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Mal,
Glad to see you back, missed your action.

Monday 6th August 2012

Just a drop in and catch up at the workshop. For two reasons, 1) still feeling tender, and 2) ain't much to occupy me there at the moment. Caught up with Wade who has installed the clutch mechanism into Noel's chassis as well as the brackets for the engine snubber. Waiting on new rubbers to be able to install the snubber itself as well as new rubbers for the radiator/fender stays. Speaking of which, on my recent sabbatical, I was looking through some pic's of my '41 120 from back in 2010 when the engine was out and saw my stays. Ah Ha I thought! Can now tell Wade how these mount as he'd been scratching his head about that point. Means, once the rubbers arrive, the radiator, collar and mudguard/fender bracket assembly can also be mounted. As for the starter motor, Wade picks up the rebuilt starter pieces from Star Auto Electrical at Gladesville this afternoon and it should go back on tomorrow. Wade told me, that after the starter failed on the 356, he pulled it out then on the bench it only just turned over! But apparently it was working when the engine was fired up after Noel's Coupe arrived in Oz some years back so was "assumed" to be OK. Also tomorrow, on his way in Wade will be seeing Tony at Quik Fit mufflers at Gladesville to have a lower radiator pipe bent up for the 356. Looks like Wade's work on Noel's chassis will be just about done come the end of the day tomorrow. There will be some outstanding matters but until parts come to hand these cannot be addressed.

And apparently some action on The Fossil front, or so Wade hopes. Steve, the panelbeater, collected the other top side panel for the bonnet(hood) on Friday to ensure both panels were OK. Once the bonnet(hood) returns and can be mounted a lot more can and will be done to The Fossil. It's like a missing piece in a jigsaw puzzle at the moment.

That aside I have "booked in" my Coupe for some work tomorrow. Remounting the Clipper window handles that have fallen off, thanks for that insight Noel, I was blissfully unaware they weren't kosher. And hook up the horn wire that's come adrift. Is there a special type of wire used in horn wires? This is the third time mine has broken.

Had expected Noel to drop in at some stage but if he did it was after I left. Hope he did cause Wade is anxious to see the shop manual for the Coupe, there are a few points in there he'd like to check on. Also missed Barry Smith from Tamworth. Apparently to emphasise that he really isn't going to restore another car Barry told Wade he was getting rid of his blasting cabinet. Whereupon Wade suggested he toss it in Wade's direction because it's bigger and better than the bench top model Wade has. That Barry has now done with the cabinet sitting in a prime position at present in front of Packard corner. Now it looks like Snapey might be the recipient of a hand me down blasting cabinet as he'd expressed an interest in borrowing Wade's bench top model at one time.

The other matter I needed to attend to while at the workshop was pick up a valve for the 320 engine at the Mudgee Museum. Except I think I've mucked things up. The letter received from the museum specified 1 x Inlet and 1 x Exhaust valve, which Wade donated. But when I rang the guy he said they actually required 2 x Exhaust valves! I returned one valve to Wade but I now realise I returned the exhaust valve and retained the inlet valve! Need to talk to the guy at Mudgee before I send anything to ensure he ends up with the right valves and I don't end up with egg on my face.

EDIT - Almost forgot, I threatened promised LJJ that I'd post a pic of his new Packard. It isn't what he'd been aiming for previously in this thread. But as he said "...The search for a Packard is over, I am currently arranging the import of a 1947 Super Clipper 7 Passenger from California, it's a lot of car for the money. I will certainly have enough room for the whole family!..."

