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Quote:David,

No prize, unless a broken engine snubber is attractive to you, just the satisfaction of knowing you solved the mystery. Of course you can also reach round and pat yourself on the back, the Pacific Ocean makes it difficult for me to do so. Plus I'm sure you'll want to put Noel out of the misery of his not knowing.

PS - I took and posted the pic with the expectation you would be one to respond!

Friday 8th April 2011

Wade tells me he kept himself busy most of yesterday remounting the sidemount brackets on The Fossil. Apparently another pair of hands wouldn't have helped much so I don't feel too guilty about not being at the workshop. The difficulty was access in inserting the retaining bolts/nuts/washers on the inside of the chassis. Besides being in completely blind areas, necessitating all operations by feel, most needed to be held by a pair of pliers to reach the desired point of insertion or attachment No wonder it took the best part of 6 hours to do it. Although Wade did get the use of an additional pair of hands with Darren lending assistance on one particularly troubling bolt/nut, but that was all. After that, Wade had started on the right side bonnet(hood) side panel adding hardware in the form of the side door springs being attached and had run a die over the exposed and painted stud threads. Besides that, Noel had dropped his '39 120 Touring Sedan in. It, Big Red and my '41 Coupe are the bridal cars for a young mate of John's wedding tomorrow, Saturday.

On to today. Because of the wedding Wade needed to attend to a couple of minor matters on Big Red. One of which was one of the front seat upholstery buttons, there are six and the middle one on the left(drivers) side seat squab, had parted ways with it's retaining cord. Didn't think Wade was that heavy, but that is the side that is occupied all the time so it receives the most stress. The other was the upholstery piece on the front seat back that covers the gap between the seat itself and the rigid body seat back structure. The staples used a couple of weeks ago were too short so tacks were on the shopping list as a solution. And for Noel's '39 some double sided tape, What for? The hubcaps of course, because Noel has lost a few along the way.

Purchases made and back at the workshop I removed, taped and re-installed the two rear hubcaps while Wade busied himself with Big Red's front seat squab. Once Wade was ready that then became a two man job so I put aside Noel's hubcaps and assisted. Because of the lack of time and a limited range at the local hardware store bricklayers nylon string was purchased for the upholstery button job, in a lovely shade of fluorescent green too. Using a long mattress needle and with a length of brickies string looped through the eye of the needle Wade pierced the squab at the button point and pushed it through to the back within the confines of the upholstery spring it's located within. Difficult to do because the length of the needle, just long enough to pierce the squab, doesn't lend itself to precision positioning. Besides fixing the broken button string, the other two buttons under the drivers posterior had their strings replaced as a preventative maintenance measure. With the seat squab back in Big Red, then taped the two front hubcaps on Noel's '39. Also painted Noel's mobile phone number inside these two, the rear two hubcaps already having had that detail attended to. Turned to Big Red's upholstery again with Wade tacking the front seat top cover to the rigidly mounted seatback frame. Took a lot of tacks, but worked out well in the end.

The tacking work was carried out in the carpark and once back inside Wade turned againto the bonnet(hood) side panels for The Fossil. Wade mounted the new Steele's rubber rubbing block to the right side panel as well as the small rubber dimple which is situated under the Packard spear. Turned to the left side panel, new ventilation door springs installed, painted studs cleared of paint using a die and rubber rubbing block and rubber dimple installed. Next items to be attended to were the bonnet locking rods. These haven't yet been cleaned and painted but should be done so early next week. Although they look the same, there are differences between the right and left sides so Wade made a drawing detailing each rod for reference at re-assembly time, probably later next week. Some old fashioned black-smithing was also in order to straighten the kinks in the shorter rods which run between the bonnet(hood) handles and the long locking rods.

Quote:David,

So do I, now. Apparently they are ".....a piece which holds the headlights in a Dodge Charger! When Mathew and I were in Arkinsas with Flackmaster we found these among a pile of Chrysler parts, and Mathew wanted them for his Charger...."
Noel. Pity Mat didn't get more parts, he needs them as I believe he's written the Charger off! Might be for the best, now he can concentrate on his Packards! Sorry Mat, can't help myself.

Also had a request from Hobbs "......The little brackets that mount on the front chassis bar (both sides) of Wade's 34. I don't have these and am seeking a detailed photo of them. Any help would be great!

