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Thursday 18th November 2010

Don from Al mentioned, while in the Chatroom with a number of other PackardInfo members, whether he'd be able to find the current owner of a '37 120 Coupe he sold and shipped to Australia back in 1984? Don had some info from another Aussie PackardInfo member WarrenJ, Packard Downunder, on the chain of possession since it arrived in Melbourne, about 500 miles south of Sydney, back in the eighties. First owner was GeorgeM, then went to NoelW, then to DaleC.ll.t who had restored and repainted the car(dark blue, he thought). I said to Don there was a DaleC.ll.t in the PACA Register of Members and I'd see what I could find out. That was last week, this week I started the hunt. Rang DaleC.ll.t but it turned out he'd never owned a '37 120 Coupe but suggested there was a DaleC.ll..s who had owned such a Coupe and it might well be him. Only trouble was the number for DaleC.ll..s was disconnected because he'd moved. Not to worry rang Fred, pepepackard, instead. Fred has a '37 sedan so would probably be able to help. Fred suggested I call StuartR who had also owned a '37 Coupe and that if anyone would know he would. Rang StuartR who advised he did know that DaleC.ll..s had had a '37 Coupe and would contact him on my behalf. Stuart also imparted the information that he still had the front mudguards(fenders) off the '37 I was enquiring about because he'd swapped them with DaleC.ll..s for a pair of sidemount spare equipped 'guards! Later, received a call from DaleC.ll..s himself and it turns out he restored the Coupe. Dale changed out the Pontiac V8, it was powered with, by using a '47 282 even though it also came with a '35 120 engine but Dale preferred the '47. Dale was also able to advise that the body wood had been replaced by metal tubing(Don did mention the wood was not good) by NoelW who had also converted it to RHD. And Dale had also repainted the car brown with orange wheels, that gave me a clue as to who owned it because I'd seen a '37 120 Coupe like that here in Sydney back in 2007 and 2008. Then, instead of contacting the Sydney owner of the Coupe directly, I contacted Noel, tabletennisport, who knows the Sydney owner, LesF, much better than I do and Noel was going to talk to him about it. I also emailed Don about what I'd found and sent him the pic's I had of the Coupe from 2007 and 2008. And today Noel was able to confirm the Coupe was the one restored by DaleC.ll..s but that it had at least one other owner before LesF purchased it. And talking with the the guys this morning, they picked up when I mentioned the orange wheels and said that DaleC.ll..s always painted the wheels of the cars he restored orange!

Why post this story here? Because I'd arranged to meet Noel at the workshop this morning where he was calling in to drop off the NOS '36 120 water pump from Mat, packard34, for Wade, Wade's Shed. But on arriving at the workshop I found Wade and PeterL already there, having arrived back from their southern sojourn last night. They had unloaded, with John's help, the Crypton Diagnostic Centre machine Wade had picked up in Adelaide. Last night they'd unloaded the Allen Engine Analyzer of Fred's at Wade's home because it was more portable than the over 6' high Crypton. And speaking of Fred, when I phoned him a couple of days ago he was talking about being invaded by cockroaches and especially 2 huge ones from New South Wales. Now New South Wales is my state and the term cockroaches had been applied to NSW sporting teams some years ago as part of some rivalry promotion propaganda and it's stuck! And it's also come to have a broader meaning, applying to anything or anybody from NSW! Missed it at the time Fred, but now I know you were referring to Wade and PeterL when they called in to see you! They'd also brought back the steering wheel they'd taken with them for RobT along with an even worse wheel of Rob's. Then shortly after that Noel arrived complete with the water pump and some other parts and equipment. Fortuitously Noel was on his way to TonyW's so was able to take both steering wheels with him with the intention of Tony restoring the better of the two wheels. Noel also had the grill shell for his '41 160 along with 3 of the slats which had been rechromed by Peter Packard's plater, they look very,very nice, and Tony is going to re-assemble the grill for Noel.

And there I had to leave the workshop till next week. Granddaughters this afternoon and donating blood plasma tomorrow takes care of the rest of this week, no time for Packards! Oh, and what about the swap meet at Bendigo, how did that go? In a word, wet, in fact very wet and to make it worse no Packard parts!

