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Regards the rotisserie, I was tempted to use one but after working out that there was no need to spin the body shell to do the stuff that was needed, and that I could work on it ok if it was 30inches off the ground, I built a frame instead. Used 3" x 2" angle mainly, bolted together well so it could be disassembled and stored away after use.

That worked very well. Made it with pneumatic tyres so it could be wheeled around on a smooth floor. Was cheap, easy to build and strong. Also helped me (and my metalworker) to be certain about alignment of body mounting holes etc etc.

Painting the under-floor wasn't too difficult - plenty of room to move, and comfortable enough on a creeper.

There are a few pics of the frame with and without the body at beginning of my blog . . . see about halfway down the page at Larry's 51 Project Blog

Larry51, my thoughts exactly. A rotisserie would be cool to have but a body cart with around 30" of clearance should be fine for what I need.
I have made some drawings and picking up some metal next week to make my own.

On another note, when I purchased my 400 last year it was only missing two obvious parts, a fuel tank and the breather.
I was able to pick up a fuel tank last summer when I just happened to be passing a few blocks form Max Merritt's in Franklin,Indiana.

Today the postman brought me a package from Arizona (see below), Thanks for the help KevinAZ.

Now if I only put it all back together.

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just put in a K&N filter like I did. its an oiled filter and you never have to worry about it. nobody will see it and the car will breath better and a bit more power. its in my blog at some point. thanks for the bump.

Question
Will the dash from a 55 Clipper fit my 55 400?
Mine is rusted pretty good and sand blasting may just cause worse damage. I may have located a dash from a Clipper for $100 +shipping.
It looks right but just want to make sure.

Thanks

That will bolt right in; you can transfer over you gold foil and of course the gages as you wish.

I'm was bogged down with grunge work this weekend.
Trying to fix the rust on the bottom of drivers side hinge pillar that I posted a couple month ago.
Nothing fun about it. Trying to weld while laying on the floor, looking up, really sucks. What you see in the images below is about 8 hours of work from this weekend. The images show the work tacked in. I did get the welding mostly complete. I still need to get the rockers back in before I can start the same job on the passenger side.

Got all the metal tubing this week for the auto body cart that a friend and I are building. Not in the rush to get the body off the frame as I'm afraid to move the body to it until I get the rockers complete. I have this image in my head of the whole body bending in half so I want the rocker work done before I move it.

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Stopped by the machine shop tonight and after 90 days they finally had some news.

The block is clean and tested fine. The crankshaft is has been ground down and usable.

They showed me the knurling on the piston skirts. They said that was a sign that the engine has been torn down in the past and that the knurling was to "tighten it up". They recommended that I replace them. I'll be calling Jack Vines in a couple days for parts.

I gave them the pages from the manual with the engine specs but they need to know that maximum size of the "connecting rod housing bore and the main cap housing bore". Anyone have an answer for that?

Lots of work this weekend it just didn't have much to do with the Packard. Things are busy on our little farm when the weather is nice.

I did snatch a couple hours through out the weekend. Completed the hinge pillar repair and got the inner rocker welded in on the drivers side. Had to cut off a piece of the outer skin right behind the door to access the rocker under it and cut out the rust.

I fabricated my own replacement for that piece as it differs from the outer rocker. Good thing it can't be seen. Its pictured below as HiddenRockerReplacement.

The outer rocker is just sitting in place at the moment. I'll get it welded in this week and start the passenger side.

Also, am working with Jack Vines for engine parts. Nothing final yet as he gives me lots to think about. Daddy needs to buy a new tractor so I have a lot of expensive decisions on my plate at the moment.

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Have been working each night on rust repair. Got the drivers side done and started cutting the passengers side up. Its really not that bad as it looks. Am really itching to get this done so I can remove the body and start working on the frame and suspension.

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...they need to know that maximum size of the "connecting rod housing bore and the main cap housing bore". Anyone have an answer for that?

I think that was just asked and answered within the last week. In any case the answer came from Jack Vines.