Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

This is the 2 barrel oil bath cleaner:

Attach file:

---

  (320.26 KB)


  (214.71 KB)


  (39.06 KB)

I would spray on some primer as quickly as possible after the sandblasting to prevent flash rusting.

BigKev,

That air cleaner, that looks familiar.

As far as I can tell in looking through the Parts Book, that type of oil bath air cleaner was optional on Clippers which had the 5-main 327 but standard was the oil bath "flying saucer" type (I like that descriptive term!) which also looks nice. Here is one on a beautifully restored 1954 Panama. I have the type like BigKev's if you need it but the other type is a bit easier to handle (remove and install) and doesn't get in the way of checking spark plugs etc.

Attach file:

---

  (77.00 KB)

Thanks all for the info on the air cleaner. Don, I may take you up on the one you have. I'll email you and we can discuss.

I spent some time masking off areas that I don't want blasted. I need to find a way to cover the dash and rear window. I think I'm going to pick up some thick plastic drop cloth and tape that up. I'll have to wrap that up tomorrow night because it's getting blasted on Thursday morning.

The parts fairy came today and delivered two boxes. One contained new shocks that I got using the parts cross reference on this site.

The other box contained the replacement header from Tucson Packards. They ended up cutting out the section of the roof where it was. I'm going to have to find a way to detach it from the roof section, then graft it into the car. It's going to be a chore. The hope is that this Saturday my friend and I can cut out the old, replace with the new, then spray 2K epoxy primer on the inner roof and floor/trunk pans. Once this is out of the way I can breathe easier and start moving on with the rest of the build.

For anyone's interest, I included a cross section picture of how the roof sections are assembled.

-Kevin

Attach file:

---

  (97.52 KB)


  (95.86 KB)


  (78.81 KB)


  (77.29 KB)


  (90.72 KB)


  (44.62 KB)

That cross section shows how important it is, for the structural integrity, to get it exactly right! Not to dissuade or discourage, but it's really something that should be done by a body shop that knows old cars. Anyway, good luck and I love the car but don't envy you on having to do this particular job!

Got the interior blasted today. He started with soda, and that wasn't doing anything to whatever was put on the floor (POR-15??), so he switched to glass bead and went to town. Everything cleaned up nicely. The roof is almost 100% free from rust, but we did find a single pinhole in it. The brown areas you see in the picture are where the headliner mounts, and the glue is brown/yellow now.

I'm glad I did this because there was a lot more hiding in the floor than I thought. There is only one or two spots on the driver's side, right around one of the mounts.

There is one spot in the trunk, again around a single body mount.

The passenger side is the worst. Two body mounts have rust around them, there is some under the front bench mount, and some small holes on the top of the rocker panel.

My friend and I will be working on getting these taken care of this weekend. I don't think any floor pans are made for this car so I'll be relying on him to help get these areas cleaned up with cutting and welding. Any suggestions?

Attach file:

---

  (115.36 KB)


  (74.39 KB)


  (136.11 KB)


  (134.90 KB)


  (116.67 KB)


  (152.37 KB)

C2Cc2cfabrication.com is the only mfg of Packard body panels I am aware of and they do have some 51-4 floor pans. They might not list as being for your specific model but one nice thing about 51-4 Packards is the inner body structures were substantially identical. If you find a floor pan made for a 51 2 dr hardtop chances are it will fit the other year and model hardtops. Same for the sedan panels. The only question might be the 2 door club sedans since those were different from hardtops.

With C2C the exact model name doesn't make much difference anyway because their parts are not exact drop in panels. No matter what model it says it fits there will probably be a lot of cutting and custom fitting of the panel required. BigKev documented this very well on his blog where he shows replacing a floor panel.

Howard - I remember reading about that in BigKev's blog, It seemed in the end that it was probably not a whole lot different than starting with a bare sheet of metal and cutting it to fit. The fit on the C2C panel was not great according to what I read. Hopefully he'll chime in with his experience.

I seem to remember his floor being pretty bad though. I don't seem to have as many or as big of holes as he did, but certainly I have some issues to deal with here.

-Kevin

For small sections of formed floor sheet metal, you might check any local salvage yards, not for Packards but for body-on-frame vehicles such as trucks that have body mounts stamped into cab floors very similar to what you need. Have the yard cut out larger sections, use what you need to piece and patch yours.

Steve