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Mal, the photos of Bill B's 120C Convertible Coupe show a beautiful Packard. He must be most proud of it. One comment, the gasket or seal for the rumble seat lid should be on the lid not in the drain channel (don't ask me how I know). Steele makes a self adhesive rubber seal that works beautifully. I believe it is 1" wide and 1/4" thick. Have Bill B get a roll of it. Regards - John

(o{I}o)

Tuesday 17th August 2010

When Wade arrived in Emily this morning he drove her into the workshop. What for I wondered? Turns out in Wades trips to/from home over the last few days he'd noticed the ride was particularly hard especially over expansion strips in the road. Although the shocks on Emily probably need work that didn't sufficiently explain the harsh ride. A check last night found all the tyres(tires) were at 40psi so adjustment using the workshops air hose and gauge was the therapy undertaken. The spare was also checked and found to be at 10psi. The road tyres(tires) were reset to 24psi all round, although the manual indicates 22psi, because of the forthcoming National Rally with a lot of Highway travelling involved. Shortly thereafter Wendy arrived and picked up Emily happy in the knowledge she now won't have to compensate for the brakes pulling to the right.

Wade finished Noel's '39 yesterday, including re-installing the left front door handle and lock and starting and running the engine and there don't appear to be any water pump leaks. So today, before leaving for grand-daughterly minding duties, took the opportunity to go with Wade for a test run in the '39. Wade drove the '39 gently, listening and feeling as we went. All I can say is, to this tin ear, there wasn't a sound out of place. That is, if you discount the normal clunks and rattles which emanate from this machine. The diff was silent and smooth in operation and will be further tested with the run to/from Wade's home tonight and tomorrow morning.

Quote:John,

Sure is a lovely Convertible Coupe, I saw it in the metal when it was about 3/4 done and it stood out then. Bill will probably read your comments but, because what's done is done, I'd imagine wouldn't be likely to change things at this juncture. But he could file your advice away for future reference if need be.

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Wednesday 18th August 2010

Was only going to spend a short time at the workshop this morning because of more grandparenting requirements, looks like the granddaughters are becoming more demanding than Packards, very easy to accept. Turned out to be even shorter than expected with the timing being brought forward. In the little time I was there Noel's '39 went up on Rick's hoist, a thorough undercar inspection undertaken, and the diff oil topped up using the turkey baster method. Noel called Wade while I was there as he was due to come in today to pickup the '39. But depending on circumstances said he may not be there till tomorrow, whatever happens I'll find out tomorrow.

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Monday 23rd August 2010

Found Wade at the workshop in tidy up mode following the '37 115 Coupe and '39 120 Sedan having departed last week and Big Red back on the road on the weekend. Wade was also expecting Noel to call in with PackardInfo member Peter Packard(Peter Toet) and his wife Ann who were up in Sydney for yesterdays big display day at Eastern Creek. Tidy up done, what to do in the meantime? Why, photo catalogue the Packard parts Wade intends to forward to become part of PACA Club Stock. Part way through that exercise Noel, Peter and Ann arrived. Then Noel's mate Tony arrived with a pair of sidemount covers he'd repaired where the tops had rusted out. The tops rusted? I don't know why, but they were! Next to arrive was PackardInfo member packard34(Mat) who was in turn followed in by PackardInfo member PAC052(Jeff) and wife Margaret. They were bringing over, Margaret's brother and Jeff's brother in law not to mention PACA President, Michael's '54 Convertible for front wheel bearing work.

Once all the gathered Packard throng had gone their separate ways the front end of the '54 Convertible was jacked up, placed on jack stands and wheels and brake drums removed. Left front off and bearings and seals removed from the brake drum, looked reasonable but showing signs of wear. Right front was a different story with the outer bearing rollers in poor shape. A call to Dennis at ABC Bearings found that out of the 2 pairs of bearings required that 1 pair were in stock while the other pair were in the warehouse. Once Dennis has the lot together he'll call Wade for them to be picked up. In the meantime the drums and other hardware were cleaned in readiness for the arrival of the new parts and assembly of the components.

