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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

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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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Tuesday 31st August 2010

Last day of Winter here down-under and what do I do? Why, go to the workshop as I've done many a day over these last few years. At the workshop Wade had a number of matters to first attend to being: a) an OD cable for a '39 needing repair or replacement for PP, b) an R9 OD schematic for a PACA member in South Australia and, c) Wade contacting Graham Wilkens on behalf of another PACA member regarding balancing crankshaft/balancer/flywheel/clutch assembly for a Twelve.

Then it was time to get dirty. Most of the work remaining on the '41's OD overhaul was undercar stuff bolting things back together. First a MBM gasket was made for the OD Solenoid to OD housing seal. While I was doing that Wade was undercar re-installing the OD Governor and the NOS Support Insulator Assembly courtesy of Pepe. That done the front universal joint was reconnected and preparations for re-installing the OD Solenoid were undertaken including an Optima battery and leads for OD energisation purposes. It only took about a half dozen attempts or so to get the Solenoid energised, manouvered so that it connected and held and bolted up. The OD wiring harness was also looped up and over the back of the trans and wiring connections made. I bolted the OD harness and earth strap clamps to the top of the trans and re-installed the trans cover plate at this stage. The speedo cable was also reconnected at this time. That done, the small crossmember that anchors the Support Insulator Assembly and rear mount of the somewhat mythical Snubber was re-installed.

Next came an event that I thought I'd never see happen, installation of an Engine Snubber of this '41 Coupe. It was thanks to the Flackmaster that a newly manufactured replacement Snubber arrived at the workshop a couple of months ago in anticipation of this time. This installation is going to be somewhat of a test mule for these Snubbers. At the end of September our trip to the Packard National Rally to South Australia and return will provide well over 2,000 miles of driving which should be a good test for the Snubber. There were a few minor matters in the Snubbers installation 1) being the bolt hole in the small crossmember wasn't big enough for the mounting bolt for the new Snubber, and 2) an extra nut was used on the Snubbers rear mount as a spacer to help align the Snubber and prevent it being loaded up on installation. Correspondence with the Flackmaster revealed this "rear bolt was left larger to compensate for worn out holes, and to maintain best integrity of snubber i.e. machining cost/heat to cut down rear threaded portion would only add risk element, and machining cost" and "On your point#2 concerning being out of alignment, I will have to see the photo/thin nut you refer to". Some photos below but I will take more if necessary. And did you know that you can file a square hole using a round file? I didn't, but almost did! Undercar, in a confined space, in an uncomfortable position, on your back seems to be an environment in which weilding a round file in which this amazing task can be accomplished! Fortunately I saw what was happening and took corrective action before things went too far pear shaped, oops square shaped, and the hole in question was enlarged without ending up square!

Snubber installation over, next was re-connecting and re-mounting the OD lockout cable. Then onto the re-installing the bottom of the bellhousing and exhaust pipe and road draft tube brackets which all mount together. And it must be said the Metric nut and bolt(sacrilege) that Tony used on the exhaust pipe bracket when he installed the S/S exhaust system back in June was replaced with a 9/16" bolt and nut. 'Nuff said! The cover plate, with new felt strip, that covers and bolts to the front of the bottom of the bellhousing was also re-installed. That left me to re-filling the OD and Trans with fresh oil while Wade took Big Red for a run to take PP's OD cable over to General Instruments for rebuilding. Started on the filling OD and I was still going when Wade returned after dropping off the OD cable. I was using a baster for filling purposes and it takes time, plenty of time, so much so I hadn't finished filling the OD by the time I had to leave for granddaughterly baby sitting duties in the afternoon. Will pick up the running again tomorrow and, to speed up the process, will borrow John's oil filling setup.

Oh.....one other thing. When Wade took the OD cable over to General Instruments and told them he was the guy who had been pointing Packard speedo/OD/hand brake cable business to them over the past few years he was informed they'd prefer not to do those jobs. Like Wade, I was quite taken back by this news as I thought they welcomed the business. Was I ever wrong! As Wade said, if he had another source for these repairs he would have told them then and there to go jump!!! Because they are "car guys" and because of my contact and conversations with them I thought they had some understanding and connection of our needs, little did I know.

