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This blog shows and describes the restoration of my 1924 Packard Sport Phaeton 136 Single Eight, Series 1. My research so far has shown that this vehicle is most likely the only 1924 Sport model still in existence that was equipped with the “Westinghouse Air Springs” when it was delivered was. Aside from the technical peculiarity of these “Air Springs” in these early years of automobile history, they were also a significant cost factor in relation to the overall value of vehicles of that time. I therefore consider it a remarkable feature of this vehicle.

But before I write anything about the restoration, I would like to thank everyone who has responded to my inquiries here in this forum, and who has answered technical questions, questions about originality, or helped me find or procure missing parts Have helped. My special thanks go to “David Mc”, who was the first to answer my questions and then helped me find solutions to problems with a variety of answers over the years. I wish him many more years of good health and continued fun with his current and planned work.

All I know about the history of my Packard is that the car was sold from New York to Spain in 2009. There the car was... nicely polished... shown at an indoor car show and then offered for sale in 2013. I saw the car for the first time with one of my friends when he called me about a technical problem with another of his classic cars. The 1924 Sport stood in the back corner of his hall. He saw the car online and was impressed by the description and pictures and bought the car without seeing it in person. As a busy company owner, he had the car picked up from Spain. The soft top flew away on the first test drive. All of the wooden arches on the top broke. The attachment to the front window frame was not in its original condition and had been repaired very amateurishly. The wind couldn't hold the top up. He had the whole thing repaired in a less than professional manner, also spent a lot of money repairing the alternator and had a few other things repaired that were obviously also out of order. All further driving tests ended after a short time on the trailer. His wife no longer wanted to ride with him and the car ended up in the back corner of his hall. 3 years later he bought a 1928 Packard Roadster 526 that was offered here in Germany and about which he then became more informed. (…. By the way, Mal H., you know this 1928 Roadster 526….) He called me to show me the car. It was in better technical condition than the 1924 Sport and drove without any problems. I saw that the Sport was still in the corner and asked if he was still interested in the car. He was not and sold it to me at a reasonable price.

It was clear from the start that I wanted to restore the Packard Frame Off. And ... by the way … there was no other way to bring this wreck back on the street. It was supposed to be my last project because I liked it much better than my “1935 Wanderer” Convertible that I had originally intended for my last “Frame Off” Project. I expected the restoration to take around 3 years and it should be finished by 2020 at the latest. Due to the really miserable condition and the necessary additional effort in producing worn components, the reconstruction of many components including all the missing original interior fittings and my health problems that arose in the following time, the whole thing was very delayed and is now almost complete take twice as long. I hope that I will have time to drive the car for a few years and that it will give me and my wife a lot of fun and any wonderful days and trips.

Karl

Note: All texts are translated by using the Google Translator. Inadequate grammar is possible. I hope there are only a few of them who make the meaning of my texts understandable.

First Pics show the Car at the CarShow in Spain.

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Sales Pictures from Spain

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The "troublemaker" on my property under the critical gaze of my wife.

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Topics merged. Karl, you should use the REPLY button, instead of the NEW TOPIC buttons when adding to an existing topic. Thanks!

Ok BigKev .. im learning still

Interesting background story Karl, and thanks for your generous words, I enjoyed those exchanges. Karl is doing all of the work on this rare car and the results are stunning.

After the first, decent impression the 1924 Sport made in the pictures from a distance, let's now take a closer look at what I actually bought.
Let's start with the top frame and the front window frame.
Any attempt at describing the top material makes no sense. This rag is trash.
The top frame obviously does not belong to this vehicle. The metal frame was completely worn out in all joints and could no longer be tensioned. The Wood Bows are in the wrong position when the top is folded behind the back seat. A restoration is without any sense.
The wooden bows are all broken several times and some goofy is screwing them together with metal strips and glue. This frame and the wooden bows are also completely unusable and have to be rebuilt.

