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Friday 17th September 2010

Arrived at the workshop to find Wade fitting a new Optima battery to the '39. The '39's battery hadn't cranked the engine over too readily over the last few days so the Optima was being swapped in just for the Rally, Wade doesn't want Dick to have a battery problem on the trip. That done, Wade turned to the distributor. Because there are no timing marks on the engine Wade had only cleaned up the distributor previously. Today the points were filed(because of the kit that didn't fit!) the points gap set and cap put back on. But in putting the cap back on Wade noticed there was a crack in it! Also, because of the kit that didn't fit, the replacement cap did likewise. Wade had one six cylinder distributor cap on the shelf but that didn't fit either. But a call to Peter Packard later and there will be a replacement cap available, if needed, when Dick reaches South Australia at the end of next week.

All bolted up again and off for a test drive with the brakes working well and the engine performing better than before. Wade had done a little more work on the throttle linkages and that coupled with the new battery and air cleaner element appears to have contributed to the improvement gained. However idle speed was high so, once back at the workshop, Wade set about adjusting it back to a more Packard acceptable speed. Adjustment was going well, then the engine just died. No amount of restarting could bring it back to life then Wade noticed the in line fuel filter had no fuel in it! Checked for leaks in the line, none found. Fuel gauge showed over half a tank. But a rough test of knocking on the bottom of the fuel tank produced a very hollow and empty sound. Off and picked up 20 litres of petrol and after emptying that into the tank the '39 started easily once fuel was drawn through the system. But, before starting it again, Wade checked in case the diaphragm in the fuel pump had split and fuel was being pumped straight into the sump but all appears well on that front.

That done, Wade's pre-Rally work on the '39 had been completed and it's now ready to be picked up tomorrow morning. Wade then turned to Big Red giving the old girl a few pre-Rally touch ups of her own. Cleaned the coolant stains off right side of the block and sump and so far the weep from the manifold stud appears to be fixed. Also cleaned up the left side of stains from previous oil leaks/spills. Then Wade vacuumed the interior and I noticed the removable rear seat foot rests there which have been the subject of another thread recently. Also noticed that the left rear roof has a nice section of what could be termed the patina of age. Being less than gainfully employed I also cast an eye over the '39 again and noticed two things. The overdrive lock out knob is not a plastic knob but a metal horizontal handle with "OVERDRIVE" cast into it. Looks much more impressive than the plastic, but as Wade says, there are a lot of things about this car that aren't right. The other is the left side door which is undergoing repair. I didn't realise till now that part of the lower section of the door has been cut out and hasn't been replaced yet. What I thought was tape to cover the patches was actually tape to cover the holes!

Then it was off to lunch at the Rugby club with 9 guys in attendance, a good roll up. During the course of lunch Wade received a call from Starliner, Chris, about dropping in some new reproduction plastic '54 Clipper taillight lenses at the workshop for Wade to take with him on the National Rally for pepepackard, Fred. Chris arrived at the workshop, only minutes after we did, and aside from the new lenses we also caught up with him about his Packards. The '54 Clipper Super Club Sedan is close to being registered for road use, Chris hopes another 2 weeks and it'll be there. The '53 Mayfair Hardtop has hydraulic lifter clatter problems while the '48 Standard Eight Club Sedan hasn't progressed. Chris also mentioned he'd bought a BTV rebuild kit from one of the large vendors for the '54 Clipper. Rebuilt the BTV and, although not yet drivable, had periodically started the Clipper in the drive until one day the pedal went to the floor. Turns out the compensator valve, is that the term, was faulty. The vendor is replacing the valve but it could have been much worse if on the road. Chris says he's going to post about this incident, so save your comments for then please. But back to the taillight lenses. These are made in Australia by a guy in western Sydney who supplies these, and a lot of other reproduction plastic lenses, mainly taillight lenses for Packards and many other makes of car, to many vendors. Obtaining them from the source resulted in about a 50% cost saving plus the shipping cost from the US which is usually considerable.

