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Mat,

Don't forget to give me a call when you get out to Gary's place in Calif. I'll either swing by, or perhaps you and Gary can over to PackardInfo HQ. Either way it's a 15min drive.

Monday 18th October 2010

Just contemplating a day of pulling weeds, trimming edges and cutting grass when I was saved by a phonecall! Wade was down at the workshop and enquiring if I might be coming down. Might I? A day of gardening held little attraction if Packards were the alternative! Arrived to find Wade doing some housekeeping. He has a drawer full of receipts for the parts and work performed on Packards over some years but it was filed in the biblical system - seek and yea shall find. So before getting his hands dirty Wade was putting all the paperwork in order.

Paperwork done, we proceeded to the '41 because Kath and I had done the 2,260 mile round trip for the Packard Kangaroo Island Safari without brake lights! Last week I went out and bought a VW brake light switch after being advised by Harvey that they fitted. Only trouble was when I arrived at the VW parts shop the woman there said "2 prong or 3 prong"? A phonecall later Harvey was able to advise 2 prong. But then, after all that, I ended up not using that switch but another switch I must have bought off eBay a couple of years ago when I was gathering parts for the '41. The VW switch has flat type prongs while the '41 and the eBay switches are both bullet type prongs.

That done, it was back into the workshop because the '41 was out in the parking area. Then ensued some discussion and inspection of Mat's '34. In an earlier post I'd said "....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....". Need to correct what I said, the starter is OK, it was the battery going flat because of the generator problems and Peter Packard had fixed the fuel filler pipe while the '34 was at Kangaroo Island. What Mat also had was a badly leaking water pump packing gland. On the trip back in was tightened 2 and 3 times daily over more than a week without lasting improvement. Resulted in water getting blown back over coil and distributor causing the '34 some missing when things got wet. The main problem though is the generator, because as Wade said "it's $tuffed". And here's where the sins of the past catch up with the realities of today. It's a 3 brush generator but at some time in its past has been converted to 2 brush by taking out one of the brushes. Now those of you conversant with such things would understand what that means but not me. But Wade tells me, if you were going to do such a thing, and he wouldn't even consider doing that, you'd leave the two brushes opposite each other in the generator and remove the third, but in this case one of the opposing brushes has been removed! But that's not all, it's also been converted to 6V Negative ground! And, to accommodate that, has what is believed to be a VW Regulator on the firewall. Now, when Mat arrived at Glenelg in South Australia for the start of the Rally, Peter Packard had looked over the setup and before finding out about the Negative Ground issue had installed a NOS Regulator which of course didn't work! Instead the VW Regulator was re-instated because, although experiencing some problems, it would work. It meant that, after starting, the contacts in the Regulator had to be manually closed. This enabled the '34 to keep going during the course of the Rally and the return trip home, except for the last two days. By that stage the Generator was totally $tuffed, necessitating the battery to be removed overnight and recharged in the motel room for the next days run. Anyway, after all that, what I'm getting to here is that at the moment the '34 is driveable. But if Wade starts pulling off these parts it won't be, so some direction was needed before incapacitating the '34, and more of that later. One thing I noticed on inspecting the '34's engine compartment was that it had only one fan belt, even though it has two belt pulleys on both the water pump hub and the crankshaft. Why only one belt? Because of another sin of the past there's an idler pulley, for the one fan belt used, which interferes with mounting a second fan belt! And another was the use of a modern oil filter.

Putting the '34 aside, Wade then proceeded to Big Red because, during the Rally, the carburettor accelerator pump was inoperative. Off with the carb and onto the bench removing the top of the carb to access the accelerator pump and the float chamber. During the course of the carb disassembly Wade received a call from, of all people, The Flackmaster! After running through some Packard pleasantries it was into the nitty gritty of Big Red, Mat's '34, etc. Then David handed over the phone to Mat, who was there with him. Mat was able to advise he'd picked up a Generator at Hershey, of unknown condition, although Bates Industries might be able to give it a once over before his return to Oz carrying it in his hand luggage. And Mat apparently has a spare water pump too, so once he gets home he'll get that to Wade to be rebuilt so it can be changed into the '34. I also took the opportunity to speak to Mat about my intentions regarding posting info about the '34 and whether it was OK to do so. Pleased to say he gave me Carte Blanche to report on the '34 as I saw and understood it. Too late Mat, it's now in the public domain for all to see. He did mention that by me putting it on PackardInfo at least he be able to see what was going on with the '34. Next Noel was on the phone. looks like he wants the '39 back in for some further treatment. Reason being Emily and Roy are also coming back in for more work and John's '39 Six could well be coming back in too. Besides all that, Wade also wants to give some much needed attention to The Fossil, his '34, which has very much taken a back seat to all the other goings on lately.

