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Sunday 22nd September 2013

Been over a month and nothing much has happened at the Workshop, besides dropping in regularly to give Misty a bone, but that doesn't mean all things Packard are in hibernation here.

Back on 22nd August took the Coupe up to my daughters at Wahroonga for a photo opportunity. Rose Seidler House hosts a Fifties Fair each year and my daughter and her daughters were attending this years fair. My daughters Mother-In-Law had donated accessories, hat, fur and gloves from the period while my daughter made the poodle skirt outfits for her daughters and wanted to use the Packard as a backdrop for some photos prior to the actual event on the Sunday, see pic's.

On Tuesday 3rd September my brother was in town and together with his son visited with us. And my daughter, together with my grandson, also came along for a family morning tea. Because of the number of cars arriving and, because my brothers son is in a wheelchair, I'd moved the Coupe out of the garage so he could be wheeled through to the rear of the house thus avoiding the wheelchair unfriendly stairs at the front. Then on leaving, seeing the Coupe parked in the front yard, my daughter took a couple of pic's of my grandson at the wheel of it. Little did I know why she wanted to do that, but I never let a photo opportunity bypass the Coupe. See the pic's below.

On Sunday 8th September our Packard Club held a Concours Day at Cattai National Park on the far western outskirts of Sydney. Not a big turnout, only 8 Packards 4 of which were judged. The others, including my Coupe, declining the invitation to be placed under such close scrutiny. Good day had by all, see pic's in this Picasa Album link.

Wade too normally would have joined us at Cattai but instead had booked to attend the Shepparton Swap meet a two day event over the same weekend but about 750kms south. This event was part of the Victorian arm of the Packard Clubs Events Calendar and attracted a number of interstate Packard owners. Don't know how good the swap meet was but I'm sure the social side was well attended!

Then on Saturday 14th September my daughter-in law, wanting to surprise her husband, my oldest son, arranged for a Packard Taxi, the Coupe, to convey them to a French Restaurant for a 10th Wedding Anniversary meal. The restaurant was in the Rocks area, one of the first settled areas of Australia, and is literally in the shadow on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, see pics.

Finally today I took Noel over to TonyW's at Eastwood, the next suburb to where I live at Epping, and where I grew up. Noel, while the major body work is being completed by Karl at Fineline at Moorebank, has Tony working on other pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that is his Coupe's restoration. Tony had already woodgrained the dash and is now in the process of reassembling it. Advice, guidance, opinions were sought and/or given with directions for it's completion now clear. Noel brought over the right side inner fender panel and the front lower panel from under the grill from his Coupe. Both had been viciously attacked by the dreaded tin worm and Noel was seeking to determine whether Tony could 1)repair or, 2)remake them. The short answer was No to both, but Noel has another avenue to pursue which he'll attend to in the near future. Noel had also brought over the glovebox door for Fleurette which has the annoying habit of, when opened, falling right down. That it does this is particularly exasperating to Noel and today armed with two other glovebox doors sought Tonys advice and hopefully help in fixing the problem In this case Tony will be able to help and soon Mr Perfectionist won't be exasperated any longer! Noel was also able to pick a few of the pieces Tony had been working on including his Coupes horns. Note, because it's a 160 it has a three-pack of horns whereas my lowly 120 only has a two-pack!

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Quote:
G'day RL,

My answer is: I don't know, not being a '37 115C expert!

So I'll ask BigKev to move your post from this thread to the Pre-War Forum where it can be addressed and you're much more likely to receive an answer.

Thanks for the info. Will look into this!

Dave

Wednesday 9th October 2013

Received advice a few days ago that Wade would be in the Workshop today and was going to look at a few things on Fleurette, being the gear linkages, putting the radio back in and the heater.

