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Mal, Enjoying your postings, please keep them coming. I recently changed the "Goddess of Speed" radiator ornament for a "Bail" ornament on my 115C. I think the "Bail" styling goes better with the Junior cars. I keep the "Goddess" as a paperweight in my office.

(o{}o)

Saturday 10th September 2011

Dropped into the workshop to pick up a NORS radiator cap to send off to Terry, the guy with the '38 I visited last Sunday. Also returning the Fall 2007 issue of the PI magazine Terry lent me which has his '38 on front and rear covers and a 10 page spread inside.

But back-tracking to yesterday, I visited with Sam Irwin a member of our Packard Club in the afternoon. Sam had lent me a couple of old issues of our club magazine, The Packardian, a few weeks ago and I needed to return them. Also a chance to have a talk with Sam and see his cars. Did I say "have a talk with Sam"? I really meant listen to what Sam had to tell me! Arranged to be at Sam's at 2:00pm thinking I'd be there for about an hour. Well I left at 5:00pm with Sam still going. I did say a number of times I had to get going but then I'd see something else and ask Sam a question, so it wasn't really one-way traffic. My questions kept Sam going and even on the footpath when I said I had to get going for the umpteenth time Sam said "well who's keeping you from going?". Trouble is Sam's life, not just his involvement with cars and Packards in particular, is so interesting I have trouble tearing myself away. I mentioned to Sam he should write a book about his life and experiences and he said his family was urging him to do so. Hope he does, otherwise it'll be lost to posterity, in fact I might even offer to become his biographer! I am returning to see Sam again but, as I said to Sam I'll have to devote a lot more time the next time. I might even get to look in the garage which is 24' x 48' which I didn't see yesterday and only perused fleetingly two of the large photo albums where about half these pic's came from. So Sam, when you read this, after you give me your wife June's email address so you can, please don't be offended by my words, they are just part of the tale I'm telling. In fact a working title for a biography could be Sam Irwin - Tall Tales but True!

Have a look at this Picasa Album of the pic's I took. Sorry about the flashbacks on the pictures in the photo album but I was in a hurry. The pic's are all captioned and there are some stories in there as well. I think people like Wade, Peter Packard, Pepepackard, DavidM, Harvey and interestingly Snapey will find some things of particular interest.

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G'day all, especially Mal, Here is a 2001 pic of the 1970's 1938 Super Eight formal (with Eric MacRae at the wheel), in your Picassa Album. It is on a 1603 chassis and not the normal 1604 chassis. It has 90,000 miles from original and is still drives nicely. There is some conjecture that a number of surplus 1603 chassis were fitted with formal bodywork to shift surplus 1938 Seniors. It is an original RHD chassis and would have been very saleable in the Antipodes. Some very interesting snaps. Best Regards Peter Toet

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Monday 12th September 2011

Back in the workshop today after yesterdays Packard run to The Norman Lindsay Gallery in the Blue Mountains. Here's a link to the pic's I took yesterday.

