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Friday 21st October 2011

Dropped into the workshop this morning to discover that Wade has refitted the diff housing to Junior. He's also refitted the wheel cylinders to the backing plates. Once the ordered parts arrive, maybe next week, final assembly can be undertaken. With Junior up in the air, Wade took the opportunity to give Junior a lube job and to drain and replace the engine oil and in doing so fitted a new copper washer to the sump plug, no more leaks from there now. John had also been over yesterday and I understand he's pleased with the progress so far. Until the parts arrive Wade's also been tinkering with some things on and for The Fossil, just what I didn't find out, maybe next week?

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Monday 24th October 2011

A fleeting appearance at the workshop this morning to find 1) Another Packard there, Michael's '54 Convertible, and 2) No parts yet from the US, so no work for Mal. Michael was there to talk to Wade about rebuilding the front end of the Convertible. Wade will do that once Michael buys a complete front end kit and it arrives from the US. Sitting on the bench was a radio Wade had fixed for Harvey's '40 Willys. It's of more recent vintage than the Willy's being an AWA Cruiser Transistor and Harvey wondered, because it was "full" of transistors, whether Wade could fix. Well, Wade could and did fix it, finding lots of valves and one, count 'em, one transistor only! All the valves AND the transistor were replaced as well as capacitors but it still wasn't working right until Wade found it was fitted with a 4 Ohm speaker instead of the 15 Ohm it needed. Wade also tells me he's keen to get The Fossil up on the hoist once Junior is out of the way.

Over the weekend, I also had a call from JohnM about taking him and his TJ Richards bodied '39 Six Sedan to see the guy who repaired the bumps and bruises on my '38 Eight before I sold it. John has some nicks and scratches on his '39 which he wants fixed. Have arranged to go to John's house tomorrow afternoon and from there I'll drive the '39 Six because John is 83 and has an injured shoulder at the moment which prevents him from driving it.

So without gainful employment at the workshop I headed home. About halfway between the workshop and home, I pass by the house of RichardW. Richard has a 30/98 Vauxhall Tourer, builds roadster/convertible wooden top bows from scratch and supplies rivets of all shapes, sizes and configurations. Today parked outside Richard's house, on a car trailer, was a highly polished aluminium(aluminum) bodied '21 E-type Vauxhall! Only had a chance to take a few pic's before the cars owner drove off. Afterwards spoke to Richard who advised the guy had driven down from Queensland, 500 miles north, with another Vauxhall which he'd put on a ship to the UK. And was now returning to Queensland with the Vauxhall on the trailer, which is his "run-about" and had been used on a recent Vauxhall club rally on the south coast of New South Wales. And the Vauxhall he'd put on a ship? It's going to be a participant in the London to Capetown Rally next year! Apparently the guy has participated in a couple of recent Peking to Paris Rallys so knows what he's up against.

EDIT - Almost forgot. Richard told me he's found a pair of Rudge Whitworth wire wheels from which a mate of his is only going to use the 24" rims. This means the hubs, one of which has a Packard hub cap, are available as well as spokes and possibly other bits. DavidM - You come to mind as someone who would know whether there are any Aussie Packard owners who might be interested in the hubs? If you do, let me know and I'll pass on Richards contact details.

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Tuesday 25th October 2011

Another day, another shorter stay at the workshop although this time some work was done. The parts for Junior are still to arrive from the US. Hasn't been long, but the wait is frustrating. However this morning moved onto The Fossil for which Wade made an inner firewall insulating panel yesterday, now came the fitting. Part of the problem with this is that although Wade has two originals neither are in a good state of repair. One is for the original RHD body and the other came off the replacement LHD body. Replacements are available from the US but these are configured to fit LHD bodies so won't work with The Fossil where the firewalls were reconfigured from LHD to suit the RHD rolling chassis. Additionally there were many holes required in the panel to suit fitment for The Fossil with a radio and speaker box fitted to suit RHD. The panel is now fitted on the inside the firewall but is yet to be bolted down because of other fittings still needing to be mounted. Turned then to fitting the accelerator linkage. Although the firewall had been converted with the best of intentions from LHD to RHD it's only now that things are being fitted that it was found some minor grinding and drilling was required to obtain the proper alignment for the linkage.

Then in the afternoon drove JohnM's '39 TJ Richards bodied '39 Six Sedan over to Colin's for a quote for paint repairs to the nicks and scratches on the car. John followed me over in his daily driver and we ended up leaving the '39 with Colin. Reason being it was a rainy day and with water all over the body Colin wasn't prepared to quote on that basis. He's going to wait for a fine day without water on the body to give a quote on what he sees then. Colin mentioned it was an old panel beaters trick to hose down a car when a customer came to pick it up after it had been repaired!

After yesterday's post about the Rudge Whitworth wire wheel hubs DavidM is now hot on the trail, per this edited extract from David's email ".....24" wheels are hens teeth and were highly sought after when a few people were restoring that model. Everyone I know has now solved their wheel issue one way or another. However I would be interested in acquiring the hubs just to save them in case I or someone needs them one day....."

