Packard Forum Index » General

I took the rubber air flow ducting off because I had a couple of big insects get inside the 400 the other day when I went for a long drive. I found that my circular screen for the driver's side fresh air tube migrated all the way back to the flapper?

After I remove the front bonnet, do you all has a suggested manner to fix, as I really don't want to have to remove the entire steel tube to fix it.

Thanks

It was stapled originally thru a turned or pressed approx 1/2" flange on the screen. Re using the staples by threading a few strands of wire thru them and bending wires over to hold has been done but not sure that is possible unless tube is removed

For an easier mechanical connection, if there is enough of the wire flange left in decent condition, perhaps reinserting the screen would allow for 2 or 3 holes drilled & spaced in the circumference of tube left clear after accommodating the mounting brackets. Screws with washers & nuts could be used to sandwich the flange. Short sheetmetal screws from the inside out might work also.

Downside to screws might be removing tube thru opening at some future point without removing screws. Possibly pop rivets would be flat enough instead if there is enough room to use rivet tool without removing tube. If the tube is clean, perhaps there would be enough grab using the staple area for JB Weld to stick to both staple and screen. Not sure how permanent that would be though.

If the screen is beyond use, McMaster has new wire mesh in 12 x 12 inch pieces.

Attach file:

---

  (17.60 KB)

I have a new tube that the screen is pushed back and only holding by one staple. I was just trying to figure out how to fix it yesterday, small world. Anyway in my case I am going to use steel pop rivets. I may be able to get in there and put a washer on the rivet but am not sure. At least mine is not attached to the car. I think you need to try the rivet method first. You should be able to get two in.

Kevin,

You probably know from your restoration about what is involved with the driver side vent tube. It should not be too difficult to clear all the stuff off of the inner fender panel and deal with the tube in a direct manner. I recommend doing it this way rather than trying to work around the problem.

Good luck, either way.

(o[]o)