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Winter is coming (I hear you saying, isn't it always winter in ND?) so I thought I should put some antifreeze in the car. I've been running water and no thermostat all summer so that it could flush itself out a bit. Remember that I had no access to water in my hangar while going through the engine etc last winter, so I hadn't been able to flush it at that time.

I drained the radiator, then pulled the radiator hoses and heater hoses and ran the hose through the engine and radiator, got a little colored water but not too bad. Added 10 qts of green regular antifreeze and then water, after reinstalling all the hoses, and ran it to check for leaks. All good, so we ought to be ready for the cold weather.

I had to research a bit to figure out how the thermostat fits in the outlet, I couldn't puzzle out which way it went in. There wasn't one installed when I got the car. Once I figured that out (pellet down, toward the head) I installed it using my new retaining clip from MM and it should be good to go.

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My brother-in-law Dan was here for a couple days this week, for meetings at the University. So he wanted a tour to see how the Ghost was coming along, since he was the last one to have it running in the mid-70's. We opened the hangar door a bit (raining/snowing outside and dark so no going for a drive) and fired the old girl up. We chatted to the tune of the noisy lifter for awhile and traded thoughts about what course of action to take.

He said seeing the old car makes him want to take on a project too, he has a few stashed in the shelterbelt trees back at the farm plus some options up in north-central ND where he lives. But he has a ton of work ahead of him, he is having a house moved to his place and has been building the basement etc to set it on, and then he'll spend the winter remodeling. Doesn't mean he doesn't want a project, just no time or funds right now.

Tonight after work I unfolded all my plastic sheeting and reassembled my plastic garage, since from now on the high temps will be in the 20's and 30's and trending down. Next step is the new wiring, whenever I can get some time. Tomorrow we are driving to central MN to watch our son run his final cross-country race of the year, the weather is supposed to stink so that will be fun!

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HA, I've found that drilling a small hole in the thermostat really helps to get the air bubbles out, as well as making the water flow more evenly as it goes from hot to cold.

HA, I've found that drilling a small hole in the thermostat really helps to get the air bubbles out, as well as making the water flow more evenly as it goes from hot to cold.

David, I read about that once but didn't think to do it. Everything seems to be fine so far, but if I do end up going after the lifters this winter I will try to remember to mod the t-stat just because.

About 40 today, nice out so I thought I better take the opportunity to clean up the rust at the rear of the trunk before the snow flies tonight. I drove over to the main shop and used a portable sand blaster gun, I masked off the rest of the car from the trunk but still ended up vacuuming out the whole car anyway. Those beads get everywhere.

Took one last trip up and down the frontage road, that'll likely be the last drive of the year. Once I had the car back in the hangar, I got to work and removed the front seat, battery and fender to get ready for more painting and wires.

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Here's a thread on what I did to my trunk in my 51. You will need some things to play with when it gets cold!

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb ... um=2&post_id=122596#forumpost122596

That mat looks good, and I like the splatter tone paint too. Good idea.

I probably have a way to go before I get around to tarting up the trunk though, I bet not this winter!

Tonight I removed the steering column so I can repaint it, once I had expert guidance it was easy. Hopefully I'll get time later this week to disassemble and clean everything up, have to fly down to Wyoming for work for a couple days first.

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So I bet you've always wondered what went on inside your vacuum wiper switch, haven't you? Me neither, until I tried to remove the knob while disassembling the steering column (it just pulls off by the way). I tried turning it past it's operating range, thinking maybe it screwed on. Nope, all I did was strip the gear inside. Oops.

So I thought, might as well try to take it apart, I can't make it worse right? The back cover is crimped in place, I used a little 1/8" punch to gently tap those crimps open. A light tap on the shaft and the rear cover popped off, inside is a gear on the shaft, and that gear engages some teeth formed onto the cable which when turned moves said cable to operate the wiper motor valve.

I had stripped the teeth on that little gear where it meshed with the teeth on the cable. I used a punch on the end of the shaft and backed up the gear with a socket so there would be somewhere for the shaft to go as I tapped it out. Inside, a wave washer to keep some tension on the assembly.

I flipped the gear over, reassembled it onto the shaft and meshed it with the cable after pulling the cable into the proper position. Put the rear cover back in place (after giving it all a little shot of light lube, I used LPS 1) and gently tapped the crimps back in place with my punch. Ta da, good as new!

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