Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

Stop the presses!

On my way to a Packard Club meeting tonight I saw the car pictured below parked in a suburban street!

Attach file:

---

  (33.11 KB)


  (28.70 KB)


  (29.98 KB)

Jay Leno has one of those same Electric Cars. I believe it has a "tiller" steering system.

Mal, imagine that you would have been without camera ... Phew!

That's a very nice item to be just parked on a street. On purpose -- or did it run out of battery would be the next question. I would hope Australia is enough different than the US in one regard but if not, I would also hope the owner is nearby with a large caliber anti theft prevention device.

I saw one recently at the Concorso de Santa Fe. It has a tiller steering as Kev said. The driver sits in the seat that is far back in the cab. Two passenger capacity, I believe, but with lots of leg room. Large glass area, good visability. Lead-Acid batteries in front and back compartments.

(o[]o)

Monday 7th November 2011

While Mal was away Wade wasn't at play but working hard on Junior last Friday and Saturday. Arrived at the workshop to find Junior denuded, well at least as far as the front clip goes. Up on the hoist, engine at waist height with all accessories removed and linkages disconnected, front wheels off and Wade struggling to get the legs on the engine crane pinned in place. If you're lucky you might be able to do it alone but it's really a two man job even though all the second man does is just provide slight leverage so the pin's can be inserted when the legs are laid out flat. And this time around Wade had a nifty little pick up device which can be wound back and forth for the centre of balance in the lifting process. And it worked well too, with Mal operating the crane, up a bit, down a bit, pull back, slide in, etc, the engine and trans combo came out very easily.

Next the trans/OD unit was removed from the bellhousing and laid on the floor. Good, except it tipped left spilling oil from the OD, filler plug or governor? To fix, tipped to the right but an even worse result, oil from solenoid or speedo drive this time. Fixed when the clutch throw out bearing was used as a wedge to maintain the trans/OD in an upright stance. Clutch fork, pressure and clutch plate then removed but first pressure plate and flywheel marked for future reference. With those off this allows access to the flywheel bolts but first more marking between crankshaft and flywheel followed by prising out the ears of the retaining tabs on the flywheel bolts. Then the bellhousing bolts became accessible and were removed. Turned then to the front of the engine and the front engine mount removed, rubber looks OK but will probably be replaced anyway. Harmonic balancer off then the timing case cover revealing a very slack timing chain. Unbolting the large nut on the cam gear required more tabs to be bent back and it then had to be gradually levered off the cam snout. The teeth on both timing gears are in sad shape with the cam gear worse than the crank gear. Additionally the back of the front crankshaft oil seal was "chewed up" where the crankshaft gear, the timing chain or a combination thereof had been having their way with it.

Back and front done, next was the turn of the internal components. Valve spring compresser and a magnet were the tools used with the magnet picking out the little slide in retainers, then the valves followed by the valve springs. And it appears that almost all exhaust valves weren't seating. Down then to the bottom end, the big ends unbolted and piston and rod assemblies pushed out. Although last week #3 big end had shown signs of wear and scoring, #2 being first out today was down to the copper. As were #4, #1, #5 and #6 in order of removal. Additionally, the top ring on #6 was broken and from a cursory examination all the top rings seemed "looser" than the second rings. The camshaft was then slipped out after it's front retaining plate was removed. Tappets out and placed in numbered series for re-installation at a later date. Main bearing caps removed, first marking #2 and #3 which didn't have any visible marking although later a faint 3 was found on #3. All main bearing have pieces missing and/or other damage to them. Would have only been a matter of time before something dramatic happened.

The ancillary fittings were next with the various oil pipe fitting first photographed by the Packardarazzi(moi!) and then removed. Aren't digital cameras wonderful? Next were the two screw topped oil gallery fittings. These required a shockhammer screwdriver to break them loose from the block but were relatively easy to remove. The last oil gallery items were the end plugs for the oil galleries. One at the rear of the main gallery, another at the front of it and a third below the front cam bearing. Each of these is a grub screw with a square female fitting and these are flush or below block surface level. These, together with some very stubborn welch plugs and a very embedded in block water distribution tube, were still in situ when I left, for some time with the grand-daughters.

Once everything is removed, some measuring and assessment undertaken by Wilkins Engineering of block, crank, etc, and a frank and fearless discussion with John will take place. Depending on the outcomes things can then be set underway to order parts, dip blocks, do machining required leading to a new source of power for Junior.