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Friday 19th November 2010

Don, I might have opened a can of worms here about the '37 Coupe. Looks like I "shot from the lip" and it's come back to haunt me! On one hand, I'm told "it was never left hand drive (can tell by looking at the firewall, there is no evidence of conversion) and never had a V8 motor". On the other hand I have a guy saying he provided a set of clutch and brake pedals, from his '37 parts car, for the conversion from LHD to RHD. I also think the firewall could have been replaced because at least one other '37 owner here in Oz, Bill B, has had to do that, although for a different reason, see this thread. And apologies for calling Bill's '37 a Coupe Roadster in that thread, it's a Convertible Coupe, isn't that right Flackmaster? Anyway I'm now trying to obtain further information to verify whether Les's '37 really is the Coupe in question as well as the other aspects now in dispute. And just thinking of firewalls, although if it has been swapped this won't help, do you know the Thief Proof Number and Body ID Plate numbers of the '37 you sent to Australia?

TO OZSTATMAN & DON AL, I THINK THE CAR YOUR'E LOOKING FOR IS ONE THAT WAS IMPORTED INTO SYDNEY BY JOHN DEBRINCAT (CHEV GUY) & SOLD TO KEVIN SHEPHERD. THE CAR WAS VERY ORIGINAL & PAINT COLOUR WAS GOLD. I SAW THIS CAR IN A WORKSHOP AT COWRA,NSW LAST WEEK WHILE RETURNING FROM BENDIGO.HOPE THIS MAY BE OF HELP. REGARDS WHEELS.

Wheels,
First up, to PackardInfo. If I remember correctly I spoke with you a couple of years ago about my dropping in to say "G'day" but it all fell apart on my end. However I will get there, hopefully in my '41 Coupe, one day.

Concerning the gold '37 Coupe, from what I understand this is also owned by LesF. However since my previous post I have again spoken with DaleC.ll..s and he advised:

Dale cut off the engine mounts for the Pontiac V8 in the coupe and then ground back to the frame and painted. The Pontiac used the Packard trans so there were no modifications there. Also it had been converted to a different front shock setup, these mounts were also cutoff, ground back, painted and replaced. Dale thinks it would be difficult to distinguish where the engine and shock mounts had been which were cut off. Regarding the paint, Dale painted it brown with the orange wheels. GeorgeM had painted it white when he had the Coupe and when it came to Dale it was still white . Dale said the white paint was in good condition but he preferred another colour so rubbed back the white and painted over it with the brown. But after some months when a few little bubbles and cracks appeared white could be seen. The Coupe also had white or very light beige LEATHER upholstery which was very good so Dale retained it. From the pic's there is an interior one which shows the upholstery in Les's brown Coupe as a very light colour. Dale also advised that the owner before Les was DickN in Wagga Wagga and Dale had read in The Packardian about the Coupe going from Dick to Les.

Based on that, I doubt the gold coupe would be the car in question, although you never know.

I am also trying to gain a contact number for GeorgeM to learn what he can tell me about the importation of his Coupe, the conversion to RHD and anything else which might have a bearing on this matter.

Monday 22nd November 2010

Quote:That's where I'd left Wade before he travelled south a week and a half ago. And this morning that what I found him at, but with considerably more progress made. Aided by a can of talcum powder Wade had about 1/3 of the rubber installed around the edge of the windscreen. Still not easy but easier than before, with a few holes on each side of the windscreen proving the hardest places to get the rubber positioned. Once the re-rubbering of the windscreen frame was complete the windscreen could be installed in The Fossil. So, after a protective old quilt was laid on the '34's cowl, I held the windscreen in place while Wade screwed the long hinge to the top of the windscreen. Took a bit of fiddling to align holes and ensure the screws went in straight, it being very easy to cross-thread them.

