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Tuesday 14th December 2010

Wade was re-installing the impeller on Mat's '34 water pump when I arrived. That done, the fan belt pulley then went on the other end of the shaft, but first the retaining collar was slipped over the pump housing. Then it was installed in the '34 with the gasket/seal that Mat had brought back from the US.

Wade received a call from John enquiring how his '39 was progressing with Wade able to tell him he was just about to start re-assembling the gear change linkages. And speaking of John and phonecalls, yesterday Wade received a call from 39 coupe, aka Wheels, Wheels had seen in a previous post that the tow bar had been removed from John's '39 sedan and had enquired of Wade whether John would be interested in selling it. Wade had liaised with John and a price had been determined which Wade was now able to relay to Wheels. Only problem now is transporting the tow bar to Murwillumbah, about 500 miles north, but it might be possible to get it to Tamworth which is almost half way there courtesy of one Barry Smith who could possibly coming to Sydney in the near future. And the reason why Wheels wants to put a tow bar on his '39 Coupe? So he can tow his restored sprint car behind it, should make a great pair! And still speaking of phonecall, yesterday Wade also had a phone call from KevinA advising Wade that PeterP, the guy I bought my '38 Eight Sedan from, wants to donate his Packard spare parts to PACA Club Stock. Wade will arrange a time and date with Peter and we'll go over and photograph and document the parts for the Club.

Phonecalls aside, work then started on re-installing the gear linkages in John's '39. Although Wade had tagged together the cranks, linkages and shafts before they were machined afterwards although the correct linkage was on the correct shaft the shafts were around the wrong way. That sorted out, the shafts and linkages went back in fairly easily. Well a whole lot easier than getting them out, and of course it helped that the right inner mudguard(fender) panel was pulled up to give better access. Part of the fix was using belleville washers on the crank arm mounts of the linkages. These washers provide tension to hold the linkage arms in place. All back together, dropped the car back to earth and started it up. Good, except for a terrible noise from the front of the ngine. Turned out in my wrestling the inner mudguard(fender) panel in and out I'd bent a fan blade and again Wade came to the rescue straightening it out in short order. So off for a test run and all appeared to be going well until it popped out of 2nd gear. Back to the workshop, some more tension on the nuts and belleville washer and another test run where it popped out of second again!

Back at the workshop and tweaked the '39 again but instead of immediately going for another test run turned to Mat's '34. Filled the radiator with water and started her up. Well that was the intention, but start it did not. Use of starting fluid would produce a very short run then nothing. Of course it didn't help that Mal was the choke mechanism because the auto choke is inoperative. It was surmised that fuel wasn't getting to the engine and because the fuel gauge didn't work it was thought the '34 might be running on empty. So, firing up the '39 again, killing two birds with one stone. we were off for more fuel for the '34. Back at the workshop, fuel into '34, Mal at the choke with one hand the other holding the can of starting fluid, instructions from Wade as to which choke setting I should be and after a few attempts it started! And the water pump didn't leak either.

Left the '34 and jumped in the '39 again, this time off to a wrecking yard, Buffalo Motor Wreckers, for a bracket to use in mounting the 6V alternator to Mat's '34. Took the alternator along for the ride and at the wreckers the guy took one look at it and said it looks like a Holden(The local GM brand). Invited out the back where he put his hands on a bracket which should form the basis of the bracket to mount the alternator to the '34.

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Thursday 16th December 2010

Yesterday Wade had worked on Big Red, once again going over the distributor, fitting new points and condenser and also new plugs. Started up, and it's running sweetly, but Wade also wants to put in a new coil, which is currently on order from Repco. Wade also engaged in some housekeeping doing work on the cabinet media blaster as well as some tidy up around the Packard corner of the workshop. And what do you know, in doing so he found a body bolt washer that was missing. So that was the first thing done today, fitting the washer to The Fossil.

Next up was John's '39 because it was leaking oil from both tappet covers. The tappets had been re-set a couple of weeks ago complete with new tappet cover gaskets but sprung some leaks nevertheless. So up with the inner mudguard(fender) panel and Wade removed the tappet covers whereupon I cleaned them up. New cork gaskets were cut courtesy of MBM&W, the tappet covers panel beaten to remove the dishing from the mounting hole areas and re-installed together with silicone sealant. Last time, to have reasonable comfort while under the mudguard(fender)Wade had sat a tiny wooden stool I'd brought from home. But today, without this aid available, settled for sitting on a large tin of grease with a piece of timber for a seat!

