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Thanks for your positive comments fellas, it really helps to have your feedback! I must admit that as the project moves on (slowly)I'm getting more enthusiastic about it. I'm sure you have all looked back on your own projects that took years and thought: 'I wonder how I got this far'? That happens to me.

Have to agree Bobby, the scalloped shape of the hood seems clever and really appeals, and since starting on prepping the trunk lid (- those reversing curves are tricky to get right) there's a lot of appreciation for its shape also. Big, bulbous and beautiful all come to mind.

Packards never seem to look ordinary despite their vintage, but a lot of moderns date quite badly and some don't seem to ever have much appeal. Maybe they need more time for that to happen.

I've not seen any Packard shape from 20's on that I personally didn't like. They all impress me in various ways, some a bit more than others.

One of the best ways to really get to know your car is to pore over the surface, you really get to appreciate every nook and cranny, all the little styling details. I've always liked the Clubs, they have a well balanced, well proportioned look to them, I look forward to seeing your progress!

I see she's LHD...do you have a history on her?

Not much history, sad to say. I just got the VIN tag sent to me by the previous custodian, who had misplaced it for years. He bought it off someone who also didn't have the details of original owner etc, so still investigating the origin. All I know is it was an Australian car (- I'm sure you meant 'RHD').

Now I have the VIN it's possible I will discover more about it. So far it's the only '51 Club Sedan I know of in Australia. There appears to be only about three other 2465's registered on Packardinfo, so not too many around. Maybe another will surface in Oz eventually but I doubt it. I love the Club shape, couldn't be happier restoring this one.

Larry, now that you have the VN, I'd very much appreciate receiving your VN and thief-proof number on your car for my ongoing research into the body numbers. Also helpful would be the engine# if you believe it's original to the car, and also note if the car is RHD or LHD.

Owen, I was thinking about you as I wrote the post yesterday! A hobby of mine is family research and even a 'minor'discovery concerning my ancestors is very satisfying. It must be the same for you, regarding your quest to trace Packards.

Details of my '51 Deluxe Club Sedan:
VIN plate states:
2465 - 7144. Paint Scheme S. Trim Code - illegible. (Second digit is a three, and 2465 Trim Code was 63).
Engine Number: I have a couple of engines so am unsure which is the original. Can supply both engine numbers if that will be useful.
TPN: A32123
Vehicle is RHD.


I have a bit of additional interesting information regarding another Australian Packard. It relates to a Packard that was owned by a famous Australian, name of Edgar Laurence ('Dunc') Gray.

Dunc was an Olympic cyclist who represented Australia at a few Olympic and Commonwealth Games (1920's-30's), winning various events and Olympic medals for cycling. He held many cycling records. A good account of his career can be found at Edgar Laurence ('Dunc') Gray


I have the 'remains' of his '51 Packard 2462 sedan. The car was so badly rusted by around 1979 that it was 'dismembered' and the body disposed of (- sounds gruesome I think). I purchased what was left (including the rolling chassis with mechanicals and virtually all parts / panels except the body proper). At the time I was unaware of who had owned it, as was the person who sold it to me. Both of us just recently learned of Dunc Gray's ownership.

Details of that '51 Sedan are as follow:
I believe the VIN Tag I have found amongst my parts is the one belonging to Dunc Gray's car. 2462 - 39029
Paint and Trim - no details can be seen on the plate. I believe the colour is Valiant Green Metallic.
From Registration papers the Engine Number is: J239365. I can confirm this soon when I visit the place where the chassis / engine is stored. Will let you know.
No TPN available.
Vehicle is (was) RHD.

I consider it very likely that Dunc bought this car from the (then) Sydney dealership of Ira L. & A.C. Berk of 77 William Street. He worked a very short distance from William Street for many years, including the early 1950's. My Club Sedan probably was from that Dealership also.

I have more information about Dunc Gray's car (- Registration Number, address of owner at the time, etc) which I can provide - let me know if you require these details.