BTW, does flackmaster have much as far as parts for 1933-1934. Not sure I have his info, but he does sure seem knowledgeable!....."

Hobbs, as you know, any communication sent to me is usually regarded as fair game as far putting it onto this Project Blog is concerned. I'll try and remember to get some bracket pic's tomorrow when I'm down at the workshop getting the '41, Big Red and Noel's '39 dressed in their wedding finery.

As to the Flackmaster, believe it's mostly Junior Pre-War parts but I notice there has been a shift in recent times to other Packard parts as well. Might be better to refer directly to him, probably by PM. Or, David may respond here or by PM to you.

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Monday 11th April 2011

Before workshop patter I'll backtrack a bit to Saturdays wedding car extravaganza. What else could you call it with Big Red, Noel's '39 and the '41 Coupe providing the bridal party's transportation from home, to church, to photo shoot sites and then to the reception? A beautiful autumn day in Sydney complete with cloudless blue skies provided a great day for the wedding. Wade and I provided transport for the Bride and Bride's father in the '41 and three Bridesmaids in Big Red from the Brides parents house. John, meanwhile, had picked up the Groom and Groomsmen from the Groom's mothers house in Noel's '39. Then it was off to the church at Balmain. I'll also make mention that the Bride's family lives a couple of blocks from me while the church is in Wade's neighbourhood. And a very unusual occurrence, the bride was early! So early in fact that we drove past the church and parked for about 10 minutes before returning and even then we were waved away again for another 5 minutes! Doesn't happen often, maybe it could be put down to smooth running Packards getting her to the church before time. From the church the first photo stop was further down the peninsula at Ballast Point Park, site of an old gasworks and oil refinery/depot before it was converted into picturesque parklands. The parklands retain some of the features of the old industries formerly occupying the site making for interesting photo opportunities. From there it was back up to Balmain, where we sighted Paris Hilton! Well it looked like Paris, and if I'd been quicker with the camera might have been able to prove it. Actually it was probably a look-alike, even down to the little white dog, pink and white leisuresuit and big sunglasses. From Balmain, then to Callan Park Hospital for the Insane for some photos down by the river in the setting sun and some shots using the old sandstone Hospital buildings as backdrops. On the way down to the river we passed some schoolgirls who excitedly exclaimed "Look there's Miss H", they are pupils at the school where the Bride teaches! Then, with night falling, it was off to The Epping Club for the reception. All up about 5 hours with about 1&1/4 hours of that being driving. There's certainly a lot of standing and waiting around for drivers at these events.

After all that fun and excitement it was a return to reality at the workshop today. I picked up Noel from the railway station, he'd caught the train over so he could pick up the '39 and return home in it. While I was picking up Noel, Wade was cleaning up the bonnet(hood) opening mechanism rods for The Fossil. Then after Noel left there was some car shuffling and Big Red was backed into the workshop for attention to its carburettor. Wade was finding, especially when cold, that Big Red was stumbling and was taking the carb off to investigate. While Wade did that I took up the running cleaning all the hardware pieces, nuts, washers, clips and such for the bonnet(hood) mechanisms for The Fossil. This entailed wire-wheeling off any dirt and rust on the small parts concerned. Usually I do this by holding the parts in my hand or with my fingers for this operation but, because they were so small, a gripping device in the form of a pair of pliers was utilised. Because there were so many pieces to clean and each one entailed rotating and re-gripping in the pliers, by the time I'd cleaned all the hardware Wade had the carb off Big Red, pulled it down and replaced the seal on the accelerator pump. Carb was then put back on Big Red, linkages and fuel line re-fitted but I had to leave before fire up because of an afternoon commitment. I'll find out tomorrow how it went.

And Hobbs, I haven't forgotten you, although I did on Saturday and again today! Tomorrow's always another day!

