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Eastwood's "Ni-Cad" paint does a reasonable job of simulating Nickel-Cadmium plating.

Henry,

That last video had my 55 400, at Salado. And yes that is rust, not the brown it should be. It cam from Alamogordo NM. It came as a parts car to the Caribbean.
Wow did it have cactus needles under it. I washed the car inside and out with a hose and a lot of Lysol!

Around the 1:14 minute mark is the very interesting tow vehicle. A 51 ambulance.

The Chama NM, train looked familiar, we did that last summer.

Is that you waving at the train towards the end, in your grandfathers arms?

Not suppose to be black... But I wanted it to match the other pulleys, so I made it black.

Not me, it's my cousin who is now the kicker for the Baylor Bears

Hank, the Chris Henry was talking to is probably Chris Stahopolus - never could spell his name correctly. He lived in north Dallas and was a very good mechanic. I remember him overhauling his Ultramatic in his garage. Good to see some of the old folks, many of them gone now. I had forgotten what a wealth of Packards were in Texas.

although i haven't busy on the Packard, i have been doing projects.

i have been building a built in desk for me and all my friends that come over to have Lan parties.

got tired of all the desks in there crowding it up.

top is walnut with about 5 coats of poly on top. smooth as a baby's ass.

i just bought this load arm tool from ebay today too. finally one popped up on there.

i'm still working on the generator, just not right now.

Hank

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Hank
I recently started a project blog on my 1955 Packard 400 and one of the other members here suggested that I read about your project as it would be very similar to mine. After looking at a few of your most recent post I decided that the only way to take in your work properly was to go back to January of 2008 and take it from the top (or the bottom, I'm not sure).
I spent 5 days reading your project blog. Along the way I have both applauded your attention to detail and cursed your stubbornness. That boy of yours should be in school soon shouldn't he? Dang seems like he was born just a few days ago.
There were a number of times while reading that I wanted to comment but of course it made no since to comment on something that happened that long ago. You and your clipper have provided me with information that I didn't even know I needed, sometimes maybe a little too much information. After reading about your work on the transmission and engine block I laid awake thinking, "I should have bought that 72 Oldsmobile damn it, should have bought that olds".
Couldn't believe that after all the work you have done that you were not sure you could handle the body work because that's the one part of my project that I'm not afraid of and like you I have never done this. I've lost weight dreading the mechanical work that you have accomplished but you showed me that it can be done and I appreciate that. Great work
Thank You
Stewart

5 days....wow didn't realize there was that much stuff packed in here now.

the kiddo is 4 and in preschool.

i'm really really good and not afraid of mechanical things...but i've never done blocking, sanding, filling, painting, etc...so i'm worried it'll just be all a waste and turn out like dook for my first time.

i would need a car to practice on first before i attempted it on this car after all i have put into it.

probably just going to save up my money and get it done professionally.

i may attempt to cut out the old rust and patch it up to save some. i pretty sure i can do that without issues.

i applaud BigKev for doing all his and i could probably do it....but he took a class at a college, which i have no time for right now. busy family.

i'm nearing the end of what i believe i can do myself on this car. the rest of it will probably be professionally done. paint, interior etc. all the odds and ends by me.

thanks for reading and i hope it helps you along your way!

here are a few more pics of the progress on my current attention hog.

Hank

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Hank, I reckon you can do the filling / blocking / etc yourself, it's mainly time (lots of it) and patience that you'll need! The skills come quickly after a few attempts.

You have mastered your resto so well, done an amazing job that's a credit to you (- look back at page 1 of your blog). So maybe give it a go?

You can always try it out on just one guard (or trunk lid or other panel) and see how you go. Can't really do any harm. I think it's very satisfying to do it yourself if time permits. But I must say if you know someone who does a great job for a very good price then that can be a better path to a really top job.

I don't want to talk you into something you will dislike doing but there's a few basic tricks to follow and the rest is common sense. You'll want to start on good straight metal that is reasonably true to shape /correct and not hopelessly wobbly / stretched etc - that's the biggest issue to overcome. Get the metal right first, which might mean professionally done for you. If you reckon you'll give it a go I can post a few hints here for you. I'm only self-taught but maybe a few ideas will be useful.

yeah i got a fender out of the shed to replace some cancer on...gonna give it a go on that first. the part that worries me is the passengers rocker.

i'm gonna try to do all the patching myself and leave all the body and painting to the pros i think. i know if i screw it up...i'll not a be pleasant person...so i'll avoid all that. even the first run or trash in my paint will upset me, so i'm not gonna do that. i was obssesive over my engine painting and it didn't turn out perfect...so i know me...gotta give in so i can remain sane.

the desk is finished finally and we all gave a test run last night. even spilled beer on it and the beer bubbled up perfect and didn't run off on the floor, so i musta done something right with the leveling.

next is the shelving above the desk. then probably back on the car in time for spring to start creeping up. wont be taking it to Salado this year, just gonna drive down and enjoy the show this time.

see all my local Packard friends in April!


p.s. ignore the bluescreen of death. memdump...reset ram on board...all is good again.


Hank

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gonna do like everyone else has (mostly) and replace the oilbath cleaner, but i'm going to use K&N so i get freeflowing...no need to replace...and lifetime warranty and still has 'oil' lol.

same top as everyone else has used...you can get it on ebay cheaper...but i went local....edelbrock 10" breather...only need the top.

they have generic ones on ebay for 10 less with no markings, i may do this.

the K&N filter i used originally was too tall...was looking at JW's blog and had 3.5" in my mind and forgot about his being a different breather.

packardpanther says 2 5/8 closest K&N is 2 9/16 other wise it's too tall at 2 3/4.

edelbrock breather top and K&N E1095 filter.

i redid the headers. brushed them down with steel wool and repainted....then baked via the instructions in my home oven (yes it stunk a bit...but it went away) wife was tolerant. 250 for 30 min cool for 30 min 400 degree same time....600 (only got 550) same time. etc etc.

pics are when they came right out of the oven last temp.

not much going on. can't really afford the jetcoat. too many irons...

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