That done, finished the parts photo cataloging. Next was Big Red because yesterday morning Wade found himself sitting in the gutter next to Big Red changing a faulty condensor on the way to the big display day at Eastern Creek. Wade had left early with Barry Smith because Barry's '51 Convertible was representing PACA in the Concourse and needed to be there at the appointed setup time. Because of the setup deadline for the Concourse, and because Barry is unfamiliar with Sydney's geography, Wade when he spotted another "old car" told Barry to follow it. Just as well the "old car" was going to Eastern Creek and not out for a Sunday drive! So being back in the workshop Wade now took the opportunity to remove the distributor, put it on the bench and recheck it's setup. Wade also adjusted the radiator shutter setup in Big Red following going for a drive with Peter soon after arriving at the workshop.

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Wednesday 25th August 2010

Had almost reached the workshop this morning when I get a call from Wade telling me to bring the '41 in because Michael's '54 front wheel bearings are done! A quick U-turn, not really that would have been much too dangerous, and back home for the '41. Down at the workshop, the '41 was backed into the space previously occupied by the '54, jacked up and jackstands put under both ends. Then, while I removed carpets and the trans cover plate topsides, Wade was down below disconnecting tailshaft, speed cable, overdrive cable and wiring and the many nuts and bolts holding it all together and in place. Very tight confines meant some of the nuts/bolts presented problems but as usual Wade got them all. Trickiest part was lowering the trans/OD unit down and back on a floor jack while trying to manouvere it to clear linkages/frame/OD solenoid/etc. Again difficult but in the end out it came complete with a trans oil spill cleaned up a little later by yours truely.

The Trans/OD unit was put on the bench and so was the spare unit for comparison purposes. We already knew the spare unit differed in that it had the mounting position for the OD on the left side while the '41's is on the right side. Plan A was to transfer the trans top from the '41's trans onto the spare unit. However a test with the top on revealed the Low/Reverse lever interfered with the body of the Solenoid. Right, onto Plan B, which encompassed removing the OD housing from each unit and seeing what we could find. Found the spare unit looked very good with both the sprag clutch and the planetary gear system in good condition. The same couldn't be said for the '41's unit. It's planetary gear system was starting to deteriorate into an asteroid belt. The planetary system was very floppy, starting to come apart with small pieces of metal making appearances. Because of the interference problems with the spare unit it was decided, sorry Wade decided, it was best to use the '41's trans and OD cases and transplant the planetary system from the spare unit. The trans itself wasn't touched, it looked good, had performed well and given no trouble.

Cleaned up the '41's OD housing, found more metal rubble, but otherwise it cleaned up well. Didn't need to clean up the spare planetary system. PeterL had done that when he re-assembled the unit earlier in the year. The spare planetary unit was then transplanted onto the '41's trans. While the cage for the '41's sprag clutch was re-assembled in preparation for tomorrows fun with installing the rollers. Believe a rubber band is used to hold them in place while it's all going back together! And at the end of the day drove Old Blue home, a bit like musical Packards!

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Thursday 26th August 2010

A morning of frustration, more so for Wade than me, in re-assembling the last parts of the OD. The sprag clutch has 12 loose rollers in a cage and for re-assembly this was where the rubber band would be utilised to hold them in place in the cage. First, though, was working out where the loose spring and washer came from when the OD unit was dis-assembled yesterday. Thought was they were part of the reverse lock out setup but reference to 1) the spare OD and 2) the Parts List didn't help at all. The spare OD has a slightly different set up without a spring while the illustrations in the Parts List don't show it, although they are listed! Anyway after some study and deduction there was only one place they could go, so that was that. While Wade was trial fitting clutch hub and sleeve and marking parts for alignment on assembly, probably not required but it helped to have a point of reference in the assembly process, I was making a gasket for the OD housing. That done, re-assembly started. Although assembly should be by fitting the clutch sleeve and rear shaft assembly into the OD housing and then "mating" that with the clutch hub attached to the rear of the trans Wade wanted to experiment to see if it could be done by "mating" the OD housing to the assembled clutch unit on the rear of the trans. It soon became apparent, after only one attempt, that that way would never work and was promptly abandoned. Back to the "right" way to do it. Here, although a rubber band had been mooted to hold the clutch rollers in place during assembly, Wade used thick, sticky grease to hold the rollers and it worked successfully time after time after time. It WAS a very frustrating morning with many attempts to get it all together. The rollers weren't a problem. Alignment was difficult working with a heavy OD housing, shaft assembly and clutch sleeve but most times worked OK. The reverse lockout rod/bar wasn't really a problem just requiring a little manipulation in the process. It was just getting it all together. The units when dis-assembled came apart easily and trial fits between the separate components/parts all went together easily. Only in getting almost everything together did it all bind up! There were numerous attempts, even resorting to reversing the clutch sleeve in case that was the problem although both OD's had the same clutch sleeve orientation on dissembly. We, or rather Wade, was going nowhere. At this point of time I called a time-out, Wade needed a breather, besides I was having difficulty keeping up with the very colourful language that accompanied each failed attempt. My ears were ringing! Cleaned up and went and had a cup of tea, for me, and a short black for Wade. After the refreshments, first checked the Parts List and it confirmed the clutch sleeve was correct in the way it had been disassembled. Then another attempt to put it all together and what do you know, it slipped together so easily it just wasn't funny. Hadn't done anything different, maybe there was something in the water for the tea and coffee. Whatever it was, it worked! Triumph! That done the trans top and shifter top surfaces were cleaned up, a gasket made, with another little fight to get something back together that came apart so easily. Wade also began re-assembling the spare trans/OD unit to keep it all together to avoid the potential of parts being mislaid.

