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Thursday 13th November 2008

Quote:

Last night Wade had also read Jim's post about the demister tube installation, so first thing when we arrived was to check what we had on the '41, and it sure was as Jim said. We would have been blowing a lot of hot air for little effect, but regular readers here have probably formed that impression long ago. And now, thanks to Jim and his advice, we'll be able to fix this minor glitch before going too much further. Although the original plan was to get the tubing in place before the dash went back in, at least it's more accessible now rather than later when it's obvious the demister's not pulling it's weight. Because we've cut the tubing, there now isn't a single piece long enough to go from the left side back to the blower outlet. But this will be easily fixed with either a straight connector or a 90 degree bend in lieu of the T piece. The other outlet to the right side demister wont be a problem. And Wade was overly apologetic, muttering something about he thought it was the same as the system in his Super 8.
So Jim, a BIG and enjoy the Lake Havasu PI Meet.

After that spent a session under the car with Wade on our backs on creepers inspecting the work Wade had carried on with yesterday after I left. He'd routed the undercar harness section that connects to the main harness along the inside of the chassis to the left rear where it connects to the taillight/stoplight wiring. He'd also connected up the switch for the aerodrive and the connection it makes with the throttle linkage.

He'd also disassembled the metal pieces for the headlight harness and these together with the headlight buckets and mounting pieces need cleaning and painting. And here I gained my first experience on Wades media blasting cabinet. Wade uses a fine glass bead and I cleaned the inner headlight mounting piece which was rusted at it's bottom that way. Have to finish the other pieces tomorrow then POR-15 the lot prior to re-installation.

I'll be on my own tomorrow because Wade is heading to Bendigo, about 500 miles south-west from Sydney for the Bendigo National Swap Meet and will be back on Tuesday. And to quote Wikipedia - "The city hosts the Bendigo National Swap Meet every year in early November. A must for all car enthusiasts, it is regarded as the biggest in the southern hemisphere, and attracts people from all over Australia and the world". Barry from Tamworth, who's restoring the '51 Convertible, will be down tomorrow mid morning at the workshop, with the re-built trans for John's '39 110. He's picking it up at Belmont, together with some of his own recently imported stuff, on his way to Sydney.

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Friday 14th November 2008

At the workshop this morning finished media blasting the headlight mounting pieces then started on the buckets. Got most of them done but will have to finish tomorrow as Barry arrived during the process with the re-built trans for the '39 110. He also had some parts for Wade. Besides the parts he picked up from Belmont on the way down Barry also has to see Ed from the Packard club to pick up a part, go to Penrith a far western suburb of Sydney to pick up the refurbished stainless trim for the '51 and on the way back through Newcastle pick up parts from the chrome plater. A very busy day, as it's about a 500 mile round trip in the one day plus another 50 miles out and back to Penrith!

The young Brazilian high school exchange student riding shotgun with him, Aaron I think it was, told me he's going to be a Diplomat. Now, when's the last time you heard a 16 year old say that! And I didn't forget to harass Barry about getting his '37 120 Sedan and the '51 Convertible into the Owner Registry. Offered some feeble excuse about he didn't know how. Well after I explained how easy it is, including putting in a pic and changing info at a later date he agreed to do so.
So Barry in advance for the Registry entries.

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I have access to a glass bead blaster and it has made my life much easier. What type of media are you using?
And I REALLY like the dash!

Quote:

Randy,

It's a fine glass bead, looks and feels like a fine whitish sand. If I remember, when Wade gets back next week, I'll ask Wade for the technical description. By the way, the cabinet really needs an extraction system as it's like a sand storm once it's going for a while. Barry, who was there today, asked if Wade had hooked up the vacuum system he uses but I just had to reply 'no' and keep plugging away blindly!

As for the dash - yes, it is very very nice. I was lucky that Harvey agreed to do it for me and I'm more than pleased. Everyone who sees it in the flesh, so to speak, is impressed.

Saturday 15th November 2008

Finished the media blasting of the headlight buckets and mounting pieces. Also started on the insides of the chromed headlight rims but will have to finish these later as I needed to get POR-15 on the other parts. Also POR'd the plate for where the clutch and brake pedals go through the floor for the '41 and the trans crossmember for John's '39. Managed to stay relatively free of POR-15 although did go through 3 pairs of gloves in doing so.