Meanwhile, back at the bench, top off the Stromberg EE-23, the accelerator pump itself looked OK. Irrespective, Wade had a new one he was going to install anyway. But what was the source of the problem? Took out the float which exposed the valve through which the fuel passes to feed the accelerator pump. This valve, located near the base of the float bowl, has a fine mesh metal screen filter over it. This screen looked deformed being compressed into the top of the valve. The valve was taken out, not without dramas, because you need a special spanner but out it came in the end, special spanner or not and in this case it was not! All passages were blown out with compressed air, and all was well there, but what about the valve? Fortunately Wade has a spare carb for the '34, an EE-22, not the same as '37 but pretty close, major difference appears to be a 4 bolt base in lieu of the 3 bolt base on the later carb and accelerator pump "jets" are noticeably different. Anyway the EE-22 was also partly disassembled to inspect the valve in the bottom of the float chamber. Very similar, but also a little different, but the filter mesh on top was brass and not noticeably deformed. Now here's where Wade slipped up, and for this disclosure I imagine I'll get the rounds of the kitchen tomorrow. In getting the valve out of the EE-22 Wade's grip literally slipped dislodging the filter mesh. Any thoughts of replacing one valve with the other were dashed when that happened. But at least Wade now had two valves for comparison purposes. Both appear in good working order with the collapsed mesh on the EE-23 valve now being the stumbling block. Putting the EE-22 back together and putting it back on the shelf Wade now concentrated on the EE-23 by removing the collapsed mesh from the valve and re-assembling it including the new accelerator pump. And that's as far as we got because Wade, for once, took an early mark. By doing so I was also home early and once home attended to at least part of the previously foregone gardening duties by cutting the grass.

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Thanks for the update Mal

First things first... Kev, I will be in Corona from this Saturday, until 31st Oct

In regards to the 34... I can explain!

The reason for the new oil filter is that when we put the car back together we noticed there was no oil filter on the car. Why? I have no idea the line had been capped.

The sleeve in the block has only been recently done. The engine had been bored .40" so we took it all back to standard, so I am quite suprised about the leak I thought it may have taken up

As for the pulley setup on the fsn belt the original setup with the 2 belts was still slipping and it was decided that using a 3rd pulley would fix this issue and as it wasn't a major modification it could be put back to standard.

The next thing, ther generator, we are getting this checked out today so once we know what the status of the generator is i'll let you know.

The waterpump: The waterpump I have at home is for a 1936 Packard, considering my engine is a 36 block this waterpump should fit? Can you comfirm this with Wade?

Cheers,
Mat

Just returned from the CCCA Grand Classic in Waxahachie. While there visited with David Flack and he introduced me to Noel and Mat. We all had a nice chat. Nice to meet folks that until now have only been seen in words or photos. Mat and Noel, enjoy your visit to the States and travel safely.

(o{I}o)

To add to the Texas theme here's a pic.

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Tuesday 19th October 2010

First job this morning was completing the EE-23 so it could go back on Big Red. Yesterday one of the slotted headed bolts which hold the top of the carb to the body, the one which holds the heat shield, was found to be defective. Overnight Wade had located a replacement bolt at home and the final assembly of the carb was completed. With the EE-23 back on Big Red, linkages, fuel and vacuum lines were re-connected and she was fired up. And as my youngest son might say....sweeeeet! Started right up, accelerator pump now working and smiles all round.

