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Monday 6th February 2012

This morning was spent finding and fixing the cause of Fleurette's loss of 1st and reverse gears. Started by jacking up the RHS, a jackstand, then Wade going under on the creeper. Source of the problem was easily found, the 1st/reverse lever on the splined shaft on the top of the trans had come off and was just hanging there attached to the shifting linkage. Then put Fleurette up on the hoist, meant some car shuffling all by hand to manoeuvre Fleurette into place. Once up, the shifting arm was detached from the linkage rod and examined for a reason why it fell off. Nothing apparent, although the lock bolt had a shoulder on it which may have prevented it fully tightening to compress the splined boss and hold it to the splined shaft. Wade had difficulty, first in getting the lever back on the spline but like always got there, then in tightening it up. Some areas on Packards aren't very mechanic friendly, this is just another such area. While there, it was decided to check that the 2nd/top lever was tight. It wasn't! Did finally manage to get a socket onto the bolt but couldn't tighten it sufficiently from under the car. It was decided then to go in through the trans access plate on the front floor. Meant removing the front seat squab, the LHS carpet edge trim, slide and manoeuvre the carpet from under the seat frame negotiating the upright bracket for the seat travel spring and finally removing the access plate. After that it was easy, also replaced the locking bolt which also had a shoulder. Closer examination later revealed both bolts had been shortened and they were different lengths. With the access cover off, Wade, in view of recent OD experiences also took the opportunity to inspect the spring in the top of the OD case. It had good tension, not like the one replaced on Junior, had it's grubscrew reset and locked in place. Wade keeps telling me that I have to do this on my OD but I can't remember if the Coupe's access plate will permit it although Wade assures me it will. Went back and looked at the pic's from when I was doing the interior of the Coupe but there wasn't one specific enough to tell. Had a struggle to get the carpet back under the seat frame and over the spring bracket. And another struggle to get the top of the carpet back where it came from, there's now a speaker impeding this, wonder who put that there? Close to finish of all this the man himself, Noel, rang. Wade brought him up to date and Noel also advised he has been copping grief from his "friends" in the US over Fleurette's latest mishap. Finally, took Fleurette for a test drive in which shifting was good so all seems well(for now).

The morning taken care of, but what did the afternoon bring? First, backtracking to yesterday, Wade missed a PACA AGM for the first time in living memory. But, he did deputise me to pick up a package from Chris, Starliner, the contents of which were to be applied to Big Red in a continuing quest for better, smoother running. Just what this package contained, if Wade had his way would remain a mystery. But seeing I'm telling this story a mystery it will not be. But Purists be warned, for what I am about to reveal may bring down fearful wrath because of its heretical nature. What could be so damning, so fearful, so dreadful that even its mere mention makes good men shake and women cry? No he's not making a lowrider, dropping in a SBC or putting spinners on. He's.....drum roll please.....changing to Pertronix ignition! Now that everyone's regained their composure I have to tell you the deed has already been accomplished but without damage to any Packard parts whatsover and can be changed back if need be. Speaking of which, does anyone have a spare '37 Super Eight distributor? Wade would like to carry a spare, set up with points, condensor, etc "just in case". Took a good couple of hours to do, but best to take your time and do it right the first time. Big Red really starts easily now and runs smoothly although by the time I left a test drive hadn't yet been done.

And another snippet from yesterday, young Mat(packard34) was there and could advise his '55 Caribbean is expected back on the road at the beginning of March. While his '34 Sedan suffered a setback after it received new brakes including new cables. The brakes were still not right with further inspection finding the brake cross shaft broken! Not only "not right" but highly dangerous too.

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Friday 10th February 2012

With Wade away most of this week, haven't been to the workshop since Monday but did drop in briefly this morning where I saw the machined water pump housings and the sleeves for bearings and modern seals are sitting on the bench. Sorry no pic's didn't have a camera. And by the time I get back to the workshop, probably not till Monday week at the earliest, could even be Monday fortnight, the pumps could be assembled. Reason I won't be there is that I'm visiting my Dad on the Gold Coast, who is undertaking rehab to get him up and about, after some recent medical problems. Maybe Wade could pen a few words from time to time to keep US all updated? Maybe even a few pic's? I am going to try and catch up with some Packards while at the Gold Coast and, if I do, will report on those instead.

