Packard Forum Index » ZIS, ZIL, and other Packard Cousins!

We almost did go metric 20 years ago, but there was such a large number of people that could not grasp how to convert or did not want to think about it or that we should have to, the politicians backed off- and we have been somewhat at a disadvantage ever since.


The Packard solenoid valve is built into the bottom 9cm or so of cylinder. There is a rubber seal at one end, the coil, then a flange to crimp the assembly to the cylinder tube. The mounting to the entire frame assembly is the ball on the bottom. Fits into a notch and held in by a clip.

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Little known fact: The metric system was made legal for trade in the US in 1886. The inch - pound - gallon system that is in common use was never specifically made legal!

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For comparison. Currently available reproduction pieces. Looks like they admired everything down to the last detail

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The naked valve in post 393 is what is in the bottom of the 3 silver cylinders in last picture post 395.

The place selling the reproduction cylinders and valves is here--click on his "see all products" for the rest:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D2&item=250368480699&category=42606&viewitem=

but there are probably others. Said they were made in New York but don't know which of the other window and convertible repair companies are there. Assume the ZIS is 6 volts which is what these valves would be?

Something tells me the truck in "third world" would have one heck of a time taking a fast turn should the need arise--assuming the frame doesn't set the bed on the ground first.

My mother told me a story about her wrecking a Model T pickup when she was a girl on the farm because the back was loaded with too many bags of feed grain. A few apparently slid to the point it lifted the front wheels and she didn't make a corner as planned.

Guscha,

Regarding shipping rough cars to less developed areas; this has been a prevalent practise since at least the 1950s. If you can get the required basics to a location where vehicles are needed and labour is cheap miracles can be performed. Starting in the late eighties, as the full-sized American cars started being replaced with roller skates, you could actually get a premium for the big cars in certain foreign markets. The Kuwaitis and the Emirates were lucrative markets, especially for full sized Chevys, Pontiacs, Oldsmobiles and the like - as long as it was a full-sized car. I understand that this goes on to some extent in certain portions of the former Soviet Union yet today where the cost of putting a car back into serviceable condition is reasonable rather than outlandish, rechroming is both legal and affordable and bureaucracy either has not yet run rampant or is still easily bribed. I am given to understand from some of the contacts that I have left in foreign parts that creditable, even superior correct and pristine restorations of desirable classics and collector cars occasionally and miraculously appear out of isolated one or two person barn operations in such localities.

I suppose that government interference has probably discouraged a lot of this in Western Europe, as it has here, where environmental and safety, "standards," (another excuse to stifle competition, useful production and to put more legions of non-productive, government subsidised bureaucrats to work in most cases) are rigidly adhered to. Third-world countries and those on the fast track in developing the industrial capacity to replace that which we've driven off and given away are somewhat less particular and - as we evidently have yet to discern - MUCH more cost effective and productive.

Your posted photographs of swap-meets in your area bring back fond memories of the days of my youth when the affordable, safe, sensible resurrection of automobiles was still possible for most people in my locality.

A few years ago the police here in Canada broke up a big car theft ring. They specialized in stealing late model luxury cars, and shipping them to 3d world countries in sealed containers.

Range Rovers, BMWs and Mercedes seemed to be the most popular makes.

They shipped out hundreds of cars a year.

Ha! Looks just like a Carter WDO!

Guscha you ask if I have any more stories. The answer is yes, lots of them.

Here is another from the same man who told me the "Hong Kong Charlie" story.

He also told me he swam in "the world's deepest swimming hole". This was an abandoned zinc mine in, I think he said, Burma.

The mine was 4500 feet deep but being abandoned, was like a big hole in the ground full of water.

He said you could dive in and swim around, and if you dove deep and looked up towards the sun you could see flakes of zinc sparkling in the water.

Once again, I can't swear this is true but it made a nice story.

These were from an auto body repairman and car painter I worked with for a few weeks in the early 80s.

Give me a couple of days and I'll dig it out and get the measurements for you.