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Wednesday 9th March 2011

Arrived at the workshop a bit later than usual to find Wade standing around, waiting. In the time he was in he'd cleaned up the block surface, checked the distributor over including dressing the points and set the timing with No 1 at TDC. All that was needed now, was a head gasket! But rather than stand around, waiting for Noel to arrive with head gasket, I suggested turning our attention to The Fossil. Wade however was reluctant to do so not wanting to leave unfinished any job started while in waiting mode. Instead he suggested I return home and bring down the '41 to see if the source of my noise could be located and fixed. Didn't need to be asked twice so went home and returned with the '41 and drove it into the workshop and onto Rick's hoist which was vacant. And while I had been swapping cars, Noel had been and gone with his new head gasket. Turns out it doesn't fit, must be for the 356 in his '41 160 Coupe. Instead he took the old gasket over to LesF who thought he had a new genuine Packard gasket laid away. When Noel returned it was found to be used, although looking better than Wade's blown one. A much better gasket in materials and finishing but because of it's previous usage Wade didn't want to take the risk in re-using it. Accordingly the spare gasket Wade had was pressed into service with closer examination of it showing it was better than the blown gasket but still a lesser product than the original. With all the pieces of the puzzle now available it was time to put Big Red back together. The new gasket was cleaned, both surfaces coated with a copper based gasket spray, wriggled gently onto the studs and the head manouvered onto the studs where its inherent weight providing the means to press the gasket to the block surface. Head nuts on, sparkplugs in after cleaning and re-gapping, upper radiator hose back on, temp gauge sending unit re-installed, heater hose re-connected, distributor back on, distributor cap and leads re-connected. Note, when I said head nuts on this meant torqueing down the nuts in increments and sequence a number of times before the recommended torque setting was reached. As Wade was about to re-fill the cooling system I asked if he'd re-tightened the cock opened to drain the fluid out yesterday. He hadn't, so chalk one up for Mal, it's not often, like almost never, that I'm ahead of Wade. Then start up, couple of turns and away she went, no leaks and running smoothly. Next test, after circulating oil and temp coming up, was to bring revs up to check for the mid range vibration. It was still evident although not as pronounced as it had previously been. So, it's still a source of frustration and worry to Wade. With the engine well warmed up it was then time to re-torque the head nuts. Because of the distributor and coil position they both need to be removed so all head nuts are accessible for the re-torqueing process. Done and started up again, still running smoothly except for the mid range vibration. Turned off again, distributor and coils again removed, for another head nut tightening sequence, but not until tomorrow morning. After which the engine will be run again, thoroughly warmed up and the head nuts re-torqued. Again!

That was Big Red. Previously the '41 was up on Rick's hoist where Wade watched and listened below while I started and ran the engine. Nothing apparent but Wade suggested tightening the exhaust manifold to engine pipe connection, seemed to help a bit so it suggests the doughnut type gasket there might be failing. I'll take the '41 to Tony at Quick-Fit Mufflers next week so he can cast his expert eyes and ears over it. While the '41 was up on the hoist took the opportunity to tighten the inlet/exhaust manifold to block nuts, as well as the ring of screws on the underside of the fuel pump because it appears there's an oil leak in that vicinity.

Also had a call from David the guy who bought Old Blue. Reason being I'm flying to southern Queensland tomorrow and will celebrate my Dad's 90th birthday with him and other family members on Friday. Because I'm flying up on Thursday I'm also taking the opportunity to visit a number of Packard people while I have the chance. I'll be meeting David at the airport then driving to Murwillumbah to meet a couple of Packard guys. From there to Davids and Old Blue. Then, if he's available, a guy close by to David who has a '37 Convertible Coupe. This visit is currently problematic because he's an undertaker and has a funeral to attend to on the day. We'll liaise with him on the morning to try and meet up and to see his Packard. From there I continue on to Birkdale to see PackardInfo member Bill B and his restored '37 120C Convertible Coupe and his current restoration a '48 Convertible. Will update, when I can, about the people and Packards I meet.

Quote:Gerd,

You know a guy will never accept the easy way if he can help it. There's a good dose of machismo in all of us!