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Hi Mal and Wade, Sorry about the dust up with my OD cable at General Instruments. I have found many places with the same attitude, although if you pass the attitude test, ie, they like the cut of your jib, they usually will do the job. I point out to them that I have a similar business (Pest Management), where there are jobs such as termites, that I would rather not do. I do the difficult jobs because they keep the skill levels up and the grey matter working. I would have arced up as well. Are they still going to do those odd jobs for you? Best regards Peter

Wednesday 1st September 2010

First day of Spring bringing with it the warmest Spring day in Sydney since 1865! Although it was still cool in the bowels of the workshop, a concrete cavern. First order of business was finishing filling the OD with oil and then onto the trans for the same. Using John's oil pump made the job a breeze compared with the turkey baster method. Wade then adjusted the clutch linkage. The '41 was then fired up, by Wade sitting on the base of the front seat and operating the throttle by pushing directly on the linkage rod poking through the firewall. And it worked! With the '41 up on jackstands the OD operation was checked and all appeared well. At this point Noel made an appearance, he was travelling to Castle Hill to talk with his chrome plater and dropped in to spend some Packard time with us. Once Noel left, the fore and aft jackstands were removed with the intention of going for a road test. But first the front carpet needed to be re-installed together with the seat squab. Allied with re-installing the carpet, which has seen better days but is the only '41 Packard front carpet I have, was making a new rubber piece to cover the tatty hole in the carpet where the throttle linkage rod comes through the firewall. That done, carpet, accelerator pedal and the front seat squab were installed and we were ready to roll.

Didn't do the usual test route, where speeds are relatively low, but expanded our horizons by heading west. Started out with the OD knob pulled out, to lock out OD, but there was a problem after travelling a short distance with the knob sliding back in, engaging the OD! Apart from that, the test run went well except for the kick down test. Because it didn't! Back at the workshop it was determined the kick down cut out switch wasn't being activated by the throttle linkage. The rounded headed bolt which activates the switch wasn't long enough. While the OD lockout(or is it non-lockout?) problem appears to be too good an OD lockout cable, which moves very, very smoothly in operation. Not enough built in friction to hold it in place? Then while Wade was taking out the round headed kick down activating bolt, I was finishing off the interior by screwing in the aluminium carpet edge trims and installing the front quarter kick panels. Must pat myself on the back about this as it didn't take anywhere near as long to do as previous attempts have. Must be all that practice pulling these things in and out! But in installing the new longer bolt in the throttle linkage to activate the kickdown switch Wade dropped it, and wouldn't you know, we couldn't find it! Where could it be? It soon became glaringly obvious with the open mouth of the starter motor mounting hole at the front of the bellhousing directly below the kick down switch staring at us. Jack up the '41 again, jackstands in place, and the bottom of the bellbousing was removed. But no bolt! Ah, there it was, wedged lightly between the flywheel and pressure plate. Bolt out and installed without dropping it this time, although we left the bellhousing bottom plate off just in case. Kick down action now appears to be working well with full travel to switch.

