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Monday 7th June 2010

Wade had his thumb attended to at Hospital over the weekend and, to add to the pain, broke a tooth as well! I didn't get in until later in the morning, because of donating blood plasma, and Wade was able to have the tooth attended to by his dentist before getting to the workshop. These things don't seem to hold him back though, before I got there he'd removed the heater valve, and found a length of copper tubing to enable the heater to be bypassed for now. Looks like I'll be right into BigKev's blog for the hows, whys and wherefores of his heater valve rebuild. EDIT - Just downloaded BigKev's Tech Tip HOW-TO Ranco Valve Seal Replacement.

Fixed the leak from the oil filter where oil was escaping past the big 1" top cover retaining nut. Took the top off, but there didn't seem to be a way to take the nut off to replace the copper washer under it. Instead resorted to thread sealing tape between the washer and the cover, seems to work! Then wired up the fuel pump bolts, after tightening them up a bit first. Then replaced the fuel filter which is in-line between the fuel pump and the carb. Took the opportunity to reshape/rebend the fuel line too so that it was straighter than before. That done, fired the '41 up again to check for leaks - none, and to heat up the engine and retighten the head nuts - done.

Next was re-installing the right front inner mudguard(fender) panels. Proved too difficult, with everything in place, to slide the front panel down past the mudguard, carb, fuel pump heat shield, etc. Then, Mal had an idea! Doesn't happen often! So I want to crow about it when it does happen.......slid the panel across the engine from the left side, turned the corner and with the help of a little brute force there it was in place! But at this time Wade had to leave to have his thumb re-bandaged at the hospital, leaving yours truely to tackle re-installing the fasteners required. Managed to get most into place but there are a couple which require a second pair of hands so will catch up with them tomorrow with Wades help.

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Hi Mal ( and Wade) Sorry that I won't catch up with you guys next weekend in Tamworth, Ann and I have been "poached" by "Pepe" and his crew for a run to Victoria. The purpose of this message is to suggest that the hose filter which you have installed is a really practical item, but needs to be installed almost horizontally at the top outlet to capture crap trying to go from the block to the radiator. I find that if you instal it at the upper inlet of the radiator then you are able to loosen off the filter clamps and rotate the filter before you undo it. The crap is then trapped so it cannot fall back into the block. Just a small point and not a criticism at all. Best Regards and have a good weekend. PT.

Tuesday 8th June 2010

On the road again. But before we got there had to attend to a number of things. First with Wade's help installed the last three fasteners for the right side inner fender panels, then re-installed the air cleaner and the right front wheel(Wade had installed the left front wheel yesterday). During the course of re-installing the air cleaner caught a hand on something and it was only when Wade said "what happened to you?" did I realise the back of my right hand had taken on a red hue! Jack under the front end and jack stands removed, same with the rear end and the '41 was back on Terra Firma, not for the first time since December 15th, but for the first time in going condition. Tightened up the front wheel lugs now it was on the ground and Wade put the hubcaps on. Then after some car shuffling to make a path the '41 could traverse in exiting the workshop fired it up and made the workshop roller door and stopped. Why? To drain some water from the radiator so the heater bypass set-up could be cleaned up a bit. Took the opportunity to take the in-line filter cap off when the water level dropped sufficiently and promptly dropped the cap! Looked and looked but couldn't find it! My worst fear was that it had rolled into the drain just outside the workshop door and would never be seen again! Fortunately after jacking up the front end, Wade slid under on a creeper and found it hiding in the front crossmember. Pheeew! And Peter, there was some crap in the filter, not a lot but some and will be checked again after further running.
Quote: Unfortunately because of the location of the head outlet/thermostat housing relative to the upper tank intake it's just not practical to mount the filter where you propose. I suppose it could be done be it would look like a plumbers nightmare to rig it up. Instead I'll live within the bounds of practicalities in this instance.

