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Friday 9th July 2010

On the way to the workshop detoured via Lee Bros to pick up a longer bolt for the carb air cleaner top. Now when I say detour, its actually in the opposite direction necessitating a 10 mile round trip, but necessary. Looking for a bolt(screw) about 1" longer than the original 1&1/2", but the longest they had was 2" so took what I could get. And on arrival at the workshop found it was just the right length, so it worked out real well in the end. Then had to duck up to the local hardware store to pick up some some rubber stripping with adhesive backing to make a sealing edge at the top and bottom of the new filter element. Arrived back at the workshop to see PeterL had just arrived, he was there mainly to obtain some computer diagnostics from John on what needed replacement in his Mazda daily driver's electronics which kept shifting the auto trans when the throttle was feathered, but the Packard presence was also a factor.

Because the computer diagnostic equipment wouldn't be at the workshop until midday Peter was standing around wondering aloud what he could do. So to help fill the void I suggested he could install the new DAF Snubber on Noel's '39. Noel's original snubber had succumbed to the ravages of time and fallen apart some time ago and most of it had been removed. Peter was most impressed that Wade's creeper has a head part that flipped up to a 45 degree angle for support. From what he said, his has square wheels and is made out of a sheet of corrugated iron, so he really appreciated the luxury of Wade's. Peter removed the remaining snubber ball from Noel's '39 and was then able to mount the new part. While under the '39 Peter observed, but mainly experienced, a lot of oil around the trans and OD which he traced to a missing small welch plug at the rear of the OD. This will be fixed once the diff is repaired and the '39 can be put up on a hoist for better access.

And speaking of Noel, the man himself arrived while Peter was finishing up the install of the new DAF snubber. Noel was dropping off his newly arrived Hunley Acuff re-rubbered '41 160 Coupe running boards. Noel's mate Tony will pick the boards up next week and is going to polish up all the trim pieces for the boards and re-install them. A lot more trim than on my 120 with full length strips mine doesn't have. And an excellent job too on the re-rubbering, leave my rhino'd boards in the shade. I suggest that if anyone needs their 38-42 and 48-51 2 dr Packard boards re-rubbered to contact Hunley now! After all, he's not getting any younger. Here's a link to his site. Only providing this as a service to others, I have no links or affiliation to Hunley Acuff at all, except for my mate Noel who has used his service twice. One thing that Noel's boards have, that mine doesn't have, is the fairly wide rubber lip along the top edge of the board where it meets the underside of the body next to the chassis. And I think Noel's tempting fate by leaving them in the workshop for a few days, who knows where they'll end up? Possibly on a certain '41 120 Club Coupe? No, I wouldn't do that to Noel, but the thought did cross my mind!

Quote:
TT, I enjoy writing it and try to relay a little of the enjoyment, frustration, work, pleasure, etc, etc of what goes on here. Others would say my ego is now out of control, and if that's so, then I just have to accept it, lie back and enjoy the experience.

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Monday 12th July 2010

Received a phone call from Noel this morning. Wanted to know if I'd like to visit Chrometech at Castle Hill the people doing the rechroming of some parts for his '41 160 coupe. Noel previously used Chrometech, for plating the very badly pitted headlight trim strips and wiper towers on his '39 and they still look great some 5 years later. Not a mark, blemish or pit on these muck metal pieces. Noel arranged to pick me up from the workshop at 1:00pm because I was getting there shortly before that time owing to a late morning doctors appointment. Arrived to find Wade putting the diff back together that had been received from Peter Packard last week because it wasn't being used to repair Noel's diff. And shortly afterwards Noel arrived, together with a very rusty and pitted crown wheel and three diverse pinions, none of which inspired confidence and all parts were consequently rejected by Wade. However there could be another source of a crown wheel and pinion, this time NOS, but until it's been sighted and passed quality control inspection, ie Wade's eagle eye, hopes won't be raised too high. Noel's friend Tony arrived a little later, Tony was there to pick up Noel's re-rubbered running boards along with the running board trim strips and clips to take them home and re-assemble them for Noel. Noel's short about half the clips, having been broken in dis-assembly, but Tony took one look at them and said Holden Torana(local GM product) looked the same. Helps that Tony is a retired panelbeater. If the Torana clips don't match, Wade has given Noel the details of the right clips from Restoration Specialties, so the bases are covered.