Now Mat, onto the '34, and you know that old saying about there's good news and there's bad news? You asked Wade to have a look at the front wheel bearings so that's where we started. With the front of the '34 up on jackstands both wheels were removed. Then the right front brake drum came off, also removed the backing plate as a complete assembly. Now here's the good news, the front wheel bearings, well at least the right side are OK. The bad news? Looks like the kingpin bearings have seen better days. Also from what I saw of the brake linings the right leading shoe is only contacting the drum in two places, at the beginning and end of the shoe, probably giving only about 30% lining area contact at best.

And that's where I left things, had an early babysitting appointment, so Wade has to tackle the left side on his lonesome. I also asked Wade about your question regarding using the '36 water pump and his answer is he won't know till he sees it. The '34 water pump turns eccentrically to tension the fan belt/s. Maybe that's why that idler pulley was fitted if the mechanic didn't know that or for some reason that part of the pump was broken? While later, and I don't know how much later this came in(Big Red, a '37 has it), adjusting the generator position was the means by which fan belt tension was achieved. These later generators are mounted on the left side of the engine in a more conventional location on a bracket. While the early generators, as you know, are driven off the timing chain, on the lower right of the engine. Now I might have this all @r$e about and if I have I'm sure I'll be set straight real soon!

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Thursday 21st October 2010

Arrived at the workshop to find Mat's '34 much as I left it on Tuesday. Wade had gone onto other things on Tuesday afternoon, one of which was dis-assembling the old water pump from Old Blue. Reason being there's a '36 120 water pump coming in tomorrow for re-build so Wade wanted to familiarise himself with one the same before he starts on the '36's. Old Blue actually has a '38 120 water pump on it which was rebuilt when Wade rebuilt the engine some years ago, later 120 pumps are different from the earlier 120 pumps. And this morning Wade was waiting for Chris, Starliner, to drop in to pick up his '54 Clipper aid package from pepepackard. Chris had swapped a pair on new repro Clipper taillight lenses with Pepe for a pair of good '54 Clipper taillight bezels. Wade was the courier for this transaction, during the National Rally handing the lenses over to Pepe in exchange for the bezels. Besides picking up the bezels Chris had a few questions for Wade, one about the seal for the tailshaft yoke on his Clipper, another about the clock in the Clipper and the fact it's been converted to 12V(before Chris bought it) and last about wiring on generator windings.

But back to the '34. Wade had been in contact with Dennis at ABC Bearings on Tuesday and Dennis was able to source the 4 cups and cones required for the king pin bearings yesterday. While waiting for Chris meanwhile, the left side brake drum, backing plate and stub axle of the '34 were removed and the wheel and kingpin bearings cleaned up. Again the wheel bearings look OK but these will be more closely inspected after the kingpin bearings are replaced and the stub axles re-installed. So once Chris departed we took a trip over to Dennis and ABC Bearings, this time traveling in style in Big Red. Picked up the bearings and had a good yarn with Dennis and his offsider as well, never hurts to keep the parts suppliers happy and on-side!

Back at the workshop it was then a matter of putting things back together, which was easier said than done. I didn't pick up on this earlier, even though Wade had expressed it, but the king pin bearings now being used are different from the originals. At some time in it's past the '34's king pin bearings have been replaced with something different, similar but not the same! The bearings from ABC match these replacement bearings but because they are not a direct cross to the originals the Packard Parts X-Ref won't be updated with the part numbers used. Finished up the day by re-installing the new right side bearings and the stub axle. Doesn't seem like much was accomplished, but with a BBQ lunch together with some red wine to wash it down as well as another early departure by Wade, which is getting to be a habit, it's reasonable in the circumstances.

And Mat,
Quote: Again I have to eat humble pie, , the brake shoes are contacting OK, it's this ignorant writer who got it wrong! Should have asked Wade rather than make assumptions, was put straight today!

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Friday 22nd October 2010

Only dropped onto the workshop for a few minutes late this morning after donating blood plasma earlier. Wade was there but otherwise occupied so no Packard work today. The '36 120 water pump did come in and on appearances and feel(there must be rocks in it, big rocks, it feels so lumpy when turned!) looks worse than the one off Old Blue! Wade said, depending on what it looks like when opened up, he may rebuild the Old Blue pump instead.

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Mal's picture is labeled:
Quote:

Mal, you are the master of the understatement.