Watered up and fired up again, after Wade added 5 litres of fuel courtesy of the emergency supply he carries in Big Red and we were off to the nearest fuel station and to see how it behaved on the road again! And wonder of wonders, pulled into the local Shell station I regularly patronise and found they were offering pump service! No they weren't returning to days of old it was only a promotion for a couple of hours! And when the young guy started to fill the tank and the automatic stop cut in after about 3 litres were added to a virtually empty tank he said it was full. Took over from him and learned something from Wade in filling the Packard from modern bowsers. Have the nozzle just inside the filler neck so the unvented tank doesn't blow back triggering the auto stop as it did before. That done then had the inevitable Q & A answer session, and in this instance pic's, from the lookers a Packard attracts when sitting still for a time. Off then to complete Wade's little test route which fortunately is mostly back streets. The reason I say fortunately is that the '41's current registration sticker hadn't been affixed, in place of the expired one, so if pulled over it's very difficult to convince a "copper" you're not driving an un-registered vehicle. A technicality I know but could have been a source of grief. I did say to Wade yesterday I'd bring the new sticker down today but forgot to do so.

Back at the workshop drove the '41 back in and parked it in front of where it had been. While I then media blasted the Ranco valve per BigKev's tutorial Wade was reading the 11 pages I'd downloaded last night of the proceedure. Then while I was re-installing the left and right kick panels Wade was de-constructing the Ranco valve. The kick panels required some of the rubber back aluminium insulation I'd installed on the front floor to be trimmed to allow the panels to fit properly. A strip about 10" long and about 1/2" wide was removed from each side and the panels could then be pushed down to line up with the clip holes along the rear edge. By that time Wade had most of the valve apart but required some help to separate the last few parts. While the valve is generally similar to the one in Kev's text it is different. I've had a look at NAPAonline.com as per Kev's text and found the valve kit he used which is for a Ranco H16. Today after blasting the '41's Ranco valve I see its a Ranco Type H.F. Anybody know if they are the similar enough that the H16 kit would work in a H.F.? Irrespective of whether it did or not I was going to order one anyway, but NAPA accepts US postal addresses only so that killed that!

By this time I'd run out of time and had to return home for our regular grand-daughterly babysitting duties. Last thing I heard from Rick was "make sure you wash that before going anywhere" On returning home had a call from Wade saying he'd found a patch of oil where the '41 had been sitting and it looked to be in the area of the trans. Checked under the '41 and found a small patch in the vicinity described but couldn't get under to sight where it was actually coming from, will do that tomorrow at the workshop. Talked with Wade and agreed it wasn't a serious leak from the small size of the oil patch, so went ahead with the intention of the '41 carrying out its babysitter transportation services. Also found the current registration sticker and replaced the expired sticker with it. Washed the '41 of almost 6 months of dust, dirt and grease marks, and didn't it look better? Glistening in the afternoon sun and then turning heads on our way north, not too many babysitters arrive in a '41 Packard Coupe!

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Mal,

The seal appears to look exactly like the one I replaced. As long as it is the right diameter I would imagine it should work.

Amazing how good those valves look after some media blasting.

Wednesday 9th June 2010

Nice feeling to be able to drive to the workshop today in my Packard. Wade was in the midst of deconstructing the old wiring harness from Noel's '39 when I arrived. Discarding frazzled and suspect wires and keeping the rest for future Packard work. There had been a thought by Noel that the harness could be donated to a guy in far north Queensland who's restoring a '39 Limo but because it's condition was suspect after the short and the fire that option wasn't pursued. With Wade doing that I drove the '41 into the workshop and jacked up the front end. Reason being the front brakes needed adjustment because it was pulling to the left. This was overly demonstrated last night returning from babysitting duties when I locked up the left front in a hardish downhill stop. For my wife, who can't get used to sitting in the right front seat as a passenger in a RHD country, this sort of thing just doesn't help her confidence at all! Wade also took the opportunity, with the '41 jacked up and supported by jackstands, to inspect the oil leak situation. Found the leak to be coming from the OD Solenoid. It had been leaking from there previously so during re-assembly particular care was taken to try and ensure this wouldn't be a problem this time round. Although not a massive leak, it is a concern, so for the time being it will be monitored and assessed before taking further action.

While Wade was still splitting wires from the old harness I started wire-wheeling and media blasting the cases of a couple of old car radios Wade is currently working on. While I was doing that, Wade had finished with the harness and moved on to looking at the '41. It had also stalled a couple of times on the way home last night as well as this morning when going down to the workshop, only when cold though. Adjusted the automatic choke as well as the mixture, seemed to be running a bit rich too. Wade also looked closely at the bonnet(hood) locks on both sides, added washers, a spring and replaced some split pins. By this time I'd finished wheeling and blasting and at Wade's behest oiled all the points of contact for the bonnet locks, they work smoother and quieter now. Also wheeled and media blasted the front exhaust pipe chassis bracket which had been left off during reassembly.

