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Hallo Gerd,
Regarding the missing parts in the gearbox... Maybe I shouldn't have described this clown... who forgot to install these really relevant transmission parts... as a layman but rather as an "unqualified person". But in the end that doesn't really change anything about the result. And as for the “repair”…. or was it the “extension” of a brakeline that was purchased too short…. or reworking an old existing one ..??? The reasons for this are really insignificant. I don't think there was a time after 1945 in the US where there was a shortage of ready-to-install brake lines. If it was an urgently needed pickup or something similar, I could have imagined a short-term “emergency repair”, but on a 1955 CAD Eldorado Conv.??? … …. on a chicken farm in Alaska...???
At least “he” had to have the ability to work with silver solder. Anyway, ... As you probably know, this car would never could drive from the yard of a DOT motor vehicle testing center (TÜV) on its own wheels here in Germany. Never with this kind of "repair" of a brake line. The vehicle would have been shut down immediately. And for a good reason. The slightest fault in a brake system can have dire consequences. Especially with a “single-circuit brake system”…. a car that weighs more than 2 tons... and on motorways where it is still possible to drive without a speed limit.
Thank you for your compliment on my work, I hope you will also like the rest of my work until it is completed.

Karl

Dear Packard friends,
The painting job is done and completed. Except the rims. I took the rims today to the Tire Shop for stripping so that the rims could then be processed and made them ready for painting. The surface looks lousy and it will take some work to get it to the condition that the other parts are now. The tire shop that is familiar with truck tires with snap rings first took into account the thin and delicate rings and whether they could be brittle due to age and the chrome layer. It is also important to consider whether the rings can be put back on without damaging the paint layer on the rim flanges.
Unfortunately, I have never looked into these questions in detail myself. The finished painted rims were picked up in the USA and delivered back fully assembled.
My request now to the community... who can give me information about what to pay attention to and how, for example, to get the rings back on the rims without damaging the paint.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any meaningful information on YouTube regarding the disassembly and assembly of these pre-war wheels with the smalThin snap rings.
What tools I/theShop need absulutly to do this work right on this smal rings.

I am grateful for any helpful informations.

Karl

I would love to know how to fit those lock rings without any paint damage, I guess it can be done but whenever I had to do it I had to do some paint repair.

It's nearly impossible. To minimize damage (other than to be very very careful) put some layers of masking tape, or even duct tape on the exposed face just for some measure of protection

After the unpleasant experience of having a professional tire service remove the snap rings from the rims, I tried to find answers through intensive internet research that could help solve the problems when the rings are levered into the joint with the usual tire irons. There is a risk that the paint on the edges of the rim will chip off. Little by little I found some answers, but never a completely unproblematic solution. I found some of the options through guys at AACA. Surprise .... and by the way, the same bad experiences with the “professionals” that I had were described there. Here in Germany, too, today only the companies that deal with snap ring wheels are mounted on trucks, possibly also on agricultural vehicles or other special vehicles such as forklifts, etc. ... Gross motor skills are sufficient for these tires. “Fine” snap rings can become a problem, as the boss of one of these companies explained to me.
My research has shown..... yes, there can be problems when attaching these snap rings. The spring steel of these rings, which is now 100 years old, is most likely showing material fatigue. In addition, the chrome plating and the acid required may have led to an unfavorable hydrogen enrichment in parts of these rings, which could have made the steel even more brittle. Even after so many years, these rings should be levered over the edges of the rim with a lot of sensitivity and suitable tools/assembly aids and should be stretched as little as possible. But enough for them to get into your seat/joint without damaging the edges. I also decided to do this work myself.
After I had freed the rims from all the generously applied layers of filler and paint, I carefully removed all rust, paint and other deposits from the joint in the rim where the ring must then sit. To do this, I prepared a narrow rotary brush for the flex and cleaned and then sanded these important joints. All of this is important because this snap ring is the only component that needs to hold the tire on the rim after inflation (55-60 psi) -!!! …. and to do this it must definitely find the intended hold in the groove/joint. I didn't have the rims sandblasted or dipped because I don't want the paint that sat in the deep rust pits for years to be removed and the new Putty/Paint to get back into the rust pits and shrink then again, creating new imperfections in the surface. This creates a good basis for the new paint structure. This required many additional hours of work, but the paint on the rims also had to have the same surface quality as the other components, because the rims are also an essential part of the overall picture.
In order to achieve an optimal new paint build-up, I bought an older balancing machine that I can use to rotate the rims to achieve an even surface when sanding. I would also like to see how far the rims are warped and how big the imbalance is in the rims alone. After mounting the tires, I would like to compensate for most of the resulting imbalance by gluing in lead plates. Just like David Mc described in an article I read a while ago. As I recall, he did this with the tires on his sedans. Given the speed the vehicle can reach, that should definitely be enough. The rotation of the balancer also helps mark the positions for pin striping.
I only had to manipulate the balancer slightly electrically to keep it running continuously and avoid the pre-programmed stop when balancing after 4-6 seconds. Once this work is completed, the machines will be put back on the used market.
Maybe it will cost me €100 in the end, but I can save myself the long trip to the assembly companies for appointments, transport and costs. And ultimately the hassle because damage or other inexplicable damage has to be complained about again. I have now purchased some tools and assembly aids that I think could be crucial in attaching the rings without causing damage. I will show and describe the work when the painting of the rims is complete. But that will still take some time.

After completing the work I will show it here with photos and a description with a hopefully successful result.

Karl

Karl, If anyone is going to get those rims on without damaging the paint on the wheels, then it will be you!! I look forward to seeing the result.

In between...here are a few pictures showing the application of the individual layers of putty and paint. It becomes clear that these rims, along with the frame, probably spent a long time somewhere in a junkyard or in the forest. Some of the rims have very deep rust holes. And there was putty in uneven layers. And...surprisingly, the original "Vermillion (?) Red" can be seen in the final layer of paint.
By the way, in some cases (such as in this case) I was never really able to understand the colors chosen and the color taste of the designers at this time.

Karl

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They look pretty good but I can imagine all the time into them to get that look. You have more patience than I ever had.