Anyway, this afternoon also saw DavidM. He had returned yesterday from 6 grueling days of filming on a callback for the making of The Great Gatsby. Mind you I should define grueling. In this instance, it usually meant standing around for hours or days waiting, waiting, waiting. Although there was one day where David was required in his '29 Standard Eight Runabout as background while Leonardo drove one of the ersatz Duesenberg's for close up shots. The Roadster is a favourite on the set, being very photogenic, I just hope a lot of footage of it makes it to the big screen. David is also continuing with preparations for the Maxwell's trans Australia crossing next month but not much has been possible because of the filming commitment. He has, however, fitted the CB radio to the Maxwell and is in the process of fitting one to his support vehicle.

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Tuesday 14th February 2012

Quick drop in at the workshop before my trip north. Yesterday Wade had painted up Junior's as well as the 426 water pumps for re-assembly and the fan and some other pieces for Junior. Junior's trans is re-assembled with the OD to be assembled and added today. News from Graham Wilkins, the engine machinist, is that the main bearing caps need to be surfaced and the block and caps tunnel bored because at some stage in it's mistreated life they were filed! Anyone know what the dimension is for tunnel boring a '40 110? Fleurette is still in the workshop, with Wade looking to install the radio head if he has time but, at this time, Junior takes precedence.

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Tuesday 21st February 2012

Arrived back at 2:00am this morning from our sojourn north, but didn't have any opportunity to catch up with Packards or their owners, such is life. After some catch up sleep dropped in briefly about Noon at the workshop. Found Wade putting the last of the rod bearing caps on Juniors bottom end. Engine assembly hasn't been plain sailing with Wade finding the compression rings were too big but was able to source some replacement rings locally and carried on. At the moment there is about a short block assembled. Left Wade to carry on and hope to be there tomorrow to assist if I can. Wade had installed the rebuilt accelerator cross shaft linkage and in doing so had to redrill and repin the crank arm to the new shaft. Also tidied up some of the firewall wiring which will probably be further refined when a different pair of horns are fitted in lieu of the single trumpet horn presently used.

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hello wade !
I saw your post and got brave .I ordered a pertronix unit for my 52 /327 thunderbolt
I was reviewieng your photos there is almost no gap between the round piece that fits around the distributer shaft and the sensor ,my unit has an appretiable gap a good 1/4 inch ,hmmmm
also how did you hook up the positive wire ?the one with the white stripe ? it says to the ignition ,theres a few poles on the ignition switch i wasnt sure which one to use .the negative lead goes right to the coil so thats not too hard ,
the positive lead of the coil could go to the ground ,theres an existing lead from the existing harness ,is this ok to use ? I appretiate the help ,il truy to gihgure out the camera to take a photo of the gap to see if its too far from the sensor
it also looks like you mada a ground from the baseplate inside the distributer to the case on the side ,the black wire with the red connectors should I do this too?

Thursday 23rd February 2012

On arrival at the workshop found Wade cleaning up head nuts for Junior on the wire wheel. They hadn't been cleaned earlier and with the head close to going on needed to be ready. Wade had also changed out some of the nuts because they weren't 3/4", makes it much easier when putting it back together. Took over the wire wheeling while Wade moved onto chasing through all the threads in the head nuts. Had just about finished that when Noel arrived. Noel was taking Fleurette away to Ralph Moore's and then home. But she'll be back, radio head still needs to be fitted. After Noel left, Wade also made an exit to the Gearbox Factory to pick up Juniors trans and part of the OD they had to make a new bushing for because Wade had found much too much play in some of the OD components. While Wade was out picking up the trans and OD parts I cleaned up and POR-15'd some parts for Junior.

