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Probably not what they contained. Asbestos insultaion was used a lot in pipe insulation, flooring, and blown-in stuff like good old Vemiculite. Looks like you've got fiberglas mat, which, being made of glass fires was not a good camdidate for adding fire retardant.

Adhesives are another story. I'm no expert on them-- so many different compounds!


But, in all cases, here's you easy way to peace of mind: Take samples in to your local epa testing center and they'll tell you more than you'd like to know about any hazards in the material, fire retardant qualities, insulating value... So have fun, it's just better to check first. But as an inveterate dust-breather from my early youth on, I know it just doesn't seem worth the time-- but it its if you're removing a great deal of material. The little stuff, it' easy to just rely on the mask. But dam are them things hot!

Took the Clipper out for a 45 min drive today with my daughters (price they pay for wanting Drive-Thru for dinner). Once fully warmed up she ran like a top. Even the transmission is feeling better off the line. Still no direct lock-up, but I had her up to 60mph without the motor feeling stained at all.

Kids didn't believe I was going to pull the car through the narrow driveway in the burger joint drive-thru, but the old Clipper handled it just fine. Then came the next question "Where are the cup holders?", my response "You each have two of them, they are on the ends of your wrists.". I made one of them hold my drink as steering the car at very low speed (under 5mph) requires two hands. Above that you can steer with one finger.

The eldest daughter wanted to be dropped off at a friends house on the way back. So I took the long way, which gave me a 4 mile stretch of open road to get the car up to speed. Temp stayed pegged at slightly above the 1/2 mark no matter if the car was moving, or sitting in traffic.

Coming into the driveway of her friend's house, the car scrapped in the front and back. The driveway did seam particularly steep, but there is a dip where the driveway meets the street. So backing up I had to take it at an angle to avoid scrapping the new tailpipe on the pavement. Those radial tires sure make the car sit much lower that stock. Put they do make the car track straight while at speed.

I'm surprised your kids want their friends to see them in your Packard in it's current state--or are Dad's old cars socially acceptable now.

Lol no it's not...... but that is the price they pay if they want a ride! :D (Unless it's raining)

I do realize now that I had it out in traffic on a main road.... I really need to install some side mirrors. As lane changes at speed are a bit nerve wracking without them in heavy traffic.

Aftermarket door edge mirrors ordered for the car. These will do until I can pony up the big-boy money for the reproduction Packard ones.

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Some more work on the car today. I noticed that the interior lights were not working after coming back from the drive last night. Fuse was blown. Hmmm.... So after a little poking around I discovered the pig tail wiring to the dome light hidden behind the remains of the headliner was completely rat chewed and the wires must have shorted when the car was bouncing around. Of course this was the only piece of wiring I didn't replace/check when i rewired the entire car.

So I pulled out the dome light and replaced the socket wiring with extra wiring from I had from a spare set of parking lights (Same socket internals). Then everything was put back together.

Take a look at how faded this fragment of headliner was is compared to the original color.

While I was in the car I took the time to remove the two dings that were in the roof. Standard hammer and dolly work here. So needs a tad bit more with a fine picking hammer.

The I worked on stripping more of the exterior of the car. Getting all the area around the window frames is a pain, but I made a lot of progress today.

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Also I found the mats I picked up at PI work great to cover the holes in the floor! lol

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Took the Packard for an hour drive and put about 20 miles on her. Ended up with the kids at the Dairy Queen downtown. I really need new window channels in the car..... rattle rattle rattle.

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Parts arrived today, so I am set for this next weekends repair activities.

Spare transmission gasket arrived, so I can drop the pan and clean the filter and perhaps the valve body after doing the pressure tests.

Also the elusive muffler bracket arrive from Max Merritt. It a pretty beefy piece and made very well. For sure a speciality part, and not available over the counter.

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