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I think it's the acclimated part that is the secret. If you drove it daily then not an issue. I was thinking more of the drive a new car daily and take the Packard (or any other different car) out once a month scenario. In my case, just finding and using the gearshift with the wrong hand would be a problem so the accelerator is down on the list.

As an afterthought, on column shift cars with the lever toward the middle, are the gearshift patterns the same standard H with reverse up and back, third forward and down that left hand drives use? Floor shifts the same?

You're right on other cars being different though. The accelerator is minor details when you consider how many might have a problem jumping into a Model T.

The 'H' shift pattern is the same. Concerning placement of the accelerator pedal in the 1102 pic I posted, I thought it looked "wrong" after seeing where The Fossil's is located. This is confirmed from Dave's, O_D's, archives although the '32 Indian Packard has the pedal coming from the inside of the steering column location against the outside location of all the '34 pic's. Regarding driving with the accelerator pedal between the clutch and brake pedals it's just a matter of getting used to the placement. My first car was a Model A Ford which had this arrangement and I used to swap between that and my parents car with a 3 on the tree and accelerator pedal on the right of the brake pedal without any dramas. A Model T is a different kettle of fish altogether, had a go once and didn't like it at all, and the Maxwell I rode in last Saturday had a similar setup. The matter of driving in different countries with different control layouts is another thing altogether and has been discussed before. My experience of driving my LHD '41 Coupe in a RHD environment is also a different matter and the more you do it the more familiar and comfortable it becomes.

Wednesday 1st February 2012

Arrived at the workshop to find the hoist occupied by a Toyota Tarago. Turned out it belongs to the actual owner of the hoist. How dare he, didn't he know Fleurette was booked in for some treatment by Dr Wade today? Obviously not, but it worked out well with work on the Tarago virtually over by the time Noel arrived late morning. In the meantime I found there was another item off Juniors engine to be cleaned up, the intake and exhaust manifolds. Started by scraping the loose silver paint off using a knife then onto the wire wheel(bloody great heavy and awkward lump of cast iron) then finished off with more scraping and wire brush bits in an electric drill. Done as much as I can although Murray suggested putting it in the blasting cabinet too. Might fit, then again it might not, but there are some places I couldn't reach today so you just never know.

Meanwhile, Wade was fitting the accelerator linkage to The Fossil. Yesterday he'd started doing that but struck a problem when the carburettor fittings, butterfly, choke, float, etc, wouldn't move! It's been some time since The Fossil had been last fired up and in that time the modern fuel had dried and seized everything! So yesterday was one of those two steps backwards occasions with a lot of time spent to remove the carb, disassemble, thoroughly clean everything and reassemble. Today was getting the linkages linked and getting the carb, including the choke, to work properly. Don't know how it all went because, with Noel's arrival and subsequent departure, I forget to ask the question! Anyway Noel dropped off Fleurette and I dropped off Noel at the station and continued home because the granddaughters came this afternoon, first day of school for Livinia the eldest, so a very important day! Will be back at the workshop on Friday, hope to be more organised, finding out what happened with The Fossil and remember to take engine number pic's for Howard. Oh, and Noel did say the body repair on his '41 160 Club Coupe should be finished in a couple of weeks so hope to get some pic's of it when it returns.

And this for the Aussies, I'm off shortly to the Australia V India T20 match at the Olympic Stadium, weather is overcast but the forecast is for no rain till tomorrow, hope so. Look for me in the crowd.

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Mal, referring to the picture of Wade's EE-22 carburetor, I believe you'll find that the pivoting arm that actuates the accelerator pump is mounted incorrectly (upside down).

The purpose of the two-piece arm with the spring is as follows and will be obvious if you look closely. Should the accelerator pump "bottom out" before the accelerator pedal is fully depressed and the accelerator pedal continues to be depressed further, the extra force will place the full force of your foot onto the pump linkage and possibly bend or break it or the pump head. The two-piece pivot arm is thus designed to allow the pump to travel no further than it's limit even if the accelerator is pressed further; in such a case the two-piece arm will pivot and absorb the extra travel with the small spring.

Now you've got me wondering if it's mine that's upside down. But a little checking of the motion and stroke will tell the story.

Re non standard control layouts
The first picture was taken on Saturday January 28 2012 at the Post Vintage Car Club of Tasmania's South East Rally. It shows a very fine Charlesworth bodied 1935 Alvis. Note how the gas pedal is between the clutch and brake pedals; I understand this was not uncommon in the vintage period and occasionally seen even up to WW2.