On Wade's return the plan was to bolt the rest of the OD to the trans and hang the completed trans/OD unit on Juniors bellhousing and engine ready for painting. Prior to leaving, Wade had put Juniors head in the "washing machine" for a hot wash to remove the protective lanolin coating, the head needed to go on the engine too. So much for planning! Bolted the OD housing to the trans after first preparing a new non-MBM gasket and the putting the rollers for the OD in place, using grease followed by a rubber band is the easy way to go. Fine so far, but....everything had bound up! Wade wasn't happy. At many a turn in this saga things had gone wrong or not worked out as they should, here was another one. So started the dis-assembly of the OD, I think Wade could just about do this in the dark now that he's so practiced at it. As each component was removed it was given a visual inspection for fit or for signs of interference. Nothing was readily apparent so turned to the spare OD, much of which is now unusable anyway but it's all we've got. Then a process of replacement, ended up replacing one part only. Then parts fitments, in the order they go together, at each discernible step observing and "feeling" the effect on the trans/OD. By this process was able to determine that a spacer, in the form of a washer was required, in tightening the nut holding the roller cage to the mainshaft. There were a number of assemble/dis-assemble repetitions before finding this and Wade was very glad to be able to find the reason for the problem and the simple solution to fix it. Only trouble was all this took the best part of half a day and painting of the engine/trans/OD unit wasn't going to happen today. Still, with Grahams help, was able to bolt the trans/OD unit to the engine and when the head goes on tomorrow Wade can commence painting. Earlier I said Wade wasn't happy, he's also not happy with his US parts supplier specifically the rebuilt planetary gear unit for the OD as well as an OD thrust washer. That's where the Gearbox Factory came in very handy with their expertise and accessibility.

Stephen, if Wade doesn't see your post and respond, I'll try to remember to follow it up with him on Monday. I dare not respond myself because the closest I get to things electrical is turning a light switch on or off! Edit - One thing I will say is that in installing the magnetic ring there was also a plastic "spacer" but in using that the rotor didn't sit properly so the spacer wasn't used. Can't remember if the pic I took of the magnetic ring included the spacer or not. Have also added a few more pic's of the coil and wire setup, best I can do for now.

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G'day all, I am always amazed how much longer an R9 Solenoid is compared to an R6. I have never fitted an R9/R11 to a 35-38 Packard chassis as the two components require so much more mutilation of the cross member to fit the items. Fitting a Packard overdrive to a pre 1939 is very much comparative to a modest boob job.....If you have all the body except..you know ....well, then, if counselling for the status quo fails .... a voluntary lot of considerable pain and it may be worth it to you in the end, so long as you maintain it. In other words,T##,s upgrade = Packard Overdrive retrofit. P.S. Both cost about the same in the long run but the overdrive can be left in the garage. Best regards Peter

Friday 25th February 2012

Didn't expect to get to the workshop today until Noel rang. He was on a train to go and pick up his daily driver from the workshop which had remained there when he left in Fleurette yesterday. Original plan was to return later yesterday to pick up the daily driver but, as often happens, the time to do so slipped away. The other side to the call was I too was on a train, no, not the same one, after donating blood plasma in the city. Anyway, arranged that Noel would continue his journey by four stops then I'd drive him to the workshop. There we found the Picasso of Packards, the Michaelangelo of motors, but more commonly referred to as Wade painting Juniors engine/trans/OD, head and other pieces. Head is still separate from the engine, to facilitate using the head studs as pick up points for the engine lift, and will go on once the engine is reunited with Junior. Concerning all these parts being painted Packard Engine Green, like the streakers defence, it seemed like a good idea at the time!

Ray Stevens - The Streak - Ex YouTube

And Noel, a few pic's of one of the Bonnet(Hood) catches on my Coupe.

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Monday 27th February 2012

Surprise! Surprise! Arrived at the workshop to find Wade had put in a big day on Saturday installing the engine/trans/OD into Junior. Also bolted on starter, generator, fuel pump and installed oil fill tube. So this morning, while Wade was sorting out gear linkages under Junior, I installed the tailshaft. It also turned out that on Friday Wade had painted the sump(pan) on Juniors engine. He'd hoisted the engine/trans/OD setup on the engine crane to gain the underneath access required. Then, after installing the tailshaft, installed the OD mount, engine snubber bracket to the frame and bolted in the OD mount. Thought was not to re-install the engine snubber because one end is loose but ended up doing so by turning the snubber around, so if it drops it will trail and not pole vault. Then assisted Wade with the linkages. The bell crank mounted between the master cylinder and the frame had to come off to accommodate fitment of one of the linkage rods. The other had been taken off during dis-assembly and was much easier to refit as a result. The trans top then went back on followed by the shifting arms on the top of the trans. Supposedly this was the easy way to do it but one proved otherwise but did go on eventually. During the course of all this Juniors Mum and Dad, Annet and John, arrived to see the progress their offspring had made. Were pleased to see things going together and this time I ended up in a pic, courtesy of Annet, see below. Following their departure more wrestling with linkages and suchforth. Also installed the solenoid and governor to the OD and replaced the spade connectors in the OD harness in doing so. Also filled the trans, OD and engine with fresh oil. Don't know how many times Junior went up and down on the hoist, but it was like a bride's nightie yo-yo! Still have to align the gear linkages, and because of the interchange of part including the trans top this is proving hard to do but should be right tomorrow.