I also performed a party trick - While painting one of the little 'sleeves' that fit inside the sockets at the bottom of the headlight buckets it slipped off the wire it was looped onto. As it happened, I thought I'd have to clean it up again, but it bounced once on the concrete floor did a triple reverse somersault with pike and disappeared into the open can of POR-15 Silver with a little 'plop' - couldn't have done it, if I tried a thousand times! Fished it out with a screwdriver, set it down on the cardboard sheet and let it shed excess POR-15, reconnected it to the wire, brushed off any further excess POR-15 and hung it up to dry.

Last act of the morning was to take the top off the crate John's replacement trans came in.

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[quote]Last night Wade had also read Jim's post about the demister tube installation, so first thing when we arrived was to check what we had on the '41, and it sure was as Jim said. We would have been blowing a lot of hot air for little effect, but regular readers here have probably formed that impression long ago. And now, thanks to Jim and his advice, we'll be able to fix this minor glitch before going too much further. Although the original plan was to get the tubing in place before the dash went back in, at least it's more accessible now rather than later when it's obvious the demister's not pulling it's weight. Because we've cut the tubing, there now isn't a single piece long enough to go from the left side back to the blower outlet. But this will be easily fixed with either a straight connector or a 90 degree bend in lieu of the T piece. The other outlet to the right side demister wont be a problem. And Wade was overly apologetic, muttering something about he thought it was the same as the system in his Super 8.
So Jim, a BIG and enjoy the Lake Havasu PI Meet.[quote]

Mal,

I am glad the info. was helpful. The PI meet was outstanding. I will try to post some pictures and highlights as time allows. I have to admit though, I did miss reading the annals of PackardInfo while away. I am glad to see things progressing well on your project.

Best regards,
Jim

Tuesday 18th November 2008

On Sunday picked up some PVC fittings, one straight, one 30 degree and one 90 degree angle. Should have the bases covered for the refitting of the demister tubing which we didn't get to do today. And on Monday picked up some longer bolts for the thicker front seat mounts I made last week.

That brings us to today and arrived early afternoon to find Wade had dis-assembled the '41 're-built' trans. And, we have a problem Houston, the re-built trans is not re-built! Or if it is re-built it was re-built a loooooong time ago. However from the two transmissions there are enough good parts to build one good trans. The only new part needed will be a rear bearing which should be obtainable locally. Then after catching up with Wade about the Bendigo Swap Meet, where from my viewpoint the most important purchase was a 6V 3pin flasher can for the '41, turned to the '41.

Wade also told me, that after I left on Thursday, he finished the back of the car wiring except for the number plate light, trunk light and associated tilt switch. Then a demonstration of the taillights and brakelights was somewhat underwhelming with the left taillight dimmer than the right and when the brake was applied the left taillight went out! Consternation in the ranks. And then when testing the horn, it wouldn't work and just a click in the horn relay could be heard.

So after we replaced the bulb in case it was faulty and it wasn't, I dis-assembled the left taillight assembly cleaned where the retaining mount pressed against the inside of the fender to ensure a good earth and tried again. Same result. More cleaning with the same result again. Finally took the taillight housing right off and scraped between the bulb socket and the housing to ensure good contact was made. This time light from the bulb appeared brighter but still went out when the brake was engaged. Wade proposes to add a separate earth wire to each taillight/stoplight housing to ensue we get a GOOD earth as this appears to be the problem.

Then turned to the horn relay. Took it off the car opened it up and cleaned all the contact surfaces. Still only a click in the horn relay. Next took the dome off one horn and tried power directly, a faint croak resulted. So took off the horn bracket from the head and removed the horns from the bracket while on the bench. It was evident that POR-15 build up was part of the problem combined with dirty conducting surfaces. A thorough clean up of all conducting surfaces and a direct power test on each horn on the bench brought success - PAAAAAARRRP. Re-assembled the horns to the bracket and the horn domes and another powered bench test of the horns in unison was also successful - PAAAAAARRRP. But obviously Wade's had more horn testing experience than me because I was standing in front of the trumpets while he was behind them. I'll have to remember that for the future, that is once the ringing in my ears stops.

