Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

Mal, it's nice to see some work progressing on the Fossil, even if it is only bits and pieces. I'm pleased to see that the Fossil has not been forgotten!

Tuesday 8th May 2012

On my way to the workshop in the early afternoon after a grand-daughter visit in the morning mainly to give Misty, the shop dog a bone, when I received a call from Wade. He was there! Hadn't expected that as he was due to return today from Tamworth. Instead he and Gina had returned yesterday after a very enjoyable weekend away. The Coupe had run well with no real dramas just some "noises" at times when engaging OD and Wade jamming up the column change once. At Tamworth the five Packards on show comprised a '34 1101 Coupe, '36 1402 7 Passenger Sedan, '38 Twelve Club Sedan, '41 120 Club Coupe and '51 Convertible and were featured in a star shaped display. DavidM had also made the trip up but, instead of a Packard, had brought along his '12 Maxwell that recently completed the 2012 Expedition Across Australia a 4,000 km journey that recreated the first West->East crossing in 1912. David's Maxwell was displayed along with some other expedition entries as another feature piece of the Show. Many other cars were on show including Hot Rods, Muscle Cars, Antiques, Classics as well as modern cars in dealer displays. PACA members were successful with DavidM's Maxwell garnering the Vintage trophy and DavidH's '36 1402 7 Passenger Sedan the Veteran trophy.

Meanwhile, Sydney based PACA members had an event of their own last Sunday. A run to view member AndrewB's car collection. Andrew had bought a '40 160 Coupe about 2 years ago and had joined PACA soon thereafter. Then later that year I went to see the work being done on Starliner's, ChrisR, '48 Coupe to convert it into a Woodie. When I arrived Chris said would I like to see another Packard Coupe besides the '48, which turned out to be Andrew's Coupe. Besides the Packard Coupe Andrew had two large industrial units full of old cars, mostly Fords, from 1904 up. So on Sunday we were able to first view the Woodie then onto Andrews where we saw some of his collection. Apparently has about 65 cars now. We wouldn't have seen half of them with the rest in yet another industrial unit. Andrew has also acquired a very nice '31 833 Coupe, an older restoration. Beautiful. One of the runs attendees was packard34, Mat, in his '55 Caribbean. Finally back on the road after, I think, almost 2 years off. Mat only picked up the Caribbean a few days beforehand but since then, because he lives about 200 miles west of Sydney, has put some miles on it. Not without mishap though, battery not charging, flat tyre and T/L misbehaving, but not enough to stop Mat. Returning from the run I was able to drive Fleurette and can report she's running well with the trans and OD performing flawlessly. Also dropped in a spigot shaft to Harvey so he can put the trans back in his bosses '39 110 Coupe.

Meanwhile Wade tells me Barry's engine builder had a chance to look at Big Red's crank and rods on Sunday morning but because he wasn't at his shop didn't have all the necessary equipment. One thing he found, with the equipment he did have, was that a number of the crank's big end journals were tapered by about 0.0025"! Previous crankshaft grinder didn't do a good job! Investigation, measurement and inspection will continue. But speaking of engines, Noel's is bringing over his '41 356 engine to the workshop tomorrow. It's been disassembled and Wade will reassemble it for Noel so it can go into the '41 chassis when done.

And another unrelated item. A few days ago noticed there was a new member logged in with a Forum name of LJJ. So what? Well digging a little deeper I found LJJ is from Broken Hill. Again, so what? Well Broken Hill is a little bit further West than where Mat is, but only about another 500 miles, so another Aussie! With that, having no inhibitions where Packards and Aussies are concerned I shot off a PM to LJJ. Welcomed him aboard as another Aussie, enquired if he had a Packard and if he was a member of PACA and gave a couple of reply options PM, Email or Cell phone. Received a call early this evening from Lyndon(hope that's how it's spelled?) in response. He's on the lookout to buy a Packard, preferring a '38/'39 Six/110 Sedan with TJ Richards body so he can haul the family around. Has looked at a '39 110 in Adelaide, relatively close to Broken Hill only about 350 miles, but the seller wants a lot so Lyndon's still looking. And yes Pepe, I did mention BillB's '48 Sedan was still looking for a new home. Lyndon does have a Packard pedigree with his grandfather, a former PACA member, restoring a 426 Roadster with a body found in the '60's that had been through a bushfire. Grandfather also has a '30's and a '50's Packard. Lyndon is going to join PACA, so if anyone knows of a good '38/'39 Six/110 Sedan with TJ Richards body at a realistic price Lyndon would be interested I'm sure.

