Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

There should ALWAYS be a filter before an electric pump. They are very prone to failure from debris as opposed to the mechanical pump which is more tolerant.

Hello All,

No serious trouble shooting, yet. I did check the coil ballast resistor and am suspicious of it because there is no voltage drop. The resistance is small, less than one Ohm, and my analog VOM cannot accurately measure this. I will get a digital VOM and see what readings I get. I ordered a new resistor, and a new point set and condenser.

I have been busy with some other projects. Helping O_D with captions for the PAC site's showroom photos (1935-42 Juniors); helping another Salado member with revising classes for next year's Meet; and getting the 2007 Honda S-2000 ready to sell. I am thinking about acquiring a 1963 or 64 Avanti.

Oh yes, I do have a filter installed before the electric fuel pump. I fastened the Carter electric pump at the top of the frame kick up above the rear axle, and used one of the rubber bumper bolts to secure the clamp to the frame and ground connection. The electric fuel pump is working, but I need to check for flow and pressure on it and the mechanical one.

Thanks for your interest during this inactive time.

(o[]o)

JW, that was in response to KevinAz's question. Sorry about the confusion.

Kev, I knew that - just looking for a chance to say something about the Clipper. Reminding folks about the importance of a filter before an electric fuel pump is a good idea. My pump came with a filter installed on the inlet side. The instructions say the warranty will be voided if no filter is used.

(o[]o)

Hello All,

On Sunday, I got a chance to do some trouble shooting on the ignition system. The original equipment Auto Lite coil ballast resistor and coil checked out good. I reinstalled them and proceeded to try and start the car. No start. Must be ignition as fuel was being pumped into the carburetor.

I removed the distributor cap and rotor, and they looked good. Next I removed the distributor and discovered that one of the primary wire terminal post's insulators was broken. There are three post insulators on this distributor; it was the inside square-shaped one that was broken. The photos show the parts.

I must have over tightened it, probably when assembling it after doing the painting and maintenance last year, or installing the Sun tachometer. The broken insulator allowed the wire from the terminal post to the breaker points to come into contact with the breaker plate. This caused some intermittent missing and hard starting. I also discovered that the vacuum advance chamber was no longer holding vacuum. It was good when I was working on the distributor last year.

Luckily, I had bought a NOS distributor when I first got the car. I cleaned and set the points, oiled it, checked the vacuum chamber, and installed it. The car started right up, quicker than it has ever done for me, and ran smoothly after setting the timing. A test drive around the neighborhood proved the missing was gone.

The plan is to drive it to the Cars n' Coffee event in nearby Leander on Sunday. We'll see how it goes.

I was convinced that the big problem was ignition and not fuel. Before the broken insulator was discovered, I ordered a carburetor overhaul kit from Daytona Carburetor. I may go through the carburetor to get ethanol resistant parts in it.

Thanks for your time and attention.

(o[]o)

Attach file:

---

  (33.88 KB)


  (36.79 KB)


  (36.91 KB)

You're certainly not the first guy to break that insulating block and surely won't be the last. Last time I encountered a broken one I made a replacement from a block of nylon.

Hello All,

I had the pleasure of driving the Clipper to a nice car show in nearby Georgetown (Sun City) on Saturday. This is an annual event and one I look forward to. It is a large show with 200-300 vehicles. It is a well run event and is held in an attractive setting.

The car ran well and easily cruised down the interstate at 70 mph. It did stumble a couple of times. I momentarily turned on the electric fuel pump when this happened and this restored full power. So, it is still not 100%, but I am getting close.

The Clipper was placed in an odd-ball class as there was no preservation or unrestored class for it (not a Chevy, Ford, or Mopar for which there were classes). This really didn't matter as the car received much attention and many compliments. People just seemed to gravitate to the shinny black Packard. It was the only Packard there.

Thanks for your attention.

(o[]o)

Attach file:

---

  (48.94 KB)

I have received several "Best Other" awards and a good friend of mine always refers to my 56 400 as "Best Other"
AND your Clipper looks great - no wonder it received a lot of attention.

Randy,

Thanks. Yes, those scratches, dents, and blemishes polish up nicely. Being parked between a very pretty pale yellow Chrysler Cross Fire and a bright yellow Corvette probably helped expose the Packard better.

(o[]o)

It has been some time since I posted on this blog. This posting is about the Clipper being in a new film being produced by Tom Hanks. I posted a version of this story in the General discussion in the "Packard in the Movies" thread.

It is going to be an HBO movie about the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas in 1963 and is entitled "Parkland". The film is being mostly shot in Austin even though all the events depicted took place in Dallas. The scene the Clipper is in was shot on the block my daughter and her family live on in Hyde Park, and older neighborhood in the central part of the city.

The scene is about Lee Harvey Oswald's mother driving down a residential street when she hears of the news of the shooting on her car radio (not sure if it is about Kennedy or her son), becomes excited and and crashes the car into a curb. The mother is played by Jacki Weaver a noted Australian film actor. The car she drives is a blue 1955 Oldsmobile.

The Clipper was parked in my daughter's driveway being used as a background car like many other period correct ones staged in driveways and parked on the street. It was closest car to the curb crash scene and should show up nicely.

Anyway after several rehearsing drives down the street and a couple of curb crashes this part of the scene was filmed. Next, it was time for an interior scene looking out of the windshield. One problem though, the Olds became over heated and could not be used. Suddenly there were many of the film crew swarming over the Clipper. Then I was told they wanted to use the car on the street. I didn't understand what was going on at that time, but moved the car into position where the Olds had come to a rest.

Later I learned that had the Clipper not been there all the time and work involved in filming that scene would have to have been done over. So, it was fortunate the Clipper could be used to save the scene. I guess they can make the interior shot using the Clipper look like it took place in the Olds. The magic of movie making.

The Clipper gets its 22 seconds of fame.

The car wrangler for the film company is most interested in my other Packards (37 Six Convertible Coupe and 47 Custom Clipper Sedan) and we may get a chance to be in some future movies.

(o{}o)

Attach file:

---

  (274.94 KB)


  (56.14 KB)


  (163.24 KB)


  (236.13 KB)


  (138.25 KB)