While today Harvey and his wife Carol are setting off for the Willys National Rally at Wangaratta in country Victoria in their Packard '37 Super 8 Club Sedan. Wishing Harvey and Carol a safe and comfortable 610 kilometre trip. And, in a google search for the Willys National Rally, I found that the Willys Club had received a grant of $950.00 from Wangaratta City Council for the Rally! Sounds like a good idea to me, Packard clubs worldwide should be approaching their local authorities for similar Rally funding. And I can just image the Packard amidst the Willys, Overlands and other related marques, it will stand out from the crowd!

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Saturday 18th September 2010

Although yesterday I'd thought about going down to the workshop for the handover and pickup of the '39 Convertible Coupe, but in the end I decided not too. Then this morning, reading the emails that came in overnight, I changed my mind. One of the emails was from a PackardInfo member asking if I could take some pic's for him of the under running board mounts for the radio aerials on the '39. Thought it would be best to do this now rather than a week or so later during the National Rally. At the workshop found the '39 out in the driveway parked over to one side of the driveway. Grabbed a creeper and proceeded to take pic's of the fore and aft mounting points under the right running board. Couldn't get under the car but managed to get enough pic's from many different angles to satisfy the query. Then around to the left side and found a long pallet load of vanity top material, from the business that occupies the major part of the building where the workshop is, only about one foot from the side of the '39. That ruled out using the creeper so the pic's for that side were more the point, press and hope I'd captured something relating to the mounts process. Wish I'd realised the interest this feature could spark while the '39 was up on the hoist, it would have made it so much easier.

Pic's no sooner done than Dick and Wendy arrived in Emily, the '37 115C Sport Coupe. Then followed a session with Wade where he explained what had, hadn't or couldn't be done for the '39 110 Convertible Coupe. Also learned the '39 has a name and is known as "Roy". And they have a further '39 at home, a 120 Convertible Coupe, which also has a moniker but for the life of me I can't recall it now! EDIT - Wendy was kind enough to refresh my fading memory - It's Thelma! That done, Wade then installed the new paper air filter element in Emily, which has been running without a filter in the filter housing for who knows how long? Only reason Wade hadn't installed it when Emily was in residence at the workshop was the lack of the element at that time, it came in after Emily returned home! Then it was farewell for now as Kath and I will be meeting up with Dick and Wendy and some others for our Packard National Rally convoy next Thursday and then we all meet up with Wade and Gina, who are leaving on Monday, in South Australia.

Oh, just remembered, Harvey told me the other day that at one point of time he was "Emily's" owner. Apparently he had a great '36 Chrysler straight 8 which he swapped for Emily plus $$$$ in Harvey's favour.

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Quote: When I replied to the email I asked wether I could publish his name or PackardInfo Forum name when I posted here. Unfortunately by the time I posted I hadn't received a reply so kept his identity private. But waking up this morning there was another email saying "......You may use my Packardinfo Forum name, yesterdaysradio, and my name, Jerry Vinarcik......."
So Jerry, makes a much better story if names of the participants, willing or not so willing, can be incorporated in it.

Looks like Jerry might be doing some research for his repro business Yesterdays Radio. If so, and if things come to fruition, it would be interesting that the "land down-under" made a contribution to the cause.

And Jerry, after the National Rally, if the '39 comes back into the workshop, and there is a good likliehood of that happening, I'll take some better pic's of the aerials, mounting points and such.

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Where's Mal???

(o{I}o)

Quote:I'm here, nice to know I've been missed.

Been away on our Packard National Rally to Kangaroo Island, see the pic's and brief outlines of the trip here.

Haven't yet returned to the workshop because Wade is making his way back in a much more leisurely fashion. Once he returns workshop activity will again be able to be reported on.

I will however, post a story about the trip over and back including the trials and tribulations experienced by the Packards from this state, New South Wales, although I was feeling somewhat constrained in doing that. Constrained? Yes, the editor of our Packard Club magazine has 'commissioned' me to write that same story but has limited me to about 2 to 3 pages because of space issues in the magazine. This left me with a conflict of interests but, with only a couple of pages available there, a lot of the story will be missed. So to address that I am going to put it in print here, probably tomorrow after our club meeting tonight where I can catch up with some of the NSW participants to ensure I've got the trip covered. And if I make a mistake, error or omission I'm sure the PackardInfo members in PACA will be quick to put me straight.

