bolt to find it's hole without mishap.

With the radiator/grill assembly now installed, radiator hoses were attended to together with the heater shut off valve and the heater pipe from the water pump to the heater. But the heater pipe proved to be a problem the gland nut, I think it's called, on the pipe couldn't be turned on the pipe by hand and even use of a spanner(wrench) and penetrants/lubricants provided no joy. With time running out, rather than try to fix this, it was gone around with a plug installed in the waterpump while the heater shut off valve on the head was indeed shutoff. By this time Noel had returned, he'd called in earlier, and we'd also had a visit from Ross. So Noel was there to be told the heater was temporarily inoperative. This rankled a bit with Noel who'd pursued the installation of a correct heater, including the heater pipe, relentlessly only to now be told that with Winter upon us, it wasn't working! Another water problem was a leak at the temp gauge sender unit fitting, the nut having been 'rounded off' proved extremely resistant to be properly tightened.

And then the coup de grace. What? No, not a Packard Coupe, but a 'coup de grace'. On attempting to start Fleurette, for the first time since rebuild, there was a terrible noise coming from, it was thought, the starter motor. Earlier today the engine had been cranked over and oil pressure brought up, as evidenced on the oil pressure gauge, and at that time there were no noises. So pulled the starter motor, which Wade disassembled, and found an oil and dirt buildup which could have been inhibiting the bendix mechanism and reinstalled the starter. Still no joy, the noise was still there. Pulled starter again and this time the bendix was jammed at the end of the starter snout. There was a small amount of joy though, Fleurette does run! During the last of the very noisy starting episodes Fleurette did run, albeit very briefly, being shut down almost as soon as she started. But with the day drawing to a close this last episode finally killed off any chance that both Fleurette and Noel could journey to Eden together next weekend for our Packard Club run. Wade is returning to his new home of less than a week, after a four day absence, he'll appreciate sleeping in his own bed and not on the old sofa in the workshops office. So next we'll see of Wade is at Eden in Big Red. He's put in a huge effort trying to get Fleurette ready for Eden but time and events have conspired to prevent that happening.

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Wednesday 5th June 2013

Late last Friday picked up the Coupe after the front seat was reupholstered and new carpet fitted. Today, took some pic's of the new seat, carpet, door sill and......the new Packard crested floor mats courtesy of one tabletennissport. Had to drop into the workshop this morning to pick up the floor mats, which were in Fleurette's boot(trunk). As well picked up the door handles which were on Fleurette's rear floor for PAC052, courtesy of one DAF(I think). It was only on returning home did I see an email, received after I'd left, asking me to also pick up a PACA Name Badge in the glovebox. Lucky I'm going back down tomorrow anyway, have to clear PACA's PO Box, so all is not lost. Also, in preparation for the PACA run to Eden on the weekend, filled the Coupe with 91 Unleaded. Took 67.17 Litres(Liters) = 14.76 Imperial Gallons or 17.17 US Gallons, certainly needed it. Will clean and pack the car tomorrow in preparation for an early morning start on Friday, picking up Noel on the way seeing Fleurette is still inconvenienced.

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Mal, your '41 One-twenty just keeps getting better and better. Very nice job on the interior. I like the floor mats. Can you still get full throttle with the new and thicker carpeting?

(o{}o)

John,

Don't know yet, driving the Coupe home last Friday and then again yesterday didn't present any full throttle challenges! But I don't expect any problems in that respect. Before the new carpet there was a larger than necessary hole through the old carpet for the accelerator pedal rod which I'd "bushed" with a rubber pad to keep out the draft. Although I have a lead foot, this is a Packard and expects to be driven in a reasonably sedate manner. But with well over 1,000kms of driving coming up on the weekend I'm sure there'll be moments when full throttle is called for.

Has this been the end of "Wade's Workshop"???????????

Tuesday 25th June 2013

Lyndon,

No, at least, not yet! Since the PACA run to Eden neither Wade nor I have been to the workshop. That is until yesterday when Wade called me to let me know he was there and would be until Wednesday. Unfortunately I was still tied up with other things although I did arrange to borrow a compression gauge for a side project which was done today. Then missed Wade by about 2 minutes when I dropped in to pick up the gauge. Wade did tell me that his now close neighbour PeterL had lent him a starter motor which he was going to try on Fleurette, but I don't know how that turned out.

Back to today and the side project. This actually grew out of the Eden run and a local Packard on our first stop of the trip to Eden. A small group arranged to meet at Fairy Meadow, about 90kms into the trip. There we were met by local resident and PACA member Eleanor who with her husband Phillip have a '22 126 Tourer. But because Phillip is now in a nursing home the '22 is going up for sale in the near future. Eleanor had previously contacted PACA for ideas on value at which the '22 could be offered. Also learnt the '22, a mostly original survivor in great condition, had been parked about 9 years and not driven since. Arranged with Eleanor to visit her and the '22 on our return journey from Eden so we could see and photograph the car. But, unbeknownst to Eleanor, during the Eden run I approached DavidM, himself the owner of a '22 Sport Tourer, with a request "would he consider looking at Eleanor's '22 with a view to getting it running?" And he would! After all a car is a lot more saleable and valuable if it's running, rather than if it's not. Was able to inform Eleanor of this, that is if she'd like to do that, and she would. All that remained then was to tee-up a date and time for this to happen.

