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Thanks Tim for the words of encouragement! I like your two Packards as well and your bolg. The garage is great the only issue is no heat but I just put on an extra layer. I hope to spend New Years eve working on the 400 til the ball drops. My goal is to have all the wheel cylinders and BTV installed. Then in the morning do a quick turn on the B.D lathe on each drum. So I can make the car safe to move around.

Thanks
James

Well I made some head way over the New Years holiday. Managed to replace all the wheel cylinders, springs and hardware. Also cleaned the greased the back plates and adjusted the brakes.

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This afternoon I was able to finish installing the BTV unit on the 400 and bleed the brakes. Now that the brakes are done. I moved on to the drivers side exhaust manifold. My biggest concern was manifold bolts breaking, but thankfully each and every bolt came out with ease. I hope to put the new manifold in this week.
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Back to the brakes for a moment.

Aren't the two blue return springs for Clipper and Exec only?

In the new hardware kit that I go the return springs are actually painted grey. They matched the ones that I removed in shape and size. The main reason that I replaced all the hadware because the nails/pins that hold the brakes shoes got bent when we removing one of the drums as the ajuster was seized.

Thanks
James

This past weekend I found some time to get the new maninfold installed on the drivers side. Thankfully it went back together very easily. So Sunday I drove the 400 out of the garage under its own power for the first time it was a great feeling. I let it run for a while and warm up and checked for leaks. The power steering was low so I will need to inspect for leaks and also need to replace the radiator hoses as well.

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I needed a break from the mechanical side of things so I pulled ou the H.D. rubbing compound Sunday evening to see what could be done with current status of the paint on the car. I am torn with this car. I haven't decided fully what I am going to do with it restoration wise. This car is still wearing its oringal paint so its only original once. I think at this time I will try to save the scottish heather side and repaint the white. Thoughts or opinions would be appreciated. As you can see the color is coming back ever so slowly.

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