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Friday 11th March 2011

Yesterday I flew to the Gold Coast, south east corner of Queensland bordering New South Wales where I come from, for my Dad's 90th birthday celebrations today. But first, yesterday was a people and their Packards day. Met up with Dave, the guy who bought Old Blue from Wade, outside Coolangatta airport and travelled to see the two John's, JohnP and JohnW(39 Coupe here On PackardInfo) at Murwillumbah which is back in New South Wales. Saw their 3 Packards, but missed out on a '36 Convertible Coupe that JohnP had sold about 6 weeks ago. Then to Dave's place on the Gold Coast to catch up with Old Blue. Last stop was Birkdale near Brisbane with Bill B and his two Packards, had a nice lunch with Bill at his local club and going for a drive in his '37, great car! Because we just plain ran out of time missed out on visiting another Packard guy, Terry with a '38 Super Eight, although I was sent a picture of it, see below. Here's a link to the pictures I took yesterday, the captions will help fill in the days events.

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What a monument of a car!

Against the backdrop of your registry vein and with view to your written pleadings on Packardus Australicus it could be time for a general overview, drawn on the map and showing all the Packards you know in your country.




Even the longest journey begins with a single step. Cheers!

I continue to be amazed at the number of Packards in Australia, and even more so, the parts availability and willingness of the regular and aftermarket vendors to find something that will work if the real thing isn't to be found.

When you consider the distance from the US, interest in a relatively low production fairly expensive 50+ year long defunct foreign orphan car is impressive.

Quote:
Howard,

I doubt it's the numbers. I think there would be more Packards on a per capita basis in the US than in Oz. It's just that when I come across one or some I tend to trumpet it from on high. Maybe my enthusiastic approach is to blame?

The interest in Packards is spread right around the world. I believe Packard's name, image and quality is what is impressive and helps create the interest in this defunct "marque".

Monday 14th March 2011

Wade was in the front seat of a windscreenless Big Red, when I arrived at the workshop. He was scraping out the old gasket and many and various sealing attempts which weren't working. What had happened was that Wade was caught in a downpour last week in Big Red resulting in significant water ingress from around the windscreen. And because Wade and Gina are participating in a Packard Rally around Tasmania, in about 6 weeks time, because Tasmania has a somewhat damper climate, Wade decided it was appropriate to fix this problem now rather than suffer from wet knees, legs and feet over the course of the Rally. Wade had already cleaned up and prepped the interior retaining strip for the inside of the windscreen, took him all day Saturday to do it! So, while Wade continued on the body opening clean-up, I POR-15'd the retaining strip. Then Wade POR-15'd the windscreen body opening. Ralph Moore Autoglass will cut a new windscreen using the old one as a template, the old windscreen is de-laminating and also cracked when the gasket and sealants were being removed, and will mount the new gasket and outer bright strip when they are dropped off tomorrow. He's also taking over the left front quarter window for The Fossil which was found to be "bent" when it was being re-installed some months ago, really many months ago. Wade doesn't know if the lower edge was bent originally but now it has been straightened and fits, we tested it, the glass needs to reset in the chrome frame. Then while Wade loaded up glass, gasket, frames into his ute I loaded the tow bar off JohnM's '39 TJ Richards bodied Six Sedan into my car. The tow bar is heading north next week to JohnW, 39 Coupe, at Murwillumbah, when I drive there with Kath my wife this time, she won't fly, so lucky you John. JohnW is one of the guys I visited last week and he's going to use the tow bar on his '39 Six Coupe.