Good, I too needed to make use of Wades services, because On Saturday the 4th the Coupe developed a problem. But before getting to that, I was initially surprised my wife Kath suggested we take the Coupe that day. We were going to a family function, usually attending most of those in the daily driver. Turned out Kath wanted her brothers and their families to see the Coupe because most of them hadn't had that pleasure yet. And of course I wasn't going to say no, any chance to give the Coupe a good run I'll take any time. A 100 mile round trip should be right up it's alley. And it was, with things going very smoothly on the Freeway, until Kath remarked how well the car was running. That did it, because a little later when I eased off the throttle at 65mph, there was a growling noise from the drive train! Thought it may have been from the diff, the pinion coming loose? But after stopping, and taking the car out of overdrive, on carefully resuming our progress, the noise on the over-run had disappeared! But at least it wasn't the diff. With the problem narrowed to the overdrive and by locking out the overdrive there wasn't a problem! However I was concerned, I'd seen first hand the results of two overdrives that had failed and locked up, Fleurettes and Juniors, and I didn't want the Coupe to suffer a similar catastrophe. Then of course, when I tried to recreate the problem with Wade riding along today, the Coupe wouldn't go into overdrive! Green light on, back off throttle, green light stays on. Tried a number of times, but no dropping into overdrive. However the Coupe is still operable, although at a reduced speed, so will be able to go on our club run Sunday to Jamberoo, about 70 miles South. Thought now is to rebuild a trans/OD unit and swap it into the Coupe at a later date.

But, before looking at the Coupe, Wade first attended to Fleurettes gear linkages. An adjustment to re-align the holes in the column bellcranks seeming to take care of that(a test run hasn't been done yet so it remains to be seen as a proven repair). Then Wade looked at the heater. The last time Noel took Fleurette home from the workshop, after the heater had just been hooked up again, Noel gave the heater a test only to be met with a really bad smell which reminded him of the time the wiring harness shorted out and burned. As I said, Fleurette hasn't been taken for a run yet, but Wade discovered that the demister(defroster) motor wasn't working but there was a current draw, maybe it burned out? The radio wasn't attended to because Noel still has the speaker box which Tony refinished. However, before the speaker box or the head goes back in Fleurette Wade wants to reunite it all on the bench and test it. Instead, turned to an oil leak discovered while under Fleurette. The line from the back of the block to the oil pressure gauge was slowly dripping oil from the line fitting at the block. Tightening of the fitting slowed down the leak some, but it continued. Removed the line from the block and from another fitting on the firewall before it passes through into the passenger compartment. Besides a kink in the line near the block fitting the "shoulder" on the line doesn't look good. Wade is going to take the line to Pirtek to have it repaired or replaced.

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Hi Mal and all, Please note that a common cause of not going into overdrive is that the motor idling setting is too high. All of the R6, R9 and R11 overdrives need a positive reversal of the internals of the gearbox when you lift your foot off with the green light( governor of R9 and R11 only) on, to allow the overdrive pawl to engage in the window. You should also allow a good three-four seconds for the reversal and engagement to occur. It will be very obvious once you get used to it. It will also delay if you have 140 weight oil in the box. 85W GL4 oil should be used to avoid screwing around with the bronze bushes in the OD. Do NOT use GL5 as this will toast your gearbox synchro rings and OD bushes. Best regards PT

Friday 11th October 2013

When Noel arrived at the workshop today to pickup Fleurette, did I get a friendly greeting? No, I was thoroughly castigated for failing to report, in these pages, yesterdays events at said premises! But apart from that, all was well with Noel! Noel also had the radio box with him for Wade to reconnect it with the head and the speaker for testing. Besides taking Fleurette home Noel also took with him the air cleaner/silencer for his Coupe. Noel advised that it looks like his Coupe won't be out of the panel shop until after Christmas at the present rate of progress. When it is finished there, the Coupe will then go up to Wade's new shed on the Central Coast where Wade will fit the new wiring harness to it.