During the re-rubbering exercise Harvey had arrived with a gift for Wade, a pair of '37 senior bumper over-riders, which need some attention but can be brought back to respectability. Harvey was also there to pick up the Packard Service Manual & Tool Catalog he'd lent me almost 12 months ago! At that time these posts ensued......
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Well it may now come to pass that I can get a scanned copy uploaded on the Site. First up was getting my scanner up and running, that only took about 9 months. Then there was the scanning, did 120+ pages at that time, now had to do the other 40+ this morning in a mild panic after Harvey rang to say he wanted to pick the book up today! All I have to do now is have my Tech Support Guy, #1 Son, guide me through that process. Also learned today that Harvey had owned Mat's '34 years ago and had sold it so he could buy "Elanor", the '34 Wade is now restoring. Over the years Harvey has had a lot of Packards.

Next task was a trip over to ABC Bearings to pick up the bearings for Old Blues diff rebuild, only trouble is there's still part of one coming. Plus the rear axle bearings are turning out to be very expensive, over $600 through ABC, or about $400 from a major US Packard parts vendor. Wade's still looking for an alternative and almost came up with one from ABC being Ford F250 rear axle bearings, same dimensions except for the shaft diameter being about 0.030" different, but at a cost of about $80 a pair much more affordable. Back at the workshop removed the remaining bearing from the diff hemisphere courtesy of a $4 puller Wade bought at the Bendigo swap, a brand new tool at a bargain price and it's more than paid for itself already! New bearings pressed onto the hemisphere, a bearing pressed onto the pinion shaft and then a cup fitted into the pumpkin, the other cup for the pumpkin is still coming. Robbed a '38 trans of it's fill and drain plugs for the pumpkin because the pumpkin's plugs were bashed and rounded off somewhat.

That done, turned to John's '39 Six. Wade had been doing some research on the column shift and had found that the linkages actually require some friction in the setup to ensure they work effectively, they are not to be lubed! See pic's from manual below. Because this is a RHD Packard it's hard to access the rods and linkages involved because of the proximity of the manifolds and exhaust pipe to them. But have disconnected both linkages from the steering column and removed one set of rods and levers. Wade is now mulling over the best way to address John's shifting problems and jumping out of gear.

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That would have seen a sight for Harvey to see both the 34's he once owned together...

Attached is a pic of the 34 when Harvey owned the vehicle, Harvey sold it to Alan Maunsell only lives at Orage 1.5hr drive from where I live.

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Tuesday 23rd November 2010

When I arrived at the workshop, in the '41(more of that later, in true confessions) Wade was under the '39 disconnecting the rods from the transmission 1st/reverse and 2nd/top actuating arms. He'd already taken out the seat, rolled back the carpet and removed the transmission inspection floor plate. Once the rods were off the actuating arms the top of the trans was removed for inspection purposes. Inspection encompassed both the transmission internals and the detent mechanism in the trans top. The transmission itself has a fair bit of movement in the synchro housing(I think that's what it is) as well as slop in 1st and 2nd gears. While the detent mechanism in the trans top also had a lot of movement. To fix the excessive movement/slop/wear in the trans would require the whole unit to be pulled from the car and the main shaft replaced, a rather costly exercise, so instead efforts were concentrated on the improving the trans top and after that the various rods and linkages.

During the process of taking the detent mechanism apart who should arrive but Noel. Wade had said earlier Noel was dropping in but couldn't remember why although that became apparent later. Noel had brought over his copies of the James Hollingsworth book "Packard 1940 A pivotal year" and a reprint of the boolet "Packard Accessories for 1941", and these I'll be reading in the very near future. Noel also suggested I scan the Accessories booklet and include it in the Literature and Manuals Section here on PackardInfo. While I'm all for that I didn't know whether the legalities of copyright still held for the reprint and demurred about doing it. For that I was taken to task by both Noel and Wade who voiced the view I'd never been shy about putting Packards things forward before. Maybe so, but my ramblings here are somewhat different from uploading literature. Not to worry according to Noel, he'll contact the guy who had a hand in the reprint to see if it would be acceptable to do so. If it is, I'll let you all know. And as Noel was leaving the real purpose of his visit became apparent. Noel was picking up Old Blue's original fuel tank which had been replaced by Wade with a custom made aluminium one when Wade got tired of the leaks in the original. Apparently Les is after another tank for his 120 Coupe and on a previous visit Wade had mentioned to Noel Les could have his old tank if he wanted it. And he did!