And I'm also going to bring back the hub/pulley/damper from Old Blue when I return. They are currently sitting in a box on my brothers kitchen bench being too heavy to take as carry-on luggage on my return flight to Sydney last week. I'd picked up the pieces last week from Dave, Old Blue's new owner, and there's a story to tell because of it. Dave and Shelley and some of Dave's grand-kids had traveled in Old Blue dressed in period clothing the 65 miles to The Channon Craft Market and suffered vibration damper failure on the return trip. Dave managed to get the damper back on the hub by levering it on with a stick. Lasted about another 10 miles like that before again failing, this time more so having now worn away the rubber between the two pieces. This time, after pushing the damper back on as best as could be done, again used a stick, in fact the same stick as before, and wedged it between the damper and the front cross-member. This arrangement worked out well and got them the rest of the way home. From the old pulley Wade sent up to Dave a couple of weeks ago, his mechanic used the damper and the hub from Old Blue to assemble a working unit. Wade is taking the remnants returned over to Ross, the guy who built the new vibration damper for Big Red, for an autopsy and advice. Dave had noticed that Old Blue had a diff leak and, although Wade had advised Dave about upsetting the pre-load on the pinion shaft, Dave's mechanic wanted to tackle the problem. Result is that Old Blue now has a diff whine, leak still there but not so pronounced. Mechanic thinks leak is the result of oil seeping down slightly worn splines on the pinion shaft. Apart from that Old Blue is being well taken care of, living in a climate controlled cocoon because Dave lives close to the coast and a salt laden atmosphere. Dave opened the garage to reveal Big Red in, for wont of a better term, a humid-i-crib. It's actually a large plastic enclosed structure into which Old Blue is driven, it's entrance is then sealed and two pumps maintain a constant flow of filtered air. Never received that sort of treatment in the workshop. Dave also wants to repair the rust-through in the panel below the boot(trunk) lid then respray the panel and the boot(trunk) lid because the paint on that is like crazy paving.

Meanwhile Barry Smith at Tamworth mentioned in an email he was about to put the engine back in his '38 Twelve. Whereupon I asked if he could take pic's of this event, which he did and which I'll share with you. I believe Noel was going to come and pick up his '39 today to take it to have the right front mudguard(fender) panel beaten and resprayed. Noel had clipped his garage, while his attention was diverted, during his struggles finding gears before Wade fixed his clutch problem. It's going to the same guy who has just repaired the roof and other panels on his '41 160 Coupe body. But plans were changed with TonyW, Noel's mate picking up the workshop car trailer instead to transport the Coupe body to Tony's property at Mudgee where Tony will be able to do all the rust repairs to floor, sills, etc. Also had a call from Noel while I was away to say my contact details had been referred to one of the local TV networks because they were after a Pre-War Packard Coupe for a show they're doing. Still waiting for a phone call.

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Tuesday 15th March 2011

Wade went to Ralph Moore Autoglass with the various bits from Big Red and The Fossil this morning so I caught up with him at the workshop about midday. Wasn't much happening, Wade was waiting for Noal and his mate TonyW to return the workshops car trailer which they used to take Noal's '41 Coupe body to Tony's property at Mudgee today. In the meantime used the time to clean about 3/4 of the floor area of Wade's corner of the workshop. Wade drove Noal's '39 outside and parked it then drove Big Red forward. With the floor area clear Wade then swept the area of excess dirt, dust and bit and pieces. And after I'd untangled the old fashioned bucket mop, was able to mop the floor in sections. Floor is now the cleanest it's been, well at least since I first took the '41 down there Dec '07, although I wouldn't recommend eating a meal off it. That done, then went for a final test drive in Noal's '39 which checked out fine.

When Noal and Tony arrived Noal told us he's very pleased with the job done, the roof of the Coupe was fixed and undercoated by the panelbeater, and as well the interior of the body being etch primed. Tony is going to do all the remaining rust repairs on the body and floor and expects to take about 6 weeks to do so on a part time basis. Noal was able to pick up his '39 and is taking it over to the same panel beater tomorrow for a quote on the repair work required on the right front mudguard(fender) as well as fixing some scratches and other blemishes it's picked up since it was restored some years ago. Glad the trailer worked out well for Noal and Tony with the payment for it's use being cartons of beer, just like in this video. Makes perfect sense, everyone's happy, however beer of choice at the workshop is Hahn Superdry.

Looks like John has finally fixed the timing problem on the Daimler V12 of KevinA, the Daimler has been in the workshop for well over 3 years now, and it'll probably go in the next few days now. I'll be sad to see it go although I'm sure John wont! Wade was grinding out the mounting holes in The Fossil for the side mount stays which anchor through the cowl when Noal and Tony arrived back with the car trailer. Wade started this up again when they departed with the right side now done and the rubber grommet fits fine. Left Wade about to tackle the left side.

