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Mal - I actually own and run a Rhino Linings shop here in MN. I've sprayed dozens of running boards for local builders here. It doesn't surprise me that they didn't turn out as good as you would have liked. It sounds like Peter is new to Rhino? The process for rhino is unlike any other coating. You really have to know what your doing, and you need to literally spray thousands of gallons of material before you're good at it. There's two types of machines that can spray the chemicals, and each one can do a good job. I've got both types of machines, and you have to spray completely different with one vs. the other. From the sounds of it Peter is using the low pressure machine. It doesn't produce anywhere near 15000psi. It's more like 5psi with about 80psi of air pressure for atomizing the liquid. The pooling effect you have is because he applied too thick a coating and not enough air pressure with each pass, and didn't allow enough time between coats. I also own the high pressure machine. It's more like a pressure washer in that it pumps the two components at about 2000psi and the pressure atomizes the liquid out of the tip of the gun. With this machine you couldn't get the effects you have, unless you set the machine up incorrectly which is a possibility.

You do have the option of stripping the rhino off. If you choose that route, let me know and I can talk you through it.

As far as the holes, he should have filled them prior to spraying. Your not stuck with them that way however. Get some black windshield urethane. I like 3M Superfast Urethane. Use that to fill the holes. Just spread some into the holes, then clean the surrounding area with acetone to wipe any extra off from around the holes. When cured, it's quite similar to rhino. I use it to fill holes and imperfections prior to spraying because you can spread it and smooth it. Then when you spray, they just disappear.

Regarding your timeline, he should have had them back to you in one day. I can spray 3 full size trucks and have the owners drive them home the same day, every day of the week. My guess is that he screwed them up at least once, had to strip off the coating and try again. Which is why he's telling you he can't do anything more for you. He doesn't know how.

Believe it or not, smaller parts are actually harder to spray and have them come out looking good. You have to remember that this equipment is really designed around doing pickup boxes. Large flat areas that need a lot of material laid down very quickly. Even if a person is a world class painter, it doesn't mean they can spray Rhino. Most of the time if the person has been a painter for a long time, it's very hard for them to spray rhino well. Rhino isn't paint, and doesn't act like paint. It goes from a liquid to a solid in less than 30 seconds. Each new coat hardens quicker and quicker because rhino is exothermic. It builds more heat with each coat, cooking the newest coat.

Rhino has a lot to offer the car restoration people, and you can bet that my Clipper will be wearing some. I'm even making all new body mount bushings out of it. I encourage anyone to use it in there projects (especially if they live near my shop :) ) just make sure the person spraying your job has the experience to do it correctly.

Mal, I'm very sorry that you had to go through this. Nothings worse than having to put a part on your car that you're not happy with. Let me know if you've got any questons regarding rhino or how to salvage your boards.

Keegan

Wednesday 30th September 2009

Just a photo session at the workshop this morning because there wasn't anything there I could do with my limited skills. Wade's been working away on some little things on the '34 and Big Red since I saw him last week. On the '34 he's installed the bracket/hinge for the top cowl vent but it isn't bolted to the vent yet. He has to get some rubber to seal the vent and that will be done then as part of the process of holding the vent in place to secure the rubber when it's glued in. Also installed the rubber weather strips along the top of each door. And here's one of the reasons why it takes so long restoring an old car, each strip took an hour to an hour and a half to secure in place. Wade wasn't able to slide them in, as the ravages of time conspired against this being that easy to do. Instead he had to "knead" the strip into it's channel inch by inch along the top of each door. While for Big Red Wade's part way through installing some NOS courtesy or foot lights for the rear seat passengers. These are being installed in the bottoms of the rear fenders just above the running boards and will light up when the door is opened. Wade tells me he got these in a trade from Mat(Packard34) who originally intended to use them on his '34. Wade is waiting on some engine parts for Big Red and once those arrive progress there should pick up. He also said he's going to do the engine swap for John's '39 110 soon and is planning a re-shuffle in the workshop to accommodate that. I've put my hand up to drive the '39 to the workshop so I can add it to the list of Packards I've driven or ridden in, currently a very small list.

Quote:
West,

The texture on mine is smooth, but there are some runs/ripples in it even though it sets very quickly(hard to escape the laws of gravity!). Peter in applying it used a very fine spray and did not deliberately stipple(texture) it on the final passes. I have spoken previously with Dave Mitchell, a very nice guy, and will do so again soon. Besides the advice yesterday from Harvey, in speaking with Wade today a few other thoughts have been raised. In the meantime I'm letting the boards cure in the backyard in the direct sunlight. The running board saga continues......