Link to pic's of Sunday's PACA run

Link to pic's of Tamworth Car Show pic's courtesy of Wade. Yes, he does know how to use a camera!

Link to Facebook page of Camden County Customs. Contains their pic's from Sunday's run.

Attach file:

---

  (51.09 KB)


  (50.92 KB)


  (40.06 KB)


  (42.18 KB)


  (31.26 KB)


  (49.11 KB)

Thanks for the #s on the coupe. A very early 1931 car, both by VN and by body dash number.

Thanks for the welcome Mal.

Cheers
Lyndon

Wednesday 9th May 2012

With Noel and friend Les due to arrive later in the morning with the 356 engine from Noel's Coupe started on further dis-assembly of components off the likely replacement block for Big Red. Began with the valves, valve springs and cam followers/tappets. Many of the valves are stuck through age which was compounded by the effects of rust. A few valves came out easily, but not many. Most required force, to lesser or greater degrees, to get components to move for the dis-assembly process. Lets just say that penetrant, hammers, drifts, crowbars and, at times, colourful language were the most used factors in this process.

During the above process Noel and Les arrived with the mainly assembled 356 block, timing chain and crank sprocket, distributor, oil pump, water pump, timing case cover and assorted fasteners. Brief is to check out the components, address any issues and assemble once all is OK. First thing Wade noted, and verified later, was that the vacuum advance on the distributor probably needed rebuilding. It'll now go off to the guy up north who will probably have it back in Wade's hands by mid next week. Distributor will be gone through, likewise the oil pump, the timing chain and gears checked, etc, etc. Didn't get the flywheel with engine but now Wade is thinking it would be better to include it in the assembly process. Also it appears we are short some of the nuts and bolts so Noel will need to round those up. Just as well Noel said he's coming back in the next few days! Wade was also able to show The Fossil, and the work being done on it, to Les. This is because Les has two '33 1001 Sedans (with consecutive VIN's) amongst his collection, '33's and '34's being similar beasts.

Also received word from Noel that I would be welcome to attend the arrival of Peter Packard's '38 Twelve per Post #3 of this thread. So I will have to miss a day at the workshop next week for that auspicious occasion.

Quote:Lyndon,

Least I can do for another Aussie.

Attach file:

---

  (40.18 KB)


  (38.08 KB)


  (25.50 KB)


  (48.06 KB)


  (34.97 KB)


  (48.38 KB)


  (30.00 KB)


  (42.05 KB)


  (45.33 KB)

Thursday 10th May 2012

While waiting for parts for Noel's 356, information on Big Red's crank and rods and the bonnet(hood) panel for The Fossil to return, turned to Big Red's front suspension which requires attention. Despite new king pins and bushes about two years ago the left front is now worn and needs to be replaced. The right will also be done even though it appears to be OK. Likewise the upper suspension bushes will also be replaced even though they too were replaced at the same time as the kingpins! The present upper bushes are two piece rubbers complete with a rubber collar/flange at each end and encase a metal tube on which the upper suspension bolt to the shock arm pivots, see pic. The rubbers are worn out already! However the replacement upper suspension bushes appear to be of a superior design to the ones being replaced. The new bushes have a steel outer encasing the rubber and the inner metal tube.

Before starting on Big Red Wade had a call from Barry who was at his engine builders. The engine builder had put Big Red's crank on his balancing machine and it was waaay, waaay out. To correct it now required weight to be removed exactly opposite from where weight had been removed by the previous balancer! They really stuffed things up! Who "they" are has been disclosed previously in the 100+ pages of this Blog. So for those who want to know, happy reading! Wade also had a call from RobT about the woes which are befalling him and the restored steering wheel he's fitting to his '40 110 Convertible Coupe. The first fitting of the steering wheel, restored by Noel's mate Tony, found the horn emblem not straight ahead. In a number of attempts involving glues and araldite to fix that and fix the fixes success has been somewhat elusive. But I'm sure Rob will find a solution sooner rather than later. Also a call from Noel, although he'll be in tomorrow I won't be as I have an appointment to donate blood plasma.