Today was really another practical demonstration in ensuring the cleanliness of all electrical contact and conducting surfaces. But better to find these things along the way, fix them correctly and avoid potential long term problems. Here finishes the lesson for today.

And while we were doing all this Rick and John were doing their own lighting thing, mounting another large light fitting from the ceiling to provide Rick with better light in his work area. With dare-devil Rick perched on a pallet mounted on the forklift at close to full elevation, driver John managed to entangle the forklift in Rick's hoist! The Occupational Health and Safety Thought Police would have had a field day!

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Tuesday 18th November 2008 - Later

A session in the Chatroom with Eric elicited the following information :
1) The '41 distributor I bought on eBay and had shipped to Eric will soon be winging it's way across the Pacific, and
2) The distributor although having new points, rotor, condensor and cap is not remanufactured as described in the eBay listing and has been cleaned but not cleaned well.

One thing I said to Eric was "Caveat Emptor" or Let the buyer beware. And another thing I said was, I've got pretty good at cleaning Packard parts. So the least I can do when it arrives is clean and paint it.

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Thursday 20th November 2008

Yesterday Wade had re-built the trans for John's '39 from the best parts from the original trans and the '41 trans found on eBay. John had also called in to see the trans and discuss progress on the '39 generally. And while John was there Harvey, the guy who woodgrained my dash, also dropped in to see the re-woodgrained dash in the car. Sorry I missed both the guys as it would have been good to catch up with them and to again thank Harvey for the wonderful job he did on the dash.

And today arrived just after midday to find Wade under the '39 re-installing the clutch and brake pedals, bracket and linkages. And while I tackled some things on the '41 Wade plugged away, in his natural habitat under a Packard, re-installing the re-built clutch and pressure plate in the '39.

While Wade was under John's '39 I started under the dash of the '41 disconnecting the demister tubing setup installed last week. Because the tubing for the demister had been heated in hot water and slid over the T piece while still hot and flexible and gave a good tight fit dis-assembly was another matter. But with a little persuasion was able to slide the flexible tubing off the T piece. To fit the new PVC 90 degree bend had to file down each end of the bend, especially the end connecting to the flexible tubing left up under the dash running to the left side demister outlet. After many failed trial fittings and re-filings finally managed to wriggle the tubing onto the bend. The other piece of tubing running from the bend to the demister blower outlet I'd previously put on the bend on the bench, a much easier working situation. Then to the right side. Should be easy, right? No - because of the confined space and although the tubing is flexible it's only flexible to a certain extent and kinked when I installed it. So off to the hardware store for another 90 degree PVC bend. This time had to file the inside surfaces of one of the bends mouths so it would fit over the metal blower outlet on top of the heater. Again many trial fittings and re-filings later got a good fit going. And this time heated the end of the flexible tubing in hot water and slid it on the other end of the PVC bend, makes it a whole lot easier. Then mounted this assembly on the blower motor outlet and the dash demister outlet, a great fit in the end.
Jim, again for the heads-up.

Next was re-mounting the horn assembly, horn relay and coil on the engine. While I was doing this Wade retired to the sanctuary of a comfortable chair in the office to have a drink, watch the cricket on TV and recuperate his aching back. Had to call on Wades assistance to sort out which wire went where for the horn relay, they still all look the same to me even though they're different colours and are numbered per the wiring diagram listing! Turned then to the left front inner panel between the grill and radiator surround. Needed a bit of 'panel bashing' as it had a few bends and warps in it which shouldn't have been there. I had POR-15'd it months ago and Wade said this would be a good test for the claimed qualities of the product after a good thumping. Wade gave me some rudimentary instructions of what to do. And so with a cloth between the shop "anvil", for want of a better term, and armed with a proceeded to re-arrange the molecules of the panel so to speak. Gave it a bashing then compared it with the right side one which didn't need belting and repeated the process a number of times until it looked in much straighter shape than before. Installed it back on the '41 but first had to chase through the captive nuts as 'someone' had again been very liberal when applying POR-15. And the POR-15, how did it survive the onslaught? Very well, didn't crack or anything so it appears the makers claims are justified.

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I've always wondered if there was some sort of flexible smooth hose available, other than using the ribbed flex hoses. You'd be absolutely amazed at how much air flow is lost because of the ribs.