The front window frame only looked good from a distance. The detailed photos give an idea of what it looks like under the remaining chrome. A repair is not possible because the multi-folded profile sheets from which the frame is made have certainly already rotted to such an extent in the areas that have not yet rusted through that a repair is pointless. But I have already seen parts like this where owners have putty and painted them black in order to be able to sell the car at a profit.
Soft top frame, hood and front window frames also have to be rebuilt
The soft top is only tailored after all other work on the top frame has been completed and the rear fender was uninstalled.
The material for the soft top has been in stock for 3 years. Thank heavens, because the price of the fabric has in the meantime increased by 40%.
I recreated the top frame based on the successor model, but with a slightly stronger flat steel profile.
I also deliberately deviated from the 1924 original because a search for an original top linkage would be pretty hopeless. And if one had ever been found, the price, shipping, customs and taxes would simply be too expensive.
I got the wooden bows from a professional “wheelwrighter”…(???)…(A company that produces woodwork parts on classic cars in Germany)... made from ash wood. When I visited him to commission the wooden bows …” Surprise”…. he was working on artillery wheels for a 1927 Packard. Completely new construction of all spokes and hubs in ash wood.
I had a T-steel profile worked into the wooden bows that I had made beforehand to prevent the bows from bending, which is often seen at the car shows and internet. The wooden bows are milled so that the steel profile fits completely into the ash wood. The steel reinforcements are not visible after being covered with the soft top fabric. And... no, the wooden bows are not steam bent. There is no company here that still uses this technic. In the USA I would have gone to the well-known Amish addresses in PA. The Bows are cut from solid ash wood without tension and are blocked twice. The connection points are not visible after being covered with the hood fabric.

At this point I would like to say something about originality when restoring classic vehicles. Because some things about my 1924 Sport will not completely correspond to the original. Basically, I have always aimed to restore the vehicles that I have restored to their actual original condition as much as possible and to preserve the original condition at all costs, down to the smallest detail if possible. There is now no real limit to originality when replicating missing parts. Everything can be recreated down to the last detail if the owner has the necessary money. I have personally experienced this with vehicles whose restoration costs have exceeded their eventual market value many times over. But I have neither the money nor the time to have this special work carried out by companies that have this special technology and the necessary machines. Assuming you can even find companies here in Germany that accept such work only for one or two pieces. (There is a completely different and much larger market for this in the USA). I consider deviations from originality to be permissible if financial resources, time or spare parts are not available and the changes do not change the essential character of the vehicle or if the changes are close to the time the vehicle was built and/or, for example, to the following models of this type can be counted.

In order to bend the arch into the finished frame profile with which it rests on the body, I built a profile roller bending device that I could mount in front of my motorized beading machine. So, I was able to bend the arch into the stiff profile in many small steps. It was also important to insert a very precisely fitting flat steel profile as a placeholder into the area that has to accommodate the rubber profile base, otherwise this cavity would be flattened under the pressure when the sheet was rolled. Well-greased, this rod could then be pushed out again later with light blows.
I then had the finished window frame parts finely ground and polished by my Electroplater comp. and double-coppered in order to grind out the last imperfections myself. The frame was then nickel-plated.

By the way...the chrome parts on this 136 were pretty well chrome plated. I
let the chrome completely removed and all parts newly nickel-plated.

Karl

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Looks great. That new wood looks very well done. How did you make that roller machine? Are you a machinist?

-Kevin

Kevin, as I looked at the picture, my thoughts went in the same direction. The bending machine looks like the work of a so-called industrial mechanic. But Carl seems to do a wider range of tasks.

No, Kevin, I am a civil engineer. But my first job was as a technical draughtsman. 3 1/2 years of training with a technical degree in the early 60s. After 5 years in this profession it was not difficult for me to draw and construct such a profile bending machine, after I took the basic construction from the pictures of the companies that build such machines professionally. So I designed and built the necessary parts so that they would fit on my beading machine. I had the steel plate for it cut to size by my steel supplier and I made the rollers myself on my lathe. I only needed this profile bending machine for 2 window frames. It was not possible to find or buy a suitable machine for the profile of my Packard. And to find a company that makes suitable rollers to bend this profile is pretty hopeless. The time and cost would also be out of the budget.

Karl

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