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Tuesday 12th April 2011

First, Wade fired up Big Red to demonstrate how much better she's running after yesterdays carburettor ministrations. Then it was on to painting the bonnet(hood) parts cleaned yesterday as well as those previously cleaned by Wade. Because there were so many small parts it took me longer to wire them up for painting than the painting did itself! In the end an entire morning was spent in doing this as well as a couple more parts that Wade cleaned and wired up. While I was doing that Wade was preparing the bonnet(hood) top panels. He cleaned the long hinge pins on each panel and ensured they were relatively free in the hinge loops running along the inside of the outside edge of the bonnet(hood). He has new stainless steel bonnet(hood) hinge attaching strips(don't know what else to call 'em) which needed to be riveted to the bonnet(hood) top panels. The panelbeater had drilled six holes in each attaching strip but there remained many more holes to be drilled in the strips. By bolting the strips to the top panels Wade was able to mark and drill the required holes. But there weren't any rivets to suit. So a trip in Big Red ensued to Eastwood, two suburbs away, to see Richard, the only top bow maker in Australia as well as a purveyor of rivets. Picked up 50 rivets as well as a "snap" then back to the workshop for testing. But what's a "snap"? Funny you should ask, it's a punch to dome the end of a rivet once it's been flattened by hammering, see pic. Testing consisted of drilling holes in a piece of 1/8" scrap steel then cutting rivets to shorter lengths and hammering and "snapping". During the course of the testing decided rather than cut rivets to length I would return to Richard and exchange the rivets for shorter ones. Another test on return and they were perfect. In fact the "snap" was dispensed with because the flattened head was small enough for the length concerned.

But how were the rivets going to be riveted in place? The bonnet(hood) top panel curves from the centre to the edge and also has a 90 degree(approx) outside edge, incorporating the Packard spear. The curve and the edge presented a problem in finding a solid and secure surface for the cold riveting process because the shape of the panel when held vertically for riveting meant it tucked under the edge of what you were riveting against. The anvil was no good because it has splayed legs. The edge of the metal workbench was tried but it's rounded and not conducive to being a good surface for hammering with intent. By this time John had wandered over and he suggested using the frame of the car trailer, suitably braced with jack stands. On the way out of the workshop to inspect the car trailer, Rick's 4 post hoist, John's 2 post hoist and the hydraulic press stand were also eyeballed as to their suitability. Then John had another idea, the forks on the forklift! John backed the forklift out, raised the forks to waist height and there we had it. A suitable, solid surface against which the preformed rivet head rested allowing the panel to drop down and under without interference. Wade started the riveting process until John suggested a better method whereupon he took over the blacksmithing. I, of course, wouldn't have been suitable because as soon as you place a hammer in my hands I'm known as lightning, never striking in the same place twice! In fact I was reminded of The Village Blacksmith by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, even looked around but no spreading chestnut tree did I see. Still needs some more work because some of the holes were drilled out by the panelbeater and will require a larger diameter rivet to fill them properly.

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Thursday 14th April 2011

Although we had the granddaughters over today I did manage to drop into the workshop for about 1/4 of an hour, having had to go down that way on an errand. And while there managed to finally remember this for Hobbs:
Quote:
Took some pic's of the clamps, and it might Hobb's lucky day. While taking the pic's Wade mentioned he has a spare pair of clamps. Hobbs, I'll send you an email to work out arrangements.

Wade has been working on the bonnet(hood) panels for The Fossil, mounting the opening/closing mechanisms and handles on these panels. While I was there Wade was finishing off mounting the little chrome handles to open the four small side vent doors on each side panel.

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Monday 18th April 2011

Drove the Coupe down to the workshop this morning, so the exhaust leak can be fixed, and parked it outside. Much shuffling of cars was required before I could back the Coupe in, under Wade's direction, and park it between Big Red and The Fossil. Jacked up the front end, jackstands under frame, then under car and took off engine pipe and clamp to bellhousing. Out from under Coupe, air cleaner off, carburettor off, throttle linkage disconnected from carb, fuel line disconnected, vacuum line disconnected and front and rear manifold nuts off. Back under Coupe and then the fun started. Everything had been straightforward to this point, now there remained the removal of the other 8 nuts holding on the intake/exhaust manifolds. They'd been easy to put on when the engine was rebuilt on the bench a year ago. Now, undercar, in a confined space, fatman on a creeper, it was a completely different scenario. Took the rest of the morning, using only one hand because there's just no room for another, with most nuts only turning a fraction of a turn because of the proximity of the manifolds, but I got there!