Once Tony was loaded up with running boards, trim strips and the clips Noel did have, and was on his way Noel and I departed for Chrometech. Rather than try and describe what and how Chrometech do what they do it's best if you visit their website and read it for yourself. If I tried to tell you I'd only mangle or misinterpret it in some way. Suffice to say, I think Chrometech can chrome just about anything. See this link for the pic's I took while we were there today. Walter is a real good bloke but a straight shooter, there are even some things he can't chrome, or which are in too poor condition even for his magic skills to make good, and if so he'll tell you so. The chromed grill surround in the pic's was resurrected from a bashed, belted, rusted through '34 Ford grill but in the end it turned out to be a business lesson in that the time and work taken to do the job far outweighed what anyone would be prepared to pay. Now it's just an extremely nice display piece. A very interesting time was had with Walter who needed to show Noel what he'd done so far with his '41 pieces and gain further instructions to ensure they were finished correctly. Walter also gave us the guided tour of the facility and was very generous in the giving of his time and knowledge in answering mainly my questions. This could come back to haunt him as Noel suggested Chrometech would be a perfect venue for a Morris Minor Picnic Club run. And Walter was agreeable saying the 57 Chebby and Honda Goldwing clubs had made visits and encouraged us to do so too. So I'll be contacting Ted of the MMPC to let him know he has a very interesting venue for a future run.

Back at the workshop took some more pic's for Hobbs of '34 parts of Wade's which are the same as those he's chasing for his '33 resto. Was also going to make some under running board rear mudflaps for the '41 from the one Noel had lent me last week. Only trouble was I couldn't find any rubber of the desired thickness, some thinner and some thicker, but for some strange reason there wasn't any on the shelf! Not to fear though, tomorrow morning Wade is going over to ABC Bearings and on my behalf will visit Grippy Rubber to purchase a piece of the desired thickness and necessary quality. Then when I arrive later in the day, another non-Packard activity again preventing my earlier attendance, MBM Industries will swing into gear and produce not one but two pairs of the mudflaps. And if you think the second pair is for Noel, you'd be wrong. Before Noel realised what was involved in replicating them he'd purchased a pair from $teele's and those are also with Tony for the running board re-assembly. The second pair is for a PackardInfo member who PM'd requesting the dimensions of Noel's old mudflap and forwarding those to him because all he had was the stumps of his old mudflaps. He'd looked at $teele's pricing of these very straightforward pieces which was pricey, so took the opportunity to contact me when I posted a pic of Noel's original mudflap last week, but I'm going to send him MBM originals. Spoke about quality control earlier, so it will be interesting to see if MBM mudflaps pass a strict US inspection. If not MBM, while embarrassed, would understand and the mudflaps can always be used as templates.

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Mal,
I have been driving way across Sydney for at least 30 years to get my electroplating done. I have no complaints with that company however now I learn of an electroplater literally "just down the road" from home, and he looks good!
Very interesting but after restoring 3 basket case Packards plus a few other distractions I am cured and won't need any more plating! If I keep saying it it might just work.
David

It's not unusual to chrome natural items.

Tuesday 13th July 2010

Late start at the workshop because of family commitments in the morning. Marked and cut out 2 pairs of '41 Packard under running board mudflaps from the rubber sheet Wade had purchased on my behalf this morning. I pair of which will be winging it's way to the US tomorrow, I'll also include the "best" mudflap from my '41 when I bought it. I'd send Noel's, but it might have sentimental value to him and wouldn't want it returning to the US? As it is my mudflap having started life in Detroit in '41, then spending until '61 in San Francisco, from '61 to '07 in Idaho and from '07 to '10 in Australia will then return to the land whence it came. By this time tomorrow the mudflaps and another Packard care package will be winging their ways to two PackardInfo members. Mudflaps done, then removed the front sway bar from Old Blue for Wade. The sway bar links are shot and annoy Wade immensely because they rattle. And no wonder they rattle, once taken off one of links actually fell apart!

