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Thank you and that part I know. I was merely asking if too high a pressure on that side of the master would cause any damage to it. The bleeder itself holds more than two gallons so little worry of running out even though it isn’t full and, of course, you can control how much comes out by how far the bleeders are opened.

In the meantime, my brother modified the larger cap with a fitting for the bleeder but he didn’t get it back to me until late in the afternoon so I need to let the thread sealer dry overnight. Typically I wouldn’t use a sealer of this sort but in this case it was to help close off the cap’s vent hole which is also why the fitting is threaded in off-center favoring the side with the hole so that the threads block it.

The rer brake drums on this car are from two other Henney-Packards and the innards of all four are from at least three others. Putting them back together, I did not do a major adjustment and for the Henney-Packards, there are two eccentrics. One is the top anchor point and the other is for one shoe that has a small spring to keep the show pulled against it when not in use. With old, used shoes and in spite plenty of lining, this wasn't the time for those adjustments.

That said, when cranking out the adjusters the other day to take up some of the gap after having reassembled them with the adjusters screwed all the way in, I had a little difficulty with the front right wheel. As soon as I started feeling sufficient drag, I backed it off a notch or two but I was surprised that the wheel will turn in the forward direction until I backed it off several more notches! Not an issue yet but I'll definitely need to look into it.

As mentioned in an earlier post, these are very cheap tires but even as bias ply, it's hard to imagine tires that can get so far out of round from sitting! Rotating them to adjust the brakes made it very obvious how flat that were on the bottom side.

Speaking of flat, the right front tire was low again so I'll have to take in to get it checked and fixed but for now I'll leave the jack or stand under it to take off the weight of the car.

I got the brakes bled this afternoon but will likely have to do it again once the pedal has been pressed a few times. With it on the lift, I can’t get inside to do that but I plan on taking it down the next time I’m here to remove the engine. The left front seemed to put out a lot of steady bubbles so I flushed a whole 16oz + of fluid from it when the other three wheels together were the same amount. I also had a little difficulty with the left rear bleeder as nothing seemed to fit it for loosening and tightening. I couldn’t even get a thin wall socket to go over it so I may have to rebuilt and install a different cylinder from my cache of Henney spares.

Do any non-commercial Packards, probably earlier models, use this eccentric stop and spring and if so, are there specific adjustments for it? The secondary shoe both front and rear is kept pulled against it with a stout spring so that the shoes cannot drag at all when adjusted properly and everything is free-moving without any binding.

Yeah basically everything until V8.

Ross explains...youtube.com/watch?v=T1Zc3aW18Z4

Thank you. I went back through the service manuals to 1938 and none show it and unfortunately neither does Ross' nice video. I think the eccentric I'm taking about, which isn't the one at the top where the shoes come together, is specific to the commercial chassis (see the yellow arrow on the image above). It is a stop for the secondary shoe on all four backing plates that apparently helps eliminate the possibility of drag by always pulling the pair of shoes into the same position when the brakes are not being applied.

Here’s a shot of the rear brakes were it’s also used (see the little red spring to the right) but the rears have an additional spring that is vertical on the primary shoe. I am not sure of its purpose. Note that these huge 14” rears need two hold-downs per shoe.

I know there is one on my 120C.



The brake spec is to adjust the top cam using a 0.010" feeler gauge through the front slot in the brake drum until contact, then move to the centre eccentric cam, adjust it the same way with the feeler gauge, then using a brake adjuster on the lowest wheel until you have just made contact.



The feeler gauge slot on the drum has a dust cover as a metal clip that gets lost to time but I made new ones from sheet brass.




You may want to run the slack out of your emergency brake cables before doing the final adjustment on the bottom if the cables are like the pre-war design where you have to remove the pin from the clevis to turn them on the threaded rods. (You will need some slack to get the clevis and pin back together so the extra play with the bottom adjuster on the slack side allows this. Then pull the emergency handle to the first click and adjust the rear brakes.)
Hope this helps,
Bob J.

Thank you so much! That's exactly what I was looking for. I think the parking brake equalizer was redesigned for the late cars so no clevis but still should be easy to disconnect if needed even though it's a bit slack now, being all the way out on its adjustment.

As for the covers (clips), mine are indeed missing too and I've never had a Packard with them. Same with the rubber plugs for the adjusting holes.

Here's the Henney equalizer which has a much longer rod but is typical of other Packards of the era. However, it is missing the little anti-rattle clip where the rod goes through the hole in the support. If anyone has a spare, please let me know!

As I mentioned several posts back, the plan is now to remove the engine to properly repair it. I’m not planning on a full rebuild but at least a Magni-Fluxing and thorough tanking and flushing to the block and the head. If the Magni-FLuxing finds an issues, then those will be dealt with as needed.

However, it looks like I’ll need to take apart the transmission again as it has a leak in spite having only a little oil in it. I need to determine where it’s coming from, then see what the repair will entail. As I’ll be taking the engine out as an assembly, that shouldn’t add much to the work. It seems to be coming from one of the seams between the transmission body and the overdrive so possibly one of the gaskets was damaged during assembly.

I also want to check why the slip yoke goes in no farther than this which gives no room for movement. The car sat for decades outdoors with no rear engine support, resting only on the exhaust pipe, so maybe the whole thing has shifted rearward. This yoke, incidentally, is NOS as the original was quite worn where it seals.

[quote]
Packard Don wrote:
As for the covers (clips), mine are indeed missing too and I've never had a Packard with them. Same with the rubber plugs for the adjusting holes.

Good news, always nervous giving advice to a real pro.
With the amount driven and the preponderance of paved roads you will likely never need the covers. If, however, you would like to fill in the adjuster slots on the backing plate they are identical to modern equipment and are an easy buy at most any part supplier.
Good luck on the refresh. We have had 32" of snow over the last two days and my 120 wonders if it will ever be spring again, but she is from the Ottawa area so is no stranger to this stuff!
Bob J.