Stephen, steve-52/200, will be taking up your questions with Wade tomoorow.

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Tuesday 28th February 2012

A long morning with Junior again yo-yoing up and down on the hoist in trying to locate and fix the shift linkage problem. Had finished up yesterday thinking a longer linkage rod, for 2nd/top gears between the steering column arm and the fore/aft rod, was required to fix the linkage alignment issue. Another linkage rod, sourced from the part shelf, was cut down in length and reshaped as per the rod that was too short. This morning cut a thread on the new longer rod and installed same. Trouble was, it worked with reverse, 1st and 2nd gear but not with top. Determined that the bell crank for 2nd/top that transfers motion from the steering column link to the fore/aft rod was hitting the bracket which holds it and the master cylinder. Much scratching of heads, much inspection and introspection before finally biting the bullet and taking off the trans top shift levers and pulling the trans top off. Wade hadn't wanted to do that because the trans top that came off Juniors trans wasn't as good as the one that replaced it. But with the fore/aft rod for 2nd/top pushing the bellcrank against it's bracket without being connected to the column change something just wasn't right. Wade actually explained this too me a couple of times before the penny dropped because I thought the problem was tied up in the new longer linkage rod. It wasn't. What it turned out to be is that the 2nd/top splined shaft in Juniors original trans top has the wide positioning splines in a slightly different place from the positioning of the same splines in the replacement top. Not much mind you but that fraction of an inch on the spline translates to somewhere in the vicinity of 2" to 3" by the time the various length levers and consequent mechanical advantage come into play. So, sorry John and Annet, although you now will be able to change gears you won't have the benefit of new seals on the splined shafts! One of my tasks today was using a very small triangular file on the internal splines on the trans top shifting levers before the levers would slide on to the shafts with relative ease. But while I was doing that Wade reconnected the oil pressure gauge line and the road draft tube. Speaking of the oil pressure gauge line hook up, at one stage yesterday Wade changed out the straight into the block fitting he'd previously fitted(probably a 120 fitting) for the right angle fitting that came on Juniors engine. In all the fiddling yesterday with gear linkages Wade had noticed that one of the linkages would have hit the oil pressure gauge line if left as is. Just goes to show that although things look like they will work they often don't. After all Packard's engineers did do things for a reason.

A welcome break came with lunch of home made pizza and your beverage of choice to wash it down. Returning to Junior it was time to tidy up a few more thing before the head went back on. First of these was making and installing a pointer for the harmonic balancer. While Junior does have the flywheel pointer to the timing marks there, this isn't as user friendly as a pointer and marks on the harmonic balancer. However to install the harmonic balancer pointer had to remove the front engine mount yoke which entailed postioning and then slightly elevating a transmission jack and block of wood under the sump(pan) before undoing the retaining bolts to the engine and mounting bolts to the frame. With the engine mount yoke off measured up the width and length required before sourcing and cutting and grinding a piece of aluminium to fit then drilling a mounting hole and bending to shape. A few more passes on the grinding wheel to put a point on the pointer and......it fell apart in my hands. Bending the aluminium had weakened it and the final grinding was enough to cause failure. But better it happened now rather than later in Junior, because once everything was bolted back on it wouldn't be coming off a second time. For the next attempt, sourced some steel and following the same cutting, grinding, drilling and bending processes it's fine. Well it's still in one piece. Left things to Wade at this juncture, the pointer will probably be on Junior by the time I get there tomorrow!

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