That done, the plan was, leave the silicone to set for a while and go and pick up the pumpkin for Old Blue, Wade having earlier received a call from Tricia of Award Diff & Gearbox Services that it was ready. However with Noel arriving that was soon shelved as he'd picked up his re-chromed and re-assembled '41 160 grill from his mate Tony. Looks good and Noel's very pleased with it but, Noel being very particular, only rates it at 95%! If only my '41 120 grill was anywhere near that good! Noel was also able to pick up his '41 front shocks which have been sitting on the bench after the leaks were fixed by Tony "Shocks" some months back. Noel was pleased to learn that early next week he'll be able to bring in his '39 after John's '39 returns home. Following Noel's departure it was time for lunch, a repast provided by John, of oysters, prawns(shrimp) together with buttered bread rolls and various condiments washed down by your drink of choice.

After lunch, headed for Seven Hills for the diff, but first stopped at Repco where Wade picked up the new coil as well as another condenser and a 6V brake light switch as spares for Big Red. During lunch a short hailstorm had engulfed the workshop and we found we were driving into the storm with lightening fracturing across black threatening clouds accompanied by plenty of rain. At Award Diffs we were drenched just getting out of the Ute and covering the 20' to their office. We had intended to call into ABC Bearings on the way back to see if we could answer a distress call from traumjaegercat, Terry, who is chasing front wheel bearings for his '37 Pontiac. Sorry Terry, didn't make it today but tomorrow for sure.

Back at the workshop unloaded the pumpkin then back onto John's '39 again. Fired her up, let her run until well warmed up, then checked for any nefarious oil leaks and fortunately there weren't any. Then bolted the rest of the '39 together, inner mudguard(fender) panel, air cleaner, right front wheel and dropped the old girl back to earth.

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Sunday 19th December 2010

Not Wade's Workshop today but the pic's below are the fruits of half an hour spent in Ed's garage. Ed, the owner of a '37 120 Touring Sedan, had a bug screen he'd made for the '37 he wanted to dispose of. I'd previously suggested he advertise it as a giveaway in our club magazine "The Packardian" but for whatever reason it missed making the latest edition. I'd also previously said I'd take it if no one wanted it rather than it getting acrapped, so there I was to pick it up. Any Aussies reading this needing a bug screen for a '30's/early '40's Packard, just yell and it's yours!

So that was why I was there. And while there I saw Ed's other passion his collection of motorcycles. He has 5 but one is in pieces so really only saw four, one of which featured in a 70's cult TV series here in Oz, The Aunty Jack Show. And Wade, Ed has a lathe and knows how to use it, he's made parts for his bikes and the '37 on it! Dropped the word that the workshop from time to time requires some Packard parts machining and he seemed receptive, so?

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On Friday I did make it to ABC Bearings where the outlook for '37 Pontiac front wheel bearings looks reasonably promising. I'll know more tomorrow when I go back to Dennis at ABC with further info from Terry.

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Monday 20th December 2010

Instead of going directly to the workshop went instead to ABC Bearings taking with me more info from traumjaegercat, Terry, regarding the '37 Pontiac front wheel bearings he's after. Should know later this week whether the search is successful or not. At the workshop found out that on Friday Wade had again been into Big Red and she's now running well. And it had been another tidy up day for Wade during which he found my scraping knife, not that there's much of it left after repeated sharpenings have taken it literally to within an inch of it's life! I'm glad it's back, I really missed it.

But the main task for the day was putting the diff centre back in Old Blue. Wade cleaned up the oil, which had dripped onto the floor under Old Blue, while I cleaned up the gasket surface on the pumpkin. Then on my back on the creeper I cleaned the surface on the diff housing, been a while since I'd done that sort of thing under a Packard. Not something you want to do but it must be done, with the consequent fallout being an occupational hazard. During that Wade was scratching around trying to turn up new copper washers for the diff stud nuts but to no avail. This meant a road trip to Lee Bros and the thought was we could kill two birds with one stone as Wade needed a 7/8" holesaw for the holes to be cut in the cowl sides of The Fossil and would pick that up at the same time. Copper washers were easy, the hard part was the hole saw. Wade had bought a holesaw auger and one blade at some time in the past to do a particular one off job but couldn't recall where he'd bought it from, and struck out at Lee Bros because they carry a different brand. Then tried Hare and Forbes, just down the road from Lee Bros, but they too couldn't help, instead they suggested try Bunnings, Australia's largest general hardware chain, who have a store just across the road. No luck at Bunnings either, and coming back over the road tried Supercheap Auto and Repco, both automotive parts stores side by side, but again no cigar. Left it at that for the time being, will try again another day.