Once Noel had gone, continued on with the detent fix which involved another trans top's detent being examined then taken apart to determine whether the spacer, used in one side of the detent, was better than the one from John's '39, which it was. Also put a couple of washers as spacers between the detent body and its mounting point in the trans top, this aligns the detent balls a little better and has also firmed up the movement of the trans top shift levers. Then put the top back on the trans but the floor plate, carpet and seat removal remain as is for the time being.

And during all this we had another Packard visitor, DavidM. David was on his way home after going to see Tim at Carburettor Service Company, no not for any of his Packards but about his 1912 Maxwell. David had gone for a run on Sunday in the Maxwell and was not impressed with the performance it offered. Who would after Packards? Seriously though with a top speed of about 25/30mph, 2 speed trans with low good for about 4mph and without enough power to pull the skin off a rice pudding David was looking for induction system options. I'm sure if Eric was still on board he'd be extolling the virtues of turbocharging it but irrespective that's not going to happen. As it is the Maxwell's current carb isn't "correct" because even Maxwell afficiandos acknowledge their failings, considering them to be suitable for museum status only! The maxwell, a two cylinder JUG engine, currently uses one sidedraft carb joined by a T piece to an unequal length tube manifold, this setup leaving much to be desired. Apparently word in the Maxwell world is the use a pair of AMAL motorcycle carbs, with one attached directly to each JUG. David was scoping out his options with Tim about the AMAL's being big enough for this application, which he was assured they were. David also visited a motorcycle shop and learned there he can purchase a simple linkage arrangement for this type of setup at a very reasonable cost. David had been envisioning engineering brackets, bell cranks and suchforth before discovering the simple off the shelf solution. Apart from that David reckoned Wade should drop all other Packard work and concentrate on getting The Fossil finished!

Then after David left it was back to the '39. But this time instead of the gear linkages, because Wade still needs to find a machinist to do the water pumps and work on some of the gear linkage parts, it was addressing the noisy tappets. I removed the right inner mudguard(fender) panel then Wade removed the tappet covers. This was a good time to tackle this with the gear linkages removed otherwise access, to the 3 rear pairs of tappets, would be nigh on impossible. As it was, it took Wade well over two hours to re-set the 3 front pairs, coming up for air and to stretch his contorted body on a number of occasions. And was I sitting around twiddling my thumbs while Wade was doing his Quasimodo impression? Yes, but with a caveat, I did have to jump up 5 times to press the starter button to bump over the engine so the next tappet could be attended to. With hot settings of 0.007" and 0.010" for intake and exhaust valves respectably Wade used 0.009" and 0.012" cold, same as I set my '41 when it was rebuilt, that's if the memory serves me correctly, and that runs very quietly. The 3 rear pairs will be attended to tomorrow.

And my "true confession"? On Saturday, in preparation for a run in the '41 on Sunday I backed the Coupe up the drive in order to wash and clean it. In doing so, and being so intent of the right side because the driveway entrance is relatively narrow, I bumped the left rear mudguard(fender). To be more precise, the second from the top trim strip on that fender contacted the top of a small wall on that side of the driveway. Slight scrape at the front of that strip where it was pushed forward about 2" and the strip was sprung from it's rearmost mount. It had also straightened the strip, it should have a gentle curve to it following the mudguard(fender)shape. I took the strip off on Saturday, went on the run on Sunday with it in the boot(trunk), didn't want to lose it, and brought it down today for rectification work. While I removed the remaining retention clips from the fender Wade re-bent the strip to fit. After re-mounting it, the only evidence remaining are the scrape marks forward of the strip where it was pushed along the mudguard(fender).

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The cure to the mudguard problem is to send the wife shopping. While she's gone, take a jackhammer or other appropriate tool of destruction to the offending item. If it's a corner of your house, tell her that rounded corners are coming back into style and if otherwise, landscaping is over rated.

Be careful Mal. I think Howard is playing a prank on you! Your wife will have your cojones if you do any freelance landscaping.

Wednesday 24th November 2010

As I arrived, Wade was walking out of the workshop to go and see Parry at Aldus Engineering just up the road. No luck in finding a solution for the water pump machining required, they are too busy at the moment to be able to do little jobs. Earlier in the morning, before coming to the workshop, Wade had walked around the corner from his house to discover a sign on the front door of a machinist he'd used previously "Landlord in possession because of failure to pay rent" so that was a dead end too.