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G,day Mal and Wade,
This blog is better than any serial yuo can see on the Tele please keep it coming. When are we coming back to the 34?
I must say Mal that all the practice you're getting on the gasket making they are beginning to look like shop bought ones.
Keep up the good work guys
Terry

Quote:Terry,

Return to the '34 shouldn't be too far away. At the moment focus is on getting ready for the 2010 Packard National Rally at the end of September to Kangaroo Island, about 850 miles each way. Because of that a number of Packards are being readied for the trip including mine, the '37 115c Coupe recently and the '54 Convertible. There's also a '39 Convertible Coupe coming in soon for "the Rally treatment". Wade's taking a touring holiday in Big Red on the way home, and is expected back late October, so maybe then.
As to gaskets, but todays weren't the prettiest, purely functional, so don't bear comparison to store bought ones.

Quote:Friday 27th August 2010

Arrived at the workshop to find the trans/OD unit sitting on the bench all on it's lonesome. Yesterday, after my departure, Wade had completed re-assembly of the spare trans/OD unit and, wouldn't you know, it went together without a hitch. Maybe Wade's subconscious has now mastered the knack after so many failed attempts on the '41's unit.

Balanced the trans/OD unit on a floor jack, wheeled it around to the back of the '41 and slid it under in readiness for raising it into position. Fortunately, and it was very fortunate, Graham came over and slid under the right side of the '41 while Wade was on the left making me tail-end charlie operating the jack. Then the fun started, that is if you can call it fun, with two men wrestling a large roughly cylindrical object of cast iron and steel on their backs/sides in a confined space and trying to fit that object into another confined space. The one thought everybody must have had at the back of their minds would have been "if it came out, then it must be able to go back in". Although at various time during the process that mantra didn't look like holding up. The unit was prepared for re-installation with the trans top on, complete with shift levers, and with the OD lockout lever in place. Although it came out with the trans top loose, but that presented problems in itself. And to install it without the trans top and levers and installing them later through the cabin floor poses it's own set of problem. The unit was turned slightly sideways for the levers on either side to clear the frame and jacked up with Wade on the left side instructing and guiding and Graham on the right following instructions and lending muscle as required. After numerous attempts the unit was in a likely position but Wade was having difficulty with mating the clutch fork and throw out bearing because of the angle things were on. And further numerous attempts were made resulting in more and more "colourful language", don't know if this helped or not but it certainly allowed feelings to be vented. Yesterdays "colourful language" was a distant cousin in comparison. Finally, after the unit was raised/lowered/tilted/levelled/reset after many, many attempts, it slid into place. Some bolts to secure it to the bellhousing and Graham could now go and relax after the strenuous under-car session he'd just gone through.

Then it was onto bolting things back together like clutch linkages, shift linkages, trans mounts, trans crossmember and the like. Still haven't finished the under car work which will re-commence next week. During the course of bolting things back together Jeff and Margaret arrived to pick up El Presidente Michael's '54. Just as well they didn't arrive earlier when magic words were being bandied around quite liberally. It also gives time for the NOS Support Insulator Assembly from PACA and PackardInfo member Pepe to arrive to replace the delaminated one on the '41. And I'll finally be installing the new DAF enterprises snubber.

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Monday 30th August 2010

Quote:
Support Insulator Assembly from Pepe arrived in the mail this morning. Will be installed on the '41 tomorrow when I'm back at the workshop.

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