Near the end Big Bad Barry arrived. BBB had dropped in to borrow Harvey's brake drum puller because a whine has developed in the diff of his '35. BBB had driven the '35 on Noel's Run a couple of weeks ago. On the run BBB had taken DavidM for a drive to listen to it, whereupon David advised the sooner Barry stopped driving it the better! Because BBB lived relatively close by he took the '35 home and swapped it for his '60's Ford Galaxie. Continuing in the Galaxie he then ran into another problem when a heater hose sprung a leak, such is the way of old cars. But back to the '35, BBB has a spare diff and is swapping the pumpkin in so needs the brake drum puller to remove the axles for the exercise. If that pumpkin is OK, ie no whine, fine. If not, then further action will be required.

Back to the Coupe, and finished removing the nuts from the manifold studs then broke the intake/exhaust manifolds free from the block. Required help with lifting the manifold assembly out of the engine back, it's a fair way down when you're leaning over a '41 mudguard(fender), and the weight factor definitely comes into play. Out it came and onto the bench. A quick examination showed that #7 exhaust port was blowing as well as a few "spider legs" on #4 with #5 also suffering. However, examination of the manifold assembly on the bench revealed it was loose! There didn't appear to be any suggestion of a blown gasket but when dis-assembled proved otherwise. The innermost gasket surfaces, where the bottom of the inlet manifold hot box abuts exhaust manifold and the only surfaces you can't see, was completely blown through. Can't remember what manifold gasket sealant we used but, whatever it was, it had set really, really well. While I cleaned up the manifold surfaces by scraping and on the wire wheel, Wade was cleaning up the block surfaces with a knife and a scraper only. And a good job he did too!

While cleaning up the manifolds Noel arrived in the '39. He'd picked it up today after the final polishing for it's ding repairs and didn't it shine! Noel was dropping it off for a grease, oil and oil filter change at his local Packard Service Centre. Well, it's the only one in Sydney that I know of and probably in Australia too! Noel didn't have a new oil filter cartridge so he's going to chase that tomorrow at the place I sourced the one for my '41 recently, Mr Filter at Toongabbie. Probably get a few more too, because he'll need one for his '41 Coupe as well as having a spare or two for future use. So Noel knew what was needed, Wade removed the old filter cartridge, drained it of most of the old oil, bagged it in a ziplock and presented this to Noel to present to the counterman at Mr Filter.

Back to the Coupe again, manifold surfaces all clean a trial fitting using a new hot box gasket showed some height differences between the intake and exhaust manifold portions with the intake manifold port runners clear of the exhaust port surfaces. The manifold assembly exhaust/intake port surfaces had been surfaced almost three years ago, as an unbroken unit, with 0.080" approx removed. Because of that clean up there's no more meat left for further clean up surfacing so another solution was required. This turned out to be Mal filing the three hot box bolt holes to elongate them so the manifold surfaces were once again level with each other. Did I mention filing? I did? What I really needed to mention was I filed, and filed, and filed. After each round of filing, bad pun intended, the exhaust/inlet manifolds were re-assembled with a new gasket, level checked, dis-assembled, more filing, re-assembled, level-checked, dis-assembled, etc, etc. Getting close, but not quite there. Last check revealed the "middle" manifold bolt was acting like a pivot so the two outside holes and bolts were fine just not the "middle" one. After one more round of intensive filing, on the "middle" hole only, re-assembled and......perfect.

With Wade not in the workshop tomorrow I was to return there on Wednesday. But on returning home, courtesy of Wade's limo service, Kath informed me we are visiting her brother and his wife that day. So it'll have to be Thursday before I can complete the job.

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In a pinch Harvey would do it even without brake drum puller.

Thursday 21st April 2011

Arrived at the workshop very early, catching a train, with the expectation of driving the Coupe home. With Wade not due in for another 3/4 to 1 hour I busied myself cleaning up the floor under the Coupe, there was a lot of fallout from removal of the old gasket from the block surface. Also cleaned up nuts and bolts and found some new washers to replace those on the hot box bolts and for the exhaust pipe manifold clamp. When Wade arrived, at his request took some pic's for Barry Smith of the ID plate on the Autolite starter on the Coupe. Barry is trying to source a replacement plate for the starter in his '38 Twelve and was told they didn't have them but if he could provide details they'd make him one. Hope the pic's are good enough for this purpose Barry. Then I set about preparing the intake and exhaust manifolds for re-assembly together. This entailed using a silicon gasket sealer, rated to 700F, and applying it to both faces of the hot box then loosely bolting the pieces together along with use of the straight edge. Once a level surface was achieved with all the intake and exhaust flanges the hot box bolts were tightened some more.

