Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

Quote:

I'll take as many pictures of the entire A/C set up as I can before I button everything back up. Personally, I would rather remove all the A/C components because I don't need it where I am. But that's nearly impossible to do, seeing as it was built into the car during the restoration.

The A/C condenser is underneath the passenger side fender, below and behind the sidemount. There is a separate fan on it. There is a massive unit in the trunk, and a separate air handler under the dash.

-Kevin

As a quick rule in fluid dynamics, generating a pressure against a resistance will result in more flow than pulling a partial vacuum... however at the relatively low pressures of a fan it probably makes no difference.

Pulling might cause more even airflow through the radiator thoight because of the vacuum would probably draw air more evenly than forced air.

Quote:

The other thing I've come across in my reading is that putting a fan on the front of the radiator creates a dead zone where the fan motor totally blocks air flow. The fan motor on the large fans is probably 5" in diameter, so a 5" circle is effectively blocked. You don't have any blockage with the fan on the rear. The entire front of the radiator is open, allowing air to flow while the car is moving, and with the fan pulling from behind.

Looking at the set up on the Super as it stands right now, I'm not surprised the car had overheating problems. The fan and mounts block a huge portion of the radiator, preventing sufficient cooling. I think I'll be better off with a puller. They aren't terribly thick, so I should still have room to work with the water pump should I need to.

-Kevin

My friend, who helped with the engine rebuild, came through with the starter as well. I had intended to do it myself, but I had some questions for him. He ended up holding on to the starter and completely rebuilt it. Stripped to parts, bead blasted everything, repainted, new 12V field coils, new brushes, and new solenoid.

I cleaned up the bore in the aluminum crankcase, then coated the starter with copper anti-seize. Install was much easier than removal.

Recharged the battery, got some fuel flowing, and she started right up. Some quick test driving up and down our long gravel driving showed promise. The new belt is much quieter and the alternator no longer makes noise. No fuel starvation issues.

I do not have a fuel filter currently. I will likely bend my own fuel line from the pump to carb, and put a replaceable filter before the carb. I don't want to cut the original line. I'll save it for a pattern.

-Kevin

Attach file:

---

  Rebuilt starter.jpg (163.60 KB)


  Starter installed.jpg (129.29 KB)

I didn't like that the car no longer had a fuel filter, and I didn't want to put one on the suction side of the pump due to pressure loss. I didn't want it to be down by the fuel pump because it would be nearly impossible to reach once the fenders and sidemounts are on. So that left the area right in front of the carb.

I used the original fuel line as a pattern (I will keep it stored) and bent a new line. I had to replace the brass fittings on the fuel pump and the carb because the original line was female at both ends. I put the fuel filter in line close to the carb. I don't know that I like it being so close to the manifold, but I don't have any other space.

Replaced the threaded rod we had originally used to hold the fan pulley in place. Used grade 8 bolts this time, and they don't stick out.

I also finally got an electric fan. Lots of choices out there, but I ended up going with a Flex-a-Lite 238 . The fan blades are supposed to be quieter and move more air....we'll see.

Fan is mounted with a kit where the mounts can be unscrewed from the engine side. That way I can remove the fan to do service if needed, without having to take off the radiator. There is about 2-3" between the electric fan and the fan pulley.

Now I need to figure out the wiring side of things. That will be exciting. I'm going to use a variable speed controller so the fan is not always running at full speed...that should help to keep the noise down. The underside of the dash is an absolute jungle and I have no idea what goes where. I'm hoping to tie into the old fan wiring for part of it (manual switch).

-Kevin

Attach file:

---

  Fuel pump connections.jpg (95.71 KB)


  New fuel line and replaceable filter.jpg (195.58 KB)


  Belt and fan pulley.jpg (105.80 KB)


  Flex-a-lite fan.jpg (194.04 KB)


  Fan clearance.jpg (136.91 KB)


  Clear radiator.jpg (148.87 KB)

Perhaps I missed it before, but is there a reason your not using the stock fan?

Quote:

We had to use a '39 upper block to replace our failed '38 upper (we could only find a '39). The '39 block requires the use of the '39 water pump, which is at least 6 inches shorter than the '38.

The two options were to create some sort of a spacer, or to use electric.

The spacer is complicated because we already had to have a spacer custom milled to push the fan pulley out far enough to line up with the crank pulley (the whole engine package is shorter on the '39 due to the hood being shorter...the whole lower half of our engine is '38). So I would have had to do a second spacer to get the fan anywhere close to the radiator. Existing fan spacers are made for Ford and Chevy with hole spacing and alignment that don't match up with what Packard used.

In the end I decided that it was easiest just to ditch the mechanical fan idea for now and go with electrical. The car is already 12V and is already non-original with all the A/C equipment. Not to mention the fact that we have an engine made up of two different years that are different enough to be seen visually. At this point I'm more concerned with getting the car on the road reliably than I am with originality.

-Kevin

Gotcha! I was just curious.

Quote:

No problem. The reasoning for the electric fan will be helpful for anyone just now jumping into the thread.

-Kevin

The electric fan install is complete and so far seems like a success.

The fan is controlled by a variable speed controller, which means that once the temperature reaches a certain point (that I set) the fan kicks on at about 60% power. Power increases as necessary up to 100% power when the engine is 10 degrees over initial set point. Wires were run in sleeving to give it a nicer look, along with heat shrink at all junctions. The fan and temp probe have quick disconnects on them in case I have to pull the radiator in the future. I mounted the controller on the firewall because there is no more room under the dash. It's much easier to access in order to adjust on/off temperature.

The fan is quiet....orders of magnitude quieter than the old one I pulled off. At low speed it is quieter than the running of the engine. It also pulls far less amps than the one I replaced. It hardly puts a burden on the alternator, whereas the old one created a noticeable drop in voltage.

Video:

The inline fuel filter seems to be doing okay, no leaks, doesn't appear to get too hot. After a few tests up and down the driveway I took the car out on the road. I drove it a couple miles, not too far from home just in case I got stranded again. One of my daughters was brave enough to come along....I told her we may not survive. No fuel delivery problems that I could tell, fan kept the engine temp steady. On my temp gun at the upper radiator tank it reads about 175 when the fan kicks on. The reading on the dash is about 185.

I'm not used to driving the prewar cars....they are definitely slower than my Panama. Shifting is going to take some practice. Brakes need more work. It's better, but nowhere near as good as my Panama.

-Kevin

Attach file:

---

  Fan installed.jpg (217.11 KB)


  New wires run in sleeving.jpg (215.36 KB)


  Variable speed controller.jpg (192.58 KB)


  Getting ready to drive.jpg (173.85 KB)