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also the flippy floppies are a perfect Packard workman's shoe!

just teasin ;0) thanks for the video!

Ah yes . . . . . They're special flip-flops which have a 'cone of protection' built in. Hardly ever lost a toe while wearing 'em!

(Trying to make up for my very poor 'posting performance' of late(!))


Zinc and Nickel Plating

Been doing some Zinc and Nickel plating again. I last plated parts over 2 years ago and it was time to do a lot more as I put the car back together.

There's going to be another couple of plating sessions sometime future because there are still many small parts that need to be done.

Despite all the cleaning, buffing (and then more cleaning) involved it's a rewarding job when you see the results.

I was given 20 litres of the best Nickel 'Watts solution' and Nickel anodes etc some years ago by a professional plater. So the results are really good for the Nickel plating. The only tedious part is keeping the bath at 65degrees constantly for around an hour. A 1500W immersion heater and a water bath does the trick.

Before plating the instrument cluster surrounds I removed the old chrome in an electrolysis bath (Caustic Soda / Lead anode).

The instrument cluster looks ok but some time I'll try and get a better one as there is a bit of pitting in places on the one I have.

Cleaning up an instrument cluster



Getting old chrome off in a bath



Troublesome power supply trips out when started (design fault)



Built a circuit to prevent the trip-out (soft start)



Bumper bar bolts and door handle bezels to be Nickel plated



Nickel plated bolts



The Watts Nickel plating setup



Handbrake lever Nickel plated



Handbrake mechanism Zinced



Dozens more small parts were done . . . . It's tempting to plate loads of parts that were originally painted (just for the glam), but I resisted the temptation, not wanting to end up with a car that's not to original spec.

Quite nice that you are able to handle the plating yourself -- it will sure save a bundle. I've done a bit with the Caswell CopyChrome product and the Eastwood Cadmium plate kit which are about all that is legal or available for the ordinary guy where I am. Not much you can do with the tiny kits but it does do the very small objects fairly well -- if the prep is perfect.

On the club sedan, you are right in that it is fairly unique car. My friend Mark is heavily invested in a 52 club he picked out of many Packard choices in the lot because it was different. He started like gangbusters and has done quite a bit on his -- to the point all it needs to finish now is electrical and ambition to bolt things together. Alas, he has discovered TBirds. His new beloved is well into them so all his time an money is invested there. Don't see much hope for the Packard ever getting on the road. If and by the time it does, am afraid all his work will be needing a do over so yours will be one of a dying breed.

Yes Howard - I'm a 'nutter' about getting my car completed (albeit very slowly). I don't think even WW3 would stop me now!

It would be a great shame if your friend doesn't get his Club Sedan finished. There are many cars I like - Tbirds, Corvettes, even (dare I say it - 57 Chevs) but my passion lies with Packards.

The fellow who sold me my '51 visited a week ago and made the comment (- when I bought it from him back then - around 1999) that he had feared I would never get the rusty hulk completed, and would give up on it. He was so happy to see it in an advanced state of repair. It was his thwarted ambition from 40 years ago, to get it on the road again, but in the 70's he bought a vehicle repair shop and by the time he had repaired smashes all day his last desire was to work on another 'wreck' when he got home!

Rewiring the Car

Started what I think is the last of the big tasks on my car, and that's re-wiring it. The old wiring is in very bad shape and even the 'good' sections that have been covered with tape are brittle so bending them leads to the insulation breaking.

Because I have a complete harness to copy I thought: 'I'll make a new harness myself' and I bought all the proper cloth-covered wire a few years ago, from Rhode Island Wire. Also bought a lot of connectors and bits and pieces like new flasher, proper rubber wrapping tape and splice tape (which are a match for correct original), terminal blocks, replacement bulb holders and just about everything to make the electrics like new.

Thought it was a reasonable idea to save the expense but since I started working on it I can see the cost of harnesses is pretty reasonable considering the time involved! However it's really good to have a detailed idea of the '51 wiring and I am enjoying the job as well, so no regrets . . . . .

Spent a lot of time buzzing out and labeling every wire in the old harness so now I know exactly where each wire terminates. Photos show a type of former that I'm using which is just a piece of 2inch PVC water pipe, split in half.

