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Instead of throwing threads and posts all over the Forums, it seems to be time to start a Project Blog.

The theme of this blog is ..."it's usually something simple-- but hard."

Pics will be following upon the ones posted here taken when I first looked at the car.

I will direct some links to the other posts and threads I have made on the car up to this point:

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb ... um=2&post_id=110467#forumpost110467

There you will find her pic, yet again, and the beginning of the repair adventure. If you don't care to go there, here it is again along with the side view, and back view.

It's sitting where I picked it up in Lake Benton. I drove it home on another day that fall, 200 miles on her maiden voyage. Not smart, but she looked remarkably similar when I got here as when I left.

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Mechanical stuff and rust underneath:

The oil sending switch is leaking. I'm not sure where to get a replacement. If I can't find it on-line, I think I'll have my mechanic order it from NAPA. Maybe they won't charge him big$$ for shipping. Then at least I'm not dragging more of my own parts into the shop, which I don't like to do. I know my dad used to hate that when he was doing work for customers, especially first-timers who would show up with an alternator and a "could you put this on for me." More like an order than a request. He charged premium labor to those guys, or sometimes just turned them away.

While I have it in for the oil sender unit, I think I'll have another oil change, probably to straight 40 weight. The summer is hot.

Then, the fuel and temp gauges are not working. I've been told that they are on the same circuit, and it might be the breaker. I hate messing with dashes, and it might not be the breaker, so I'll have the mechanic check it out, and also lube the speedometer cable.

On to the body business. Having a heck of a time getting the little rubber hood stops to go in the holes on the front edge of the hood. I can tell they are going to make for a quieter ride, because with just three of them partially seated, the banging of the hood stopped. It reverberated through the body so badly that I thought other parts might be loose, too.

I think I'm going to use silicon spray to get the tapered rubber peg to go on all the way to the groove that is supposed to seat in the hole.

Speaking of hood stuff, I acquired through the forum here (thanks Packards51!) a new hood latch assembly that includes a safety catch hook, which was broken off of my old one. I haven't tackled that yet, but it looks easy as pie. Yeah right. Simple, but easy? Probably not for me.

One thing that I recently completed that might deserve close attention for all who have cars with the long air ducts from the front of the car to the heater/fresh air system. Any breaks or cracks in the flexible portions, or gaps between the pipes and the flex, cause massive amounts of engine odors and underhood heat to enter the passenger compartment. Also, I suspect, plenty of carbon monoxide! Fixing any openings is a safety factor, in my book.(It also greatly enhances driving comfort.) I wonder how many people passed out or died from fumes while innocently driving down the road in the winter with the windows rolled up?

I'll be posting a pic of the "swell job" I did temporarily fixing the tear that frequently occurs in the flexible duct that is positioned right over the con-sarned Master Cylinder.

Body mounts, with brackets, will need to be in the near future. I think my body man can find the rubber mounts, but the brackets?

Lots of rust on the front shackles on the rear springs. They need at least some welding.

Boxed tubing brace that goes from the front of the rocker panels diagonally across to attach to the main frame... passenger side has huge rust hole. It requires a new brace or welding a couple of pieces to it.

On the same side, the inner fender has come loose from the body. Bolt/screw is there, but the corner of the fender it attaches to just happened to rust off.

Funny thing is, although there is pretty bad rust in spots, there are places where you'd expect it that are fine.

There are nooks an crannies galore where dirt and mud can cake on and stay forever. I'd recommend getting a car up on the hoist once in a while and check for this stuff. It looks like this car was driven on muddy gravel roads at some time in its life.

I think I'm going to use silicon spray to get the tapered rubber peg to go on all the way to the groove that is supposed to seat in the hole.


Might work fine but the material usually used is just a swipe of plain dish detergent like Dove, and then use a blunt punch from above, just above where the peg is and push on the rubber to deform the peg and push it into the hole.

the body mount rubber pieces can be found at Kanter or Max, or just go to Steele Rubber which is where they probably get them anyway. Pick the best price, you'll need a bunch of them if you're going to replace them all. The radiator mounts on the same things too.

Owen,

I tried the dish soap and no dice. I could use a punch to push on them, but I'd have to support the hood from behind... the top is on the bottom, so to speak. The manufacturer of the rubber stops has thoughtfully provided a long piece of rubber hanging off the tapered end for a "pull" but I don't know how much pulling it'll stand. I'm going to try the silicone spray and my thumb next.


Re: Body mounts
I wonder if Kanter carries the metal body mounting brackets as well as the rubber pieces? Some of them are pretty rusty. It looks like there are 10 mounting points shown in the Shop Manual, but 4 of them seem to be the major ones. The two front ones of these are the worst rusted (because of rust-through on the floor caused by the leaking of those blankety-blank wing windows)! They're great ventilation, but they tend to leak. (I'm pretty sure the back wing windows leaking is the major cause of "dogleg" rusting.)

I'm going to hunt up an oil pressure switch, which I don't see under "Electrical" or "Engine" in the Service Manual, so no PN to X-Reference. I'll look under the PackardInfo X-Ref first, to see if it lists a pressure switch.

EDIT
...and there it was! You gotta love this site.



Oil Sender Unit
439278R

All with Oil Pressure Light Only
1951-54

1401345

Rebco
www.rebcoperformance.com

Triggers at 20psi or lower.