Quote:David,

Might be close by, but cost can be a factor too.

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Wednesday 14th July 2010

Bastille day and down to the workshop. No stirring anthems, just oil, grease, dirt and car parts but a stirring Packard environment nevertheless. Back with reality, Wade had mentioned yesterday that Old Blue required some further work, this time the right side boot(trunk) hinge. It was loose and another rattle not something Wade likes, but here's the rub, Old Blue has had this rattle for the twenty years he's owned it! So armed with an assortment of spanners(wrenches), the offending hinge was removed from Old Blue. This necessitated Wade holding the boot(trunk) lid open while I removed the bolts securing it in place. All this with me taking pic's, darting back to the toolbox for a ratchet and 7/16" socket while Wade was holding the boot(trunk) lid open. Once off it was apparent what the problem was, the post of the body part of the hinge closest to the boot(trunk) edge had been repaired sometime in the past(now long past) with a helicoil which wasn't properly seated. The bolt being used for this particular mounting point was much too short, the helicoil came out with the bolt and the mounting post was also damaged. Fixed by drilling out the mounting post hole, inserting a new helicoil, sourcing a correct length bolt and the "re-built" boot(trunk) hinge was re-installed on Old Blue. That done, what next? Why doing the same thing on Big Red which was suffering from the same problem. However this time role reversals were in order with Wade wielding the wrenches(spanners) while I held the boot(trunk) lid during the removal and re-installation processes of the left hinge. This time the thread was just stripped and it too received the helicoil treatment. Left hinge back on Big Red then turned to the right hinge where the thread was stripped on the mounting post of the bolt on the boot(trunk) lid closest to the body. This was repaired in-situ, drilling out the hole, inserting a helicoil and fixing the bolt back in place.

A little aside. I often refer to Wade's '37 120 as "Old Blue" and to the '37 Super 8 as "Big Red" because these are the names Wade and Gina use for them. Then on Sunday on our Packard club run Gina referred to "The Fossil". Refers to Wade's '34 Club Sedan although I've never heard this phrase pass Wades lips. But, now that I've heard it uttered, it could be used more frequently in this narrative.

But back to the workshop. During the various boot hinge fixes a NOS 4.36:1 Crown wheel and pinion for Noel's '39 arrived. Inspection revealed they truely were NOS with not a mark on them, just some very slight surface rust, dirt and such. A session in the parts cleaner followed by a careful clean in the media blaster soon returned them to a much more presentable state. From there we turned to removing the bearings from the hemisphere, a task which had thwarted previous attempts to do so. The problem was, there is very little room in which to engage a puller to remove the bearing. But a discussion with John, who advised to break the bearing cage so the bearing body was more accessible, pointed us in the right direction. Together with a different puller of John's, this task was then accomplished although it still wasn't easy, with very little surface to engage the puller's legs on. Mission accomplished, all the parts then went into the parts washer to remove any last traces of dirt and grime. Now, all that's needed is the new bearings, with all but one cone having been sourced locally by ABC Bearings at probably less than half the cost of bearings from the US. And once ABC comes through with the outstanding cone, the diff will be re-assembled and sent off to be "lapped in" prior to final assembly and re-installation in Noel's '39.