Keegan,

Just saw your post(because I'm having a lot of trouble today with PackardInfo dropping out intermittently but luckily I've been saving what I've been typing along the way, cumbersome but necessary at times) and will take on board what you've said. In Peter's defence there are some extenuating circumstances as to why the Rhino'ing process apparently dragged on for a month. Peter actually runs an automotive repair business specialising in Mini Minors and Suzuki's, the Rhino spraying part was set up in a shed at his home in a semi-rural area of northern Sydney. But with his wife dying about 6 months ago and a young daughter to care for he's relocated his home and also the Rhino spraying equipment but hasn't set it up permanently. The Rhino equipment was installed in a large 10 x 9 metre shed, but in the workshop he's cramped for space and has it fitted up in a box at present. I had hoped to take a pic of the equipment but all I got was the box otherwise you could tell he which type he had. So Rhino is a sideline to his main business and I believe that where the delays came from as he set his priorities.

NOTE - loading text first then adding pic's later because of the problems I'm having keeping PackardInfo on-line!

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Thursday 1st October 2009

Took the '41 Coupe down to the workshop today so a few things could be attended to before our Packard club run on Sunday to Tuggerah about 50 miles north. However on arriving I found Wade engaged with fixing the armoured ignition cable on the '34. The tabs/tangs behind the ignition switch were broken or deformed and Wade came up with a solution to fix it using a plastic(shock...horror) collar from a small fan he had in his junk box at home. Although not correct, because it won't be seen and as it serves a purpose, it was necessary to come up with a practical solution which this is.

But anyway, back to the Coupe, and it's wants and needs. 1) Remove and clean sparkplugs, 2) Fix non-working horn, 3) Fix part working headlights(high beam only) and 4) Install new accelerator pedal. I know the Flackmaster for one, will be looking forward to seeing that's done because its a fair few months since I bought the NOS pedal from him!

I'd removed and was just finishing cleaning the plugs when DavidM arrived to pick up his Maxwell flywheel. Suffice to say that was reason aplenty to down tools and engage in some Packard and Maxwell talk. And fairly wide ranging it was too, covering things like the new big end bearings Wade's received from Merritt's for Big Red, the balancing plates on Big Red's pressure plate, the '34 body and the seals and rubbers fitted to date compared to what David did for his '29 Sedan, Barry Smith's '38 V12(Both Wade and David have seen, ridden in and driven it - I'm jealous) and Barry's '51 Convertible not to mention the Maxwell. The reason I mention the Maxwell is that David recently had the engine rebuilt by the guy I picked up the flywheel from. Part of the rebuild was using aluminium pistons and Model A Ford conrods in lieu of the Cast Iron pistons and stock conrods. This for a number of reasons, first the weight saving is considerable with the Alloy piston/Model A conrod combination being about 1/3 the weight of the Cast Iron piston/Maxwell conrod setup and Maxwell pistons have rings which are 3/8" deep. Model A conrods have the same dimensions as the Maxwell ones and are conventional in the sense that the big end cap is held in place by 2 bolts. The Maxwell conrods have a "hinge" system where one side of the big end cap rotates on a pin with a bolt on the other side and suffer from the pin becoming loose from the forces it is under. If you read this David could you send me a pic or post it here of the Maxwell big end "hinge" system, I for one am interested to see it. As well as those changes for reliability the compression ratio is now about 4.5 : 1 up from the stock 3.8 : 1. Now I don't know if Dave Moor, the engine rebuilder, had the cam re-ground like he does with the other old engines he does but it looks to me that David has a hot rod Maxwell in the making. Would be interesting to see David up against another Maxwell in a stop light drag race. Unfortunately it's highly unlikely to happen as there wouldn't be many Maxwells in Australia and for two of them to be at the same lights at the same time would be a miracle! Just looked at the pic of the balanced flywheel and David and now I'm wondering if it's been lightened too, seems to be a considerable amount removed just for balancing David!

But back to reality, after David left, returned to working on the Coupe and re-installed the cleaned plugs. Next tackled the non working horn. It had stopped working when we left Port Macquarie last month and it had also failed before about 2 months after the Coupe was registered for the road in January. Turns out the wire used for the horn down the centre of the steering column is not flexible enough, for the lock-to-lock wheel turning exercises of manouvering the coupe, causing it to break where it's soldered to the horn contact. Easy enough fix, some new wire with a better ability to turn with column, and solder it to the contact. Yes but also had to jack up the front end to pass the old horn wire back up through the column so the new wire could be connected to it to be pulled through. It wouldn't go through from the top because it was now too flexible! Apart from that slight hiccup all went well with Wade doing the electrical work while I passed wire strippers and crimpers and such, and it works......PAAAARRRP! Now the headlights, and again Wade was involved, tests in car showed only high beam working so the apparently obvious culprit was the dimmer/dipper switch. Before going any further Wade produced a used switch from his shelves full of parts. Probably a '37 switch, in that the mounting hole spacing was different, but testing on the bench showed that is was working. So out with the old switch, a test fit of the new switch which showed the upper mounting hole was in the right place and re-drilling of the lower mounting hole and fitment of the new "old" switch, and it works! Lastly was the NOS Flackmaster accelerator pedal. Straight forward, with some advice from Wade about clamping the rod that goes through the firewall so the new pedal could be pushed on without loosing the rod in the process. A little help too with the pivot pin putting it back in the car and with the aid of some rubber grease on the accelerator rod pivot hole and VOILA in it went. With that my time at the workshop was done so I left Wade to continue with his '34 armoured ignition cable fix.