Interior Painting

Have been doing a day's work here and there on the car, but not much for a few weeks owing to other commitments. There's been a lot of fiddly final preparation as I get closer to the stage where I can paint the car. Amazing just how many small pits and scratches etc need a dab of glazing putty and a rub back.

I completed filling / priming / sanding the pillar faces, window frames, parcel shelf and internal door and rear quarter panels. I needed to figure which surfaces to paint, and when. You always want to minimize work and masking, also overspray etc. And get good continuity on overlaps, where internal paint will 'underlap' the paint you apply when the whole exterior is being sprayed.

The trick is to spray all edges, corners, 'returns' etc first then spray between. Ninety percent of this internal colour will be covered by trim / carpet / roof liner etc so finish is not too critical. I just needed to put a reasonable coat of colour over the primer grey to seal it properly against corrosion (- and make these unseen areas look presentable if ever uncovered).

It can be difficult getting the colour into tight areas. This is worst around the tops of the doors (in the window frames). I will take the doors off later and lay them flat so as to get the paint right into these areas. (You don't see much (if any) of this area but leaving exposed primer doesn't provide as much protection against rust).



LHS door painted with Matador Maroon. I had previously applied the Schutz (sound deadener / corrosion inhibitor) to the door cavity. That was a messy job as the Schutz drifts around quite a lot, requiring a cleanup with turps or Prepsol.




Parcel shelf sprayed




Along the roof perimeter sprayed




Showing the heavy coat of Schutz that had been applied previously





Priming around pillars completed, but the pillars will be sprayed later as part of the exterior spray job.




Rear quarter internals sprayed.

Nice work Larry. Always a treat to see your progress!

Thanks Paul, it's good to be doing some work on the car again after a few weeks 'away'. More posts soon (I hope)!

Shaping the Rear Quarters on the Coupe


It's been a hectic couple of months since I posted last. Have done quite a lot on the car, so now I'll do some 'catch-up' posts.

The most time-consuming area of restoration on my car has been getting the panels absolutely true prior to painting. The rear quarters have been a pleasant challenge, as on the Club coupe they are a vast flat area and must be totally free of any imperfections. The 'spats' (as we call them - actually wheel covers) are another challenging area to get right (gap to body) as are the decorative pressings that extend for some distance above the wheel opening.

After a couple of applications of filler (Bondo) the rear quarters have been 'approximately shaped'. Still much more filling and careful shaping was needed to get very close to the exact profile.



319: Trunk lid fitted and gaps checked before any priming or shaping is done.
[img width=450]<a href="http://s829.beta.photobucket.com/user/Larry51_2009/media/Packard%20Project/Rear%20Quarters%20Shaping/P1000319.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz218/Larry51_2009/Packard%20Project/Rear%20Quarters%20Shaping/P1000319.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>[/img]

322: Most of the Bondo has been shaped to get shape close to correct. The grey primer on top of fender is what was applied over a year ago when the car was blasted. It is all removed back to bare metal.



326: Passenger side (- Yep - it's a RHD car!) showing stage 1 filler work completed.



332: All the old primer has been removed with a stripper disk.



337: Overall view.



340: Priming will also include across the trunk, forward of the lid.



485: After etch priming the problem areas can be easily seen



489: The sculpted section is mis-shaped and will need plenty of work



490:



493: The rounded shape of the fender is pretty close to OK



504: Reconstructing the end of the detail



507



---------------------------------------

510: Shape looks fairly good after priming



513: Any rub-throughs have been reprimed



516: After spraying on the hi-build primer-surfacer, sanding for hours, then another four heavy coats and further sanding. Very close to true now.


518: Minor dings filled with red glazing putty and sanded close




The '51 has the nice sculpted detail on the rear fenders which needs to be almost perfectly shaped. This is very time-consuming. Some high spots were first reduced with a body file. Very necessary to get rid of the highs, before any filling is done. These were the result of the welding (TIG) that had been done along the ridge of the detail when the new section was welded in. The weld was done along this detail because it was less prone to warping (although TIG is not likely to distort the panels if done carefully, and there was virtually no distortion present). Also a weld along this detail was easier to achieve than on the flat of the panel.


