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Mal, did you use the ball or the peen?

Top quality!! I'd have guessed it was store bought if you hadn't have told us otherwise.

Quote:Randy,

I was about the same age when a good mate, a cabinetmaker but a terrific mechanic, showed me how. Hadn't used that skill in about 40 years until I had to remove and refit the waterpump on my '38. Came back without even trying. And I think we're all somewhat older now.

Quote:Keegan,

Flattery will get you nowhere, but the ego laps it up!

Mal, et al: I have made many gaskets like Mal has just shown us. Instead of using a regular size hammer I have a small ball and peen hammer that is about one-fourth the size of the one in the photo. It has just the right amount of heft to cut through gasket material and makes it easy to go around and into tight corners. Actually, I think these small bp hammers are called gasket hammers.

(o {I} o)

Just a bit of clarification for owners of the older 320 and 385 engines, they don't use a gasket as show for models where the generator is driven by the timing chain. They use a flat copper ring gasket (readily available) because the pump body rotates within the block to provide the belt adjustment and the paper gasket would probably be torn in just a single adjustment.

Thursday 18th February 2010

Nothing happening in the workshop with Wade enjoying the scenic wonders of his homeland, New Zealand, and the 2010 South Pacific "Wild West Wander" rally starting next week. But, besides a fairly busy few days of grandfatherly duties, a few Packard things did come up. Wade had left the new front engine mount rubbers at the workshop for the '39 120 that Harvey's getting the engine rebuilt. And because I had to take over the new piston pin bushes for the '41 engine rebuild to Graham Wilkins I took the opportunity to take the engine mount rubbers over to Harvey who lives nearby.

At Graham's, besides dropping off the piston pin bushes, also took some pic's of a V12 E-Type Jaguar that Graham is going to be working on. And why is he going to be working on it? Not for anything major, although that could change, but to fix all the oil leaks! Graham told me he expects to start in earnest on the '41's engine next week and all I need to supply to him now is the flywheel and clutch when I get them back from Burt Bros.

On to Harvey's where I found him under the house where his '37 Super 8 Club Sedan is currently quartered. He's been working there refitting this space and tidying it up. He told me the '34 Club Sedan, which Wade now owns, used to be kept there when he owned it years ago. Spent a very agreeable time with Harvey, courtesy of a cup of tea and slice of cake from Carol, Harvey's wife in the big shed up the back of the house. The shed currently only houses the '40 Willys and the 120 engine back from machining and balancing and all the parts ready for assembly. However it turns out his boss wants the guy who used to build his racing engines to assemble the engine with Harvey acting as Packard Technical Advisor only, C'est la vie.

Then on the way home dropped into a rubber supplies store, Clark Rubber, and picked up 3 metres of rubber backed heat/noise shield sheeting to line the front floor area of the '41.

Quote:

Pic below shows location and mounting of the generator on the older 320/385 engines.

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Monday 22nd February 2010

Not exactly workshop activity today but, as a result of my endeavours, some of the Packard parts involved could make their way to the workshop at some future date. I know, seems a very tenuous linkage, but it's the best I can do to include it here. What happened was on Saturday Noel phoned me and asked if I could assist him today in sorting and cataloging the boxes of PACA's "Club Stock" of the spare Packard parts he's holding for the club in his warehouse. These had been sorted and mostly identified when they were rounded-up prior to the swap meet, at PACA's National Rally last year, to The Flackmaster for his massive input at that time. However the day of the swap meet, it rained at the end of the day and many of the parts were bundled up in a hurry to beat the inclement weather. Noel has undertaken to get all the parts organised and identified, a big task, so they can be passed on to Peter Toet(PeterPackard) for long term storage. So today we made a start and as part of the process I'm photographing each part, where practical, or groupings of parts so identification and cataloging can be done with some certainty. Saying that, neither Noel or I are experts in parts identification and I may be asking for help from time to time to gain identification or clarification where required. So on a late summer Sydney day, temperature approaching 100F, we moved loose larger parts like grills and fenders as well as two pallet loads of boxes to outside the warehouse and started. Unloaded one pallet of boxes completely and started sorting. While doing this we were on the outlook for some particular parts, identified by David last year, and now required by PACA members and thankfully these we found. Noel suggested we start by identifying the heavier mechanical components and store them in boxes on the bottom of the pallet. I know, these will probably turn out to be the ones wanted first by PACA members! But if that happens, so be it! Didn't find any rare parts, or anything I required, BUGGER! But hopefully they'll turn out to be useful for PACA members at some stage when they are advertised in the clubs magazine "The Packardian" in the near future. And next week I go back again to finish off these two pallets with Noel and hopefully we'll look at the other two pallets still up in the racks. And the Packard world is never far away from where you are, in this age of instant communication. Noel fielded a call from The Flackmaster, while Harvey called me about yesterdays swap meet at Richmond, no Packard parts there at all, or Willys part for that matter! Harvey wasn't impressed.

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He's the one with the white shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers.

front door hinge reinforcing plates, upper. 38-41.
Next...

Kev - Correct!

David - Thanks, I'm sure there will be many more to come.

Spotting the Flackmaster in his natural habitat is very difficult. The Flackmaster normally moves at speeds faster than the eye can see; only a buzzing from pile of parts to pile of parts can be heard. I am very surprised to see a digital still image can freeze the Flackmaster in his natural surrounding. Perhaps this is worthy of submission to the National Geographic Magazine.

I would imagine a captive Flackmaster could be very useful in the identification of sundry Packard bits and the like.