Back at the workshop put the pumpkin on a floor jack, rolled it under Old Blue, and with Wade undercar directing proceedings, the pumpkin was jacked up and manoeuvered into the diff housing studs. Required a bit of shuffling to and fro as well as a re-positioning of the jack to one side near the end of proceedings but all-in-all a smooth operation. While Wade was underneath tightening up the diff stud nuts I slipped the axles in at each side and cleaned up the inner surfaces of the backing plates as well as all the hardware going back on. Backing plates back on, hydraulic lines reconnected, keys, belleville wave(Edit) washers, brake drums, and axle washer and nuts tightened but not yet split-pinned and then rear brakes bled and master cylinder topped up.

Still not yet finished with Old Blue because on Friday Wade had also removed the tailshaft in order to clean and repack the universal joints. Seeing the diff was receiving a lot of TLC Wade felt it was only fair the tailshaft and it's accoutrements received some too. Wade had cleaned up a couple of the uni cup and roller sets on Friday but that left another 6 to clean, courtesy of yours truely, while Wade repacked the cleaned ones. Then ended up making 8 new MBM felt seals for the uni cups, the one thing overlooked on our little excursion earlier, in the holesaw confusion and disappointment, were the new seals required! Fortunately Wade had a sheet of felt and with the appropriate sized punches from the hole punch set we soon had that requirement covered. Had to leave Wade to it at that stage and we'll see the tailshaft back in Old Blue tomorrow.

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Tuesday 21st December 2010

Got to the workshop early afternoon but no Wade. He was off, with Barry Smith from Tamworth, chasing bailey channel. Four full lengths for Barry for his '38 Twelve and about 1/2 length for Wade to finish off The Fossil. But when Wade arrived he had a full length in his hand although one end had a nasty kink in it. Turns out the guy at Spectrum Rubber was demonstrating how easy it was to bend to shape when he overdid it! Now Wade has a full, but bent at one end, length for the price of a half length.

Yesterday, after my departure, Wade had partly re-installed the tailshaft on Old Blue, but the front uni joint still needs to be bolted in to complete the undecar part of the driveline. He also re-installed the rear wheels but the lug bolts and axle nuts still need to be properly tightened.

But what got done today? Answer, in the region of nothing. After Wade and Barry returned they were in deep discussion about body alignment for The Fossil because Barry has done a few in his restoration efforts and was able to pass on some good advice and tips. During this Snapey,Matt, arrived bearing a bottle of red for Wade. So while Barry and Wade were looking over The Fossil then Big Red, Mat was telling me some of his thoughts on how he's going to build his Packard speedster. The chassis will be Wade's spare '34 chassis and the engine a supercharged 120 282. Won't say any more as I'm sure Matt will enlighten us all when the time comes. After Barry left more discussion, this time between Matt and Wade, with a number of queries directed to Matt concerning the drawings required for laser cutting of parts. Not much more than that, so no hands on Packard work for the day. Hopefully tomorrow will be more fruitful.

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Wednesday 22nd December 2010

Alas and alack! Oh woe is Wade! What started out as a pretty straightforward Packard day turned into something else as will be seen.

Wade had already put the drain plug into the pumpkin this morning and when I arrived he dived under Old Blue to bolt the front uni joint back in. That done, borrowed John's oil pump and filled the diff with oil and put the fill plug back in. Dropped Old Blue back to the shop floor, tensioned up the axle nuts, put in the split pins, tightened the lug bolts and replaced the hub caps. Time to start her up for the first time since early November. Battery needed a boost to get going after sitting for that time then she was off but, strangely, Wade turned her off! Why? There was no oil pressure registering on the gauge! A quick look under the car and a small pool of oil was forming. Opened the bonnet(hood) and it was found the tube from the block to the oil gauge had broken. Why it decided to do it now, after only 73 years of operation, who knows?

After Wade did his usual upside down under the dash and under Old Blue to remove the broken tube we walked round to see Col at Brookers Brakes to source some new tubing. But Col didn't have any 1/8", had 3/16" and 1/4" and a suggestion to replace the steel tube with high quality fuel injection rubber hose using the 3/16" and 1/4" to step up the diameter to fit the FI hose. So picking up the 3/16" and 1/4", which Col donated to the cause, continued walking to Repco around the corner and bought the hose. Back at the workshop Wade double flared one end of two pieces of the 1/4" tubing, cut two small pieces off the 3/16" tubing and cut the ends off the now two pieces of the original oil pressure gauge tube. Well cleaned up then soldered together the new oil pressure gauge and block fittings together with the rubber hose were then re-installed in Old Blue with Wade as usual on his back and me passing spanners(wrenches), holding lights and acting as gofer. All back together, started her up, no need for the booster this time and Houston.....we have oil pressure!