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Tuesday 7th August 2012

Just as well I didn't wait for Noel to arrive yesterday, it was well over 3 hours after I left that he strolled in! Had brought over a coil and bracket, '41 160/180 Preliminary Shop Manual, fuel tank pickup and sending unit as well as what looks like a NOS exhaust hanger insulator. But on my arrival this morning there was a surprise, parked under the ramp to the roof top carpark was a black '33 Super Eight Sedan! Lots of pic's below, including some specifically for O_D. Belongs to PACA member AD and is a LHD car. Hasn't been on the road for about 8 years, then 6 years ago went to Cowra for some touch up work on the body, which was never done! It's now with Wade because it won't run, with Wade's brief being to get it going so it can be sent elsewhere for what now will be much more than a touch up. Because it looks like it's been out in, or exposed to, the weather for most of those 6 years! Then venturing inside, after that unexpected Packard fix, found Wade had picked up Noel's starter motor body now fitted with new brushes together with a skimmed and checked commutator from Star Auto Electrical as well as having a pipe bent up for the lower radiator hose by Quik Fit Mufflers.

But, didn't start with those. Instead, because I'd brought down my Coupe, we turned to that. Yesterday on my way home had bought a box of assorted roll pins to facilitate the re-installation of the free floating Clipper(GRRRRRR!) window winding handles. What doesn't help is that none of the door or window handles on my Coupe have a tensioning spring on them. The trouble started in 2011 on the Tour to Tamworth run when the passengers side door handle fell off, fixed after our return to Sydney by, who else, Wade! Used one of his roll pins on that occasion. Then earlier this year the drivers side door handle fell off. Fixed temporarily by Mal using a nail! Later fixed properly by Wade with a roll pin AND some clear tape! Next handle to part company was the passengers side window handle when Wade took the Coupe to Tamworth in early June. Maybe there's something about that place that causes handles to fall off? Finally in early July, coming back from American INDEPENDENTS car show, the drivers side window handle fell off. Rather than go the Mal nail route I'd parked the handles and bezels in the glovebox waiting a more opportune time for a real fix. Today was that time. Found a couple of appropriate roll pins and together with more tape effected the necessary repairs. Now don't have to ask the lovely Kath to pass me the handle so I can open my window.

But, wait, there's more! The other matter needing attention was the horn wire which had parted company from the contact under the horn button. First removed the horn ring whereupon contact, spring and insulating disc came out in no particular order. Then removed the horn wire, which although it had been tied up underneath had come loose and was dragging on the road. Into the workshop with the contact, spring and wire and sourced a length of multi stranded wire more flexible then the failed wire. The thought being that the failed wire was too stiff with more flexibility required. Soldered the contact to the new wire and back to the Coupe only to discover the contact had been soldered on the wrong way round because the dis-assembly hadn't been conducive to identifying the order and orientation of the parts concerned. Fixed and back again to the Coupe then pushed the old wire back up the steering column and using it as a pull wire drew the new wire through. And everything worked, re-assembled the horn ring, Wade put a connector on the bottom end of the new wire plugged it in and Mal hit the Horn. PAAAARRRPP!!

Don't worry Noel we hadn't forgotten your '41. The starter motor was next, re-assembled then put back on the engine. I thought Wade would have bench tested it but he didn't. It was only later that he said he had intended to but overlooked that step, while I thought he was just very confident it would work! Which it did, turned over straight away on your Optima Noel, with no plugs in. And Houston, we have oil pressure, all of about 8-10lbs at cranking speed! What next? The brakes. Wade had previously fitted and tightened the new brake line which came loose with the chassis but before commencing a pumping checked that all the bleed nuts were tight, they weren't! That done, then did commence a pumping. Started at the right rear and as expected before any fluid came through an awful lot of air did. But as soon as fluid came through, as well as resistance in the system, leaks became apparent. First at the tee at the front of the master cylinder, then the fitting to the rear flexible line. Fixed those, finished bleeding the right rear and turned to the left rear. With more resistance in the system leaks appeared at the tee on the diff and the tee for the front brakes as well as the front flexible line joins. Bleeding stopped, fittings tightened necessitating, on the front ones, the use of an 11mm spanner. Noel, please note that down for future reference! Although Wade has replaced many mongrel nuts and bolts with AF/NF where required, these weren't so easy to do so you're stuck with them. Anyway, now have brakes on your '41, and will be monitored over the next few days for signs of leaks.

