Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

Well, I ddn’t make a lot of progress today, but I did make some progress. I decided that I’m going to attempt to get things loose and remove the front clip as one piece. I’ll recruit three of my younger neighbors to help. I refer to them as the Three Hooligans!. I decided to go this route since everything will have to come off eventually to get the work done that I want (body and paint), so I may as well get set up for that now. Plus, it will let me do a number of things that likely need attention….coolant distribution tube and center steering bearing, for example.

I got the front bumper off and the running board trim. I believe I have the heads of all the necessary nuts and bolts freed from the undercoating. I was able to get the fender support bars removed and got them completely stripped of the undercoating and all loose rust removed. I’ll get them coated with rust encapsulator soon, along with the bumper brackets. I also got those cleaned up.

I was also able to get the top sidemount support nuts loosened on each side. That’s good, because those aren’t easy to get to. I need to get a 1-5/16 impact socket for the lower nuts on the sidemount supports. I’ll have that tomorrow, and I’m pretty optimistic that those will come off pretty easily.

The center bolt under the radiator will be pretty easy since Allen replaced that when he was working on the car.

I also went ahead and got the wiring harness out of the way. That was easy since it’s only the wires going to the right headlight bucket and they are connectorized.

That just leaves three bolts to the running boards and three bolts to the cowl on each side. I’m not too worried about the bolts to the running board, but I’m a little worried about the bolts to the cowl. They look like they are going to be the most difficult as they’re a bit harder to get to. One is a little loose. I’m concerned that it could be rusted out at the nut plate which could be challenging.

I’m pretty nervous about this whole process given my lack of experience. But I keep reminding myself that you get experience from doing. There will likely be some failures/struggles along the way, but that’s been the case with everything in life. New adventure. Plus, I know I have the benefit of a lot of support, tips, and knowledge with this group. If (really when) I get to a point where I’m not sure what to do next, I’ll stop and ask.

The cowl bolt nuts may be accessible by removing the kick panels. If you've gotten past the undercoating, that's a big plus. Make a note or take pictures of any shim stacks, etc, that you may encounter. You may need some fender welting or rubber items for the joints around the radiator shell, headlight pedestals, and so forth.

Where the fenders bolt to the cowl, they go into caged nuts that are part of a floating panel section that does not penetrate into the kick panel area.

Progress…

I got 1-5/16 socket and was able to get the nuts off the sidemount support with no problem at all. Surprisingly, the bolts from fenders to the cowl came out without a fuss. So now, I just need to work on the bolts to the running boards. Those are all VERY rusty, so they may be a challenge. But worst case, I can carefully cut them off if needed.

So….I’m getting close and I’d like someone to make sure I’m not missing anything for the front clip removal.

1. Remove front bumper and brackets….done
2. Remove hood….done
3. Remove running board trim….done
4. Remove support bars under fenders….done
5. Remove bolts from fenders to cowl….done
6. Remove nuts from sidemount supports….done (I put these back on until I’m ready to actually lift off the clip)….done.
7. Remove bolts to running boards….
8. Disconnect wiring harness to right headlight bucket and secure….done
9. Drain coolant
10. Disconnect radiator upper and lower hoses
11. Remove bolt under center of radiator (this should be easy for me since Allen just replaced it)
12. Recruit the Three Hooligans.
13.. Lift up and out .

Is there anything I’m missing?

Disconnect left harness as well.

Are you planing on taking the fenders/grille/radiator off as one piece?

The nuts and bolts between the fenders and running boards are nothing special, just common bolts/nuts. I'd replace the fasteners anyway.

Same goes with any off the other bolts. Replace with new zinc plated hardware that will give you some corrosion protection, and clean threads.

I used grade 5 bolts.

A while back I bought a relatively cheap hydraulic nut cracker that has already paid for itself in getting off a stuck head nut! It hardly took any effort at all and has small end pieces too that should fit your running board nuts. However, since then back home away from my shop, I had another project with rusted nuts so I just drilled a hole in from either side and they came right off although I purposely drilled into the treads too so will have to replace the bolts.

Yes…I’m replacing all of the hardware and yes, the left headlight bucket is also disconnected. I forgot to mention that since it is so short.

Also, I forgot to list “disconnect the radiator support rods”.

I’m am planning to take the front clip off as one piece…radiator, radiator shell, and front fenders.

Fingers crossed, but it’s going pretty well so far.

One thing I’m a bit concerned about is making sure I don’t make the break in in the left fender worse. It has the common break in it right about center. We’ll just have to be careful and keep it supported well.

Don't forget the lower fender to frame braces.

Also, you may want to put some kind of tape or something on the cowl above where the fender attaches.

The front clip needs go straight up to clear that lower pivot bolt. So the tape may help prevent any scratching from then fender contacting the cowl during the extraction.

Thanks, Kev.

I assume the braces you are talking about are the ones shown here along with my bumper brackets. Obviously, I have those out and all cleaned up.

You might want to stabilize the cracked fender using a C-clamp and a couple of shaped pieces of wood or a pair of those rubber sanding blocks. That would allow you to clamp the cracked area between the wood or rubber blocks to prevent any tearing or kinking as you handle the fender assembly.