And there we now were, ready to go for a test drive in Old Blue, something we expected to be doing half a day earlier. Out the workshop, up the driveway, turn left into the street, what's that noise I ask Wade? "It's OK, it's coming from the factory next door" he says.....pheeeew! But.....further up the street there's another noise, a whine, not loud, but certainly easily discernable could be heard. And Wade was taking it easy too, because of the oil pressure tubing fix, just gently driving Old Blue. Instead of a big circuit that constitutes the test run loop, Wade went only a short distance before returning to the Workshop and parked Old Blue outside. While Wade was despondent about this latest turn of events he wanted John to go with him for a short drive to gain his opinion on it's likely cause, although we all know the main suspect don't we? With nothing further to be done I left Wade to probably drown his sorrows in the bottle of red that Matt had dropped in yesterday.

And that's what constitutes "Alas and alack! Oh woe is Wade!"

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Thursday 23rd December 2010

After a morning spent with the granddaughters dropped in at the workshop and found Old Blue back in her spot. Also learned that she'd been up on Rick's hoist with the motor running and in gear while audio diagnostics were conducted for the source of the whine. It is the diff but exactly what or why isn't yet known. Wade had called Award Diffs who advised him to bring the pumpkin back for examination but Wade wants them to hear it in action. Accordingly Award are going to arrange for a tilt tray truck to pick up Old Blue for transportation to their shop. But.....this will take place after their Christmas break when they resume on 10th January.

And Terry, speaking of resuming on the 10th, today I received a call from Dennis at ABC Bearings about the bearing search. I'll be sending you a message with details about the call but, because ABC has also shut down and re-opens on the 10th, nothing is now going to happen until then.

Later this afternoon Wade will be travelling south to Helensburg to pick up the rest of the sheet metal and the remaining painted parts for The Fossil. He's taking the workshop car trailer because he needs to transport the front mudguards(fenders) amongst other things and '34 'guards just don't fit in the back of a Ute.

Wade had also contacted John about returning his '39, he'd tried a couple of times over the last few days but couldn't reach him. So after the trailer is unloaded tomorrow, we'll return the '39 in time for it to spend Christmas at home.

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Thursday 24th December 2010

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Didn't quite work out as expected because not everything was picked up yesterday. Although the bonnet(hood) side panels had been painted for some time they didn't come home. Joel the painter had been looking at them and had only just realised that the rib at the bottom of each bonnet(hood) side panel should have the lighter gray colour on it rather than the panel being the darker gray all over. Or maybe that was the darker gray on the rib rather than the lighter gray all over? As well there were the "buttons" or "plugs", which fill the holes in the valance panels at the spring hangers. Because Wade had posted these to Joel only about a week ago they were in primer and need to be finished. So another trip south will be required in the New Year but this time sans the need for car trailer transport of parts home.

Wade had unloaded the smaller parts before I arrived, toe board, front floor panel and sidemount covers. The front mudguards(fenders) were still on the trailer but had been untied ready for removal. First they were taken off the trailer and temporarily stored on the workshop floor with suitable protection. The trailer was then pushed out of the workshop with Wade steering by means of the jockey wheel while I lent some motive power. Then up to the mezzanine level, aka the office roof, where the pool table being stored there was cleared of an accumulation of stuff and a protective layer of padding laid on one of Lochie's old oval racetracks, a board about 8' x 4'. Very carefully the right front mudguard(fender) was carried up the stairs, they too having been cleared of obstructions beforehand, manouvered around the cage and gently positioned on the pool table. Similarly for the left front, and although it was the intention to have them side by side pointing in the one direction, this one was reversed because there just wasn't enough room that way. Took a bit of shuffling, changing places and body bending before it was in place and could be covered up until required for re-installation on The Fossil.

The other task for the day was returning John's '39 TJ Richards bodied Six to him. Wade drove the '39 while I followed in the Ute. John was pleased to have the car home for Christmas and will now be able to take it out for some runs with his son and his son's family.

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year to all.

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Friday 31st December 2010

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Following from my visit when I viewed Chris's '48 Club Coupe cum Woodie, today Chris send me some some progress pic's and a note on it's progress(edited version below).