From there we took a little trip in the '41 to Quick - Fit Mufflers at Gladesville to see Wade's exhaust guy Tony. Drove the '41 onto the hoist attended to by Joe, he does the quoting, Tony is the pipe bender and fitter, and after inspection and discussion I've ordered a stainless steel exhaust system for the '41. Won't be correct, but it'll outlive me and I won't have to replace it again. Quick - Fit has to order in SS muffler and with about a 4 to 5 day supply time should be able to make and fit the system next week. Back to the workshop and out in the carpark put the air filter back on. Ran without to Quick - Fit and back to see if this affected how it ran. Wade was and is still trying to find the source of a slight hesitation. On this I have to take his word because it's not apparent to my senses, or lack of them! However it is backed up by John, who has a really fine tuned mechanics ear for these sorts of things, so it must be true! After lots of discussion, tinkering and theories still couldn't find the cause, so this too is on the monitor and assess list.

Meanwhile, on the RANCO heater valve front, I took the bull by the horns, asking one of our esteemed PackardInfo members if they could procure the NAPA repair kit and forward it to me. Fully reimbursed of course. With the valve and body now apart and clean I took the opportunity to paint, with POR-15, the steel parts as well as the cleaned up exhaust pipe bracket. And probably for the first time not a drop, I repeat not a drop, ended up on Mal! Wasn't much else to do, except maybe pick up on the '34's resto which has been underway in the vicinity of 8 years now so another hour missed won't do it any harm, and went on to a workshop tidy up instead. All the leftover parts from the '41, mostly replaced nuts and bolts and replaced parts, were sorted for retention in the "junk box", on the shelf or were disposed of. And because of this Wade found his desk again, the cleared top hadn't been sighted for months!

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Thursday 10th June 2010

A visit from our grand-daughters in the morning meant I didn't reach the workshop till early afternoon. There found Wade under the bonnet(hood) of Big Red. He was trying to track down the elusive intermittent slight miss but without success. Earlier he'd rigged up a vacuum gauge to the intake manifold which shows a steady 20"hg at idle. Blipping the throttle looses most of the vacuum but it comes back at over 20"hg then returns to a steady 20"hg, see video. He's also checked the fuel delivery system in detail from tank, through fuel pumps, fuel filter and carb and there are no problems there. He was in the midst of the electrical system having replaced the coil with a new one and one sparkplug which "may" have been suspect. All the plug wires are copper cored and Wade is a real stickler where contact to ground/earth is concerned. Next step was to replace the distributor cap - no change. Then replaced the rotor button - no change. Then replaced the condensor and checked the points - here something was found, a slight pitting of the points, fixed and still - no change. By this time Wade was getting very frustrated as everything had been either checked or replaced. The workshop brains trust also couldn't come up with any further suggestions or thoughts. Wade, I think needing to unwind a bit, decided he'd take Big Red for a test run, see video. Maybe the Packard driving experience might reveal something? However it was not to be, although I was given the privilege of driving Big Red the last part of the way back. So that's another Packard I can add to my meagre list of "Packards I have driven".

During one of the test start ups and runs on Big Red, Wade had said "come here and feel this". No, not that! What it was was a vibration you could feel through the steering wheel as the revs were brought up. Not a big vibration, and once through a certain rev range it disappeared. Wade is much more concerned about this than the elusive miss, especially as he had the rotating, reciprocating parts balanced, at great expense, as part of the engine rebuild. He was talking about having to pull the engine out and disassemble it again and wasn't happy at all about that prospect. But......after the test run we were talking about the harmonic balancer on Big Red maybe being the source of the vibration. Wade was thinking about pulling the balancer off the '34 and trying it on Big Red before having to go the whole hog and pull the engine out. Turns out the balancer on the '34 is brand new having been made up locally using the original balancer as a template. Wade then got to thinking about the spare balancer on the shelf from the spare '34 chassis. And here's the rub.....besides the original '34 balancer on the shelf the other one there was the original off Big Red! In the course of Big Red's engine rebuild Wade had used the "spare" balancer in the belief it was better than Big Red's, and forgotten/overlooked that when thinking about it later. So tomorrow the original balancer off Big Red will be returned from whence it came. My paltry contribution today consisted of turning the brake and clutch pedal pads in the '41 around by 180 degrees, they'd been installed upside down. And getting yesterdays POR-15'd parts down from where they'd been strung up to dry.