Allied with the kick down parts removal Wade had also removed the starter motor(as you no doubt surmised from the previous paragraph) because I'd expressed a wish to have the '41's starter turn over in a similar manner to that of Noel's '39. The difference after Noel's starter was cleaned up was remarkable. On the bench and apart the '41's starter didn't look anywhere near as oily and dirty as Noel's so my hopes and expectations at that point were lowered somewhat. However there was oil and dirt buildup on the commutator(is that the term?) which Wade carefully cleaned including scraping the built up dirt from the grooves. And a few years ago I'd bought some NOS starter brushes off eBay so I ducked home and picked them up. Back at the workshop learnt that only 3 of the 4 brushes from a set fitted(on the box they were marked to fit Mopar 1941, I now saw!) However, because I'd bought two sets, must have been cheap, was able to make a complete Packard fitting set from the two. Replaced the two brushes which screw to the body of the starter motor but the other two brushes posed a problem. They are soldered in and, in all likelihood, are also crimped in place and the big workshop soldering iron didn't have enough heating power to overcome the heat loss involved with all that metal. What to do? Why take the starter motor body and new brushes around to Tibby Rose, a local auto electrician. There I was advised that they could try and replace the two remaining brushes but wouldn't give any guarantees about it being successful. OR, because in their estimation the old brushes didn't show much wear, we could clean up the two remaining brushes by means of fire! Sounds drastic but, as they demonstrated, it just meant using a match to burn out and off any impregnated oil and grease on and around the two old brushes. Back at the workshop didn't use a match, but something much more high tech, a childproof disposable cigarette lighter. And this proved I'm not a smoker, besides being child proof the lighter was also Mal proof, because I couldn't get it to work! Fortunately Graham came to my rescue and demonstrated how easy it is to operate. Yes, easy, but only when you know how it works! Trial by fire completed, the starter was re-assembled, using only a thin smear of grease on the bushes, and re-installed. And although not a complicated task because of the starters weight, location and access limitations with the fixed bonnet(hood) side pieces on a '41 providing a wall between you and your job it's not an easy task. But perseverance pays off, and what comes out must go back in. Everything connected up climbed into the '41 and starting was a whirr! Seemed to literally spin over so easily at what seemed at least 5 times the revs of it doing so previously. I was very, very impressed. As O_D and others have stated often - if your electrical systems are in good condition 6V is plenty for your needs. I'm now a proponent of that philosophy.

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Thursday 2nd September 2010

Finished up the '41 this morning. After re-installing the lower bellhousing section and adjusting clutch free play we were ready for another test run. But first I made up an aluminium backing plate, for the rear number plate, which I intend to use for displaying rally and show badges(must be an ego thing!). Then off for the run, again heading west. Went well, but kick down operation was again an issue which will be looked at again at a later date. Reason being, when we arrived back at the workshop Wade was itching to install the new engine mounts, which arrived this morning, in Big Red. So Big Red was backed into the space the '41 had occupied less than half an hour earlier. The Packard turnover in the workshop has been quite high lately being measured in days or weeks instead of the months or years which were more the norm previously. Put Big Red up on jackstands fore and aft, for good undercar access, then into the job. To access the rear mounts the front floor and toe boards have to come out. A lot of work but to gain reasonable access it must be done. Then with Wade under the car tackling the left side mount and the "dogbone" because of limited topside access on that side, I tackled the right side mount and the right side stabilser. During the course of this excercise Harvey arrived to pick up a pair of upper front suspension rubbers for Vince's '39 120 Convertible Coupe that Wade had ordered in for him. After Harvey left I finished the right side dismantling, all accomplished through the right side front door. While Wade completed the left side mainly from below but had to come topside to access the upper mounting bolts. Jack under the trans to take weight off the mounts and the right side was taken out easily. Started installing the new right side mount and it was about half done when I had to leave Wade to it as babysitting duties again called.

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Friday 3rd September 2010

Arrived at the workshop to find Wade in the process of draining the engine coolant from Big Red. Yesterday, after I left, Wade had finished installing the new rear engine mounts. Today the front engine mount was being replaced and the water pump was also removed to facilitate this process. Off came fan and fan belt then the water pump, giving pretty good access to the front engine mount. About this time the main lights in the workshop died, there had been a power cutout, which resulted in Wade turning off the rest of the lights, fluorescent tubes, and restarting the lot about 10 minutes later. But work on Big Red continued thanks to handheld lights. The two bolts securing the engine mount to the engine block were removed and the retainer and front half of the rubber mount removed. The two bolts holding the engine mount to the front crossmember were also loosened and a floor jack with a piece of wood was raised under the front of the sump(oil pan). With Wade observing and giving directions I then slowly raised the jack just enough so that the feet of the engine mount no longer contacted the crossmember. Doing this gave just enough room for the old engine mount rear rubber half to be wriggled out and the new rubber inserted in it's place. Everything else was then re-installed, and coolant added to the system. But the lights went out again! But this time it was just the other guys being ready and raring to go to Eastwood Rugby Club. A quick fire up, to test for leaks(there were none) and then we left for a well earned late lunch.