But back to Big Red. Left front king pin came out without a problem. Pity the same couldn't be said for the upper suspension bushing. Because the engine is out and Big Red is up on the hoist the upper suspension bump stop is bottomed out. Tried John's spring compressors which worked somewhat but not enough. Turned to Rick but the spring compressors he had had been scrap binned last week, one had given up the ghost. However retrieval from the bin and close inspection by Wade revealed 2 new nuts each would fix both! 5/8" NC nuts to be precise and not something Wade carries in stock. Thinking I could have some at home departed on a mission of mercy but also with a back up plan. Just as well, no nuts, so on to Lee Bros and back to the workshop. With new nuts there was still no joy, even using one of John's compressors combined with two of Rick's! But John had another idea, use a SPT. A SPT? Yes, a Special Packard Tool, in this case a comealong! Maybe not what the factory would have recommended but....it did the job. Hardest part was working out how to mount it to provide pull in the right direction while securing it adequately. After a number of attempts, and head scratchings, found that the front frame horn provided a reasonable mounting site with the cable looped around the back of the shock body. Old suspension bushing out now to get the new one in. Wade used a length of threaded rod, a pair of sockets, some large washers and tightened it up. Well it did until the new bush was about half way in then it wouldn't move any further. However once again John came to the rescue. He uses a similar setup for Subaru suspension bushes and lent us most of the parts from his setup and, Voila, bush inserted. Then to the king pin bushes. Pushed out the old bushes, steel backed bronze and pushed in the new bushes, all bronze. But before reaming the bushes to fit drilled out the grease hole in the bush. Wade was then able to use the set of reamers he'd bought last year and carefully reamed each bush to fit ensuring alignment was maintained while doing so. During all this a care package arrived from Max. Contained an engine gasket set for Big Red, bloody expensive, a front engine mount and one exhaust valve for Big Red, a number plate bracket and fittings for The Fossil, a distributor tune up kit for Emily and some tie rod end rubbers for Noel.

Also had a call from Pepepackard while I was typing this for the third time after I "lost" two earlier attempts! Fred had seen my reference to LJJ, Lyndon, looking for '38/39 Six/110 Sedans and mentionedthis one which had just come up on Aussie eBay. And another, a '39 110 with floor shift and OD from a late PACA member which is now for sale. Never know, Lyndon might have success through PackardInfo in his search for a Packard.

Attach file:

---

  (40.41 KB)


  (36.80 KB)


  (37.28 KB)


  (34.81 KB)


  (29.22 KB)


  (27.17 KB)


  (20.25 KB)


  (21.68 KB)


  (43.93 KB)


  (44.44 KB)


  (40.88 KB)

Monday 14th May 2012

Didn't make it to the workshop until late morning, but more of that later. When I did arrive found Wade working on Emily's distributor. The "tune-up kit" had arrived last week and it was time to marry the two together. Wade told me that on taking the plate out of the distributor body he found the centrifugal advance mechanism full of grease and not working. Not so now, it's been cleaned and properly lubricated. What was now concerning him were the points. The points in the tune-up kit are completely different from those in the distributor and don't interchange. Because I had a couple of different sets of points, purchased a few years ago on a whim, I went home and brought them back just in case they fitted. They didn't, couldn't be that easy. Instead, Wade lightly used a points file to dress the points. Then the distributor was re-assembled including new rotor, condensor and cap, the rehabilitated points set and the rebuilt vacuum advance. Wade now needs to arrange a date and time for Emily to be re-united with her distributor.

