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It's a pity someone shot the little Morris . . . a bit cruel. If it was a Hillman Imp I'd be all in favour of a mercy killing (lol)

Aye aye, matey!

Friday 6th July 2012

After donating blood plasma just a quick pitstop at the workshop. There I found Wade, after he'd dis-assembled my latest wind chimes, installing the clutch and brake pedals into Noel's chassis.

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Monday,

Popped into the workshop to return to John a tool I'd borrowed over the weekend. With Wade away for a couple of days I was surprised to notice that the intake/exhaust manifolds weren't on the bench! Instead they were on the 356, must have been installed Friday, and I never noticed!

EDIT - Added a couple of pic's of the exhaust pipe bracket at the rear of the muffler on my '41 120 Coupe. Reason being to help with the exhaust system for Noel's '41 160 Coupe, he either doesn't have a bracket, or it became lost after dis-assembly(same thing?). Trying to locate a bracket or possibly use an aftermarket type if all else fails. Anyone with a '41 160 care to comment? Note - although I have a lot, a h#ll of a lot of pictures of various things on my '41, for some reason the exhaust pipe bracket ones are few and far between. Maybe they just don't have the same panache as some other parts have?

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Thursday 12th July 2012

For me today day was all about cleaning and painting. Wade had some parts ready and yesterday(more about that later) Noel had dropped in the carb and fuel pump heat shields so those too received this treatment. Lots of wire wheeling, some cabinet blasting then wiring up and painting. And what was Wade doing through all this? Why working on the 356 and chassis, primarily installing the head. Also meant some brief respites from parts cleaning helping to lift the head on and off a couple of times. Reason being a number of the studs were a little too long, and to ensure the chromed domed head nuts being used didn't bottom on the studs, required careful shortening. Also removed the master cylinder because the brake pedal linkages need to be installed in concert with the master cylinder. Installed the carburettor and pipe from fuel pump to carb. And semi installed the fuel tank, modified by Noel's mate Tony from a good '39 120. But why semi installed? Because the '39 tank appears shallower than the '41 tank it replaced and consequently there is an "issue"! But before instaling the tank Wade noticed it rattled. So after what must have been an hour of shaking, tilting, peering, magnet plucking, the debris was cleared. And the debris, what was it? First piece out was a slightly bent but complete pop rivet and the last out was a hypodermic needle tip! In between was general debris and grit. Noel, fitting a very good fuel filter is strongly advised. Wade has also started removal of the shrunken hand brake cables in readiness for the correct length replacements when they arrive.

Now back to the future, sorry, yesterday. Yesterday, after confirmation from a surgeon my abdominal hernia is getting worse and also having hernias identified in both left and right groins, jumped in my '41 One-Twenty Club Coupe with Noel and Tony and headed north to the Vintage Motor Garage in accordance with paragraph #3 of this post. Lovely blue sky day for a Packard trip, most of it Freeway at about 60mph. At VMG delivered the battery, an Optima 6V in a faux case, inspected the progress on Phil's '26 333 6 Cyl Sedan Limousine and some of the others there, had a good chat with Jonathon the owner as well as Noel unfolding his requirements. Noel's requirements relating to some of the stainless trim for the interior of the window mouldings. Noel had tried to source replacement plastic which fits in the middle of each piece of trim but for some reason it is NLA! Instead he had been advised to try using rattan in lieu. However both Johnathon and Justin, the wood man at VMG, were sceptical that the rattan Noel had sourced was viable for the use required. Instead they are going to investigate alternatives, probably in craft shops, so Noel has left the trim pieces with them. Phil's '26 is progressing and Jonathon hopes to fire up the engine in about 3 weeks time. It's also close to being painted but Jonathon wants to do the bulk of that with the body on the chassis, so is dependent on that being finished first. The rolling chassis had also struck a few snags with the rear brakes found to be kaput when they were originally thought to be fine. In doing the brakes, with parts sourced from PACA member JimE in SA, a rear axle was also found to be kaput and Jim again was able to provide a replacement. So, thanks Jim! I was also able to view the 2 Cadillac bodies being fabricated when Noel and I were there May 2011 with Phil. Both the roadster and tourer(phaeton?) bodies are finished and now they are making a coupe body. Whereas, a little while ago, I though Oz was being overrun by Packard Twelves it now seems Cadillac V16 numbers are increasing rapidly too!