Thursday 7th October 2010

As mentioned in my previous post there are currently no workshop activities. Instead some details about the cars from my state of New South Wales, which attended the Packard Kangaroo Island Safari 2010. For the most part, all off the 37 Packards present together with a La Salle, a Pierce Arrow and a Studebaker performed well. There were some hiccups with Mat's, Packard34, '34 blowing a head gasket between cylinders 2 and 3. But not to worry, the head gasket was changed under Wade's supervision in the middle of the main street of Kingscote during the Concourse and Display Day! Mat also had generator/regulator, starter motor and fuel filler problems and these will be looked at in the workshop on Wade's return in a week or so's time. Wade and Gina, in Big Red, struck a problem on the way to the Rally with a leak at the oil pressure regulator valve with 3&1/2 litres of oil being lost. When Big Red arrived at a mechanics workshop at Yass the guy took one look and told Wade he'd better fix it himself and showed him where the tools were and how to operate the hoist. They are now leisurely touring southern South Australia and Victoria on the return journey and are being accompanied by Brian and Margaret, their New Zealand Packard friends who were also at the Rally where they were able to borrow a '29 640 Roadster to use during the course of the Rally. But on the trip back to Sydney Brian and Margaret will be driving Mat's '34! Why are they driving Mat's '34? Because Mat is accompanying Noel to Hershey! Lucky Ba$tard$!

Speaking of Noel, he accompanied Peter Packard and Ann in their TJ Richards bodied '38 equipped with post war 327 and overdrive. Peter tells me he averaged about 16/17 Miles per Imperial Gallon for the trip there and back. His dramas were hitting swarms of bees, a slight leak from the oil pressure sending unit fitting, fixed, and a rear door coming open during one of the runs. For this Peter received the "Hard Luck" award although he fixed it the next day. Beat out the dents in the right rear mudguard(fender) and, a can of black spray paint later, you were hard pressed to see the damaged area. Wish I'd known about it sooner, by the time I was in the frame he'd already fixed it. So no before and after shots. And when it happened Noel wasn't impressed at all, but fortunately he was sitting on the other side. As Peter said, with 3lbs per square inch and 300 square inches of door area if anybody had been holding on to the door when it blew open, then it would have been a very quick bye bye! Peter and PeterL were also involved with the head gasket change on the '34 as well as the other problems which befell it. In fact Peter re-torqued the head down a total of 6 times, for the first 4 there was further incremental tightening of the head nuts, while the last 2 saw no further movement.

Other Packards suffered problems as well, among which was Big Bad Barry's '35. The '35 had a dead battery on the trip over, it "cooked" from being overcharged, which was solved by using PeterL's spare battery until Barry picked up a new one on the last leg of the trip into Adelaide. He'd phoned ahead to the South Australian Packard guys and they were able to source a battery for him. Later, on one of the runs, the '35 also blew a head gasket between 2 and 3 and is currently being trucked home, a mere 1,400kms. Barry and Pam arriving on Sunday afternoon in a rental car. Barry tells me that one of the Adelaide guys was talking about re-furbishing the gasket off Mat's engine to get him home but decided caution and a truck were better options.

DavidM's '29 cracked a rim on the trip over, changed to the spare, and had the crack repaired on arrival by the local Packard guys. David also had a leaking water jacket side plate and isn'y happy with the '29's brakes even though he set them as per a Bendix article published here on PackardInfo for 3 shoe brakes. But all this didn't stop David and, following some temporary repairs, completed all the runs. Why the '29 was going so well he and Veronique were the first Sydney based Packards home in 2 & 1/2 days despite encountering some vapourisation problems on the run home. David left early each day and only stopped for fuel or comfort breaks. However for the trip over he did take 4 days , because he was running in the rebuilt engine, the '29 being only just on the road after a 10 year restoration.

Big Bad Barry was in convoy with David on the trip over and they were accompanied by Mat and his brother Scott in the '34 and PeterL and Annette in Peter's '38 Eight Touring Sedan. Speaking of which the '38 was the only one of that group not to have had problems. Instead PeterL assisted various other Packard owners to overcome their problems. Good on you Peter.