That done, turned to Noel's 356 re-assembly. Last Friday Noel had brought over the flywheel, pressure and clutch plates, tappet covers, miscellaneous nuts and bolts, etc. In the meantime Wade had found 3 flywheel bolts to complement the 3 the 356 came with and also found 6 bolts for securing the bell housing to the block. So first step was to bolt the bell housing to the block. Next was the flywheel, which although it had been surfaced had a light coating of surface rust. But before progressing further needed to determine where the flywheel and pressure plate were marked so they could be assembled correctly. And yes there was a faint mark on both the pressure plate and the flywheel. But to be on the safe side more prominent marks were also punched into the pressure plate and flywheel. No marks to indicate how the flywheel should be orientated to the crankshaft but further examination revealed the unique bolt pattern that only allows the flywheel to be mounted in one position. Cleaned up the flywheel, now nice and bright and shiny. Bloody heavy things those 356 flywheels, helped a lot by having the block on the bench, can only imagine how difficult it would be to try to do this undercar. Took a number of attempts, quite a lot in fact, trying to turn the flywheel on the crank before getting the holes to align, bolted up and the ears of the lock tabs turned up against the bolt heads. The new pilot bearing was then tapped into the crank. Next was the clutch and pressure plate, but not having a spigot to suit for alignment purposes will be postponed until tomorrow. Instead 6 shouldered bolts were scrounged from Wade's "stock" and will be used to secure the pressure plate to the flywheel. So far I don't think the miscellaneous nuts and bolts have yielded anything to assist in re-assembling the 356. But Wade did find a '41 parking light lens in amongst the stuff, maybe it was missing and Noel didn't know it was? It's been put aside, just in case.

Last Friday Wade had completed the left front king pin reaming for Big Red and re-installed the stub axle and the brakes. And today Wade had received a call from Harvey seeking assistance when the time comes to re-install the trans and OD in his bosses '39 110 Coupe. Date and time to be determined.

But what of my earlier reference, "more of that later", about my late arrival at the workshop? I was delayed because of finalising travel arrangements for my Hershey trip this year! Yes, I'm coming/going to Hershey! So it's no longer talk, I've made the commitment. Now looking forward to meeting as many PackardInfo members as I can during the event as well as enjoying Hershey for all it is. Will also be taking in a few museums around the US, with naturally a Packard focus for these, a little sightseeing and a lot of airport arrival and departure lounges!

See you at Hershey! Come and say G'day!

Attach file:

---

  (21.57 KB)


  (22.82 KB)


  (22.74 KB)


  (25.00 KB)


  (43.12 KB)


  (48.76 KB)


  (37.92 KB)


  (47.24 KB)

Tuesday 15th May 2012

Just a couple of hours at the workshop this afternoon following a visit by my daughter and granddaughter #2. Not much to report with Wade cleaning up the clutch fork for painting. It needs to be mounted on the bellhousing before the clutch is mounted to the flywheel. Wade had also cleaned up an old flatiron used as a door stop at home so they both received a coat of POR-15. This morning Noel had called in and, although I missed him, his email missive update reported "...Everything looking good!!..." Wade was also able to advise Noel the fuel pump kit he'd provided was the wrong one, it was for a double action pump and Wade now will order the correct kit. Noel is going to source the gaskets required from his US contacts so once they arrive assembly can begin in earnest. In the meantime little things are being attended to with Wade finding the right bolt and washers in his spares for the distributor hold down. So far I think the miscellaneous nuts and bolts provided by Noel have provided just that, miscellaneous nuts and bolts! Oh yes, and a '41 parking light lens, which Noel advised wasn't his and besides it has a chip in it! Because there's not a spigot shaft to align the clutch plate when assembling it and the pressure plate to the flywheel Wade had spent part of the morning looking for an alternative without success. So, after I'd applied the POR-15 to the fork and flatiron, I started rummaging through sockets, bushes, bolts in fact anything that would remotely look promising will very little result. Until I looked at the various stud removers and found one that was almost the right diameter for the pilot bearing. Then found another socket that was just a little bit smaller than the inside diameter of the clutch plate splines. Married these together with a short socket extension, a king pin bush from Big Red and 3 washers to fill the gap. Looks promising! Might have to pack the sockets slightly with electrical tape but will know more tomorrow when it's put into practice. While I was doing that, Wade was cleaning up the pivot for the clutch fork, quite a nice piece with needle rollers, now all cleaned and greased and ready for re-fitment.