Finally it was time to apply the 2K spray primer / surfacer, do more shaping via careful sanding, and get the quarters and sills to their exactly correct shape.


I use a 2-pak primer/surfacer which can be applied as a heavy build without risk of shrinkage, cracking or poor adhesion. A big improvement on the old single pak which could crack if applied too heavy and not allowed to dry for long enough before over-coating. You apply four heavy, wet coats with about 10 minutes flash-off between each coat. Then after only 2 hours you can get stuck into sanding most of it off (thereby flatting out the high spots). Then subsequent extra coats are applied if there are still low spots (- and there almost always are) and then sanded again (with 17" sander and/or various blocks). This process is repeated as many times as necessary.


338 First 4 wow coats of 2K primer surfacer




339



342 Some glazing putty into any nicks and scratches etc, then more coats of primer surfacer



343 Now getting to the 'almost done' stage



344



347: This 'half-acre' panel is looking quite flat now . . .



543 Shadow coat applied, and final blocking started



549: Plenty of water to keep the paper clear and dust down.



550 Many hours later . . . . pleased with the result



------ooo ooo------

Trunk Lid Prep


Two postings in a day!! Unusual for me, but the reason is I have to take it easy due to a sore foot. So it's a few days of desk-jockeying for me.

Like all boot lids mine had been 'closed' quite a few times onto stuff that was too high to allow the lid to shut properly. So there were a few high spots and as many low spots, like small creases where the lid had been opened and struck an edge above it.

I stripped the entire lid with stripper discs after scraping away the 'stoneguard' (- which scraped off very easily after softening it with a heat gun).

The lid was surprisingly free of rust, with only about eight inches of the lower lip with some minor perforations. I cut that 8" away with a 1mm disc and checked inside the opening. Not bad for a sixty year old car, just minor scale there, which you cannot get at properly to remove. The spike test showed no thin metal, so I'll do all the prep and painting, then give all the inner surfaces a good dose of wax-oil (Dynax 50) later.

I guess anyone restoring an old car enjoys the challenges and the changes from one task to a different task as you continually move to some new or different part of the resto. It was great to do some metal fabrication (even tho' it was just making a small single-fold lip with no major curves or tricky bits). Then a bit of welding / grinding / filing. That made a good change from the panel surfacing and sanding that has occupied me for a few weeks lately.

The welding went well, with me only burning a couple of holes (which were easy to re-weld). That happened when I didn't have my piece of copper sheet behind the weld. Often think it would be nice to get a TIG but I don't think I'd get the use out of it.

I was able to use my stainless steel shrinker disk on the highs, getting them all down level. Certainly is more convenient using one of these discs than heating with oxy. Then I worked on the lows which came up with very little beating. The Packard steel certainly beats well, no spring to it so I think it might be aluminium-killed, or forged some way that has it very malleable! Really is a pleasure to work with.

Then used a small amount of U-Pol Flyweight bog in a couple of lows after priming the whole lid inside and out with 2-pak PPG epoxy-urethane. Then it was 4 coats of 2k hi-build spray filler and hours of blocking. Repeated the process and the lid was very straight.




Suddenly it was no longer straight when I dropped it onto the garage floor when trying to move it! Bent two corners so it was more beating and filling to get things straight again.

The final stage (future) will be applying new stoneguard. Have yet to discover if the final paint goes over the stoneguard, or whether the stoneguard stays 'au natural' black.

It had been sprayed over on my boot lid, but I noticed the lid paint was not original. Had been re-sprayed some time, so not sure what the factory 'original' scheme was.

63: Showing the small (8") rusty section at base of trunk lid



66: Replacement metal section fabricated



67:



68: Area cleaned, ready for welding



69: MIG welder set up



75: Cleaned up






82: ready for some filler



87: Inner side ready for primer