Then, when I arrived home, there was an envelope containing a pair of front fender parking light gaskets for the '41. The MBM ones from about two years ago weren't a success. Often needing re-positioning because they were constantly slipping from between the body of the parking light and the glass lens. The new gaskets were installed tonight in Mal's garage! But before doing that I was concerned they wouldn't fit, looking too small for the job. But closer examination in situ proved they would and they did! The problem was the old MBM gaskets were too big because they followed the edge all round between the glass lens and the light body. The new gaskets differed in that they were inside the edge so were smaller all the way round. In addition, at the front they were "solid" with two small holes which fitted 2 small posts in the light body helping to locate and maintain their position. And now it comes back to me, I'd copied the gaskets that were there when I bought the '41 and they obviously weren't "correct".

Question about a "bug" for BigKev.

On opening the Project Blog Forum, the "Wade's Workshop" Blog shows 59 pages. However when I click on 59 it takes me to a blank page where I then have to click on 58 to take me to the last page of the Blog. This was also happening when there were only 57 pages in the Blog with the Forum title page showing 58 pages. Not a big bug, just irritating.

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Monday 6th September 2010

Found PeterL just leaving, when I arrived at the workshop late this morning. May even catch up with him again tomorrow on the Morris Minor Picnic Club run for lunch at the Mooney Mooney Workers Club on the bank of the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney. Wade and Gina are going in Big Red while I'll make the trip in the '41. Should prove useful in testing out the OD on an extended run. And the reason why Peter could well be there is that it's relatively close to where he lives on the Central Coast. If Peter makes it there'll be 3 Packards present, including his '38 Eight Touring Sedan.

I drove down in my daily driver because John was doing some work on it for me today, including overhauling the rear brakes. Because of this I started musical Packards, borrowing Old Blue to then go home and pick up the '41 to bring it down to the workshop. Once the '41 was backed into the workshop the OD Kick Down switch was checked by Wade with his multimeter and found to be working perfectly in isolation. From there the OD Relay was also checked. This was done in concert with the Aero-Drive Circuit Diagram in the workshop manual and the Aero-Drive Wiring listing which accompanied the new harness from Vintage Wiring Harness. And here a problem was found, Terminal 2 on the relay is shown in the Circuit Diagram and in the Wiring listing as going to the Distributor and Coil respectively. This provides the momentary ignition cut out for the OD to kick down or out. But...... on Terminal 2, the green wire marked #55 didn't lead to either the coil or the distributor. It went into the harness and was one of three wires which were connected to the starter motor with a soldered terminal lug. Which meant there was 6V going to Terminal 2. I say was because now the green wire, marked #55, is now disconnected and taped off. In it's place Wade made up a new wire to take it's rightful place from Terminal 2 on the OD relay to the coil. And it works! A test run soon after now gives kick-down from OD! I'll be contacting Paul at Vintage Wiring Harness to let him know of this glitch. And why wasn't it picked up sooner than this? One, in connecting up the new harness there were no loose wires because #55 was connected to the starter. And two, because of the mechanical problems with the OD it wasn't evident there was also an electrical problem. This only came to light after the electrical test of the Kick Down switch. Don't ask me any technical questions about this as I'm not at all electrically literate, In fact I'm amazed I remembered this much to be able to pass it on!