Returning homeward, after a quick stop for lunch thankyou Noel, decided to go to the workshop instead. Reason being we could put the Coupe up on a jack and have a good look at the exhaust pipe bracket behind the muffler. Instead of a floor jack, they were all in use, ended up on Rick's 2 post hoist which fortuitously was vacant. That allowed everyone to have a look, so much so it looked like a committee meeting under there! Getting the Coupe up in the air was a comedy of errors, minor ones thankfully. One extendable arm wouldn't extend, the front arms were bottoming on a running board and a front mudguard(fender) because although the hoist was stopped at that point we couldn't lower it and in putting a spacer between the arm and the chassis one splayed between the chassis and the engine pipe. All were easily fixed but there was I running to Rick a couple of times only to return with him to find the problem had already been solved. Should have taken Rick up on his original offer of the 4 post hoist, it's very Mal friendly, being drive on/drive off, no fiddling required. Finally, once up and the meeting brought to order, found the bracket is very simple. Just a steel strap with a 90 degree bend at top and welded to the u shaped collar of an exhaust pipe u-bolt clamp. BUT......Wade now says that Noel brought one over with other parts but, because he didn't recognise it, sent it back with some surplus parts when the chassis arrived! The other side to that is that Noel now has to find it. Again! And, while we were out enjoying Packard touring, Wade had been working. Had set the 356's timing and installed the distributor and was in the midst of ensuring all the head stud threads are in good order when we arrived. Noel also has to find the Group 3.103 LINK, Booster spring Part # 335269 which is required to completed the brake pedal setup.

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Friday 13th July 2012

Do you suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia? If so, read no further and go back to bed, hide under a rock or stay inside for fear the sky is falling! If not, keep reading. Todays workshop installment included cleaning the uni-joint caps of excess POR15, running a tap through their threads, cleaning the excess paint off the flanges on the pinion yoke(Noel?), cleaning the uni joint shaft surfaces, making new felt seals for the caps and repacking the caps with grease. Was also going to install the tailshaft but Noel's arrival, bearing gifts more Packard parts, brought production to a halt for a while. The parts being the radiator collar, a stay for each front mudguard(fender) as well as the brackets which support the front fenders from the side of the radiator collar. Two other pieces came in today courtesy of Steve, the panelbeater, being the pair of underframe brackets for the front sway bar. These were severely bent and Wade determined Steve, with his metal shaping skills, was the man for the job. And a great job it is too, with Noel on departing, thanking Steve for his efforts. Wade re-assembled the gear linkage mechanism, that bolts onto the master cylinder, and reinstalled it all into the chassis. Also reinstalled the new brake lines, that I'd painted yesterday, as well as the rear sway bar. That incurred more digging through the box of bits hoping to find the right fasteners, but it was not to be. The left tie rod was also reinstalled with the right tie rod ready to go on. While Noel was there the "issue" with the '39 120 fuel tank was raised. The thinking is, that seeing it's from a 120, it is shallower than the 160 tank it replaced. Noel also confirmed the filler neck is different and will be modified or replaced when the body goes on and the route of the filler neck to the fuel cap door is known. In the meantime Noel said he'll have Tony drop the old tank down next week for comparison purposes and has authorised Wade to use his discretion to make it work. All I can say is, it will! When Noel left he took with him a short list of parts required but said when he returns he'll also bring anything that he thinks "might" be required.

EDIT - The issue of the too short, not long enough or shrunken hand brake cables is also under review. Wade, in looking closer at their mounting to and through the "horn" on the backing plate, thinks the outer cable sheath isn't correctly positioned. Accordingly next week one side will be disassembled and tweaked in an effort to get it to fit properly. On present indications this looks like it will be a workable solution.

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Sunday 15th July 2012

Today attended the 2012 All French Car Day at Silverwater. Went because one of the judges for the days Concours was the esteemable Noel! He was joined in judging by of all people, another Mal! Must be a good bloke with a name like that! Mainly went because 1) I'd never been before, 2) It's close to home, and 3) To see Noel and give him some support. Turned out to be a great blue sky Sydney sunny winters day, perfect. Met up with a PACA member I hadn't met previously, BruceG, who was there with, no not a Packard, but his Facel Vega! First time Bruce had been too, he'd been invited by one of the organisers when he attended another show earlier this year. Also met up with another guy, FrankW, who was there with his Renault 750 4CV. Frank is a regular attendee and also one of the guys who missed the Road Knights Hot Rod Club reunion in May, so it was great to catch up with him after 40+ years. After the event, where the Facel Vega won its class, it was off to the wilds of Bankstown where Noel has some of his Coupe bits stored! Needed to find his Group 3.103 LINK, Booster spring Part # 335269 which is required to completed the brake pedal setup. Les reckons it isn't at his place and although Noel sifted through his Bankstown stash yesterday, he didn't find it. So I was there today as a second pair of eyes to ensure it hadn't been missed inadvertently. Well, these old eyes didn't spot it either, so HELP! 1 x Group 3.103 LINK, Booster spring Part # 335269 required! Anyone out there have a spare? By the time I write this The Flackmaster is probably already on the case but, just in case he strikes out, thought I mention it anyway. Tomorrow I'm taking some more parts from Noel to the workshop which were filtered out when going through the stash.