A few recent shots of the 48 at TJs - 50mm(2") has been taken out of the front pillars to make front lines parallel to the rear. I rebuilt and refitted the carb, fired it up on the last visit and she ran well - no funny noises etc which is very good news. Meanwhile TJ reckons I'd be wise to forget the idea of Jag front and rear ends and consequent right hand drive conversion. I think he's probably right, if the car drives, rides and handles as well as the 54 clipper I'd be very happy.

Happy New Year to all on PackardInfo

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Tuesday 4th January 2011

Arrived at the workshop to find another '39 filling the space vacated by John's '39 before Christmas. But it wasn't Noel's '39 120 Touring Sedan, instead it's Richard's '39 Six Convertible Coupe! The Convertible Coupe had come in yesterday for attention to: 1) the throttle linkage and, 2) the gear linkages. Plan is to turn it over in a day or two so that it then can go back to Les to finish off the left door repairs he started prior to last years National Rally.

The throttle linkage was the first thing tackled. And this entailed removing the gear change linkages to the arms on the steering column to gain what little access could be afforded in that area, it's tight! It proved quite a difficult task to remove the throttle linkage because with an arm at each end it needed to be manouvered out from the accelerator pedal, once that was disconnected, then turned, squeezed, shuffled and sworn at before it even looked like it was possible to get it out. And eventually out it came! Once out it was quite apparent that the pins locking the arms at each end of the cross shaft were worn and needed replacement. Wade thought he had some lock pins(term?) roll pins(correction) on hand but of course now couldn't put a hand on them. So a walk round to Repco was required where two packets of assorted sized pins were bought. And, funny thing, on the way back to the workshop Wade remembered where he'd put the pins! Also on the way back to the workshop Wade received a call from Noel and was able to tell him to bring his '39 in. Back at the workshop drilled out the cross shaft and the arms, inserted new larger pins, and there you had it, a throttle linkage cross shaft without slop! The rod from the accelerator pedal to the cross shaft arm was also very floppy but with judicious matching of washer thicknesses most of that was also eliminated. Next another fun time, putting it back from whence it came. With me, inside the '39, pulling a wire tied to the ball of the accelerator pedal shaft and Wade manouvering the cross shaft assembly, from the engine side, it was then another fight to get it back in. And in it went. Then all the other linkage parts, accelerator pedal and carpet back in place dry testing showed everything working without slop and full travel. Only part now proving cantankerous is the hand throttle, appears there's a kink in the cable preventing it from being pulled out more than 1/2"!

From the throttle linkage it was now onto the gear linkages. During the course of removing the accelerator pedal Wade had removed two pieces of MDF from the base of the clutch pedal. Why were these there? That only became apparent later. To help access the gear linkages undercar, the front of the '39 was jacked up and jackstands put in place. A lunch break was also taken, Rick had BBQ'd some rissoles, eggs, tomatoes and onions - delicious. During lunch who should arrive but Noel, complete with clashing or grinding of gears his main source of concern this time round although he also had a laundry list of other matters to be attended to on the '39. Then onto the gear linkages, set up with an 11/64" drill through the linkage arms on the bottom of the steering column(the manual says 3/16" but it doesn't fit). The rods to the bell cranks were reconnected, also with judicious use of washers to take up any sloppiness. All appeared to fit and align well but testing of the setup proved otherwise. And this is where the MDF came in! Now that the MDF wasn't in place, in selecting reverse and holding the clutch pedal to the floor I could feel the pedal move back up during this process. Apparently the MDF was there to prevent the clutch pedal from being completely depressed to the floor! The clutch pedal was coming into contact with the rod from the steering column linkage arm to the bellcrank transferring the motion to the 1st/reverse linkage rod to the transmission arm. After a number of observations, both from the topside and by Wade under the '39, it was decided, seeing we had another '39 available for comparison purposes, to put Noel's up on Rick's hoist and see if it could tell us anything. Noel's '39, when up on the hoist, was very similar but the 1st/reverse rod from the bellcrank to the transmission had a slightly different shape. And in operating Noel's '39, when shifting into reverse, it was observed that although the clutch pedal came very, very close to the clutch pedal it didn't touch. So out came the 1st/reverse linkage rod from the '39 CC and, being a thick rod, the hot spanner was applied to enable it to be bent it into a more acceptable shape. Took about 6 heat applications, followed by cooling and check fitting cycles before the required shape was achieved. And with the 1st/reverse linkage rod now back in it necessitated adjustment to the linkage rod from the lower bell crank to the steering column arm, so again Mr 11/64" was again back in play. Adjustment done, now to fire it up and test everything for real instead of the previous dry runs. Only trouble was it wouldn't start, appears the battery is low, so was put on overnight charge for action tomorrow.

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