But back to yesterday, although there wasn't a great deal to report. When I arrived late morning Wade was just finishing up re-installing the oil pressure gauge line. Earlier in the morning he'd gone to Pirtek, where for the princely sum of $1.40, they'd replaced the collar on the line as well as provided a new nut. But it wasn't all that easy, the hardest part was ensuring the oil line wasn't interfering with or being interfered by the clutch pedal(it was), the 1st/reverse gear shift linkage(it was) and the accelerator linkage(you guessed it, it was too). Fixing the fouling took a fair number of up and down sessions on the hoist, some with me in the car to operate the pedals and gear lever, before the clearances necessary for all parts to act without causing interference was achieved.

That done, there wasn't anything more to be attended to on Fleurette, so attention turned to what? Why, The Fossil in this instance! Been a while since the old girl has received any attention. In order to transport The Fossil north to its new home Wade wanted to temporarily attach the front mudguards(= fenders[US] or wings[UK]), the running boards as well as the boot(trunk) as a good means of transporting these items rather than doing them as loose pieces. After carefully retrieving the right 'guard from its cocooned existence on the mezzanine level, aka the office roof, we tried to install it but what should have been a 5 minute job ended up not being done! Everything seems to have another dimension because of what had to be done following the fire which destroyed The Fossils original body. In this instance the mudguards(fenders/wings) from the donor car didn't have side-mounts while the original did. So the donor mudguards were converted to side-mounts with wheel wells fabricated in the 'guards. However, on trying to mount the 'guard today the cutout for the side-mount post is off by a smidgen, probably about 1/8" while 1/4" would have been even better.

Frustrated by that, the exercise of mounting the front mudguards was shelved for the day. Instead we turned to mounting the boot(trunk). Being a Club Sedan the boot(trunk) on '34's, and I presume '33's, is a bustle like addition snuggling into the rear of the body. A few months back Chris, starliner, had fabricated a new wooden floor and back for the boot but hadn't finished mounting the wood in the metal boot bustle structure. This needed to be done before the boot could be mounted on The Fossil. Took a little time to drill holes and screw screws but that was relatively easily accomplished. Then came the hard part although we didn't know it then. Mounting the boot lid to the boot, although that in itself isn't difficult. The difficulty arose because when the lid was installed the hinges fouled the lip of the boot. Elongating holes gave clearance which then allowed the lid to close, but it didn't align. Inspection revealed the new wooden back was fouling the hinges which poke through the hinge plate when closed. Filing the wooden back gained the clearance required for the hinges not to foul and the lid to close but the lid was still out of whack. All of this took numerous fitting, filing, removing, re-fitting, etc, etc attempts. By this time, being a 37c day, it was decided to call it quits and try again another time.

Another couple of miscellaneous matters. On his return from Shepparton last month Wade brought back a care package(see pic) of parts from Fred, pepepackard, for IanH's '36 120b Club Sedan. And on Wednesday evening Peter, the guy who owns the hoist Wade uses in the workshop, had dropped in a Model T Ford firewall and engine splash shields(also see pic. Apparently these were left over from a Model T restoration and had been found by Peter when cleaning out a garage. Thought Wade might know or be able to someone or a home for them). And finally, I have bought a '46-48 trans and O/D unit, for the Coupe, from a guy in South Australia about 850 miles south west. And, all going well, the unit will probably arrive here sometime next week. It's for a RHD car but I don't foresee any problems in that regard. Plan is to rebuild the trans and O/D and then to replace the unit currently in use. Besides the trans and O/D other things, that will be done at that time, are replacing the steering box with one currently on it's way from the US, dropping the fuel tank to check for a leak and other minor matters. And thanks Peter for the OD advice, I'm running the right oil, the idle is good and I know to allow for the "lag" for want of a better term. Although I did say earlier "there wasn't a great deal to report" looks like that statement either 1) wasn't true, or 2) I'm just running off at the mouth again. I think 2) best describes it.

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Sunday 13th October 2013

Newsflash!

At the end of our run to Jamberoo today, Noel wanted it known that Fleurette's adjusted gear linkage is working perfectly!