What else to do? Well the old plug leads were installed although I believe new ones are on the way and a set of Champion spark plugs installed. Before you have a stroke Noel, these Champions were in the Autolite boxes you provided to Wade. With appropriate markings on the back of the boxes, in my hand no less, see pic! Wade has also rigged up a key start for the engine so all that's required now is a can of fuel, a hose from the can to the fuel pump and your presence to witness it's return to life. Note, there is spark, that has been tested, so the sooner you get to the workshop the better, Wade has an itchy ignition finger!

After confirming this morning that the Mudgee Museum requires 2 x 320 exhaust valves for their Packard, Wade was able to come up with the goods and these were posted to them on my way home this afternoon.

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Mal, thanks so much for thinking of me with the numbers, 1933 numbers are particulary hard to come by. And what you thought was the oil filter is indeed correct, 1933 was the last year before the changeover to the full-flow filter and temperature regulator system so that feature looks correct. As to the Trippe question, I believe the Trippe Seniors had the bubble level,the Trippe Juniors didn't.

If you have the opportunity, please take a closer look at the patent plate, the # 402 makes sense numerically but there is some feature, perhaps a scratch or smudge, before it that makes it look like a 1402.

Dave,

I may not get to the workshop today but here are another couple of pic's I took yesterday of the Patent Plate. I don't think there's a "1" in the number sequence, now it's obvious didn't pick the best pic yesterday!

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Wednesday 8th August 2012

Contrary to my previous post I did make it to the workshop today, but only for a couple of hours. And even though I was around the '33, at one stage, didn't think to check and photograph the Patent Plate again. Sorry Dave, I'll try and remember next time. And why was I around the '33? Took down a car cover to at least partly cover it for 1) weather protection, and from 2) inquisitive eyes. Where it's parked, although a long way from the street, it is visible so reducing visibility makes sense. Once Noel's chassis moves out the '33 will move in and weather and security issues will be a thing of the past.

Found Wade under Big Red cleaning her chassis and undercarriage so everything is ready for the engine going back in, whenever that may be. Allied to the engine, the block being used is different to the one that came out of Big Red so I was cleaning parts to fit to the rebuilt block when it returns. They were a pair of tappet covers and their retaining screws as well as the carb heat shield off the '33. First the tappet covers, someone may be able to shed some light on the fact that Big Red's 320 block had a single looooong tappet cover while all the other 320 blocks that Wade has seen have two tappet covers. Any comments or insights? Cleaned up nicely after scraping, hand parts washing, wire wheeling finally finishing in the blasting cabinet. Now the '33 carb heat shield. Wade has only had a preliminary look at the '33 and as can be imagined, after sitting for 6 to 8 years, the fuel system is cactus. Wade removed the glass filter housing which was half full containing a black foul smelling substance. Because of this the tank will be dropped, cleaned and treated as well as rebuilding the pickup and sending unit, all fuel lines cleaned and flushed, and fuel pump and carburettor rebuilt. Then it will have a much better chance of running. The electrical system, as it pertains to the engine, will also be gone through. In this regard Wade has already been under the dash and found a makeshift fuse in place of the correct one.

Wade also commenced a tear down of Barry's blasting cabinet. It's given long and faithful service restoring a number of Packards and needs some TLC before being returned to active duty. Wade has removed what was left of the operator gloves, must have been quite an experience at the end with blasting media pouring out of big holes in the gloves! So tomorrow we're off to Hare & Forbes for new replacement gloves as well as any other pieces required.

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Mal, thanks for the extra photos clarifying the vehicle numnber. I pretty much assumed it couldn't have been 1402 as they only made 1300 Super Eights that year, distributed across what, 13 or 14 body styles. But with so many curious numbers appearing these days I wanted to be certain.

Thursday 9th August 2012

What happened today? Not much! Rang Noel who told me he has the sparkplug lead holder as well as some heater fittings for the water pump and will bring them over tomorrow morning and is anticipating a 356 start up! Arriving at the workshop gave Misty a bone, that was well received. Then off to Hare and Forbes for a new pair of blasting cabinet gauntlets. On the return trip called into Grippy Rubber for a couple of metres of 1" x 1/4" adhesive backed neoprene strip for a new seal for the cabinet door. On return, removing the old seal and installing the new neoprene was my job. After removing the old seal and cleaning the cabinet surfaces I'm just about to start applying the new seal when Wade said to be careful, there was only about 2" extra to play with. He certainly knows how to apply pressure, but all worked out with about 8" left over, thanks Wade.

