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I had a very busy summer this year and didn't have a lot of time to work on the Packard. We bought a log cabin in Northern Michigan and have been up there almost every weekend fishing, canoeing and putting in a new bathroom. I did buy some more woodworking tools though and soon I will be able to start on building a new wooden body. I have been playing around with the Packards final design a bit and I got tired of all the straight lines in the typical late twenties and early thirties wood bodied cars. In order to bring some style in to the woodwork I swept back the rear of the wagon and added a curve to the front. The results give the car a speedier look I think. Here are a couple of renderings I did with AutoCad (below). I created the computer model mostly so I can print it out at work; we just got a 3D printer and I plan on creating the woodwork in resin before I start cutting wood.

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Nice. Would it be possible to angle the two B pillars to match the angle of the front and back ... at least above the belt line?

I could tilt the B pillars but it would look funny without also tilting the C pillars IMHO. I did some more work on the model today because I didn't like how thin the D pillars were or how the tailgate turned out. This is getting closer:

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I've never heard of "D" pillars. I always thought there were just A, B, and C.
My suggestion was to slightly tilt the two middle pillars (which I've always called B pillars) to match the rear-most pillar (which I've always called the C pillar).

I've never heard of D pillars either but if the A pillar is the windshield post and B is between the front and rear doors and the C pillar is the post that the rear door hinges on then it stands to reason that the D pillar is the next one in line right? I don't know what else to call it. The A and C pillars have to stay vertical because I need hinges above the beltline so the only pillar I can modify is the B pillar. I'll draw it up and we can take a look at it but I think it may look out of place without the C pillar being canted as well.

This article on Wikipedia seems to confirm both our terminology:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillar_%28automobile%29

It mentions D pillars in regards to station wagons in the drawing on the right side of the page but then goes on to describe the first as A, the second as B1, the third as B2 and the fourth as C. I still like your way best, I believe you know a thing or two about cars...

In my 30 plus years in the auto body business, we have always referred to them as A B C and D pillars.

Very good. I did not know that. Thanks.
Looking forward to seeing this project develop. I love that you've decided to add some "flare" to the generally boxy style, in true upper-crust style.

It was a fairly unproductive winter on the Packard front however I wrapped a few loose ends and saved up enough money to get the intake/exhaust manifold coated. I decided to go with a ceramic finish instead of the enamel that it came with stock. Modern enamel coatings don't contain lead and although they look great when newly coated they don't stay that way for long. The ceramic coating is not as black or shiny as enamel but it will stay that way for a long time. If you decide to go this direction you need to know that the ceramic doesn't hide any pits or imperfections in the metal like enamel does. I spent many hours milling surfaces flat and grinding corners smooth before I sent the manifold out to be coated. I also saved up for one of those reproduction DL Model 51 carbs you've probably heard about but they haven't started shipping them yet.

http://www.packardcarbs.com/collections/carburetors/products/standard-8-1929-1930-1931

I'll post some pics of the carb when I receive it. I wish I could let you all know how it performs on a running engine but my car is far from being a driver.

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In other news, I ran in to a local guy who had a pile of early thirties sheet metal and managed to buy a third set of rear fenders. I now have six rear fenders and every single one is dented, dinged, cracked or rusted. I think I have enough metal to make one nice set now but it's spring and I have many other projects requiring attention so these may sit until late fall.....

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