Also yesterday, Wade who returned on Saturday from Bill Briens funeral in Melbourne, John and a couple of other guys had dismantled and transported to the workshop the two post hoist that Wade is going to "mind". First thing I saw this morning was Wade lovingly cleaning the posts. There being a hydraulic oil leak that needs to be addressed during the re-assembly of the hoist and it's components. Put in a long solid afternoon erecting the posts, placing the cross bar in place, running the lift/lowering cables, running the hydraulic line and control wires and anchoring the footplates to the workshop floor. Lifting the posts into position entailed transporting them, with the footplate end supported by an engine crane and the other end by a trolley jack. Wade operated the engine crane end and drove the arrangement while I brought up the rear with the jack. Individually maneuvered into position, the final lift was by means of John operating the forklift with one tine lifting the upper end of the post. Once almost upright, the workshop ceiling preventing a vertical lift, the remaining few inches needed for elevation were accomplished by muscle power alone. Then each post was "walked" into it's approximate position, a surprisingly easy operation. How do you put in position the upper cross bar that runs between the two posts and wherein the lifting/lowering cables, hydraulic hose and control cable run and the safety stop resides? Why, by borrowing the forklift from the business next door and using it in tandem with the shops forklift, that's how! The cross bar isn't that heavy but getting it high enough and holding it in place safely was. Each forklift had a wooden pallet on it's tines and the cross bar was loaded across both pallets, along with Wade and Mal and the nuts and bolts to secure it to the posts. Now I know the normal meaning of dual controls, but John was able to demonstrate a whole new meaning by operating both lifts simultaneously. Then we manually lifted the cross bar into position and, while I maintained it's position, Wade bolted together the first nut and bolt at his post. Then I did likewise at my post followed again by Wade at his post. John passed up a socket and spanner and the eight bolts, four a side/post, were tightened down. Lifting/lowering cables run through their pulleys and the hydraulic line and control wires run through their brackets. John then lowered me and my pallet to the floor and returned next doors forklift. Wade finished his side, although he'll be returning aloft again tomorrow to finish off. Back on the ground the longest and hardest part faced us, getting the posts vertical and aligned, then drilling 6" into reinforced concrete for the anchoring bolts. There was quite a supply of different thickness shims for this part of the procedure and Wade had purchased a box of Hilti bolts for the anchoring. Preliminary sightings with a builders level indicated shimming was very necessary and although there were a lot of shims by the time we finished there weren't many remaining. Still need to drill one anchoring hole, because there's a "bracket" on one side that interferes with getting the drill vertical while the lift is down. So once the hydraulics and controls are operational tomorrow, enabling reasonable access, the final anchoring hole can be drilled and finished. The Hilti anchoring bolts are something I hadn't seen before. Similar to other expanding anchoring system bolts but with a removable threaded choke piece at the internal end while the head of the bolt has a "shear off" outer head that snaps off and locks the bolt in place. I'll post some pic's tomorrow.

While we working on the hoist received the sad news that Helen Hood, wife of Max Hood, had passed away today. Helen and Max are very long time members of PACA, and are very well known in Australia's Packard community. The funeral is being held next week and Wade, I and other PACA members will be attending, in Packards if we can. Wade tells me Max and Helen were former owners of Eleanor or, as it's known in these pages, "The Fossil".

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Sad news about Helen - too many funerals lately...

As for the Aussie 6 Speedster pics, thank you Mal - these are pretty important snaps of a car I am not familiar with and the series of photos tell such a wonderful story. With your permision might I post them on some other web sites asking for more information? Also I think it would be wonderful if you would be able to get some high quality scans of these photos. To much history has already been lost by such information being discarded by later generations that may not fully appreciate it's importance in years to come.

Matt,

Certainly post the pic's. I will endeavour to borrow the album from Sam so I can scan them, there were a few more Speedster pic's too IIRC. I'll also obtain from Sam the contact details of the guy whose album it was before he moved to the South Coast a few years ago and gave Sam the album. Apparently the guy is still around so may know the story behind them.

Tuesday 13th September 2011

Work today was on finishing the hoist setup and getting it working. New 415V wall socket installed and new plug for the hoists power lead connected and plugged in. Then the hydraulic hose connections at the base of each post were cleaned, pink thread tape applied and re-installed and the hydraulic oil reservoir filled with oil. Then the big test. Rather, it turned out to be the big disappointment, nothing happening, motor running, but no movement. Much time was then spent checking connections and suchforth in the control box as well as changing the phasing connections. Then success! The hoist went up! Far enough that the remaining post anchoring hole could be drilled and the final Hilti anchoring bolt could be installed. After this the hoist was lowered and there it stayed! After reference to John's old hoist, which is the same model as the one Wade has and after many and various suggestions and much trouble shooting finally the hoist was in business. However it went up too far this time causing an oil leak because the rams were too far extended. Adjustment of the lower limit switch has now fixed that. This also allowed the swinging arms to operate effectively, previously the hoist hadn't lowered sufficiently to allow the locks holding the arms in place to release. Some fine tuning tomorrow so the arms at each side are level, check one of the hydraulic fittings because of a "weep" and refill the hydraulic oil reservoir. Then Emily can be moved out, she's sitting behind the hoist at the moment, and Fleurette can be moved in, lifted skywards and the trans and OD re-installed.