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Wednesday 16th March 2011

Drove the '41 down to the workshop, backed it into the spare space in Packard corner, with help from Wade because I'm still not comfortable doing this by myself. Although John did say he thought I'd done well, so I'll take that as a positive. Wade had removed the badge bar from Big Red because someone (moi?) had noticed he had 2 PACA badges on the front, one on the bar and one on top of the number plate holder. Was in the midst of replacing the extra PACA badge with a Toowoomba Top of the Range PACA Rally 2007 badge. Had to file out the holes on the bar and drill out the holes on the badge. Back on Big Red, now no badge doubling up.

Then turned to the '41 and the windscreen wiper motor. Nothing was happening when the electric wipers are turned on although you can hear the motor running. And yes, '41 110 and 120's do have electric wipers! Although looking at the parts book today it appears 110 and 120 Taxi's and Station Wagons didn't! To access the wiper motor and drive unit the radio was first removed. By the way, the electrical connections were disconnected and the battery switched off before starting so there wouldn't be any nasty shocks. The off/low/high knob on top of the dash was removed as well as one nut on a long bolt. At the time Wade was unscrewing the bolt, from under the dash where else, he commented it seemed about 3 feet in length because it was taking so long to unscrew. And that's as far as things went. From his "vantage point" under the dash, if you could call it such lying contorted on your back, Wade couldn't see any other points where the wiper motor and drive unit might be affixed to the under dash structure. Peering in through the slot formerly occupied by the radio I could see 3 screw heads on top of what looked like a bracket on top of the drive unit, but how to access them. Wade had a 90 degree offset headed screwdriver but it couldn't be applied to the nearest screw head let alone the two further away. Then a small screwdriver headed 1/4" bit together with a small spanner(wrench) were taped together but this too was ineffective. Next I conducted what can only be described as a "gynecological examination" whereby I did a search around the drive unit by feel alone. This "examination" found a screw head on the front of the drive unit so Wade was back under the dash again. And again the screw could only just be accessed by the cobbled together driver head and spanner(wrench). And again the same result, not enough force can be exerted on the screw to allow it to be unscrewed. We had also examined the '35 - '41 Parts Book and the '41 Owners Manual but the illustrations in those although interesting were not enlightening. So there we were, going nowhere fast. So what to do? Why, pack it away and don't let the frustrations continue to build, and seek guidance from a higher authority. But what higher authority? Why, PackardInfo of course! Our thoughts were to seek advice from the experienced, learned and knowledgeable people on PackardInfo by asking for YOUR advice. BUT......On logging onto PackardInfo I noticed in the Literature and Manuals section under Service, Shop & Training Manuals , this - STEWART-WARNER ELECTRIC WINDSHIELD WIPER SERVICE INSTRUCTIONS. Downloading and reviewing these instructions shows that the motor, drive unit and linkage arms all come out as a unit. What we hadn't done was disconnect the wiper arm shafts. Seems obvious now, but at the time it wasn't!

But it looks like nothing will be done now, at least until next week at the earliest. Reason being that Wade, John and Rick are going to Adelaide for this weekends Clipsal 500. In fact Rick left yesterday in the advance party, Wade's flying out tomorrow and John will probably follow on Friday. Wade had dropped me at home when we came to a standstill and following his departure won't be back in the workshop till Wednesday of next week. And my wife Kath and I are heading to the Gold Coast next week for my Mum's 88th birthday. So our paths won't cross again until Monday week at the earliest, when I expect to be back at the workshop.

During the course of the wiper motor non-removal saga Wade had received a call from George, of George Moore Autoglass, to sort out some details concerning Big Red's windscreen and The Fossil's quarter window. And, depending on the weather, Wade will drive Big Red over Wednesday next week for the windscreen to be fitted and pick up The Fossil's quarter window. Also, speaking of phone calls, I received a call from KevinA whom I had mentioned in yesterdays post. Besides asking how the Daimler was going, I think he knew anyway just being polite, he advised me in my new capacity as Secretary of PACA of a listing in a Oz car magazines that in PACA'S club contact listing our President's name and mailing address hadn't been updated, both being out of date by a number of years! Accordingly, I'll have to get my hands dirty and attend to rectifying these errors, such is the price of fame.