A single Packard to also make the journey was the '51 Convertible of Barry, BKSmith, and Cheryl who were accompanied by friends Don and Jenny. The '51 performed flawlessly with Barry reporting 23 Miles per Imperial Gallon. Not bad for a 327, 9 main with four barrel. Although the OD could well be a contributing factor as it was loafing along.

The other convoy group consisted of Kath and myself in the '41 120 Club Coupe, Michael in his '54 Convertible, Jeff, PAC052, and Margaret in their '52 200 Deluxe Sedan and Wendy and Richard, together with their Canadian friends Don and Betty playing musical Packards. That is, they were in 'Emily', '37 115c Sport Coupe, and 'Roy', '39 110 Convertible Coupe for which there were numerous changes between drivers and passengers on the trip over, so who was driving or riding in what was always a guessing game for the rest of us. No real dramas but 'Emily' did suffer from a a flat tyre at Kingscote on Kangaroo Island. Caution being a wise choice, 4 new tubes were installed after finding 3 of the tubes weren't too good. And Wendy learnt how to adjust the idle on 'Emily' herself, there being some stalling issues when slowing down or coming to a stop.

Jeff and Margaret's '52. Had some warming up issues with the Ultramatic but a session with Peter and another one with Fred, pepepackard, and things improved in this regard. Michael on the other hand almost got through the Rally unscathed in his '54. It was only on the last night in the motel parking lot that Kath noticed Michael's right rear tyre was half flat. Meant an early morning change to the spare with Michael being lent some assistance by myself for this exercise. With radial tyres, the clearance to change the rear wheel/tyre combination between brake drum and body is about zero but we managed. As for the '41, it went well, except for a few little things. The blinker stalk jammed the day before we left, the stop lights stopped working, the windscreen wipers stopped working, it developed a miss, under high speed load, which judicious throttle use minimised and it appears to have a leak, either from one of the middle head studs or the heater hose inlet fitting on the head near that stud. All up the coupe covered 2,260 miles per the odometer, although I suspect it was less than that. Reason being, when my speedo showed about 66/67mph Jeff's GPS was showing 100kmh which is 62mph so my speedo is running fast. This will have an effect on the mpg figures too but for now I'll stick with those calculated using the speedo readings! On that basis, for the last half of the rally, the '41 averaged 18.7 Miles per Imperial Gallon or 15.6 Miles per US Gallon.

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Mal, only your sense of humor could put a positive spin on recalcitrant Packards. Sounds like you had a good time and the tour, despite the irritations and inconveniences, was enjoyable.

With this trip has Mat earned his own gold plated bad luck trophy? Between the non stopping Caribbean, some other adventures you've mentioned, and this latest one, I'd think that is the least PACA could do. Also think he would seriously be considering switching allegiance to English cars. At least with those you expect breakdowns and things to fall apart with regularity and can plan for it.

Great to have you back Mal - I have been missing my daily Packard fix but hope to soon be able to pick up the 34 chassis as planned. Many hours have been spent already in the project planning, component selection and styling departments.

Wonderful that you all enjoyed the trip despite the occasional mechanical problem. It is always easy to enjoy yourself when in the company of friendly, helpful and like-minded people.

Thursday 14th October 2010

No need for excitement, but I dropped into the workshop this morning. No, not for the Packards but unlike Old Mother Hubbard to "give the poor dog a bone". Then found that Wade and Brian had been there yesterday dropping in Big Red and Mat's, Packard34's, '34! John tells me there was chaos when the Packards arrived with cars everywhere which had to shuffled and re-shuffled in, out, round and about in order to slot them in. He also said they had to repeat part of the shuffling exercise later when the car trailer also returned! Just posting so Mat knows his '34 has arrived safely. Should be back down there next week when Wade's ready to get into things Packard again.

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Thanks Mal,

Glad she got back okay, were having a great time in the U.S.A went to Warren Oh yesterday and saw the Packard museum.

Hershey was awesome aswell... What an experience

Cheers,
Mat