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Wednesday 26th October 2011

Still another day and still another fleeting pit stop at the workshop. The hand brake cables for Junior had arrived yesterday, after I left, and Wade has fitted them to the backing plates. Wade is also in the midst of re-arranging benches and things in his corner because he's been the lucky recipient of a bench with a draintop and a slide out catch tray. The bench came from the same workshop the hoist came from and will be very handy for all the cleaning that's required with Packard parts.

The reason I called in wasn't because of that but to borrow a pop rivet gun to repair a screen door at home, my gun didn't
have a large enough fitting for the size rivet I was using. Then I promptly broke the rivet gun on the first rivet I tried it on!
After getting over that shock, finished the job by drilling out my el cheapo rivet gun to take the larger nail shank on the rivets, and it worked. Wade will be the proud owner of a new pop rivet gun tomorrow.

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Thursday 27th October 2011

Yesterday, the comfort package of Packard parts for Junior finally reached the workshop. Wade refitted the pumpkin to the diff housing with a new gasket, fitted the new shocks, repacked the rear axle bearings and refitted the axles. Then this morning, after more cleaning, the new outer axle seals, backing plates, brakes, brake lines and brake drums were fitted. The hand brake cables connected and adjusted and then re-adjusted. Then the rear brakes were bled but just as we were about to start that process Juniors Dad, John, arrived. Bled the brakes with a nice firm pedal resulting. John was pleased to see the progress made and see it was getting closer to being finished. After John left the skimmed pinion shaft was fitted to the pumpkin, the tailshaft re-fitted, the diff filled with fresh oil and the rear wheels and tyres re-fitted. Time to bring Junior back to life but required a 12V boost to get going. Then, once warmed up, put through his paces with wheels off the ground. Everything appears to be working and there are no untoward noises. Tomorrow we'll clean and check the plugs as well as perform a compression test although John says he's already done one with he thinks #3 showing only about 20/25psi, could be the explanation for the miss.

And Bill B forwarded a pic from his US trip with the message "Pride of place at Nethercutt Collection,Sylmar,CA. Eat your heart out!"

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Mal, thanks for sharing the 1934. I saw the car at Pebble Beach in 2008. It is more impressive than photos can present. Here are some more photos.

(o[]o)

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The whole LeBaron series for 1934 of the 1106 teardrop coupe, roadster and the 1108 sport phaeton are all fascinating. Fortunately we get quite a few opportunities to see them as they are often shown.

Whenever I see one, what comes to mind is "only 6(or 5, or 7?) built, only 15 remaining".

Friday 28th October 2011

On the way to the workshop picked up my sister Diana from the railway station because she's interested in buying a car. Unfortunately not a Packard, just something to get her around in. John currently has two cars for sale, a Lexus ES300 Sedan and a Volvo V40 Wagon, to help pay for the upcoming wedding of his daughter in December. When we arrived at the workshop Wade was pulling the plugs from Junior and performing a compression test. Left Wade doing that while Diana inspected the Lexus then we had to drive to where John's son was working because he's currently using the Volvo as his daily driver. Unfortunately neither car took her fancy, for reasons not directly related to the cars, so they both were No Sales. Still, I'm sure there are plenty of eager buyers out there just waiting for the chance to help finance John's daughters wedding!

After dropping Diana at the railway station it was back to the workshop where Wade had completed the compression test, see photo's for results. Wade had also cleaned, re-gapped and re-installed the plugs but Junior refused to start again. Juniors battery is currently on slow charge and because Wade is coming in on the weekend to do a little work on The Fossil will try and fire up Junior then.

Speaking of The Fossil, that's what was turned to on my return. Installed the vacuum tubes and through the firewall fitting for her braking system. Also did the through the firewall vacuum wipers fitting and oil pressure fitting. Finished off with some of the upper into the firewall bolts that attach from inside the cabin. Then it was off to the Eastwood Rugby Club for lunch. Last time at that venue because the food standard has been slipping, something the restaurant owner/manager wouldn't acknowledge.

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Sunday 30th October 2011

Went for a short run in the Coupe today to the Rolls Royce Owners Club of Australia New South Wales Branch Concours Day at Linnwood House. I used to work with the guy who organised the RR Concours and, having a couple of spare hours on a Sunday morning, took the opportunity to check it out. Funny, mine was the only Packard there!

Link to RR Concours pic's. Most pic's are uncaptioned.

And met a guy there who knows Wade, SimonA, he's the owner of the '51 Riley. Gave Wade a "hot lap" around Eastern Creek Raceway some years ago in a RR. And says he'll pop onto the workshop one day because he's only just round the corner

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Monday 31st October 2011

Caught up with Wade early afternoon, after spending the morning with the grand-daughters. Wade was trying to dig out the best of the vacuum and Bijur lines from the shelves, but! But, where there should have been a choice from two sets there was only one set of lines. Where do these things disappear to? Wade was sure the lines he couldn't find were in much better "shape" than those found. Will have to reshape those that were found because they have suffered over the years. While Wade was digging out lines and giving them a preliminary clean, I was taking them to the next level on the wire wheel and/or the blasting cabinet as required. Wade also disassembled the two Bijur reservoirs for the best mounting bracket, top and pump apparatus. These too received the wire wheel treatment. All this is part of the process of getting the firewall hardware, inside and out, mounted so other work can then proceed. And John, believe Wade will call you tonight.

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