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Looking great! I think one difference between 37 and 52 steering is the amount of weight over the front end. There is a lot less sheet metal in a 120c! I would be interested in the actual difference in front end weight.

fredkanter Quote:

Great attitude Fred! I too am enjoying your restoration. Keep it up.

Craig

The progression of the frame is moving along nicely. All the power steering linkage components have been painted and have been matched to correct look as possible from the factory.

<a href="http://s671.photobucket.com/user/JamesRFrom/media/Packard%20400/KIMG1435.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/vv72/JamesRFrom/Packard%20400/KIMG1435.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo KIMG1435.jpg"/></a>

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Fred is working to be as authentic as possible and one of those items is the inner fender well splash shield. The original splash shields had a water proof cloth material to protect the upper control arms from dirt and debris. We had a NOS splash shield with the cloth still intact that we used to make new ones. The photos below show the NOS as well as the new ones. The cloth was stapled to the splash shield.


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<a href="http://s671.photobucket.com/user/JamesRFrom/media/Packard%20400/KIMG1442.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/vv72/JamesRFrom/Packard%20400/KIMG1442.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo KIMG1442.jpg"/></a>

not THAT is going the distance for sure! great job!

A few people have asked about details of the cloth and pattern on those shields over the last few years. Since you have a NOS to provide a pattern perhaps Kanter Auto could make a paper pattern or a kit available for sale.

Super job guys!
Please keep us informed, and keep the fantastic photos coming!
You're getting me motivated for my Packard restoration.
Thank you.

Aside from the sandblasting and painting of the frame, I've done about 95% of the work with my own hands and simple hand tools. What you need most is time when undertaking a restoration , a good memory, the parts book for exploded diagrams and the service manual for detailed instructions and torque specs.

I'm working about 6-8 hours a week, sometimes during the day, sometimes in the evening. The car is at our restoration shop and is up on our frame machine which is a good working height, tall jack stands in a home garage would be just as good.

Personally I've never done a body-off total restoration and it's real fun to see a brand new looking chassis come to life.
I've gotten my 4 star rating in grease scraping and sand blasting.

I have to light a fire under the engine shop,I'll be reassembling the motor when it comes back. In the meantime I'll be repairing the minor floor holes in the front and rear clip and disassembling the dashboard. It was originally wood grained, a bit is left under some bezels and the glove box ornament. I think the window frames were grained too, Grain-It in Florida will be doing the work, 8-10 weeks turnaround.

The car is entered in Amelia Island Concours next spring, they asked for a photo and I sent them a "before" photo. Knowing I'm a practical joker they asked if I was kidding.
No, I said, then sent them a photo of what it looked like when new for the selection committee. I find that when I have a real deadline it works better. We have a '37 Super 8 we bought in 1962 that's just about as far along.

This is really too much fun especially because it's a Packard