Never well known outside of RHD markets, Alvis was a Coventry, UK based manufacturer of automobiles, aero engines and military vehicles. In the 1930s its automobiles were technically sophisticated, with independent front suspension and all-synchromesh 4 speed transmissions, and some had long stroke OHV sixes that were large by British standards. The automobiles displayed distinctly sporting character and the big sixes sat a little below Bentley in the hierarchy of prestige. Automobile production ceased in 1966 although the company continued to produce defense materiel.

The pre war automobiles are highly sought after, very valuable and very well supported with spares by Red Triangle Automotive Services, which inherited the factory's stock of parts and commissions manufacture of new ones as required.

The second picture shows my own Patrician - the only Packard among 135 rally entrants. It attracted much favorable comment on the day.

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I enjoyed your comments about the Alvis. Among members of the Classic Car Club which recognizes the Speed 20, Speed 25 and 4.3 liter as bona fide Classics, they are highly respected but infrequently seen; there are about 15 or so listed in the current directory.

Quote:Paul,

Good to hear from you and thanks for the photos. Great to see your Pat flying the Packard flag in the Apple Isle. If you're ever in, or passing through, Sydney give us a call(we are in the PACA Member Register) and come in and see us at the workshop and we'll talk Packards.

Quote:Dave,

Interesting comment, Wade did mention yesterday he was having trouble getting the pivot to work properly so I'm sure tomorrow he'll take on board your insight if he hasn't already figured it out. As I said, didn't get to ask the question yesterday before I left with Noel.

Mal, one more thing about the accelerator pump pivot that I should mention, more for the benefit of others than for Wade who I'm sure already knows this. The pivot screw for the arm is (like most Strombergs) a left-hand thread. Many Strombergs have had the castings ruined by folks applying too much force in the wrong direction, assuming it to be a right hand thread. It's left hand to prevent it from backing out with repeated cycles.

Friday 3rd February 2012

Low key time at the workshop this morning. But on Wednesday, after Noel and I left, Wade had removed the front brake drums from Fleurette and found a seal problem on the right side with grease on the linings then cleaned it all up and adjusted the brakes all round. This morning though, before turning to Fleurette, Wade gave Big Red some attention in replacing the hydraulic stop light switch, silicone brake fluid having again made the switch on Big Red inoperative. After checking the trans and OD oil levels and topping up the OD, the trans being OK, went for a test run in Fleurette. Brakes are a lot better, although still tending to pull slightly left. Thoughts are, a drum may be overly worn, bell shaped, ovoid or a combination of some or all of these conditions. Didn't have time to check that out, by swapping drums side to side, because Noel needs Fleurette tomorrow. Noel's doing a favour for a mate who's daughter is being married, and was picking her(Fleurette) up a little later in the morning.

Without the advantage of time, looked at starting installation of the radio that Wade rebuilt recently in Fleurette. Only did the speaker box though, because there weren't any problems doing that, there being two holes in the firewall corresponding exactly with the mounting holes required. All that was needed was to drill through the insulation and carpet to provide access for the mounting bolts. The radio head however presents as a problem. Although Fleurette currently has a radio head mounted in the dash it is a different type to the one replacing it. The current head has a square station wavelength dial in the middle flanked by a knob on either side. The replacement radio head has these same features as well as a square button on the left and a drum dial on the right. These added features operate the five station pre-set option. The problem arises because although the dash structure has the cutouts for the pre-set button and dial the moulding covering the present radio head does not. Unless someone out there has a very nice moulding for a '40 pre-set radio, Dr Wade will probably be performing surgery on the current moulding next week. Then in the time remaining before Noel arrived pulled the fuel/vacuum pump off The Fossil because the fuel in the sediment bowl is a brownish colour. The pump too will be thoroughly cleaned, like the carb, as will the lines and the tank in the weeks to come. Wade has also discovered the hand throttle linkage is too short, another apparent casualty of the LHD body on RHD chassis conundrum.

After Noel's departure I too bid my farewell as I'd arranged to visit DavidM again in my guise as club secretary and was able to inspect the progress made with the Maxwell. This includes fitting a pair of temporary stop/taillights for the trans Australia journey. Another temporary fitting is of an aerial for a CB radio for the trip. And, most happily for David, the fitting of an Amal motorcycle carburettor in place of the original Maxwell carb. The Maxwell now runs smoothly but because of the very wet weather, currently being experienced, David hasn't been able to take it for a run or runs. Runs is really the operative word because the Amal carb needs to be "tuned". Saying that, it is set up and working, but David also has a handful of different jets to experiment with to find the optimum one for his purposes. The guy David bought the Amal from is a specialist in these types of carbs but before selecting a carb for the Maxwell quizzed David on the operational parameters required. The main one, and please correct me if I get this wrong David, was to provide power through the range of 800 to 1,700 RPM's. In that case only a single carb was required. Dual carbs are really only effective for much higher RPM engines, plus there are no problems in balancing the carbs. Also had to reverse the direction of the accelerator action because instead of a push the Amal required a pull to operate it.

