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Check out the latest Cormorant (#129) on how to disassemble your Clipper--.

I got the tie-rod apart. A hammer on pickle-fork did the trick.

I will have to see if I can locate a copy of the latest Cormorant if you think it may prove useful for other things.

Not sure if that important to make big effort. There is the disassembly of a 54 deluxe to get inside a bldg with narrow doors and some shots of just the front end items you were looking for--although detail may not be good enough.

I ordered the new dust covers from Steele Rubber. They were $5 each. So those are on the way to me. I still need to finish some of the cleanup on the tie-rods. Then the painting can begin.

I also went a bought a couple tubes for grease for the pneumatic grease gun so I can relube the cross tube and tie rod ends.

On the cross-tube, should a pre-lube anything during re-assembly, or just put it back together dry, and lube it through the exisiting two fittings?

Once back together I will leave it but put aside until I have the engine compartment frame section all painted.

I am also going to pull the oil pan back off the engine as it has been seaping oil ever since I dropped it last time. I think the because the steering cross tube was in the way, and I had to wrestle the pan back in place, I may damaged the gasket. Now with the steering disassembled I should be able to get the pan out of there pretty easily, check for flatness, and then put on a fresh gasket, and then reassemble it without any further problems. Also I still need to paint the pan engine color. I just painted it black last time I had it off the car to keep it from rusting again.

Well not too much done this weekend. The rain has been pretty heavy at time and the temp has been in the 50's during the day.

I did get all the tie-rods, center steering tube, and steering arms stripped and painted.

Also I went to see a good buddy today that had a gift for me.

The father of one of his good female friends was a Mechanic for a long time and now has retired. So the father gave all the tools to my friend. He is not a car guy, but more of a wood worker. So he called me and asked me if I wanted to come look thought the tools, and I could take whatever I wanted.

So I took my Taurus to pick up the tools. I should have taken my wife's SUV. So when I get there he leads me out to his garage where he has all this stuff stored at, and what is he giving away?

A big Matco rolling toolbox, with side chest. Another side chest made by snapon, and also a snapon top chest. They are greasy, well used, and need a fresh coat of paint, but other wise it very good shape.

So we fit as much as we can in the Taurus (big chest still at his house, needed the SUV for that). So I think we are done, and then he says "Look through the 5 big plastic totes there and take whatever tools you want". There must have been 500lbs of assorted tools in those totes. Hundreds of sockets, wrenches, and other stuff. I got some nice pullers, pry-bars, a pickle fork set (of course I just bought one). Lots of assorted taps and dies. Another Drum Puller. And a ton of just other misc specialty tools. I went through and picked out the bigger sized name brand wrenches and sockets (Snapon, Matco, Craftsmen, etc). If I didnt reconsize the brand, or it wasnt make in the US, then I tossed it back in the junk pile.

I just need to sort and degrease everything, and go and pick up the large chest. So all and all, it was a very good day!

Now, that's a good friend! The tool boxes alone are worth the trip! Glad to see projects moving ahead and getting a boost.

Well I have not had a chance to get very much done lately. I have been buried at work, and feeling a bit under the weather. So by the time I have got home at night, I have pretty much just crashed. This also explains why I have not been as active on the website as I usually am. Hopefully work will calm down a bit, and I can get back to working on the car and the website over the next few days.

I did get the tie-rods and steering cross shaft all painted, reassembled, and regreased. It will wait to go back on the car after I have finished the frame painting.

My buddy did bring that big toolbox up to me. So on Sunday I finshed cleaning and degreasing all the toolboxes, and then repainted all the exterior with frame paint.

I also cleaned up the hardware on the boxes, and replaced a broken handle. Here is a picture of them after I finished painting(they were originally red) them and remounted all the side cabinents. The top craftsmen box I already had and was not repainted. The main box is a MAC, the left side chest is MAC, the right side chest is a Snap-On, and I belive the middle top chest is a Snap-On (name plate is missing).

I think they look pretty good for toolboxes that saw a very long life (15-25 years) at a very busy mechanics.

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Kev, I think they look great. My life was made easier by getting a toolbox large enough to hold most of my tools. Organization is key but my train hobby suffers from clutter with soldering guns and small tools all in a jumble. When my friend gets his tool boxes and benches all completed I will post a pic here. It is so nice I am envious and all covered with a one-piece stainless steel top.

Well I have not got that much done on the car the last couple of weeks. Work has been crazy, and the my weekends have been spoken for.

I did get the spacers made for the sway-bar bracket retrofit. Just waiting on the brackets to come in from Autozone.

I took the two clipper rims I bought at the PI Swapmeet, as well as the spare tire rim, and had the old tires on them dismounted and disposed of. Some of those tires still had tubes in them.

Yesterday I dropped the rims off at the media blaster. $12 a rim for blasting, and they will be ready on Thursday night. Once those are done, then I will proceed with priming and painting.

I ordered 4 rattle-cans of Metallic Bikini Blue from Tower-Paint to refinish the rims with as well as touch up the firewall. Hint if you need paint from Tower, call them to place the order, and try to order 3 or more cans as the price drops to $14 a can when 3 or more are ordered.

I may take the hood, front fenders, trunk lid and a few other large pieces to the Media blaster also. They can spray with a few different types of media to prevent warpage, and for the price and time save, its well worth it. If it was just paint that needed to be stripped, that is one thing, but I really dont want to fight that much surface rust. I will let them take of it. Any small pieces I can degrease and let sit in a bucket of Evapo-Rust overnight to achieve the same effect. (BTW Harbor Freight now stocks Evapo-Rust in their stores).

Well I took those rims I bought at the PI swapmeet back to Dan Yocum for exchange today. They didnt fit on my '54 Clipper, even though they came off his 54 Super Clipper.

I remember talking to Albert (from the AACA) forums, and he had mentioned that he had come across three different bolt patterns on the '54 model year.

My '54 was one of the last cars of the assembly line in '54, so it appears that it has a 55 junior bolt pattern hubs.

So anyway I went up to exchange the rims today for the correct ones. I brought my brake drum with me and we had to look through several different rims before we found two that matched up with my drum.

I also picked up a 4-way brass splitter for the oil filter, pressure sender plumbing.

I look around his Packard grave yard he has in the back of his place. At one time he had over fourty 51-56 Packards in the back of his place. But the city made him get rid of most of the cars. So now he has a few 56 Clippers, a 54 Limo, and 53 Patty. Plus piles of blocks, heads, rear ends, fenders, hoods, bumpers, grilles, and other pieces like that in the yard. He also has a shed full of trim. (both interior and exterior).

**Eric** He has a manual transmission and a manual bellhousing out of a 56 Caribbean he once owned. Just thought I would pass that along.

I have attached a few pictures of what he has. All the rain has caused the grass to grow like crazy, so it almost like a field of hidden Packard parts.

-Enjoy

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