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Wednesday 16th October 2013

After a good run to Jamberoo on Sunday, although sparsely attended with only 4 Packards and 5 participants, on the way home called in and picked some Packard parts from EleanorS who has just sold the family's very original '22 126 Tourer. They are used parts the new owner didn't want, but may prove useful to someone else. Not a great deal there, and because they are possibly intermixed with parts from non-Packards, I'll be seeking expert advice from DavidM as to what is '22 Packard and what isn't. Will initially be selling the parts on Eleanor's behalf through our club Magazine and the PACA Website then, if they don't sell there, on eBay.

Then today, picked up the '46 trans and R9 OD which I found on the PACA Website in the For Sale/Wanted section. Peter, the PACA member selling them on behalf of the owner, was great to deal with providing photos and arranging very prompt shipping and put the unit on a skid he made up to handle and protect it, thanks Peter! Next will be pulling it apart to determine condition and then rebuild for swapping it into the Coupe.

A note for you Aussies out there on the stuff Peter is selling: The engine is still available and the owner will negotiate on price. While all the remaining parts(I don't know what's left, you'll have to contact Peter) can be had for AU$100 plus shipping.

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Monday 21st October 2013

Spent a couple of hours at the workshop sans Wade. Unloaded the trans and R9 OD from the boot(trunk) of my daily driver, where it had resided since I picked it up last Wednesday. Came complete with the remnants of the OD wiring harness, transmission mounts, shift levers and shift rods. First thing was to release the levers and rods from the trans and OD to which they were attached with LOTS of thin rope. Started undoing it but became frustrated but ended cutting it, much easier! Then releasing the trans/OD unit from its skip to which it was attached by 2 coach bolts at the front and 2 coach bolts and a piece of steel strapping bent over the top of the output housing of the OD. As well as these fasteners the spigot shaft had been positioned on a piece of timber with a semi circle cut out of it on which the splines lay. Over the top of that were 2 further pieces of timber nailed to the lower piece to provide protection to the spigot during transportation. Peter, you really did a great job on the packaging! Next was removing extraneous bits so I could clean up the trans/OD unit. Off came the side trans mounts and the solenoid, stuffing the hole with a piece of rag, but leaving the governor in place. Then the cleaning, but there wasn't a lot to do, looks like Peter or the previous owner had cleaned it up already. Still, with the removal of the mounts and the solenoid, the nooks and crannies now exposed proved fruitful sources from which accumulated dirt and grease were released. Then with the help of Graeme carried the trans/OD unit from the front of Wade's space, where it had laid since John gave me a hand getting it from the car, to a space out of harms way. Will leave the removal of the governor, unbuttoning of the top and cracking open the OD until Wade is in residence.

Then in the afternoon took a trip up to DavidM's for advice and identification of the 1st Series parts I'll be selling on Eleanor's behalf. Before we get to those first a few words about what David's been up to. He's almost finished the bodywork and painting on the '37 BSA on which he's been working and for once the tables have turned. The owner has taken the chassis away to do some work on that and now David is held up from finishing it because he needs to remount the body to do so. But, not to worry, David is working on something else instead a '20's Alvis 12/50 Rumbleseat Roadster. The lady who owns it wanted it prettied up a bit. Why? Because it's a bitzer! A previous owner was an Alvis collector and made this car out of a collection of parts, ie bits from here, bits from there, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, etc. The mudguards(fenders), both front and back, hung down much too far and spoiled the complete look of the car. Not that '20's small British sports cars had much of a look to spoil anyway. David trimmed about 8" from the front of the front 'guards and the back of the back 'guards as well as giving them some shape and style rather than the squared off finish they arrived with. I think David has done a great job. David has also repositioned the tail/stop/blinker lights from the 'guards to the body and had fitted a nice step plate for the first rumbleseat step in lieu of the ugly "grate" previously used. And was in the midst of mounting the rumbleseat seat squab to the body because it was full floating when it came in, when you hit a bump the seat squab jumped! All going well the lady should be able to pick up her Alvis later this afternoon.

