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Thanks for the tips TxGoat. Battery should be the right size, it's relatively new and tested fine. Battery cables are in good shape and correct size for 12v. Engine normally starts within a couple seconds at most.

Hopefully the rebuild does the trick. I'd like to not remove the starter again.


On another note, there is big car show here in town on June 17th, and my goal is to have the Super done and put back together for it. I have a lot to do before then and the rebuild has taken me much longer than I had expected. I have about a month to get the rest of this done, and I have very few evenings or weekends available.

Still to do:
1.) Rebuild starter and reinstall
2.) Find a solution for the fan. Either a spacer that will need to be modified, or an electric fan.
3.) Correct size fan belt
4.) Possibly replace alternator (making lots of noise)
5.) Replace thermostat (modern?)
6.) Lots of road tests to confirm reliability
7.) Reassemble the front end body work, trim, lights, etc.

-Kevin

I had my starter and generator along with the distributor rebuilt by Buchannan's auto electric in Oakland, CA. They did great work. Their contact info is in the Directory. I also gave them my voltage regulator and they adjusted that.

Very slow progress right now. The starter is off for a rebuild currently. Once we disassembled it, we found that the insulation on one of the brush wires was cut open. My friend turned the armature on a lathe and it was definitely out of round. You can see one of the spots in the picture. The coil windings in the bad spots tested out okay. He's going to swap the field coils for 12V, and I'm going to replace the solenoid with a 12V unit as well.

The first fan belt I got was too small. The second one is too big. The adjuster for the alternator only gives me an inch of adjustment, so I'm going to see if I can find a longer adjuster and put that on.

I would like to replace the existing auxiliary electric fan (pusher) in front of the radiator. I want to put a quieter one in that has a temperature probe to control it. How does one go about removing the nose bodywork in front of the radiator? How do I remove the lever controlling the thermostatically operated louvers?

-Kevin

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Kevin,
Here's the circuit diagram Howard created for my cooling fan. Mine is for a true 6v fan (many claim 6v but are 12v), but otherwise its the same for 12v with 12v battery, fan, relay, circuit breaker. I mounted the push-pull switch at the bottom corner of the dash so I can turn off the fan when not really needed like running errands. I have lots of photos of the wiring.

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Joe - how quiet is your fan? And did you mount to the front of the radiator? I would love pictures of how you did it.

The wiring is all there for the current electric fan, complete to a dash switch to turn it on. But there is no temperature switch currently. I could pretty easily add that in I think and keep the rest of the wiring in tact. Just plug the new fan in.

-Kevin

I don't consider it quiet, but it sure does the job. It is mounted in front of the radiator. If it's hot enough for it to run when I return home, I open the hood and also plug in my under the seat battery charger, then let it run until it cools off enough to shut off.

Here's a video outside with motor and fan running.
mktx.com/packard/engineandfanoutside.MOV
Here's just the fan in the garage.
mktx.com/packard/fanonlyingarage.mov

Some pix of setup The front light block grounds the fan. The thermo switch is on the inner fender panel.

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I finally took the time to figure out how to remove the front radiator shell and grille. It wasn't too bad, just a matter of identifying which bolts had to be removed.

The existing electric fan is tiny....only about 13". I can comfortably fit an 18" fan. My question is which is better, installing the fan in front of the radiator, or behind?

My original thought was to do it in front, so that I could keep space clear behind for a future mechanical fan, if I could ever figure out a spacer and mounting solution. Otherwise, I think a pulling electric fan moves more air.

-Kevin

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A question on installing a larger fan would be the voltage you are running. If still 6v larger might not be available in 6v and if it is, what is the current draw of a larger fan compared to the fan you have. If it is substantially more would the generator be able to keep up if headlights or other accessories are also on.

As to front or back, in addition to space for a possible mechanical fan also consider how much trouble it might be if you needed to remove the fan for clearance or to reach a bolt if you had to change the water pump.

Thanks Howard. The car is 12V, so no concerns there. Good thought on access for the water pump. If I had to take that out and I had a puller fan, that would create some issues.

-Kevin

I see an AC compressor but don't see a condenser. Are you in the process of adding AC and that is not installed yet or was it mounted somewhere other than in front of the radiator? I think I see hoses that are either laying or maybe going under the car. If positioned somewhere else does it also have a fan? Any photos of the AC install particularly the compressor, bracket and belt drive would be nice as a reference for possible options if anyone else wanted to add AC to a prewar model.