Attach file:

---

  (28.13 KB)


  (35.12 KB)


  (28.41 KB)


  (44.83 KB)


  (35.92 KB)


  (36.54 KB)

Mal,

I congratulate you on your innovative pilot shaft. Great idea!

(o[]o)

Wednesday 16th May 2012

First task this morning was mounting the "pivot joint" to the 356 clutch fork. This "pivot joint" has a roller bearing in the pivot housing and is retained in the fork by a bolt through the arm of the fork. Also has an ingenious pair of retaining plates at each side of the bearing which lock into the arm. Doesn't look easy to put it together but it came apart so with a bit of thought, on Wade's part, the retaining plated were clipped into the fork, splayed out and the roller bearing and it's collars slipped right in. Then rotate the whole assembly, align the bolt hole, insert the bolt and do it up. Then fastened the arm into the bellhousing. Next was installing a new leather boot onto the arm. Hardest part of that was getting the spring wire clip through the hem of the boot. Then that was tripled up because the spring clip was upside down, meant taking it back out and reinserting it the right way around, hence tripling up! Embarrassment behind us, moved onto the clutch and pressure plate. But first needed to get our little DIY dummy spigot to fit a little better. One wrap of tape on the pilot bearing socket and about three wraps of tape on the clutch spigot socket and we now had a nice snug DIY dummy spigot. But the bl**dy clutch and pressure plate won't fit!!!! They do "fit", but there just isn't enough room to push the assembly in past the clutch fork! Didn't miss by much but by just enough. Tried taking the clutch fork off the bellhousing and yes the clutch and pressure plate then do fit but not the clutch fork! Lots of attempts, lots of headscratching, lots of surmising but in the end lots of nothing. Wade rang a mate but he couldn't help so the problem was put back to the owner, Noel. Among things asked of Noel were, is this a different pressure plate than the original, is it a different bellhousing, is it a different clutch fork? My bald patch isn't getting any better for all the headscratching so matters were left with Noel in an attempt to gain some answers or insights. For that matter anyone out there have experience with installing a 356 bellhousing, clutch plate and pressure plate and clutch fork? Are there any tricks or tips to be aware of?

Putting aside the clutch, turned to the other end of the engine and set about getting the timing gears and chain back on the engine. First the backing plate for the timing case was installed after cleaning up some of the miscellaneous bolts and finding gaskets for this in the other stuff Noel had brought over. Then while I turned the crankshaft by hand by means of the flywheel, it turned fairly readily like that, Wade ensured the "0" timing marks on the gears were properly aligned. The timing chain was then slid on and the alignment of marks and centres checked, and checked OK. With the camshaft and valve gear now engaged the effort required to turn the flywheel increased but still doable by hand. Next a gasket for the timing case cover. None found "in stock" and the remnant of gasket material Wade had on the shelf wasn't big enough so Wade procured 2 metres of sheet gasket material from Repco. Should be enough to service a few more Packards at least. On Wade's return I knocked up a MBM Gasket and on went the timing case as well as a new crankshaft front oil seal, Wade had found one of those in Noel's stuff. Then on with the harmonic balancer and retaining nut.

That done, then turned to the valves. By now I was able to turn the engine over by civilised means, a socket on the crankshaft nut. Doing this revealed that 7 of the 8 exhaust valves were sticking, inlets appear to be OK. Then set about removing all the exhaust valves. But, they are very stuck, only managing to get #2 out, after giving up on #1 and leaving it to soak overnight in penetrant. Also cleaned up some minor parts along the way as well as various fasteners. Noel is coming over at some stage to slap some more of his Bill Hirsch Packard engine paint on things like the waterpump so these needed to be done before he arrives.

Attach file:

---

  (26.35 KB)


  (22.24 KB)


  (22.34 KB)


  (37.06 KB)


  (22.64 KB)


  (35.50 KB)


  (37.97 KB)


  (42.62 KB)


  (16.63 KB)


  (29.06 KB)


  (30.18 KB)


  (43.28 KB)


  (30.89 KB)


  (20.02 KB)