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Monday 28th March 2011

After a break brought about by Wade's absence followed by my own it was back to the workshop today. On arrival, found Big Red in the carpark sporting it's new windscreen. Wade had also picked up the left front quarter window for The Fossil and thats now ready to be installed. Also saw a couple of new jobs that had come in for Wade's attention, a water pump and a distributor, both from BruceD from Wagga Wagga about 460kms south west from Sydney. I added to the bench clutter by bringing back the vibration damper from DaveE, Old Blue's new owner. Wade had also started to re-install the trim piece from the top of the back of Big Red's front seat. He only got as far as removing all the old staples, which took hours because there are lots of them, before he discovered he didn't have the right length staples for the re-installation. Last week Wade had ordered some shorter staples from Salmon Bros, just around the corner, so first job was to jump in Big Red to go and pick them up. But....they hadn't come in, so back to the workshop where later Wade received a phonecall saying Salmon Bros didn't carry these staples now but they did offer the possibility of an alternate source.

Returning to the workshop turned to the '41 and removing the wiper motor, gearbox and linkages. After our failed attempts from a week and a half ago, and after reading the instructions, should be easy now. Just remove the wiper arms, take off the retaining nuts for the wiper towers, take off the large under dash nut and hey presto, out it comes! Except it didn't! There isn't much space up under the dash and anything that could impede the wipers removal did so. Ended up having to take out the inner windscreen moulding because 1) a couple of it's retaining screws provided points of impedence and 2) a couple of the dashboards screws because they too also impeded removal. But finally it all came out. Then, with reference to the STEWART-WARNER ELECTRIC WINDSHIELD WIPER SERVICE INSTRUCTIONS found on PackardInfo in the Manuals and Literature Section, a number of electrical tests were performed to identify the wiring and its functionality, together with a couple of hand drawn diagrams to help with reassembly later. That done the wiper unit was disassembled with the arm actuating mechanism separated from the motor/gear unit. Then the electric motor was removed from the drive unit. That left the drive unit, although the coil unit was now accessible in the body of the drive unit, the gear drive for the arm actuating mechanism was then disassmbled.

The two things that stood out in doing this were 1) the wiring for the wiper, it hadn't been replaced a couple of years ago when the rest of the '41 was re-wired(with hindsight should have been) and 2) the build up of dirt and grease in and around the mechanical side of the mechanism. So while Wade set about re-wiring I undertook cleaning of the mechanical components, these scrubbing up well. One other thing noticed in dis-assembly was a small insulating tab that had broken, so my next task was to make a replica. Wade didn't have anything suitable to use so I called upon Rick, who with his mate Thomas, was able to provide a plastic component from a PC from which I was able to cut out a piece to suit. Seemed simple enough, and encouraged by the past success of MBM gaskets, made an insulating tab, and another, and another, and another and finally one that would work! Looks like MBM doesn't extend to insulating tabs. With an acceptable tab now to hand re-assembly commenced. Following the Stewart Warner instructions, the gearbox body was mounted in the vice and components carefully added including ensuring all alignment requirements were followed. Just as well we had four hands, would have proved a lot more difficult otherwise. We now had the gear and crank mounted back on the gearbox as well as the electric motor. Next Wade connected up the new wiring he'd made earler. All went together well then a test to see how it functioned with power. Some success, being able to be turned on and off but only operated at low speed. Further examination revealed that the two wires soldered in underneath the rectifier needed replacement as well. So out again with the soldering iron and following de-soldering of the rectifier the two wires concerned were replaced. Another test, but still the same result, turned on and off but only low speed operation. Wade turned to the wiring diagrams and there it was two wires had been hooked up incorrectly. Turn them about and VOILA! We now had wipers that turned on and off and also provided low and high speed operation! Although I should mention that high speed wiper operation for a '41 Packard shouldn't be confused with high speed operation for a modern car!

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One thing I forgot to mention is that there was on eBay a complete wiper motor assembly for a 41/42.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130500086355&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:AU:1123
Auction has now ended, but it looked like it might be a fall back position if our actions didn't work.

What I really want to say, and I've said it before, it's amazing how often the part/s you're after appear on eBay when you need 'em. Seems like the sellers are reading our posts and then put the part/s up for auction!