During the course of the hoist saga TonyW, Noel's mate, called in to drop off the cabinet for the radio for Fleurette he'd painted. Tony also picked up and measured the front seat top he's going to modify to fit Big Red.

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Wednesday 14th September 2011

After I left yesterday some "fine tuning" work was done on the hoist. So this morning, after Emily was pushed out of the way, Fleurette was pushed into place and aligned for lifting. The hoists lifting arms were positioned under the frame, with the under running board radio aerial acting as a minor obstacle but that didn't last long(Noel, you may have to invest in a regular aerial! - Just joking), and Fleurette enjoyed the pleasure of undertaking the maiden lift on Wade's new hoist.

Once in the air, and satisfied Fleurette was secure and well balanced, work started on returning the trans and OD from whence it came. With the trans and OD out of the car, the back of the engine was being supported by a Special Packard Tool, aka a piece of angle iron. The angle iron was replaced by Rick's transmission lift using wooden blocks to support the rear of the engine under the sump(oil pan). With some of the weight taken off the front of the hoist by this manoeuvre John's adjustable post was placed under the diff to counteract any tendency Fleurette may have wanted to tilt back. It really wasn't that delicate, but better to be safe than sorry. Then onto John's transmission lift went the trans/OD unit, chained down, then trundled into approximate position for lifting to start. After a quick tutorial from Wade on how the trans lift works, one pedal to pump it up, the other pedal to lower it we went to work. Wade was at the left front of the trans to guide the spigot shaft into position and to ensure the clutch release bearing also positioned correctly. I was at the rear slightly to the right, pedaling as required, and ensuring the right side containing the trans shifter arms(RHD) and OD lockout arm cleared the X member. Took a number of attempts before everything finally and literally clicked into place. In fact it was a fair number of attempts, the unfamiliarity of this method, ie using modern techniques seemed foreign for the Packard it was intended to benefit, plus the operators inexperience at working standing up obviously didn't help either. But to cut a long story short, we got there. Bolted the trans to the bell-housing, clutch release bearing spring installed, bottom of bell-housing installed and trans cross-member re-installed. Those were the direct and major parts back in place, then came the rest. First came the tailshaft, twice! First time, Wade noticed the front and rear uni-joints weren't aligned. So out came the tailshaft, the front yoke slid off it's splines and refitted so that both uni-joints now aligned. After that the clutch linkage, gear linkages and OD lockout linkage, exhaust pipe bracket and solenoid wires were re-connected. Standing around looking smug, no parts left over, then realised the DAF snubber, associated bracket and mount weren't back on! Phew, couldn't leave off that important part! Then Fleurette was lowered back to earth, so the first full working cycle of Wade's new hoist was accomplished without mishap. But there is a hydraulic oil weep from the hose or fitting at the bottom of the static post. Calling it the static post to differentiate it from the post the motor, hydraulic oil reservoir and controls are mounted on, and which could be referred to as the active post.

During the course of the day had a couple of visitors, First being TonyW, back already, with the stretched front seat top cover for Big Red in it's raw form. He'd added a couple of inches to the middle of the cover and flattened it. Needed a trial fit to ensure it does fit and it does. Still needs plenty of finishing work but it looks good even in it's present state. The other was PACA member EdK. Ed has a very nice '37 120 Touring Sedan but is currently experiencing wiper motor problems. Wade has a spare motor on the shelf and Ed wanted to familiarise himself with one before tackling his in situ. And following from Sunday's Packard run Wade has another "customer" for the workshop. John(Appin) on his return trip had tried to lock out the OD on his '40 110 Touring Sedan only to experience a loud bang and a broken uni-joint. Don't know if it's just the uni-joint, the OD, the Diff or some combination thereof. Won't know for a little while because the '40 can't come in until Fleurette and Emily have vacated the premises.

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That's NOT a 37-120 wiper motor. Might be 33...

A man and his hoist. I'm laughing, overcome with envy.
Joe