Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

It's alive ..

It's ALIVE ....

IT'S ALIVE

IT'S ALIVE !!!!!!!


Or, to put it another way - after 26 years - my 1955 Packard Patrician - roared into life at 4:07 pm PST.

Congratulations

times

3

Thank you, Howard!

It wouldn't have happened without your help and the help of many others on this amazing and wonderful site!

Awesome! Great job! One step closer to getting it back on the road.

Hot Damn!!

Thank you 51. You were one of the ones who made it possible!
Tomorrow I take the fuel tank in to be repaired and sealed.

A little while ago I walked in back or the car and saw rust and such that was blown out of the driver's side exhaust port. In back of the passenger side port there was corroded metal and a whole lot of little seed husks. I think some critters set up house keeping in the passenger side of the exhaust system.

Once I get a new water pump the next question mark is the transmission. I'm sure it will need new seals but hopefully that's it. A rebuild on the carb probably wouldn't hurt either. Fortunately the manifold to exhaust pipe gasket that was loose snugged back up and she runs pretty quiet.

I can't wait to take it for a trip around the block!

Thanks again for everyone's help and support.

More to follow -

Woo Hoo!!!! That's a good feeling, isn't it?

It's made MY top five list!

My thanks to you and to Stephen and many others for your help and encouragement!

It was too cold for me to do too much of anything yesterday on the car itself so I took the previously removed fuel tank in to be "baked & bathed" prior to re-sealing. That done, after dinner and not finding much on the tube I decided to tackle the clock. After getting it open I was surprised how clean it was inside. The case really protected the works from a whole lot of dirt/dust. So much so that after a few micro dots of sewing machine oil, the movement started right up after resetting the "kicker". Next step was the kicker itself. Looked real clean but still wouldn't "kick" when attached to a battery. Upon close examination I saw a broken wire leading from the "hot" post to what looks like some kind of coil. Fixed that and lo and behold - a working works! Left it hooked up overnight and was still going strong this morning. May put in back in the car this afternoon if it warms up as it's supposed to.
A little while ago I signed on to research fuel tank sending units. I was happy to see a thread already up and running - found out what I needed to know and just placed an order for a new unit. Hopefully, it should be here by the time I get the tank back.
If the sun puts shows up I may test the transmission this afternoon.
More to come -

Plans about testing the transmission hit a snag yesterday. I can't keep the engine running long enough to engage. Runs great while on the gas poured down the carb throat but once that is used - nothing. The fuel pump is doing it's bit in spades. Matter of fact, just the little while the engine was running (tried three time), there was gas all around the front of the carb and intake manifold. Fuel sediment bowl needs a new gasket for one but I think the needle valves are stuck open or some other gremlin lurking in the carb. So, I pulled the carb and called Savas Tuning here in Portland to get them to rebuild my carb. They've done great work for me in the past but now I get some strange recording about a huge back log, yada, yada, yada and it looks like they can't do it. If anybody has any suggestion about other causes please feel free to jump in. Fortunately, the little tag on the carb is still present, so I ordered a carb kit from NAPA. It will be here Tuesday.

One other note about the clock. One of the things I really love about bringing back an old car is the little bits of evidence you find that give you a clue to the past owners.

As I was just about to re-install the clock, I noticed some writing on the back of the case. On close examination, I saw that it was a list of dates beginning with 5-14-60. They were about 3-5 years apart up to 1979. My guess is that they were put there when the clock was serviced. That someone cared about this car enough to get the clock serviced goes a way to explaining the over all good condition of this car. Somebody loved it!