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Wednesday 18th November 2009

After a morning with the granddaughters it was down to the workshop. And what a difference! From sweet innocent youth to old cantankerous Packards! Is this sacrilige you hear? No, just a small dose of reality. Packards by themselves are inherently innocent just as children are, but give either enough time and there's a world of difference. The granddaughters being 3yo and 21mo are still in their infancy, while the 2 '39 Packards have both reached their 70th year.

70yo Packard One - John's 110 TJR bodied Sedan.
Yesterday afternoon Wade had fitted the battery isolation switch to the firewall. He'd also had it's Tillotson Carb apart because it was sucking air through one of gasket surfaces. Appears this might be the major source of the rough running. Wade had made up new gaskets but it didn't fix the problem. At this point Wade needs to talk to John about the options available with the best being a complete re-build by Tim of Carburettor Service Company.http://www.carburettorservice.com.au/ And Wade tells me Harvey was at the workshop earlier and he has a used Tillotson just like John's, so you never know. And speaking of Harvey, the reason he was there was to drop off the stripping from Spectrum Rubber that Wade needed for the '34. Seems Harvey rang Wade, mentioned he was going to Spectrum today, or as Harvey call it in his own inimitable fashion "Rectum Rubber", and I thought they only catered for automotive rubber products! Wade asked him to pick up the stripping which he duly did and being Harvey dropped them off straight away. And later on a parcel arrived from containing the gasket set, oil pump kit and engine bearings sets for the '39 120 Harvey's rebuilding for his boss. After moving John's car out of the workshop, this entailed shuffling 5 other cars around, we went for a test run in the 110. A problem was apparent immediately, the carb linkage was "catching" on the intake manifold and not allowing the carb to open more than part way. A very slow trip up the street until we stopped and Wade re-postitioned the linkage and then the re-built motor's power was apparent, and this from a 110! Wade decided to cut the test run short and return to the workshop but the trans then jumped/dropped out of 2nd gear! So there are 3 main problems to solve now, leaky carb, throttle linkage and gear linkages. The 110 was driven back to the workshop and parked for the time being.

70yo Packard Two - Noel's 120 Touring Sedan.
Part of the reshuffling of cars involved driving Noel's Packard into the space vacated by John's. This gave sufficient working space to be able to jack Noel's 120 up and put it on jackstands. That done Noel arrived, he'd mentioned yesterday when I spoke to him, he might call in to talk to Wade and see what progress if any was being made. And as he saw, not much since last week, except it was now on jackstands and in a different position. While Noel was there the front brake drums were removed and it was apparent from the buildup of crud inside the backing plates there was brake fluid seepage evident on both sides, but linings and drums looked good. After Noel left, the rear drums were removed using Harvey's brake drum puller, which enjoy's permanent residency in the workshop. Both came off after only a minor struggle. Rears didn't show any signs of seepage and linings and drums are good too. Then it was dis-assembling the brakes wheel by wheel, started at the left rear and worked clockwise around the car. Both front wheel cylinders have a lot of crud in them under the rubbers and the rears some crud but nowhere near as much as the fronts. Left it there for the day with tomorrow seeing the master cylinder being removed, inspected and assessed. Irrespective of the condition of any of these components all will be re-built, including S/S sleeves if required. And during the course of the rear brake removal Wade noticed the right rear wheel bearing was almost bereft of grease! Not so the left side where Wade had replaced the leaking oil seal there some months back. So another job. Funny, the more you dive into a 70yo Packard the more you find to fix. Ohhhhh, you've already noticed that!

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Mal,

That Cyclops center Aux light is interesting. Any special reason in running just one? Has a very "Tuckerish" look to it.

Quote:
Kev,

Apparently the light was already on the 110 when John bought it. Although driving lights are usually paired, sometimes only one is mounted. John has left it "as is" and I for one quite like the look.

Although driving lights are usually paired, sometimes only one is mounted. John has left it "as is" and I for one quite like the look.

Very continental!! Single driving lights were quite de rigue?r on expensive, prewar European touring cars.

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Thursday 19th November 2009

Wade was already working on removing the master cylinder from 70yo Packard Two - Noel's 120, when I arrived. Much muttering about getting it out because of the tight confines it's in, in RHD configuration. Of course he managed to extricate it from the levers, pedals and other impediments but then there was further muttering about how was he going to get it back in? But never fear, if there's a way Wade will find it and if it came out it HAS to go back in. During the course of the mutterings I was doing what? Why cleaning the wheel cylinders from the 120. Front ones came apart OK but there was a lot of crud there. The rears were stuck so just cleaned the outsides. Also cleaned the master cylinder, externally only, and Wade will leave it to Col, his brake guy, to disassemble likewise the rear wheel cylinders. All cylinders will be resleeved with S/S sleeves and re-built with new components and should be ready next week. The book Col has, lists Packards back to 1935 for brake parts and kits!