And just as we arrived back from the '41's Kick Down road test our young friend Mat(packard34) also arrived. It's a mere 260 kilometres from Hill End, where Mat lives, to the workshop but he'd dropped in to see Wade concerning his '34's horn button and the levers which are presently moving with and not individually from the column. See this post. Mat brought the horn button and internal column shafts with levers with him. Wade, with the help of some of his spare parts, some of which Mat was very fortunate to walk away with because his parts were missing, was able to show Mat how it all went together and the sequence to do so. Reference was also made to Wade's rolling '34 chassis, aka "The Fossill", where all the parts could be inspected in situ, in a comfortable and civilised manner. No need for under car gymnastics or unnatural contortions to see the parts in question. While Wade was giving his '34 steering column lever connectability tutorial I was installing a fire extinguisher in the '41. The extinguisher came courtesy of my daughter as my Fathers Day gift yesterday. The extinguisher installation was done between taking some pic's for Mat of various parts at the base of the steering column. That done, back home in the '41, then transferred over to Old Blue for the trip back to the workshop where I exchanged it for my daily driver. As I said musical Packards, ride in Big Red, drive Old Blue, drive the '41, test drive the '41, drive the '41 and finally drive Old Blue.

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Tuesday 7th September 2010

Not at the workshop today, although I did drop in to look for my mobile phone which I lost misplaced yesterday. Found it wedged between the base of the front seat back and the seat squab of Old Blue. Pheeew! Then it was off to rendezvous at McDonald's at Thornleigh for the OASIS run to Mooney Mooney today. Wade and Gina were going in Big Red while I was giving the '41 a hit out. Unfortunately I couldn't stay for lunch, because of babysitting commitments, but more than 40 people did so at the Mooney Mooney Workers Club. However the run up the Pacific Highway heading north and on the Freeway on the southerly return trip did give a perfect opportunity to test the OD. And the kick down worked well once I got the hang of it. Initially I was just stabbing the pedal to the floor momentarily but it didn't kick down. But flooring the pedal and holding it there for a second or two did the trick and kick down was obtained. In this age of instant gratification we come to expect things to happen now! We need to be reminded from time to time that it wasn't always so. Won't see Wade until Thursday because tomorrow, Wade and Gina are heading south to pick up some more finished body parts for the '34.

Link to the pic's taken today. As you will see I was quite taken with the Austin 12 with the divider window. Didn't know Limo's came in such small packages. OASIS run to Mooney Mooney

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Wednesday 8th September 2010

No workshop today, with Wade and Gina heading south to pick up '34 parts.

Instead, had my Packard fix when our granddaughters came over to play. And how did I get a Packard fix in that sort of circumstance? By playing in, around, over and on the '41! The little girls are 2yo and just turned 4yo. The 4yo wanted to play in Poppy's car, meaning the '41, and the 2yo tagged along. With them both in the front seat the 4yo bipped, or should I say blasted, the horn and then bipped/blasted again and again. The noise was too much for the 2yo being soon in tears and happy to vacate the '41's front seat. This left Poppy and a very energetic 4yo, tugging on the steering wheel, shifting the gear lever, rolling windows up and down, opening and closing quarter vent windows and opening a door, climbing out, shutting the door, opening the door, climbing back in, shutting the door, etc, etc. All I had to do was sit back, enjoy the experience and comment about how wonderful and clever she is, and she is! Till at one point, in the door opening and closing routine, the door closed and remained closed. Then I saw a little blondish head emerge in front of the windscreen hauling herself up the front mudguard(fender) and pull herself up onto the bonnet(hood). She even stood up on the mudguard but was soon dissuaded from that activity. Talk about enjoying a Packard! She certainly was, using it as a plaything and Poppy couldn't have been happier. For her weight and wearing soft soled shoes she posed no threat to the bodywork and I was more than happy to let her do this. Also remember my '41 is a driver at best and to gain another use for it and at the same time giving my granddaughter fun was quite acceptable from my viewpoint. After a number of ups and downs onto the mudguard and bonnet, interspersed with a photo shoot, she then discovered the '41's front mudguard made a great slippery dip as a means of returning to the garage floor, even more fun! That then became part of the routine. Could have spent all day doing this and loving every minute of it.

Back to the workshop tomorrow and, even though I'll be working on Packards, it sure won't be as much fun as today was.

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