Video - vacuum and test drive

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Mal,

Check your PM.

Friday 11th June 2010

Wade was looking to remove the balancer from Big Red when I arrived at the workshop. Sourced a socket big enough to fit the bolt 1&7/8" from his 3/4" drive set, but because of the effort which will be required to loosen it, was going to use John's long 1/2" drive socket handle for leverage. Only trouble was couldn't find John's 1/2" to 3/4" adaptor. Searched high and low in both John's and Wade's workshop areas but no luck. John thought George, another mechanic with his workshop a street away, probably had borrowed it and it was still with him. Although a phonecall to George was negative John nevertheless went round to look for himself. And what do you know, while John was away, asked Rick and he had it on his hoist! This was discovered just before John returned, naturally. However with the socket, adaptor and socket handle all together there wasn't enough room to get the socket on and still clear the radiator. There is another strategy being contemplated to overcome this but that'll be next week when the running is taken up again.

The trip to take Big Red's original balancer over to Graham Wilkins for balancing was to be the nest item on the agenda. However PeterL arrived just as we were about to leave in the '41 for the trip. Peter had called in earlier in the week, while we out on a test drive, and left a few more parts from the OD Trans he'd re-assembled for me, shift levers and tailshaft flange. While there in discussing OD's he mentioned he'd deleted the "OD operation instructions" that PackarInfo member Phils38Coupe had forwarded to me last year and if I still had them? In fact I do and I've just forwarded another copy to Peter, so thanks again Phil. Then off so see Graham with Big Red's balancer, see video for for the last part of the '41's trip there. Unfortunately Graham wasn't able to offer "while you wait" service so we left the balancer with him and returned to the workshop.

Back at the workshop jacked up the '41 and Wade adjusted the clutch pedal free play, because it had been "chattering". Wade also had me as observer when checking that Old Blues stop lights were working, and they weren't! Wade has been using Silicon brake fluid in Old Blue for over 18 years now and the only drawback in that time is that he has to replace the brake switch fitted to the master cylinder about every couple of years. That done, I was then treated to the workshops answer to that age old question - How many men does it take to change a light bulb? For the answer, see this video! Following that we were off to Wings Restaurant at Eastwood Rugby Club for lunch. Quite a large roll up today with three of John's street sedan car racing(circuit racing) mates from 25 years ago joining us. They all drove rotary powered Mazdas and from the tales told really enjoyed themselves. All up there were 11 attendees apparently the biggest turnout for some time.
Quote:
Kev,
Done and !

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Monday 14th June 2010

The '41 spent some time on the road yesterday and this morning racking up some easy "running-in" miles on the rebuilt engine. Total miles since rebuild = 150. See this Sunday morning drive thread for details of yesterdays and todays runs.

And have now finished sanding work on the running boards, a couple of hours yesterday on the undersides and a couple of hours today topside. All hand sanding, mainly underneath trimming the plugs filling the numerous holes and at each end where the belt sander couldn't be easily used. Now need to POR-15 the undersides again as well as cover some areas where I sanded through to bare metal! The topside will then be painted with bumper bar paint or similar to give a more running board rubber like finish.

However, as mentioned in the thread referred to above, there is now a problem with the OD making expensive and worrying sounding noises. Because of this, called Peter Packard about the symptoms afflicting the '41's OD for some over-the-phone advice. Peter advised we put the '41 up on a hoist, run it up and into OD then test the OD using a "hot wire" to bypass the kick down switch to test its operation and also test locking it out of OD. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

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Tuesday 15th June 2010

On the way to the workshop filled the '41 up with fuel. For the 155 miles travelled between fills, 65.37 litres of fuel were required. And with 65.37 litres = 17.27 US gallons or 14.38 Imperial gallons this gives about 9 mpg or 10.8 mpg respectively. Low mileage figures for sure but I expect improvement with much less workshop running, more road and highway running and as the engine loosens up.