Concerning 70yo Packard One - John's 110, Wade had discussed the carb problem with John last night and he agreed rebuilding it was the best option. So that was the next task, removing the Tillotson YR2 and ferrying it over to Tim at Carburettor Service Company. Tim expects to have it done next week.

But back to 70yo Packard Two - Noel's 120, during the course of the brake disassembly yesterday it was noticed the right rear wheel bearing looked very dry. So the bearing retainers and backing plate were removed for closer scrutiny to occur. As I said yesterday, "the more you dive into a 70yo Packard the more you find to fix", and yea so it came to pass. Wheel bearing was shot and also needs a new seal. This precipitated inspection of the left rear wheel bearing and all front wheel bearings. Most had some problems, and although some probably could be reused, the doubt now raised was too great to ignore with Wade recommending to Noel replacement of all the wheel bearings. While Wade was removing various wheel bearings and seals, where was I? Cleaning of course. This time, the bearings as they were removed for critical inspection, as well as all the other components and nuts & bolts removed yesterday, so that all will be ready for reassembly next week. To that end Wade is going to ABC bearings tomorrow to source the bearings and seals required while I'm travelling north to Queensland for the weekend where I'll be seeing my folks.

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Some questions that came it to my mind by looking at the pictures;
1.How long has that brake cylinder been on the car?
2.What kind of brake fluid did you ore the previous owner use? I had same kind of sticky and odd looking fluid coming out of some old brake cylinders by another car.And I belive the brake system had been out of order on that one for 10 year at least. I don't want to say your has to be that bad, no offence.
3.What kind of lubricant will you use on the rear wheel bearings?

Monday 23rd November 2009
Quote:
Steve,

I believe the brakes were done about 12 years ago early in it's restoration. It was a number of years before the restoration was completed so the car was sitting for a while. Don't know what fluid was used previously but DOT5 Silicone will be used exclusively when it goes back together. And I found this when I googled "Silicone Brake Fluid DOT5"http://www.motorcycleproject.com/motorcycle/text/cows-brakefluid.html which says in part "On the practical side, beware that glycol and silicone brake fluids are hugely incompatible with each other. Mixing even small amounts will create a sludge that looks amazingly like Italian salad dressing and is about as effective as a brake fluid -- meaning, not." Looks like both types of fluid were used resulting in the salad dressing effect! The wheel bearings will all be lubed with Penrite High Temperature Grease.http://www.penriteoil.com.au/pis_pdfs/PI_High%20temperature%20grease.pdf A picture of which can be seen herehttps://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=2179&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=149

Anyway, after my sojourn to the Gold Coast over the weekend, returned to the workshop this morning to find Wade disassembling Big Red's fuel/vacuum pump. Wade had pulled it apart to check on it's condition and was disconcerted to find oil in the vacuum section of the pump but couldn't see anyway apparent how the oil was in that section of the pump. Irrespective, Wade had a pump rebuild kit and that was what he was going to do anyway. Wade had also rebuilt the radiohead for Big Red over the weekend and that went back in the instrument panel which then went back in the dash. Also on Friday, while I was away, Wayne had delivered the package from Eric to the workshop.Quote: So of course next step was to open the package. Here it became exciting because it was a little like a lucky dip, because it had been some time since I bought the parts on eBay. There were the things I'd remembered, the distributor and 20's hubcaps. And the things I didn't or only had vague memories of, the glovebox lock and keys, the 40's bonnet(hood) ornament, the solenoid with box and the klaxon horn. And Eric's surprises, at least I think they are both from Eric, the cut-off brake/clutch pedal and the old oxy cutting torch! I won't email you Eric, instead you can enlighten all of us as to what they are all about! I could imagine the brake pedal is to be chromed and mounted on the study wall, it will when I get a study, as a memento of the Speedster build, but the oxy torch???????????

However after that I picked up my sister up from the airport because she flew back from the Gold Coast today. On the way out Wade said he'd just had a phonecall to tell him the Tillotson carb for the 110 was ready and I was able to pick it up on the way back from the airport. Among other things turns out the accelerator pump needed replacement, a fair bit of corrosion needing to be cleaned out, the needle and seat were replaced and the bolts holding the cast iron base to the alloy body were also replaced with screws, it being an invitation to disaster to leave the bolts there. During my absence Harvey called in to the workshop to pick up the parts for the 120 engine rebuild he's doing for his boss Vince. Two other packages from Max arrived this morning, so after Wade removed the thermostat and retainer and the rubber bump stops for the 110, Harvey was able to collect all three packages to proceed with the rebuild.