With the old 'main' (dashboard to engine bay) harness placed into this PVC former I was able to mark out all the exit points of the loom tributaries. Then the new wires were run to/from the marked entry and exit points easily, and will be (hopefully) the correct length.

Check-sheets for each loom and tributary were used to make sure that I did't forget any wire. I've used string tags on the old harness to label wires and make any notes about them.

When buzzing out wires I found a difference in the way the wiring has been done compared to the circuit diagrams. There's a splice used to mate two heavy (10g) battery feed wires instead of running them as per the diagram.

Guess I spent a week or more doing all the prep work without even running the first new wire. It will be a long job by the time I've crimped and soldered every terminal and splice etc. One advantage of DIY is being able to add a couple of necessary extra wires that are needed. I'll be mounting two speakers in the rear parcel shelf so wiring for those from the original radio (- already reconditioned and working well -) is to be added. Also there's a plan to place a hidden FM tuner in the cab which will be operated by a remote when the old original AM radio is not in use. Other extra wires are for a heater if/when I can fit one, power antenna and an electric fuel pump already bought
.

RHD cars like mine didn't have a heater available so I have an under-floor heater on its way. Hoping that it can be fitted ok.

A few pics show progress so far. I'm planning to take a movie or two as well in case anyone wants to make their own wiring harnesses sometime.

Using loads of cable ties keeps things in order, tight for wrapping and able to be managed without too much confusion.

If anyone has helpful comments or good ideas - they would be appreciated thanks. I'm sure others will have discovered a few tricks of the trade when doing their re-wiring.


Old wiring - what a mess. It's sobering to look back on how bad the car was before work was started on it




Radio was restored some time ago. It worked after all caps and the vibrator was replaced. Same thing with a second radio I have!


The wires into the engine bay were cut long ago but fortunately I have the complete harness



Different to the wiring diagram



Loads of diagrams and documentation



Wires labelled
2inch PVC former for laying out the new wiring

Loom tributaries are set out so as to get the wire lengths correct



Need to remove the cloth before the wire strippers will work, which takes extra time and effort, Wire Strippers will slip when the cloth is present so it is removed with a blade



New wires into the Signal socket

Coming along ok



Wrapping the Loom



Final stages

Very impressive work! I don't believe I could muster up the patience to tackle the wiring. Kudos!

Been there, done that! Was a nice winter distraction for me. I like your PVC idea. That will help keep the main harness in order.

I approached it a little different. I disassembled my old harness as I traced the new wires along it. I used cheap electrical tape to keep things together and tight. Easy to undo and add more wires as I went along.

I also found differences in my harness compared to the wire diagram. Can't remember all of them but I think I noted them in my blog.

The main reason I made my own harness is because I am cheap and my car was not worth putting a correct fabric covered wire set in it. I opted for modern wire. I figure if it really bothers me down the road, I can open the loom, cut and splice in the fabric wire in the places it will be seen. Most of the harness is covered anyway. For your project, I am glad you went all out on the proper wires. Your restoration is to a much higher standard than mine.

If I was to do it again, I would put extra length on the wires and wait until the harness is in the car to terminate the components in the engine compartment. Even though I tried to add extra, some of my wires are tad short when I connect it to it's component. If I had waited until it was in the car, I could make a nice clean install with perfectly run wires.

Longer wires going from the harness to the dash will make it's removal easier if repairs are needed. You could pull the dash oval out without removing any wires depending how long you make them. It is all out of sight so no one would know.

Anyway that's my 2 cents. You will have an intimate knowledge of your car's electrical system when you are done!

Thanks for your 2 cents worth Charles, I'm going to do what you suggested with a lot of the wiring, and terminate the connectors with the harness in the car. There is always that nagging doubt the wires are too short, and while it's a lot easier to terminate lugs and solder etc on the bench, it'll be a pain if any wires are cut short.

I already left the instrument cluster wires a lot longer so it can be pulled clear without having to disconnect wires

Thanks Mark for the kind comment. Doing the resto is very enjoyable for me and I look forward to it every day but progress is very slow.

Very handsome '49 you have there, it appears to be straight and original. Not like mine when I 'saved' it.