The Alvis out of way, it was then time to get David involved with identification of the boxes of bits I'd brought along. What we found were: Transmission internals including cluster, gears, shafts, shifting forks, etc. Not sure if complete but there's a lot there. Transmission top, these tend to crack, but this one isn't. Headlight Bucket, Rim(with some dings) and Reflector. NO glass. Marvel Carburettor, not Packard probably for a Buick. Speedometer, looks like it works, but no clock! Distributor Body and Cap, no points. 1 Set used Valve Collars and Keepers. 4 Tubes, new but about 10 years old. 1 only Rear Seat Footrest Bracket. 2 used Timing Chains. Accelerator Pedal. and a new Ring Gear. As David said "If I were doing up a 1st Series now, I'd buy the lot!", but he's not having been there and done that! So, for all you Aussie 1st Series owners, these will be listed For Sale in the December issue of the PACA magazine The Packardian. I expect my email and phone to be running hot from eager buyers! Plus, in the non-Packard parts was a little brass Tecalemit grease gun. I'd spotted it at Eleanors when I picked up the parts and had bought it to clean up and use as a piece of garage wall art. I'd left it with all the parts and when David spotted it, realised what it was, and had a use for it. His small lathe, a Myford(I think), has a number of tiny grease nipples on it for which he'd never found a connection that fitted. Now, problem solved, clean it up and it can be put to a useful purpose instead of gathering dust in my garage.

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Thursday 31st October 2013

Last night received a call from Noel who had been in contact with Wade yesterday. And because of some difficulties that Fleurette is experiencing Wade, because he can't make it to the workshop this week, suggested that Noel have me look at the problems. Looks like I'd been promoted to a hands on role! That sort of thinking could set a dangerous precedent! Anyway, arranged to meet Noel and Fleurette there while I would bring the Coupe because there was more measuring to do. And wouldn't you know it, and wasn't I relieved, that two of the apparent problems were no longer evident. These being a "knock-knock" sound from up front which Noel thought he'd tentatively identified as coming from the water pump. The other phantom was difficulties with the gear change, in not being able to get into forward gears, and I experienced an even bigger sigh of relief that that was no longer a problem. There was one thing though, the brakes appeared to be grabbing so when Noel and Fleurette arrived a hand on each wheel identified the right rear as hotter than the others. Noel then backed Fleurette into the workshop and, after Rick moved a couple of cars, up she went on the hoist. For that I had to enlist John's help because, although I thought I was pushing the right button I wasn't. The remote control unit when hanging from its hook is upside down so although I thought I was pushing the up button it was really the down one! That sorted, and Fleurette up, found the right rear wheel wouldn't turn at all while the left rear was somewhat limited. Backed off the brakes till both were free and then turned to the OD, for which Noel wanted the oil level checked and which was OK. Back down on the ground, after another tutorial from John because of the delay in pressing and holding the down button(the right one) and the hoist responding, then I thought we'd be off for a test drive. But not yet, Fleurette's front seat squab wasn't catching on the clip on the passengers side and needed attention. Brute strength didn't do anything to help and, after removing the squab from the car and some advice from Noel it was apparent why. The squab had come from a donor car and the drivers side "clip" had been repositioned at some stage, twice in fact. The passengers side "clip" though was still original and needs the same treatment to make that aspect of the Packard ownership experience joyful rather than frustrating. Noel, maybe in collaboration with friend Tony, will attend to that in due course. Off on the test run and, apart from a lower pedal, the brakes were fine and not dragging or grabbing. The final thing was measuring up part of Noel's 160 Coupe right side inner fender panel and comparing it to the one in my 120. A slight difference of 270mm for the 120 versus 275mm for the 160. Not much of a difference, but it is different. Because I'm planning to take a run up to Vintage Motor Garage on the Central Coast in the next week or two Noel is interested in riding along to determine whether than can make him a replacement inner fender panel. And sorry, no pic's today. In my hands on role I forgot to take any, that's a first!