BigKev

By body mount brackets are you talking about the outriggers that attach to the frame? My first 2 calls would be to Gerry at Southwest Packards and to Mike Dulinski in Duluth, I bet either would have them. And Mike is in your state so you'd be shopping local! There were some for sale a couple days ago (for sale section) but I think they sold.

HA52

Thanks for putting a name on the parts I seek. "Outriggers" would probably be it. I do plan a trip up to Duluth this summer to seek the help of the Man from Whom all Packard Blessings Flow.

I put a piece of "semi-rigid" 5 inch aluminum duct into the space between the fresh air pipes on the driver's side today. It worked pretty well and looks sort of flashy (the only silver gleam under the hood). I will post a pic when time and technology permit.

It's possible that I also got one of the rubber baby buggy bumpers (hood stops) on properly today, too. It took a lot of sweat and silicone spray, but I think it finally seated. Only 3 to go! Lots of pulling and pushing involved. Such a little thing to be such a job.

I noticed that the hood is not properly aligned, with a larger space from fender to hood on the left (as you face the car) than on the right.

Also, I attached the rubber "stop" for the throttle linkage (per Ross) on the firewall with some Permatex clear RTV. It certainly takes the slop out of the accelerator, and should help driveability.

I ordered the oil pressure switch from Rebko on Friday and hope to have it next week. I hope even more that it will be the solution to the blinking oil pressure light on the dash. It remains to be seen.

The NAPA in the little town of Forest Lake where I work ordered the circuit breaker for the dash, with no charge for shipping, unlike the Minneapolis NAPA that wanted more for shipping than the cost of the part. I hope it will be the solution to my Temp and Fuel gauges not working.

Still more hopes: In the same little town where I work, they are having a car show for charity at the Chrysler dealership where I take my Jeep for service. All makes are welcome. Want to bet I'd have the only Packard there? The trip would be 30 miles each way next Saturday. I won't try it unless I am sure that all is well with the oil pressure.

A couple of developments:

I had the new oil pressure sending unit put in. If anything, the warning light stays on more than it did before. I hear no difference in running or starting, but the light says what it says. The new sending unit is supposed to kick in at 20 psi. I don't know if that's the same as the original.

I have narrowed down a few options:

1. Get a mechanical gauge. Maybe NAPA or Autozone might have one? This would tell the tale, but at a cost, and it doesn't pinpoint where the pressure drop might be. It has occurred to me that all this has happened with the combination of 3 things:

a. Doing an overnight "soak" with Marvel Mystery oil in the cylinders, then running it until it stopped smoking and up to full operating temp on the road.

b. Changing the oil
Note 1: I went from 30 weight Havoline to 30 weight Valvoline. Both times with a bottle of STP added. I had no problem before or after adding STP with the Havoline, but it was in the fall/winter months.
Note 2: At this last change to Valvoline, I also added about 8 oz. of MM oil. Then, after the oil light came on, one bottle of STP. The oil is currently right up to the line and quite clean. (Only about 100 miles on it.)
Note 3: The oil light started "flickering" at idle after the oil change. I was notified elsewhereon this site that the flickering was considered normal by Packard in very hot weather at idle. Eventually, over the course of longer drives, the light came on after driving a few miles and stayed on at higher RPMs.

c. Hotter weather than I've ever run it in before.


2. Find out if it just doesn't like Valvoline straight 30 weight by doing an oil change to something better/heavier.


3. Dropping the pan and checking the condition of the oil pickup screen, oil pan, and (shudder) bearings. Compression check was done after the flush and oil change, stone cold I got readings from a low of 115 to a high of 125. Variation could be due mostly to a crappy old compression gauge.


4. Ask you fellows what may be a cause of oil pressure drop across the sending unit. Could some piece of crud blocked something in a line?

Maybe if someone could point me to a place that would have a mechanical gauge on the shelf for a reasonable cost, it would start things moving tomorrow.

I see oil pressure gauges on Pep Boys website for $15

Thanks, 51Packard. I think I'll get a mechanical gauge at some point.

The good news is, with a fresh change to Castrol HD 30 weight, and going back to the original sending unit, everything seems to be swell.

The moral could be, not even at a 30:1 ratio is Marvel Mystery Oil a suitable oil additive for this engine. Also, I plan to stick to oil that at least claims to be Heavy Duty.

The oil change took 6 quarts, so I believe there is probably some STP laying down in the pan on top of whatever filth there may be. Even though I added it when the car was warm and drove it afterward, which is the usual procedure to make sure that STP doesn't just sink to the bottom, I believe it did.

Anyway, no more oil light nonsense for now. I'll cruise it for a ways this weekend and see if there are further developments. For now, it looks like it was, once again, something quite simple.

Next oil change, I plan to have them drop the pan and clean it out.

More to come on that.

For right now, I have installed the new hood mechanism, and, not surprisingly, it needs adjustment. The safety catch works just fine, but the main latch is too loose, causing annoying hood rattle. There is too much space between the hood and the shroud. So, which way do I turn it to tighten it up? I would think righty tighty, but when I did that, it wouldn't catch at all. Some fiddling obviously required. Then, do I tighten the nut inside the spring? And how do I get in there to do it?

I could use some input on adjustment. Also, still wondering why the hood can't be closed without pulling the safety latch out of the way with the release in the middle of the lip of the hood. It looks like someone tried (unsuccessfully) to solve this problem by bending the front of the hole in the bottom receiving mechanism on the shroud. Looks like something is out of joint somewhere with the front of the body. Old accident stuff?