Back at the workshop Wade was finishing off Big Red's fuel pump so I started making some MBM gaskets for the 120's rear axles and also cleaned the rear axle hubs on the 120. So once the brake bits for the 120 come back and he rest of the new bearings arrive, some were picked up By Wade on Friday, it'll be put back together. While I was finishing the gaskets Wade was mounting the rebuilt Tillotson on the 110. Started her up and aside from a leak where the fuel line connects to the carb, an external leak, it ran well, and no other leaks! A re-adjustment of the throttle linkage to give full travel and cleaning and new oil in the air filter were also required. To finish off the 110 tomorrow we'll take her for a test drive, re-torque the head, remove the thermostat housing to add the new thermostat and retainer and Wade is also going to refit the shutterstat because JJ Smiths have installed it incorrectly, instead of opening the shutters when it gets hotter it's trying to close them! My previous false statement of......Quote:...... should be completely and utterly disregarded!

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I wondered where I put that torch!!!

Actually, it was meant to be in there, as that is a very personal item....

Mal, I found a neat tool for cutting circular gaskets. It is a compass, but instead of having a pencil at one end it has a blade. You can cut holes or round shaped gaskets. It also has a pad where the pointed end can sit so there is no pin hole mark in the middle if you are making a round gasket. I got it at HobbyTown, a hobby supply store here in the States. The price was about $5US, and comes with extra cutting blades. Enjoying your blog, keep up the good work.

Tuesday 24th November 2009

Arrived at the workshop to find that although Wade had arrived he wasn't there. Turns out he was around at Brooker's Brakes picking up the brakes parts for Noel's 120 from Col. In Wades absence I went up on the roof of the office to take some pic's of the workshop, the office being built inside the workshop and its roof is used for storage purposes. On Wade's return we were off to do a pickup run, Big Red's block was ready, the oil cooler "fix" also for Big Red was ready and the rest of the wheel bearings for Noel's '39 120 had come in. First stop was Wilkins Performance Engineshttp://www.wilkinsengineering.com.au/index.html to pick up Big Red's block, pistons and valves. While there, saw that Harvey had dropped off the engine parts he'd picked up yesterday from Wade, for the '39 120 and he's rebuilding for his boss.

As we were leaving there Wade rang Harvey because Harvey might have some 120 brake parts, like a front brake shoe spring to replace the "bodgie" one currently on the left front and some anti-rattle springs for the rear brakes, neither of which had a spring just a piece of rubber! Turns out Harvey was just heading home for morning tea and as we were about 5 minutes away we put our orders in too. Thanks to Carol, Harvey's wife, Wade had coffee while I had tea both accompanied by slices of Carol's home baked cake, delicious. Harvey had a brake shoe spring but only one anti-rattle spring, so besides having full stomachs we didn't leave empty handed. And Harvey had called me last night and asked me to purchase an accelerator pedal for the '39 120 he's working on, so it's been ordered and should be here in a couple of weeks. He also asked me to order him a new grill for his '40 Willys which I'll be doing early tomorrow morning Oz time to align with business hours in the US.

Next was Pirtek, where we picked up the re-engineered oil cooler for Big Red. O_D, before you go blind, please skip to the last sentence of this paragraph. The oil cooler in Big Red was leaking and to fix this Wade had removed the finned cooling "block" from the mounting plate and had a U-shaped tube fabricated by Pirtek to take it's place. The other stop was ABC Bearings where the balance of the wheel bearings for Noel's 120 had arrived from ABC's warehouse.

Back at the workshop, after unloading the ute, it was into getting the brakes and bearings back onto Noel's '39 120. Noel has a wedding to do in a couple of weeks time and with all the parts now here his car has become the priority. Front brakes re-assembled, bearing cups installed in hubs, new wheel bearings cleaned and packed with grease and brake drums installed. At the rear the new wheel bearing were cleaned and pressed onto the axles and inserted for a trial fit. Looks OK, but end play will be checked in detail tomorrow and the rest of the rear brakes re-assembly done. Then it'll be onto re-installing the master cylinder, Wade's leaving this until after we flush out the "Italian salad dressing" and whatever other crud might be in the brake lines, probably got nothing at all to do with facing putting the M/C back into place!

Quote:John,

Thanks for the gasket cutting tool tip. Glad you're enjoying reading about what's happening, it's even better at this end of things!

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