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Mal,
I am not sure what interest a 1912 2 cylinder Maxwell has to the Packard owning forum readers however there is a tenuous connection in that the flywheel found its way to "Wades shed" and you started it so I guess that allows for a response. Your description of the hinged con. rod is perfect and I would like to post a picture to show this primitive design but VB has gone to the UK for 3 weeks and taken the camera with her. I bought this car from US "fully restored" and have just completed a total rebuild on the "fully restored" engine (sounds familiar I am sure). The cylinders were so corroded they had to be sleeved and the new babbit metalled con rods had only about 50% contact, the rest was undersize. As for hot rodding (or is it rat rodding, whatever that means?) I had to buy new pistons and aluminum is the only way to go, there are no balance weights on the crank shaft so the lighter the better and incidentally after trying in vain to get a price from Egge, friends in US suggested I try Arias who responded immediately with a price that proved to be cheaper than Egge when they eventually responded, they are beautifully made and I highly recommend them. During discussion on a Maxwell chat line it was suggested that the antiquated conrods be replaced with ones from an A model Ford which are dimensionally identical. The result is that the old (4 1/2" dia) pistons and conrods weigh 3.7 kgs each (that's about 8 lbs for our US friends who are still to get their act together), the news ones weigh almost exactly half that. As for the compression ratio I just re-checked the figures and the information I gave you was incorrect, the original CR is 3.1 : 1 and with the new domed pistons this increases to 4.0 : 1 which might reduce the time for 0 to 30 mph from 10 minutes to maybe 8 minutes. Seriously it is all in the interest of smoother running and reduced engine load.
I do have Packards (1920's)and unlike other more sensible owners who have advanced to the later, easier to drive models, I like the older ones and as I couldn't afford an early Packard model 48 or twin six I opted for the brass era 2 cyl. Maxwell.
That,I am sure the readers will agree, is more than enough on Maxwells so back to things Packard.

Quote:
David,

Good to catch up with you in the '29 roadster yesterday on a somewhat wet PACA run to Tuggerah. And for the email you sent, an edited version of which I've included below, and the pic's, thanks for them and I'm sure they'll be of interest. But by using Arias pistons, increasing the CR by 33% and subsequently reducing the 0 to 30mph elapsed time considerably isn't hot rodding, what is it? That presumes of course a 1912 Maxwell will achieve 30mph!

"I remembered that we have an old digital camera so have taken some pictures of the hinged big end along with
the old and new piston. Note the very thick rings. Also took a photo of one of the cylinders referred to as "jugs" amongst the brass era car movement, note they have non detachable heads, the whole cylinder is detachable......"

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Wednesday 7th October 2009

20 minutes at the workshop only, a bit of Packard chit-chat with Wade, some pic's(6 only, way below my usual quota) and then with a '37 120 temp gauge in hand(of which I forgot to take a pic of) headed for Mobile Instruments at Kings Park. This followed a call from, PACA and PackardInfo member, Bill B seeking a temp gauge for his '37.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/registry/View.php?ID=407 Bill had sent his temp gauge there to be rebuilt but was found to be beyond repair. Fortunately Wade was able to tell Bill he had a spare, although in-operative one, on the shelf(what doesn't he have there!) which following a quick look by Ron at Mobile Instruments should be OK to repair. Bill also said his '37 is off to be re-upholstered today. The other things Wade has done were to paint and partially assemble the '34 ignition switch and armoured cable and finish installing and wiring the footlights for Big Red. This entailed removing the rear seat as well as one of the rear quarter upholstery panels to run and connect wires to the switch in the rear door jamb. With the seats out Wade's also going to repair the upholstery buttons which have "popped off" over the years, and fortunately he's managed to save all the "popped off" buttons. Apart from that things are slow at the workshop and tomorrow Wade's going to clean up the sump and crankcase from Big Red in preparation for the arrival of various parts on order. And speaking of parts on order, the clips for my running board trim which Wade ordered on my behalf arrived, also forgot to take a pic of those!