And so it came to pass, yesterday was the appointed day for the '22 to return to life. In preparation I'd purchased 10 litres, about 10 quarts, of oil in case an oil change was required. While David provided tools, also a spare starter motor(just in case), and the skill and experience required for a Packard of this vintage. A factor in David's availability was that he and wife Veronique had an appointment close by in Wollongong on the day which certainly was fortuitous. David and I also provided numerous empty containers 1) in case they were needed for the oil change, and 2) to drain the old fuel into from the '22. As it turned out an oil change wasn't needed, the oil having been changed just before the '22 went into hibernation. But the containers certainly were required for the fuel tank drain which, fortunately, only had about 10/15 litres of rotten, stinking fuel in it.

But before we got that far, the old battery was replaced temporarily by an Optima battery David had pulled out of one of his Packards. David also filled the vacuum tank with fresh fuel, and after replacing a section of perished flexible fuel line(the '22 is also equipped with an electric pump plumbed into the fuel delivery system) a start attempt was made. I should also mention that we'd been joined in this venture by another local PACA member Geoff shortly after we'd arrived at Eleanors. So there were 3 direct witnesses when the '22 sprang to life, but not for long, after not too much cranking! Ran well, no misses, but ran too fast, it wouldn't idle. Turned out the hand throttle was stuck causing that glitch. But the main reason why David shut down the '22 down was oil pressure, or rather the lack of it!

At that point David and Veronique left to attend to their appointment while Geoff and I attended to some minor matters awaiting their return. During their absence the plan was to pull the plugs, drain and refill the sump and drain the fuel tank. Plugs were pulled, all looked good. But before their re-installation, in light of the apparent oil pressure problem, David was going to turn the motor over to at least get oil circulated. But it turned out the oil didn't need changing. Phillip's comprehensive notes showed the oil had just been changed before the '22 went into hibernation. But we learned something about '22's, they don't have a dipstick! Instead, there's a petcock on the side of the sump which you open to determine if the oil level is sufficient. If oil comes out, it is. If oil doesn't come out, it's either right at the level or is too low! Later David said it was the first '22 he's seen where the rod to operate the petcock was still present! After all it is a very original car! However I did check the oil level in a more traditional way by threading a straightened coat-hanger down through the oil filler tube and past crankshaft and rods, it came up with lovely golden oil on it! Draining the fuel tank was a breeze, which we could have used some of to dissipate the foul smell from the oil smell when it drained. Also poured in some new fuel and allowed it to drain out, to flush the tank somewhat, before replacing the drain plug and pouring in the new fuel which Geoff had procured while David and Veronique were out.

Soon after David and Veronique returned, Eleanor provided us with lunch then it was back to the '22. Cranking the '22 over showed some movement on the oil pressure gauge so the plugs went back in. However before starting again David tried to adjust the hand throttle linkage without success so disconnected it instead so at least it wouldn't run too fast too early. Started up again but a problem arose, the water pump wasn't turning! Instead the fan belt was burning up as it passed over the pulley, this explained the burning smell from the first start up! David tried loosening off the gland nut but to no avail, the water pump still didn't turn. David was reluctant to take the pump off the car because by now time was running out. And, after discussions with Eleanor, it was decided a local car club member familiar with these things be contacted to determine whether he would be able to attend to that and he could but not until next week. David feels the packing is too tight and has bound up on the shaft, preventing it from turning. And here's where Phillip's note books again came in handy as one of the last jobs done on the '22 was the waterpump, so there could be a cause and effect there.

We left Eleanor with the knowledge that the '22 runs. Again credit must go to Phillip who obviously maintained the car very well because really all it needed to run was a fresh battery and fresh fuel. While I had congratulated David for his work, when it first started up, I changed that to thanking Phillip after a little reflection on the "ease" in which starting up was accomplished. On returning to David's saw the broken fan from his '29 Roadster, a blade had broken off after about an hour into the run to Eden. David and Veronique had then returned home and changed from the Roadster to the '29 7 passenger Sedan and restarted the run, but that's another story. Also saw a number of other projects being worked on in David's shed but I'll leave those for an update later when I'll also attach some pic's because I'm running out of time now. I'm off for babysitting duties, which have been our paramount activity since returning from Eden.

Good to hear the Packard adventures continue! I was just concerned that with Wade's move north may have spelled the end.

The '22 sounds interesting.

Cheers
Lyndon

Do you have enthanol "enriched" fuel in Australia?