While I was doing that Wade was getting air hoses and fittings organised for the new blasting cabinet. The gun from the old cabinet was being used as it has an assortment of easily changed nozzles whereas the new one doesn't. The viewing window from the top of the cabinet was also removed because Barry had also supplied a new glass. Unfortunately neither the new glass or the old blasted/pitted glass actually fitted the cabinet window frame. Only missed out by a smidgen but enough to have the cabinet window frame at a lopsided angle, it just didn't look right. So I hotfooted it up to Excell Glass where Neil cut about 3/8" off one end of each piece. They now fit easily and flat on the cabinet top, used the new glass keeping the pitted glass as a spare. Hoses and fittings sorted and gun installed it was time to move the new cabinet into place. Graham and Rolf did that under my direction, hernia recovery with lifting restrictions has some benefits!

At this juncture I inquired of a couple of guys, who had been standing in the workshop entrance for about 5 minutes, if they wanted to see someone. They did, Wade! Because they'd been silhouetted against the glare from the entrance I didn't recognise either one of them and thought they were waiting to see John or Rick. But on approaching them realised I knew one of the guys, Wheels from Murwillumbah a former PACA member and '39 Convertible owner who I'd visited on two occasions! "The sun was in my eyes" is as good an excuse I can come up with and that's my story and I'm sticking to it! John, aka Wheels, together with his mate Ken were down in Sydney to pick up a '24 Chev Sedan, an older restoration, which Wheels had imported from the US. They'd called into the workshop to see The Fossil, catch up and to see what else Wade might be working on at present. Wheels has a large collection of vehicles and with the acquisition of the Chev, which is a police car, now has what could be called a set of special interest vehicles. He already has a fire engine and Ken has just finished rebuilding for him the body for a '27 Hudson hearse. Anyway Wheels and Ken saw The Fossil, Noel's '41 160 rolling chassis, Big Red and the '33 Super Eight under the car cover outside. Wheels, as well as Wade, remembers this car from before it's sad decline over the last 6 years.

Once Wheels and Ken resumed their journey it was back to the blasting cabinet. Filled it with the "sand" Barry had emptied from it to bring it to Sydney. Wade procured a rusty Packard part and I was ushered to the operators position. Well, there was plenty of air but no "sand". Checked the fittings, slight airleak tightened up and tried again but still no joy. Head scratching, checked the pickup tube was clear using a straightened wire coathanger, tried again still nothing. What about priming the pickup? Undid the fitting on the bottom of the gun and using a small funnel filled the tube with "sand" but still no go. Although this time it did work initially but only until the priming "sand" was exhausted. Could it be the "sand"? So emptied Barry's "sand" and replaced it with the used glass beads from the old blasting cabinet, still nothing. Primed the pickup again, same result, false dawn. What about the gun? Changed it back to Barry's gun but again no sandstorm! Had also played with the air pressure available to the cabinet starting from 80psi, down to 40psi and up to 100psi without any success. Maybe the only remaining part to check is the metal pickup tube which extends to the bottom of the media hopper? Wade tells me its welded in place, I hadn't looked beforehand, and it appeared OK from his inspection.
The real question is.....Barry, have you sold Wade a lemon?

Started the post by saying not much happened today, but somehow I've again managed to churn out more than my quota of words! Things were happening it's just that not much came to fruition. Really an exasperating day where the expectations were much greater than the reality.

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Friday 10th August 2012

Only an hour or so at the workshop, hoping the 356 would be fired up before I left. Had to attend #2 Granddaughters Pre-School Olympics! Nothing like about forty 3/4/5 year olds traversing/rambling/wandering around an obstacle course at the end of which they all received a gold medal! Citius, Altius, Fortius was never like this.