Attach file:

---

  (37.02 KB)


  (20.85 KB)


  (20.54 KB)


  (40.28 KB)


  (43.77 KB)


  (46.05 KB)


  (30.79 KB)


  (37.79 KB)


  (31.76 KB)


  (26.65 KB)


  (27.21 KB)


  (30.24 KB)


  (27.55 KB)


  (27.12 KB)


  (44.28 KB)

After the visit today I tried to recall what I could of the conversation I had with the first guy that began restoring the car.

I am fairly sure he said I had to grind the crank to fit the bearings I could find.

Hi Mal, You will probably find that the Copper and whitematal bearings are Bedford. many people make the mistake and put the Byrellium Copper bearings into a packard with a non-hardened crankshaft. The end result is that in marginal lubrication the copper bearings work harden and chew out the crank. The "tin/lead" bearings are also Bedford ( last set which I obtained was from Tasmania) but suitable for Packard cranks. I have used them in the past. I believe that you will find that the rods have been tunnelled to accept the Bedford ACL bearings. Let me know if you need some bits. Peter

Wednesday 9th November 2011

No Packard work yesterday, we were on the Morris Minor Picnic Club run to the Careflight helicoptor base at Westmead hospital. Most interesting and informative, and Harvey and Carol joined us in their '40 Willys, see this album..

Today though it was back to Packards, with a road trip occupying the morning and early afternoon. Loaded Junior's block and crank together with #3 piston and rod into the back of Wade's ute and off. After running an errand for Gina which took us in the opposite direction we then set a course for Wilkins Performance Engines. There Graham measured up bores, taper, out of round on the block and the big end and main journals on the crank. Pistons are marked 0.040" but the bores are now in the vicinity of a further 0.008" over. The big ends are in the vicinity of 2.055" while the mains are "I can't remember", should have taken a pic of the numbers Graham noted down. The various numbers didn't look good which was confirmed later. While there we also saw the engine out of Chris, starliner's '53 Mayfair Hardtop which Graham is going to machine, etc, once the parts arrive from K's.

Back on the road again and around the corner to Award Diffs who had called Wade yesterday to advise the pumpkin out of Barry's '38 Twelve was ready. They'd fitted a set of high speed gears which necessitated machining of both the back of the crown wheel and the face it bolts to. Speaking of bolting to, Terry there advised they used EH Holden diff bolts for this, they were exactly right. Additionally they also replaced the very large diff bearings, this was unexpected as there had been no noise detected from failing bearings. Next stop was for double insulted cable for the Crypton Engine Analyser then to Grippy rubber for rubber stripping for The Fossils radio speaker.

Back at the workshop unloaded the diff, block and crank and were just in the midst of re-shuffling Packard Corner when Junior's Dad, John, arrived. Wade walked John through what had been discovered today and John advised he thought the guy who had the engine rebuilt said he'd used Bedford bearings.
for the confirmation Peter. Wade also advised John we were going to pull the crank out of the '39 Six engine which has been sitting in a corner since a new heart was transplanted into JohnM's TJ Richards bodied '39 Six Sedan in 2009. Once John departed took the tailshaft out of Junior, dropped Junior down and re-installed the front wheels, then finished the re-shuffling of parts and equipment. Reason for the shuffling is that Wade and PeterL are going to the Bendigo Swap Meet leaving on Friday and returning on Monday. While Wade's away Big Red needs a secure domicile so she's going into the hoist slot while Junior is moved one slot over. So if John or Rick, or even Peter(the guy who owns it) needs to use the hoist it will be accessible.

After shuffling parts but before shuffling Junior and Big Red the '39 Six engine was brought out of the naughty corner. Up on the engine crane, drained what was left of the oil, removed the sump, oil pickup, oil pump, front cover plate and timing gear. Once all these parts were off the short block was laid on the mobile engine bench next to Juniors bare block. Removed all big end end caps and pistons and rods, main bearing caps and then removed the crankshaft. Although some wear on the journals measurements reveal it has a lot more meat left on it than the one from Junior. Accordingly it looks like JohnM's crank and rods will be used in the rebuild because it's journals haven't been modified like Juniors were. A quick comparison of the big end shells showed the Bedford's are wider.

Attach file:

---

  (42.74 KB)


  (22.72 KB)


  (28.13 KB)


  (39.13 KB)


  (35.90 KB)


  (30.79 KB)


  (30.48 KB)


  (43.12 KB)


  (31.34 KB)


  (36.19 KB)


  (38.08 KB)


  (34.61 KB)


  (27.22 KB)


  (33.66 KB)

Hello,
I notice you are working on a 1934 Packard, is it a RHD?
I need to find a right hand drive steering box for a 1934 Packard that is in good rebuildable condition so I can drive my car, maybe you have one there for sale. I have a RHD 1102 and any help would be great.
Cheers Roberto cityvitnage@hotmail.com