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Friday 9th October 2009

Wade phoned me to advise he's looking to bring John Mackey's '39 110 into the workshop on Tuesday for it's heart transplant. To do this the stuff behind the '34 body needs to be moved and then the body to be moved back so there's enough room for the '39 in front of it.

Also visited DavidM who'd advised he had his Maxwell engine back together. Arrived there to find his '29 633 7 passenger sedan with the left front wheel off. He'd put new tyres and tubes on it recently only to find that tube had split along the seam. Took pic's of the Maxwell's engine and the windscreen he's made for it. The Maxwell didn't come equipped with a windscreen so David made one out of brass tubing with the assistance of a tube bending business and the corners look perfect. David also made and closely matched a new wooden cowl/firewall piece to the top of the existing wooden cowl just as it was done back in the day, looks real good. David showed me the trans and how it works, only two speeds with bands to hold the gear selected. Also showed me the way in which the valves are accessed through large brass plugs on the "top" of the head part of the "en-bloc" head/cylinder casting. In the early days of motoring apparently the valves were reground fairly frequently. It should have been a fairly routine process with the valve springs and stems exposed and large threaded brass plugs removed to access the valve head for hand lapping. David expressed some concern I was posting stuff about his Maxwell in a Packard site but I assured him 1) Importantly it's my blog, 2) It is auto related, and 3) Early in the piece I'd stated that virtually anything of interest that intersected my path would be fair game as far as I was concerned.

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Tuesday 13th October 2009

Enough of Maxwells and back to Packards. Yesterday received a Boot(Trunk) light for the '41 in the mail I'd bought off eBay earlier this month. Funny thing was I didn't immediately realise on seeing it that I wanted one although the cover for my Boot light is missing. But once the brain cells clicked into gear, a day or so later, had the requisite eureka moment. Will clean, paint and mount the light cover in the near future.

Today was pick up and start on John's '39 110 engine swap day. But, before getting to that, first caught up with Wade about what's been happening. More work on Big Red with the seats taken home to resew the popped buttons onto them. The wheels and new WWW's have gone round to Wheel and Tyre Co to be mounted. Wiring continues with the dash again looking like a can of worms as Wade fixes more wiring issues and has replaced the broken off armoured coil wire. When the new pistons and pins arrive, expected any time now, then the machining processes required for Big Red's engine can start.

And so on to John's '39 110. Wade took along the Optima battery out of Big Red as well as a booster pack from the workshop because the battery in the '39 was flat. The '39 isn't run very often and apparently only cranked over about twice before expiring on the weekend. Wade put the Optima in the '39 and she started fairly easily but another problem manifested. It was stuck in gear so some judicious fiddling with the linkages was required before she could be moved. Very rattly engine noise so the sooner the transplant is performed the better she'll be for it.

Back at the workshop she was backed into the space cleared late last week by Wade and dis-assembly undertaken. Bonnet(Hood) off, then front clip removed. I hadn't been directly involved in doing this with Old Blue as it happened during my absence although I did see it off at the time. But I must say it is a really nifty way of working on a car engine and front end because it makes things so much more accessible. With the engine out there are a number of other matters which will also be addressed including the gearchange and throttle linkages(both very sloppy), the carburettor(has a Tillotson on it at present), jumping out of 2nd gear(could be solved by the linkage fix), radiator check, flush, fix, etc, new thermostat for the radiator shutters and reconnecting and making the shutters operative, various wiring fixes, and more. With the front clip off it also looks like the right front shock is leaking and probably inoperative so that's an extra thats already reared it's ugly head and no doubt there'll be more to come! I removed the fan(modern flexfan fitted), head, generator, starter, distributor, coil, horns, carburettor and almost the fuel pump before leaving for the day. And I say almost the fuel pump because after getting the bolts undone it couldn't be manouvered past the combination of oil pump, shock and RHD steering box, so it's currently "hanging" waiting further appraisal of options. With the wiring all over the place Wade had to tag and cut most wires before the front clip could be removed.

While doing all this Harvey arrived with two things, a 1949 AWA(Aussie manufacturer) radio and a shopping list of parts for Wade to order for him for the rebuild of the '39 120 he's doing at the moment. Wade's going to check and fix the radio itself, wearing his other hat of radio restorer, while Harvey brings the timber cabinet back to it's former glory. The shopping list? Harvey doesn't have internet access so Wade's going to order the parts in for him.

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Hey Mate,

You playing Fred Flintstone in that 11th picture

Or is that some new engine design you have come up with.

The firewall stamping is interesting. No Theft Proof number, no triangles at the end.So did they know this car was destined for Oz at the time of the cowl stamping?

I wonder if there is anything in the Briggs archives that is part of the Chrysler Archives that could shed some light on this.