At the workshop there was also some traversing/rambling/wandering around an obstacle course but at the end of which there was NO gold medal! But first, on arrival, found the new blasting cabinet was now fully operational. After I left yesterday Wade had utilised the pickup tube from the old cabinet and problem solved. But the focus this morning was getting the 356 ready for start up. Partly filled a 20 litre container, because of hernia surgery recovery weight limits, and connected a new rubber fuel line to the rebuilt fuel pump. Turned the engine over to get oil circulating and fuel pumping. One part of that was successful, oil pressure registering on the gauge, fuel wasn't a pumping though. Number of attempts but carb remained dry. Rubber hose off and, no suction! Pump off, looked like the arm and diaphragm shaft weren't connected. Disassembled pump, reconnected the arm and diaphragm, reassembled and bench tested it. Works well with suction and the usual array of armpit noises fuel pumps emit on those tests. Reinstalled the pump but with the same result, no pumping! At this point the lure of the Olympics was too great and I made my farewells. A follow up phone call much later revealed that it's the wrong pump. Requires a dual action pump with vacuum for wiper operation. Pump at hand is single action, like the one on my 120 which has electric wipers!

After returning from a hard day in the stands urging on the Olympians found an email from the Flackmaster. See the pic below and the accompanying caption for a story of something close to my heart.

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Monday 13th August 2012

Wade was doing some housekeeping when I arrived during which he had discovered a lower radiator tube to fit Noel's 356! It was attached to a radiator I think Harvey had "donated". Anyway after a session on the wire wheel to knock off the dirt and crust a session in the new blasting cabinet gave it a nicely finished look. And why was Wade housekeeping? 1) To better organise the available space, 2) To remove the grill shell and shutters from Big Red's radiator. The radiator is going to be cleaned and tested so when the engine returns from Tamworth it can all go back together. 3) To free up the stand the 320 crankcase is sitting in. The stand is going to Tamworth to hold Big Red's engine when it's ready for the trip home.

The engine crane was used to elevate Big Red's radiator and grill unit which was then separated into it's major component parts. A b#gger of a job with lots of bolts and screws holding shell to radiator frame. Then a fight to prise the grill shell off the radiator frame, it needs to come forward at the bottom then swing up so the top of the grill shell clears the neck of the radiator. During this there were 3 interruptions. 1) Arrival by UPS of a head gasket and manifold gaskets from Olson's Gaskets for Big Red. 2) Arrival of Noel bearing a '41 steering box and column, 2 double action fuel pumps and a spark plug wire loom. 3) Big Bad Barry bearing a '61 Ford Falcon radio for Wade to weave his magic on. Barry and wife Pam, besides having a couple of Packards also have a couple of Fords including the very original Falcon.

Visitors attended to, returned to the housekeeping with the 320 crankcase next. Engine crane lifted the crankcase up undid retaining bolts holding it to the Snapey built engine stand and dropped that down. Next removed the front engine mount and timing case. Then maneuvered the crane and crankcase and dropped the crankcase onto a pair of plastic milk crates. Milk vendors countrywide didn't realise what a boon these plastic crates were when they were introduced 30 odd years ago. Forget milk, they are perfect for storing parts and are stackable! Cleaned up the timing case and engine mount and these were parked with the 320 engine stand ready for a trip to Tamworth.

Turned then to the fuelpumps. One had an arm length of about 40mm from the flat of flange to the centre of the pump arm, while the others distance was 50mm. The ineffectual pump, that was being used, also has a distance of 50mm. Trial fits later the 50mm arm pump was plumped for but a trial pump test revealed little to no suction. Fortunately Noel had also provided a rebuild kit from Max for a double action pump so tear down commenced. As Wade removed components I cleaned them in the parts washer followed by a brake cleaner rinse and wire wheeling of specific components if required. Wade also commenced reassembling the pump. Reassembly will be completed tomorrow and the pump mounted on the 356 and tested. Although a bench test during assembly, hard to do with 2 bl**dy big springs to work against, looks positive.

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