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If anyone is interested, another possible method for getting stuck bearing races out/off is to cool the axle or housing (but not the race) with dry ice. Often this shrinks things enough to get the race off/out.

Better than lots of heat, as this process does not effect the properties of the metal after it warms back up.

Tom

Yes Tom, I agree. That trick works even better when installing bearings where the axle and bearing are not touching each other and there is no heat (or cold) transfer between the two. Wheel bearings slide right in the hub when installed this way. I used to work in the metal shop at Roush Racing and we used liquid CO2 to perform all sorts of shrinking tasks. Another fun use was supercooling EPDM foam rubber so that it could be machined like aluminum. We also made DC10 landing gear there and after it was rough machined the billets were sent out for heat treat and when they returned they would be packed in crates full of dry ice. We would take the dry ice, crush it up, add it to a 2 liter bottle with some water in it and throw it out in the parking lot and wait for the explosion. VERY LOUD. Ah the good old days. We also made a lot of parts from titanium and magnesium for the race cars. The shavings that came off the lathe were fine enough that they could be ignited with a cigartte lighter. Once we discovered that, we would take handfulls of the chips, mix them all up in a Folgers coffee can and light them on fire in the parking lot. Once the fire was good and hot we would dump water in the can and run. The resulting bright white fireball would shoot ten feet in the air and make a perfect mushroom cloud.

Yeah, I work as an a draftsmen/detailer now and I sure do miss making things blow up and getting paid for it. Maybe I'll go get some dry ice for the next bearing that gets stuck. Heck, maybe I'll just pick some up for fun.....

Re your experiences with the magnesium shavings, are you familiar with a "thermite" bomb? I suppose the definition can be found on Wikipedia or such, but if not and you're interested, I'll describe. Great FUN and occasionally some practical uses; the megnesium/iron oxide bomb can be used to produce molten metallic iron.

I am familiar with thermite but have never gotten my hands on it. Probably a good thing too as I still have all my fingers at present.

When I was around ten years old my father wanted to show me how to remove a stump so he took some large copper pipe, crimped one end several times and then filled it up with matchtips (Not the bluetips! Never ever use the bluetips)and then crimped the opposite end over a few times. A wick was fashioned from some old firecrackers and installed in a previously drilled hole in the pipe. He stuck it in an old apple tree hollow in the backyard, lit the fuse and ran. A few seconds later it blew out that part of the tree and for about ten seconds later it rained wood bits all over our (and the neighbors) house. We didn't live out in the sticks and my dad was never a farmer. I don't know where he learned how to make a pipe bomb but I sure know where I learned! From that moment on I became obsessed with explosions and fire. I blew up tonka trucks, army men, my sisters Barbie dolls, my neighbors mailbox and countless plastic and balsa models and rocketships. I showed my friends what I had learned and we proceeded to make bombs from almost every conceivable explosive. Baking soda and vinegar, check. Aluminum foil and easy off, check. Matchtips, check. 12 gauge shotgun shells, check. firecrackers, check. We were very very bad but we are all grown up now and waiting for the neighborhood children to exact their revenge on us.

It seems that we may have gotten lucky though, most children these days are too busy blowing up digital stuff in video games. Children don't spend nearly enough time blowing real things up and I for one am disgusted with this new generation of slackers!

Wow, from freezing to blowing sh-- up! Gotta love Packard people. As a molecular biologist, I got to play around with all sorts of neat super-cold fluids. Nothing better than beer cooled with liquid N2. On a stick.

Now, back to the fire...

Back to work. I started cleaning up the steering linkage last weekend and discovered my ball studs are all shot. They were packed in dirt and look like eggs. They still measure 1.125" perpendicular to their axis but are almost .030 out of round when measured at about 30 degrees. I drew the parts up and sent them out to be quoted knowing they wouldn't be cheap and I also contacted a few people with used spares. The quote came in yesterday, $538 for the four parts. Granted these would be brand new but the price is a bit of a shocker for me. The drawings are below in case any future Packard enthusiast needs them. I have also drawn up the bearing cups for the balls but these haven't been quoted yet.

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Do you have a photo (or good sketch) of your tie rod ends with some major dimensions? Years back, thinking an extra set for my 34 would be nice spares to have (which fortunately I've never needed), I bought a pair that subsequently turned out not to be for my 34. I never bothered to identify them though I believe they are vintage Packard.

EDIT: Here's a pix; I suspect these are for a much older car than yours, but let me know if it looks familiar. Bore size for the tie rod is VERY large, about 1-1/8", perhaps more. Can measure if we're on the right track.

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Owen, I don't have a good pic or drawing but I will draw one up tonight for comparison. Thanks for the offer.

Nope, that's not it, see pic below. The one I need is 6" long and bored out 1" at the end with 1"-20 threads. Thanks for looking out for me though.
Todd

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This evenings project was soldering in a new copper oiling tube in to the steering arm. The old one was partially filled with dirt like everything else and was also crimped at one point. Here are some before and after shots. I had never done any soldering on cast iron before and was surprised it worked so nicely.

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