Returning to the workshop Wade started on setting the tappets for the 3 rear cylinders of the '39. For this I'd brought down 2 small wooden stools because the wheeled mechanics stool Wade used when setting the tappets for the 3 front cylinders was too high to allow him to access the rear cylinders in some sort of comfort. Of the two stools, the really low stool was, like Goldilocks found out, "just right". Sitting on this stool Wade just managed to fit under the rear of the front mudguard(fender) once the stay was removed. But before he disappeared under there I was issued with instructions to install the body to radiator stay bars on The Fossil. Must be that Wade didn't want me twiddling my thumbs like yesterday and so put me to work. And on The Fossil too! Trial fit of the painted nuts on the threaded ends of the stays where they join to the firewall at either upper corner revealed they wouldn't go on, painted up threads preventing that. And it's not my fault, this time I can blame the spraypainter. Out with the tap set and all nuts were cleaned out successfully, which allowed them to be threaded on to the stay. Installed the right side stay easily but the left side was another matter altogether. During this, I had assisted Wade by bumping the starter motor a number of times to turn the engine over for the next set of tappets to be adjusted. So when Wade emerged from under the '39 after a comparatively short time, compared to yesterday, I thought he was just coming out for a stretch. But no, he'd finished the tappets! He popped back under the mudguard(fender) to inspect the tappets while I started the '39 up. And what could you hear after the engine came to life? Certainly not the tappets, now they were quite quiet, as they should be in a Packard.

That done, moved to The Fossil because the left side stay wouldn't fit because the outer hole on the firewall didn't line up with the body bracket inside the car. Wasn't out by much but enough out to prevent the stay from being installed. And because it's not my car I didn't want to force the issue and possibly ruin something. So Wade loosened off the fittings and the bolts holding the firewall together and we attempted to to reposition it but without success. From what could be determined it was suspected some of the cutouts in the Caneite panel behind the firewall weren't quite right causing improper fit. To take the firewall out would necessitate taking the body off and that just wasn't an option. Next best option was prising the left side of the firewall and Caneite out far enough to enable inspection of the suspected problem. This was done with great trepidation on my part, as I'm sure it must have been for Wade, after all it is his car! Managed to obtain a gap of about an 1" which enabled Wade's suspicions to be confirmed. But, how to fix it? Fortunately, because Caneite is very soft, by using a right angled pick and the right angled end of a scriber the enlarging of the offending holes was able to be accomplished. Also fortunately, none of the holes requiring enlargement were too far to reach and rectify. That done Caneite and firewall back in place, bolts and fittings through firewall re-installed and we were good to retry installation of the left side stay and it worked!

Back to the '39, needed to re-install the tappet covers. Had to allow the engine to cool down, especially the exhaust manifold, after the earlier test engine run so Wade wasn't BBQ'd in the process. Although this process should be relatively straight-forward it proved otherwise. But Wade in his usual manner persevered and tappet covers installed with new gaskets.

Then back again to The Fossil. Looked over what needs to be done, a lot! And Wade decided re-installation of the rear seat mount was advisable. A number of other options were ruled out because they are dependent on other things being done first or delivery of parts. Up on the roof of the office, referred to as the mezzanine level, Wade has stored various body and interior parts until they are required. Took down both valance panels, the front frame covers and the front part of the rear seat mount. The bottom(top?) of the rear seat mount was in, where else, the rear of The Fossil. Needed to assemble the front and top(bottom?) with the front piece by bolting them together then mounting them in The Fossil. Why? So the screw holes can be marked and drilled so it can be finally installed and walked away from. The front piece has screw holes which cannot be accessed while the bottom(top?) of the mount is in place. So after the holes are marked on the new wood the pieces will be separated, wood drilled, front piece screwed in then the top(bottom?) piece bolted and screwed into place. All that to restore a Packard, no wonder these things take time. But prior to all that the screws and nuts needed to be cleaned and painted which task I accomplished with the aid of POR-15. Left Wade phoning engineering and machining shops, most of which seemed to have either moved out of the area or misrepresent their capabilities.

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