Took the running boards down to the workshop by transporting them "mounted" on the running board brackets but without using washers/nuts to secure them in place. Because of having to slide them in at an angle from the side so the inner lip goes under the door and body line then laying them down flat with the captive bolts in place in the running board brackets there was no likelihood they would part company from the '41 on the way. Once there I proceeded to final clean and prep them then applied POR-15 to the underside of each. And called Harvey, had also called him on the weekend, and he's going to spray the flat black paint on the topsides of the running boards later this week.

And when I arrived Wade was in the midst of manufacturing a special Packard tool to facilitate removal of the harmonic balancer from Big Red without having to remove either the front clip or radiator. The special Packard tool took the form of the 1&7/8" very large socket having a flat surface ground on either side of the socket fitting, an idea suggested by John. And although I queried Wade as to whether I should mention this in my narrative and he said no, in spite of having to face "The Wrath of Wade", I have nevertheless decided to make mention of it. It's really necessity being the mother of invention in this case, it's not as if Big Red itself was being modified in any way. By doing this and using a large adjustable spanner(crescent wrench) the retaining bolt for the harmonic balancer can be accessed without the need for removing major components from Big Red. Only thing removed to facilitate access was the fan belt. That is if you can still use the term access for the very confined space you now have to work with and in. Anyway, to cut a long story short, it worked! Wade had also phoned Graham Wilkins earlier who advised to come over in a couple of hours and pick up the balanced balancer.

And while I was painting, Peter Packard had phoned Wade and had a detailed discussion concerning OD's and their failings and foibles. In order to give Wade a first hand view, feel and experience of the '41's OD problems we took that for the journey to Graham Wilkins with Wade driving. On the way there we called into ABC bearings for Wade to source a large o-ring to take the place of the perished original rubber ring on one of the tuners for the radios Wade is rebuilding. Looks like he found one, not exactly to spec but close enough to do the job. And the price, all of AU$2.50, Pepe don't let him tell you otherwise! I also took the opportunity, while Wade was in ABC, to duck round the corner to Grippy Rubber to buy some rubber grommets for the '41. Leaving ABC, and travelling to Seven Hills to see Graham Wilkins, Wade pulled into a side street at Rydalmere. In the side street, he drove the left side of the '41 up onto the kerb affording room for him to slide under the side and, disconnected the OD Solenoid wires. Doing this improved the performance of the OD somewhat but on the over-run the sounds emanating from under the car still weren't good at all. Was unable to manually lockout the OD using the cable to the dash. Locking out the OD as per the manual, consists of depressing the clutch while in gear then pulling the OD lockout knob out. But doing this still resulted in horrendous crunching noises so wasn't persevered with. Wade is of the opinion that the "sprag" clutch is shot.

Anyway, putting that aside, arrived at Graham Wilkin's to find he hadn't yet balanced the balancer and was still in the process of finishing the collar required so the balancer could be fitted to the balancing machine. Because of this we were afforded the opportunity to watch the balancing process "live". Consisted of mounting the harmonic balancer on the end of a shaft looking somewhat like a tailshaft but running on two pairs of rollers. The driving end of the machine contains the controls and a number of indicating dials. Speed is about 1,000 rpm and the area of imbalance was shown as being at 290 degrees(there's a 360 degree wheel on the front of the machine to reference the balancer to) and a quite substantial imbalance too! To bring it into balance Graham drilled holes, in the face of the balancer being balanced, at and around the 290 degree indicated mark. Although newer more sophisticated machines can tell you how big a drill to use and how deep to drill, Graham's machine wasn't that refined. This necessitated Graham drilling a couple of holes, running the balancer again, drilling a couple of holes, running the balancer again, drilling a couple of holes, etc, etc until the imbalance was negated.

That done returned to the workshop in the '41 and which, except for the OD's problems, is running very well. Oil pressure is good, temperature is good, although it's winter here at about 17C or 63F and it's getting looser and stronger all the time. Now that it's not "sort of" constantly in, out and about OD even I can feel that it's running well. Back at the workshop Wade first remarked the timing marks on the balanced balancer then attempted to install it into Big Red. My earlier observations about access now came firmly into play. Although Wade could start the balancer on the crankshaft he couldn't get it back on the snout, and no amount of coaxing, contortions or cussing helped. Unfortunately I had to leave Wade to it at that point, because of our regular babysitting appointment, but I fully expect it'll be back on when I get in tomorrow. Wade is also going to look at the '41's OD lockout, time permitting, so I'll also see if that transpired.

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