Monday 25th October 2010

Arrived at the workshop to find El Presidente, Michael, of PACA with his '54 Convertible. He'd brought it over for it's annual mechanical and safety registration check. So, while Wade went with Michael in the '54 to the registration mechanic around the corner, I busied myself cleaning bits and pieces from the front end of the '34 which hadn't been cleaned yet.

Then after Wade's return and Michael's departure it was onto the '34's front end again. Last Friday Wade had gone back over the right kingpin setup again because there was a little movement in it still, even with the new bearings. Because the kingpin bearings aren't correct there needs to be extra "fiddling" to ensure it fits correctly. In this case replacing the home-made shims with something more appropriate. So today it was onto the left kingpin, again "fiddling" was required and once again the home-made shims were replaced. Wade tells me the original kingpins had ball bearing, bearings. While the ones now in the '34 are roller bearings, so someone in the past has changed them out.

Next we re-installed the steering arms into each stub axle then re-installed the complete brake backing plate assemblies. Replaced one of the backing plate nut and bolts, someone had used a whitworth nut and bolt, with a Packard UNF nut and bolt. At least now you can use the same spanner(wrench) for all the backing plate nuts and bolts.

Then it was onto the front wheel bearings. While Wade walked around to Repco for a fresh tub of wheel bearing grease I cleaned up the brake drums. And in doing so discovered that the left outer cup had what could only be described as grooves in it. Additionally the cup was loose, being able to be turned by hand in the snout of the brake drum. While the right outer cup has a brass shim between it and the wall of the snout, and it also has grooves. Wade upon returning from his shopping trip examined the cups and deduced they are not correct for the cones being used. Means a trip to ABC Bearings tomorrow with cup, cone and brake drum in the hope Dennis can come up with something to suit.

Stymied on finishing the front end then turned to another aspect noted during the course of dis-assembly and re-assembly of the steering arms, play in the steering box. This was also experienced first hand by Brian when he drove the '34 back from South Australia. All the other components in the steering system were tight but there was a lot of slop when turning the steering wheel. Fortunately there's a "nut" on the side of the steering box which can be turned in or out to provide adjustment for play in the box. Simple? Yes, but only after you can turn the adjusting nut. Seems someone had been there before and getting the adjusting nut to break free was a minor drama in itself. Solved with a 1" open end spanner(wrench) the other end of which was encased in a piece of metal tubing flatted to accept the end of the spanner(wrench). As Archimedes said "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." While we didn't need to move the world, turns out about 3 feet of tubing over a 1" spanner(wrench) was perfect for breaking free a stuck adjusting nut. Now when you turn the steering wheel all the components in the steering system turn too.

Couple of other little things attended to were a loose nut on the shield between the steering box and the exhaust pipe. A nut had been temporarily fixed there on the trip back and was replaced today with a more correct one. Also the linkage for shutter stat mechanism hadn't been functioning properly, which Wade and Brian also temporarily fixed with a brass nut and a larger nut as a spacer. A more correct nut has taken its place and adjusted so the linkage should now do its job properly. Forgot to take a before picture of the temporary fix and am wondering why Wade didn't want to recreate it for me, so I could, after he'd fixed it?


And here's a little bit of '34 Packard "info". While Wade was fixing the shutter stat linkage I noticed a cut-out in the firewall for the accelerator pedal to carburettor linkage on the left side of the firewall but there was no linkage there because this is a RHD car. Wade then showed me the plate that covers the steering box mount on the left frame rail on RHD cars. Seems it came from the factory with both sides set up to accept either system, LHD or RHD. Then while under the left front mudguard looking at the steering box cover plate I happened to notice the two 11/16" nuts holding the cover plate for the headlight wiring, and probably the headlight too, were loose, very loose! In fact, almost at the point of falling off! Wade tightened these up and then checked the right side. Good news, they are tight, but....one is 3/4" while the other is probably Whitworth!

Quote:Quote:Mat,

I understand there's been a development regarding the '36 water pump with The Flackmaster identifying it as a 120 pump! Wade's now thinking along the lines of machining your present water pump to accept modern bearings and seals.[quote]

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