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still around, thanks for asking. I just finished putting the new rack and pinion in my Z3 last weekend. no blog for that, just greasy work. gotta get an alignment now.

Next is fixing the water neck on the 70 dart, leaking a drip of antifreeze every second or so from the seal.

As for the 55 I'm waiting on that reproduction heater plenum box I've been working with the vender on for almost a year now. at that point I will get the firewall pad and start mounting everything under the dash including the wiring harness.

after that will be front windshield and side windows. bumpers, grille, then interior. I'm about done...doesn't seem like much, but it'll take a bit of work.

I am going with an aftermarket universal harness like many have suggested. I got over my fear of them and since I'm going with dual EFI at some point...this will make it a snap. I'm also going to neg ground.

after that will be back to the 37 and a new harness for it as a winter project I'm thinking. a few other things on it will need work as well.

btw....the carbs found a new home, but so did a set of 1937 Texas plates....which just happened to be on my 37 when my Grandfather owned it. what are the odds of that....about as crazy as finding those carbs I'd say.

Hank, thanks for the update. Good to hear from you. You have been a busy guy. My "bonding" experience with the Avanti continues. Now time to get out in the garage and get in a couple hours of work to remedy a leaking fuel pump. Bye.

(o[]o)

def want to fix that pump, don't want a fire!

a bit of an update on the heater plenum for the 55 and probably 56 if nothing changed from 55.

the vender sent me some photos today of the early stages of the mock up. looking good and it will be for sale to the public when it is done. I will be working with them to work out any small issues that may come up from fitment, etc. but, fingers crossed, future Packard owners will have a repo solution.

they are working on the separating plate that goes inside the plenum and the backing as you can see on the table in the photo and probably the flapper. I think the idea is to sell this as a kit to be assembled with the hardware from the old unit and riveted together, but I'm not sure.

Thanks to Ross again for the original unit.

any suggestions feel free to chime in, but remember this is the early stages.

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Looks nice. Are they going to do something for the two cardboard defroster elbows that seem to fall apart too or just the plenum.

so far just the plenum. I do have my original defroster elbows, but I'm not sure if they are good enough for them to use or if they would even be interested. this project has been going for nearly a year now with tons of emails back and forth.

I'll have to ask them what they think.

Good you have the originals. Too bad they are two different sizes which makes the tooling costs less attractive. If they are not interested in making the repros at least you have the inside dimensions.

If yours are in really sad shape you could always make a pattern and use expanding foam like Packard did with the factory AC ducts. I made new ducts for my AC project and the foam should work very well for the defrost ducts. Walls would be a bit thicker so not quite original but is under dash and not seen.

I don't believe the vender is interested in the ducts, but like you said they are easy to reproduce at home. i'll ask them again though as he actually didn't respond to the email at all.

we are getting ready to ship the first run of the heater plenum to me for fitment and testing. as part of that I will need a new firewall pad which they make. can you guys look at the schematic attached and make sure the holes look to be right? they look okay to me from first glance. I don't really have a good old one to look at to compare though.

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The repro pad layout looks good to me but it appears to be a 56 pad with the two slots for the brake suspension brackets. The 55 brake pedal arrangement is different with the single bracket above and to the right of steering column. From the looks of the photos I borrowed from the AC install manual you may need to be prepared to cut a square opening in the pad just to the right of the inward slot to accommodate the bracket.

I don't have a regular pad but for reference here is one that was on a 56 Factory AC car that had the AC modifications cut into the pad. The non AC cars do not have the two extra holes for the blower and evaporator tubing on the left side. The right side air vent opening is closed on this pad but would be open on a non AC car.

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thank you very much for this information. that is a good catch on the year and the brake bracketing.

I took a pic of what is left of my original 55 pad. some things are missing, but I can tell most of what is different. some of the holes were smaller and I marked the size they should be. is there anyone out there that has one not missing the pieces that are gone on mine that could show a pic? if not its okay.

I also made modifications to the schematic to show what is needed to change to convert this to a 55 pad with no a/c. I can't really tell how the hole is made for the 55 brake bracket, so I just kinda made it up on the schematic as best I could. any thoughts on that?

any additional input is appreciated before I send this off to the vender. Please remember this will benefit us all, especially if this heater plenum gets done right. no more searching for a good used one....just order a new one.

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Here are a couple of thoughts I have.

I doubt they will make two pads so if the brake openings could be accommodated with knock outs that the installer could remove as needed that would make a nice finished product for either year.

I have no idea if the pads will be installed on new bare firewall restos or if some may try to keep the dash and wire loom mostly intact while installing. If someone wants to install without disconnecting or removing the wire loom then leaving the edges you marked as closed on the 55 pad more like the 56 and open to the holes will be necessary.

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