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Monday 10th March 2008

After a very pleasant Packard run on Saturday to the Powerhouse Museum's Discovery Centre today it was back to the workshop today.

Started by tidying up the area behind the '41 moving loose pieces back inside the car and some of the boxes containing new parts. Then worked on the fore and aft slide mechanism of the front seat which had been almost inoperative. Blew the Idaho dust out of it with the compressed air, yes more dust! Then oiled the runners and the cogged sections. A bit of to and fro later and, hey presto, a sliding mechanism that slides!

Next it was to a number of removed pieces, see pic below, to finish scraping and wire-brushing. Fortunately a number of these were small enough that I could use the wire-brush wheel on the bench grinder, so much easier than the manual method. Then Marine Clean, at this point Wade asked if I could do the new aluminum fuel tank for his '37 120. I was only too glad to be able to do something for Wade instead of me relying so much on him. Same with the Marine Clean phase. One thing though, Wade's tank is very heavy as it's made of thick gauge aluminum, it's much heavier than my '41 tank.

While all this was going on, Wade was working on his '34's engine installing and connecting up the generator and distributor and coils. Being a retired electronics engineer Wade is quite adept at the electrical side of things and as a service to Packard Club members here also repairs their radios for them.

And speaking of Wade, amongst the projects he has on his hands now is rebuilding Kevin's '35 1201 Standard 8. He's stymied at the moment because although he's now received the new big-end bearings, which were made in the US and took over 6 months to manufacture, he can't re-assemble the engine yet. This is because he's now found out that over the years the "Tunnel" of the big-end of the connecting rod has become elongated and to get the bearings to fit and have the correct clearance the big-end "tunnels" will have to be re-bored to the correct size after grinding some metal off the big-end caps. However, and this is what's stymied Wade, He doesn't know the size the tunnels should be. So I'm also posting this in the Pre-War Forum and any replies should be directed there and not here. Just give me a little time to set up that post after I finish this one!

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Tuesday 11th March 2008

Short day today with only a couple of hours at the workshop this morning. During that time wiped over parts cleaned and metal readied yesterday then painted most with silver POR-15, pic below. The remainder will be done in black shortly when there is more to be done.

Wade showed me a pic of the '22 Town Car he drove while in NZ for the Packard rally there. A very impressive vehicle with its closed passenger cabin and open chauffer's driving position. If Wade can send me a pic of it by email I'll post it on the Forum.

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Mal, It's good to have a buddy to talk over your problems with and share some work. Brian and I are too far apart to share work experience, but have been to each others homes. I talk with Dave Czirr when I need some tech help or just to let off steam and friend Ron who rebuilt my Ultra is over an hours drive away. I envy you but glad to see the position you are in. Aah, if only Packards could talk!

Wednesday 12th March 2008

Slow day at the workshop today, repainted or second coated some of yesterdays painted parts. But before doing so cleaned up the diff centre so I could paint that too. And what did I find? That the rear axle ratio, 4.36, is stamped on the flange of the diff centre, see bottom of flange in first pic!

Anyway after the excitement of this discovery had died down it was into marine cleaning and metal readying the diff centre then painting it and re-painting some of the other parts. While I was doing this Wade was painting the bottom of his Aluminum fuel tank for the '37 120. And doesn't it look great, the picture below doesn't do it justice at all! Besides that Wade also painted the '41 parts requiring black POR-15 for me, what a guy!

Just after the paint had finished being applied, a set of NORS King Pins for a '41 1901 was ending on eBay. The reason these were of interest, although I had already bought a front end kit including king pins, was that the eBay set were needle bearings and not brass bushes. So I used Rick's PC to bid and win these, and then off to the Post Office for an International Money Order as the seller did not accept PayPal, how dare he!

Wade's also given me a flash card with pictures of some of the cars and people on the New Zealand Packard Rally. When my son comes over later I'll get him to show me how to download this device and post the results in the General Forum. Oh the shame of being technologically illiterate.

And Randy, thanks for the kind words, I can't describe what it's like to be able to share these experiences with someone like Wade on a day to day basis.

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Mal,

Just curious are you spraying or brushing on the POR-15?

You are moving right along. At that pace you should have her up and running by tax day right (that would be April 15th)

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Tom,

I'm brushing on the POR-15 for 2 reasons, I don't know how to spray and if the surface preparation is good the results are almost spray quality. This is evidenced by Wade's 120 fuel tank which, being new, looks fabulous in the flesh!

Don't know if we'll get the '41 together in the time frame you suggest, but the sooner the better. It'll all depend on whether we have any dramas on the re-assembly plus the NORS king pin set will take a few weeks to deliver but we'll work around that. Thanks for your vote of confidence.

Thursday 13th March 2008

Very slow 1/2 day only, as my grand-daughter is coming to visit this afternoon. After purchasing tickets for Game 5 of 5 the Australian National Basketball League championship series to be played tomorrow night proceeded to the workshop.

Because I was late and finishing early didn't want to get too dirty so just tidied up and put away yesterdays painted parts. Then noticed that the dashboard, although painted a dark brown, had been woodgrained originally. Wade said that Harvey does this sort of thing so I'll give him a ring to try and tee this up and commenced to take off the plastic where feasible.

While doing this Wade was trying to re-install his freshly painted fuel tank but was experiencing some difficulty. So I ended up with Wade under the back of his '37 120 with 2 big floor jacks trying to manoeuver it into place but without success. Finally left Wade to it and he's going to compare and measure up the old and new tanks to see if there are any differences between the two.

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Saturday 15th March 2008

On the way to the workshop saw a nice shiny black '39 Ford with wedding ribbons, see pic. Then spent half a day on my favourite pastime, scraping under and around a '41 Packard frame. This time the front cross member, frame horns and underside of the front splash tray. Although most of the cross member had been done when I was tackling the front frame rails it's surprising what I'd missed previously and makes me start to worry about the other areas I've tackled. But I must say I think my scraping technique has improved over the past month because I've certainly had plenty of practice.

Also had a call yesterday from Paul at Vintage Wiring Harness to say the harness was ready. So after paying the AU$990.00, approx US$925.00, the new harness should be here early next week. I've also ordered a new gasket for the cowl vent from MaxM because with the dash out now's the best time to replace it

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Monday 17th March 2008

St Patrick's day dawned fine and clear
So how are we to celebrate this
No, not with leprechauns and green beer
But under a Packard to scrape and curse

My apologies to the Irish and all
But with a Packard that's the catch
Under the '41, but not having a ball
A necessary evil to get back to scratch

The end of this saga I hope is in sight
If it were otherwise, I'd loose my mind
But for love of Packard I know it's right
Like the pot of gold at rainbow's end

I work and work with little respite
Save for the sleep I savour at nights
But all's for a purpose, to be my kismet
So do I sleep and dream of Packard delights

I'll be sure to thank all who have laboured
Whether t'was by hand, heart or mind
I can be sure they will be favoured
Better friends could no man find

And so this doggerel comes to a close
Shakespeare, Keats, Wordsworth, et al don't fear
My verse is more a wandering prose
A publisher's desk it will never be near

I leave you with a final flutter
For Packards are our pride and passion
Remember the words that we do utter
These being "Ask the man who owns one"

My apologies, the ego is ever growing but obviously the talents are not in sync.

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G'day Mal.. Is it true that they are planning a remake of "the Great Escape" and they want to use your "tunnelling image" in the remake? It looks great but I would imagine that the missus is not impressed when she has to clean you up. Well done!! Best regards from 200 miles away and Crikey! we could all use some rain. Peter