At this point Wade left me cleaning up the manifold stud threads while he rescued the '34 chassis from its lonely resting place under the ramp to the upper carpark. Why was he doing this? Because Snapey was coming over in the afternoon to pick it up and take it to its new home and commence work on the racing biposto. Wade had spent some time yesterday clearing the accumulation of parts and debris from around and on the chassis. Between studs I spent a little time out there helping push the chassis, first with the diff on a trolley jack and then with the trolley jack under the front axle. Moved it from the depths of under the ramp to facing out, still under the ramp, awaiting collection.

By this time the initial curing period for the silicon gasket sealer had elapsed so onto the the next phase, coating both sides of the manifold gaskets with the same sealer. A very messy operation too, but that's to be expected when I'm squeezing stuff out of tubes. I could never be accused of being sparing in these operations. 120 manifold gaskets are in three pieces so as each piece was done it was slipped onto studs. Then the two person operation with the manifold assembly, Wade at the front and myself at the back. '41 Packards with their high rigid bonnet(hood) sides are no fun to work on at the best of times. Even less so when trying to hold, manoeuvere and install a manifold assembly. Manifold on, the two end washers and nuts installed then I was under the Coupe again to install the other eight manifold washers and nuts. While I was under the Coupe Wade was again out with the '34 chassis, removing the rear wheels, pumping up the tyres and re-installing same. Meanwhile back under the Coupe I was fighting the confines I'd placed myself in but it was easier than when I removed the nuts earlier in the week. For one, I'd found a better position and for another the cleaned threads aided installation. During the course of all this Noel arrived, even though he'd picked up the '39 yesterday after it's Packard service. Actually he had to come back over this way to an art shop just round the corner, who didn't have what he wanted! Nevertheless he also picked up some things he's taking down to Peter Packard in Canberra this weekend, I think. Why do I think this? Because the whole time Noel was there I was under the Coupe so it's a bit hard to be part of a conversation in that sort of situation. And, here's a first, no pic of Noel this time over! Continuing on with manifold nut installation and tightening, finally managed to get them all done......but! But I had a 9/16" ratchet spanner(wrench) stuck on nut #3(from the front), I'd managed to get it on the nut and tighten it up but it wouldn't come off! Fortunately it did in the end, with some judicious light levering using a large screwdriver while jiggling the spanner(wrench) managed to get it up and off the nut! Otherwise I would have needed to replace the hole I'd created in Wade's toolchest.

That done, lunch, so up to Eastwood Rugby Club for a meal accompanied by liquid refreshments. Worked out well, because there was more curing time for the silicon gasket sealer. Back at the workshop re-installed the cross engine throttle linkage with Wade's help and then the carburettor. Then while I was under the Coupe installing the exhaust pipe to manifold gasket Wade was up top hooking up various lines like vacuum, fuel and choke hot air. Must say, after what was a very good lunch, this fatman found it much harder to "slide" under the Coupe. During this Matt, Snapey, arrived and with John and Wades help winched the '34 Chassis onto the car trailer. I took a brief time out from under the Coupe to snap some pic's of this operation then back under to finish off the exhaust pipe hookup. After Matt had left with his prized Packard possession, which still has the engine and trans in it although these are not part of the deal, returned to the Coupe and re-mounted the bellhousing to exhaust pipe brackets. But returning to the '34 chassis, part of the deal with Wade was that Matt would make a frame/cradle/whatever which the engine can be mounted on/in so it can sit in the corner of the workshop while contemplating it's new life as a "spare". Back under the Coupe again, when Matt left, and re-mounted the bell-housing to exhaust pipe bracket and clamp. Left it there, although I thought I be driving the Coupe home this afternoon. Will finish things off on Saturday morning by re-installing the fuel pump heat shield and the air cleaner, Plus the extra cold curing time is good for the silicon gasket sealer, 24 hours at least is recommended before firing up.

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Possible source for early Auto-Lite tag.

JD, I'll let Barry know.