Stop the presses! Hold your horses! Whoa there! Get me a new pair of glasses, a white stick and a seeing eye dog! We do have a Group 3.103 LINK, Booster spring Part # 335269! Before hitting the Submit button thought I'd better check the illustration I posted last week identifying the part in question. And guess what? We have it! But why do we have it? Because there was a curly piece of steel(see pic), well that's how I'll describe it, amongst the stash and I said to Noel I'll take that with me even though I couldn't identify it, just because it "might" be required somewhere along the way! Was able to ring and gave Noel the good news, suspect he'll now be able to sleep well tonight!

Link to todays French Car Day album. All you Francophiles should enjoy this!

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Monday 16th July 2012

Arriving at the workshop proudly announced to Wade we have a Group 3.103 LINK, Booster spring Part # 335269 and handed it to him. To say he was underwhelmed sums it up nicely because he too didn't recognise it for what it is! Was only convinced after looking at the Parts Book then trying it on the pedal where it fitted perfectly! After that I was put to work ensuring the uni-joint cap bolts fitted last Friday after I left, were properly tightened then knocking over the lock tabs to secure them. Had to jack the diff up so I could turn the tailshaft, now it's hooked up, to access those on the bottom. Wade had also installed the left tie rod last Friday so he set about installing the right one today, still needs a little work as one of the pic's will show.

That done then turned to my staple diet of late, cleaning and painting more parts for the chassis. Todays batch was the Group 3.103 LINK, Booster spring Part # 335269, the snubber, one gear linkage rod, the pair of front sway bar rubber block mounts Steve had straightened, the radiator collar, a repro battery box and one of the battery box supports. But my cleaning and painting isn't finished this week even though Wade won't be there for the remainder of it. After an ultrasound for my hernia tomorrow morning the plan is to continue to the workshop and clean more bits. Then later in the week paint same. That way they'll be done and ready for Wade's return next week.

During my cleaning and painting Wade was working on the too short/not long enough/shrunken hand brake cables. Removed the brake drums, needed the brake drum puller for this but a part turn on the big pullers screw was all that was required, released the cables, undid the mounting horns from the backing plates, pried the jaws of the mounting horns apart, shaved a couple of inches off the black shrink tubing covering the green cable sheath and remounted the horns with the cable sheath correctly positioned. The shrink tubing around the cable sheath appeared to be part of the reason why things weren't installed properly. Then adjusted the cable lengths and installed the clevis pins and securing split pins. So Noel, you are now well on the way to having a fully functional handbrake!

But just to step back to yesterday, Bruce's Facel Vega took out Best Car at the French Car Day. And speaking of the FV, besides Bruce, also present yesterday were his restorer Robert and his upholsterer, whose name now escapes me. Have a look on Roberts Central Auotomotive Restoration Service Site at the FV resto pictures, it certainly was a huge challenge!

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I'm enjoying your coverage of everything Mal, especially the pics of various cars. People certainly have some challenges ahead of them, such as the Caddy. Makes me realize that I don't have nearly as difficult a restoration job as some others!

You've probably mentioned the manifold paint brand & colour in the blog (-it looks very good I must say) but I couldn't find it easily. So if you wouldn't mind, could I get those details please?

Tuesday 17th July 2012

With Wade away what do I do? Why clean more parts for Noel's '41 of course! Spent a couple of hours wire wheeling and blasting things like throttle linkage, front mudguard(fender) brackets and bracing rods, battery cable clips, bonnet(hood) brackets. As well as a couple of things for me, a stub axle and what is supposed to be an old Packard headlight. Bought the headlight off Aussie eBay a couple of years ago to "save it" because there were no other bids. Then when the guy shipped it he forgot to include the rim! He did send the rim later after I nudged him about it. Now cleaning it up, dents and all, and probably just have it as a piece of "supposedly Packard" wall art. Bl**dy H#ll! Just remembered I didn't clean Noel's bumper brackets. I'd put them on the floor under the bonnet(hood) for Big Red which is sitting on a trestle, out of sight and out of mind. So instead of painting tomorrow morning, it'll be more cleaning. Painting of all the parts will then be done on Thursday morning.

Bl**dy H#ll!#2 ...You've probably mentioned the manifold paint brand & colour in the blog (-it looks very good I must say) but I couldn't find it easily. So if you wouldn't mind, could I get those details please?... Lee, sorry forgot to do that too! As Big Bad Barry says....It's egg timers disease, you forget things in 3 minutes! Maybe tomorrow, I'll try but recent events don't hold much promise.

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