Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Thanks, will keep you in mind depending how things work out. My plan is to attack the drive train in the spring as it warms up a bit.

I have plans kinda like that, too. I'm getting the shop more . . . civilized. And organized. Then I have to shuffle a couple of cars. I'm going to work on the little coupe first and get the hang of this stuff before I tackle one of the Classics. :rolleyes: The big coupe deserves to be done correctly. It's also going to take some time, too.


And I have the other rental house to finish renovating.


More projects than sense . . . .

When I got the car, everything was stripped off of it for the paint job 40 years ago. All the stuff is in boxes which is crowding my garage. My plan is to clean up and install bumpers trim etc., things I can do in short bursts of freezing (live on shores of Lake Michigan) and at the same time taming the mess. I have inventoried and looks like it’s all there except a few bumper bolts. So best to get the stuff in place before I lose it. Then in warmer weather I can devote longer periods of time for the mechanical effort

Paint job not that good. I’ll see how good I can get it. It looks like acrylic lacquer and never worked on after sprayed so might work out

Storage is always a pain. Luckily, with a bit of creative thinking, a couple of good bits of luck with scrounging stuff - or being in the right place at the right time - and some diligence, I have solved quite a bit of my storage issues. In fact, in a few more weeks, I feel like I'll have enough space to pull a car to pieces.

I don’t think I’ll ever have that luxury and even worse when I start getting the beast tamed something jumps up, I make a mess and around we go.

I know the feeling! Restoring a 17' car in an 18' bay is tricky! I have made the most of vertical space too. I am fortunate to have about a 2' space above the door I could make a shelf for and store a lot of parts up there, as well as use wall space and a beam to hang parts that would not hit me in the head when twisting around the car. I also have a number of parts stored in the basement (read a very cooperative wife!) so that I can at least concentrate on completing sub-assemblies to stick back on the car in the proper order. I also have installed as many wall cabinets as possible so that the stored parts are out of the dust and pollution that working on the other parts creates. The motor is away at a machine shop so all the ancillary parts that go with it are in those cabinets awaiting its return. Hate doing things twice so at least when they are rebuilt they stay that way. Last year when she was broken in two with chassis in one bay and body in the other I invested in some Simonize car covers to allow my other cars to be stored outside in the drive and not be as affected by the elements. That helped a lot. Even this year I have the one car in but with the cover in place she is protected from any effluent given off by my work on the Packard.
I guess I should lose some weight too, that would likely help a lot, but then my wife is such a good cook and baker!
Bob J.