Another interesting snippet from David, is that he did all the woodwork himself in the three Packards he restored. The '22 Sports Tourer had most of it's wood still present, although rotten, and could be used for patterns. The '29 Roadster needed all new woodwork, after all it had been left on a rubbish heap for years. It had also been "got at" in a big way with most of the wood replaced by what David called fence posts. Additionally one door had been thrown away and replaced by a home made one, 1 & 1/2" shorter than the original. Accordingly the body was lopsided, didn't sit right and ended up with David having to straighten or realign every panel. The '29 7 Passenger Sedan's body was found in New Zealand by David's wife Veronique but only had the wood left in the roof. The '29 chassis David was working with had been "Uted" but at least there was some wood remaining in the cowl. Had to make the rest from scratch, taking measurements from the body parts he had as well as from other Packards he could access. All I can say is, David you've done an excellent job!

PS - Howard, remembered to take some pic's of engine number locations, so will post those later.

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Sunday 5th February 2012

Oh, woe is Noel! And by extension, woe is Wade! Today was the AGM of the Packard Automobile Club of Australia(PACA) hosted by a member at their residence at Terrey Hills near Sydney. I had arranged to meet those driving their Packards to the meeting to convoy from St Ives for the last 15 minutes of the drive to the AGM venue. Except only one other Packard turned up at the rendezvous, Chris(Starliner), while another, Jeff & Margaret(PACO52), phoned to say they were running late. Just after leaving, in a tight convoy of two, received a call from Noel saying he was one street short of the rendezvous in Fleurette but couldn't select 1st and reverse gears. Hearing that the convoy did an abrupt about turn, just like the cavalry coming to the rescue. Found a disconsolate Noel besides Fleurette, and when I approached, those of you who know Noel will appreciate the noise he made, Grrrrrr! I'd also rushed over brandishing a hammer, I thought it was stuck between gears, and with which Noel threatened Fleurette with actual bodily harm such was his distress. Upshot was, I suggested, because he still had forward progress in Fleurette, to continue to the AGM and review the situation there. At the AGM I then rang JohnE, who by co-incidence was at the workshop, and to which I arranged entry via a discretely hidden key so Fleurette could be cosseted away overnight to await the ministrations of Dr Wade tomorrow.

AGM went well with only one change to the hierarchy, John(Appin), Juniors Dad, was elected President. He's the first Texan we've had as President of PACA! After the meeting, which was followed by a great lunch, I left with my wife Kath to drop her at home before continuing on to the workshop. While I was doing that Noel drove Fleurette to the workshop, accompanied by our new President and his wife Annet in case further assistance was required. Meanwhile Kath and I arrived home to be followed up our driveway by an excited driver who exited his car saying, "I saw you on Lane Cove Road, you've been to a Packard event haven't you?" Now if someone knows a Packard, when they see one, I don't immediately dismiss their attentions as coming from a stalker. Just as well it turns out, the guy DavidO, recently joined PACA as a new member! DavidM had spoken to DavidO by phone welcoming him to the club and I had intended to do likewise. Didn't need to now because here he was large as life, so instead I invited him down to the workshop to see a couple more Packards. Lost him on the way, actually it was outside my driveway, but he still managed to beat me there! Also there were Fleurette, Noel, John(Appin), Annet and surprise JohnE. JohnE was there picking up a battery booster pack, he had a callout to attend to, so was able to hand over the key in a civilised fashion. JohnE also had a look at the gear linkages and diagnosed that part of the link had come adrift, I think. So Dr Wade, hopefully it won't be to much of a problem to fix. After JohnE left on HIS mission of mercy Noel drove Fleurette in while DavidO, wife Win and daughter were able to see Junior and The Fossil. There was also a lot of discussion with David who's looking to buy a Packard. He's looked at a few but hasn't found one to suit, yet. Mentioned a few in the club that are for sale or soon will be and other possible avenues of purchase. So any Aussie members know of any Packards, good driver much preferred, for sale?

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