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Friday 16th July 2010

Arrived at the workshop a little later than usual followed in closely by Wade who had some Super 8 parts in his hands. He'd taken Big Red's water pump over to Stan earlier in the week so the body could be machined to take a modern seal. Also a coil holder because the replacement 6V coil Wade has is marginally larger in diameter than the original, probably made to a metric spec. There's still more work to be done on the water pump because Wade had to figure out how to retain the new seals and was then taking it back to Stan for more machine work. However because I'd brought my youngest son's daily driver, a mid 80's Mitsubishi Magna S/Wagon, down to John for some remedial work to pass it's annual inspection I was called away to chase some parts for it. Yesterday I'd picked up a headlight assembly and a corner blinker unit for it in preparation for todays work. Turns out the replacement headlight unit had broken retaining clips and the apparently OK in-bumper blinker unit was also cactus. So, back to the future? Sorry, back to the wrecking yard to replace the replacement headlight unit and to pick up a blinker unit.

Back at the workshop turned the new intact headlight unit, and bumper blinker unit, over to Murray for installation. Then Wade turned me to a task I know a little about, making a gasket, this time for the water pump body to block seal on Big Red. Was almost through finishing that when Noel arrived to inspect, with his own eyes, the NOS crown wheel and pinion for the '39. He was suitably impressed and, all going well, on Monday the new bearings should be available for pickup from ABC. Then it will depend on how long the gear lapping-in takes before the '39's back on the road. But, because of poor starter performance of the '39, slow cranking, Noel had also brought along a set of new starter brushes for Wade to install. Although Noel was invited to join us for lunch later at Eastwood Rugby Club, a prior engagement prevented his attendance. So following Noel's departure I completed the MBM water pump gasket. Wade turned to removing the '39's starter, then removed it's brushes and inspected the armature and housing. Wade's initial diagnosis, looks reasonable but very cruddy inside. Further investigation and work will have to wait until next week because Eastwood Rugby Club's Wings Restaurant was calling.

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Monday 19th July 2010

Although I love the smell of napalm in the morning, the smell of burning flesh, especially my own, is another matter entirely. After having a couple of seborrheic keratosii removed from my head(I'm ugly enough already!) by means of diathermic needle it was off to the workshop for some Packard post-op therapy. By the time I arrived Wade had already been to see Stan and had also picked up the new diff bearings from ABC Bearings. Wade was just starting to push the new carrier bearings onto the hemisphere and then did the large rear pinion bearing before knocking in the rear and front pinion bearing races. The pumpkin was then "loosely" assembled ready for transportation tomorrow to be lapped in.

Next, turned to Noel's '39 starter motor. A good clean of all the starters component parts was followed by a basic resistance test which checked out OK. The new brushes supplied by Noel for the "overhaul" weren't used because the present brushes are good, showing hardly any wear so didn't need to be changed. That done and the starter re-assembled it was re-installed into the '39, probably the hardest part of the whole exercise particularly on Wade's back. Starters are heavy enough without having to lean over a broad '39 mudguard(fender) and then further reach to position and install the beast! All done, then all that remained was to test it! But.........nothing. Not a peep, turned on the headlights, also nothing. Checked the connections, all shipshape and Bristol fashion. Then checked the battery, flat as a tack, not a skerrick of charge could be found. So out with Noel's battery and in with the one currently in The Fossil which had previously been in Old Blue since April '03. Connected it up and the '39's interior light came on, so that was the explanation as to why the battery was flat, having steadily drained every last ounce of life out of it! And this time the '39 started, turned over a lot better than the previous slow turn and this from a battery which was below 6V itself when Wade checked it a little later. Instead of administering the last rites Noel's battery was put on a monitoring charger to slowly bring it back to life, then once charged up it should really spin the starter over.

This morning when Wade picked up Big Red's water pump from Stan, Stan had to do some on-the-spot machining having interpreted, or maybe mis-interpreted Wade's blueprint and instructions about the required outcome. The little collar he made will have be redone because of a number of dimension changes required. Stan, I'll have to stop singing your praises if this continues! A fair amount of time was spent in re-assembling and dis-assembling the pump, figuring out and taking measurements, wrestling with removing the bearing retaining circlip and getting parts to fit that had previously fitted perfectly. Very exasperating for Wade, in that it was supposed to be a straight-forward modern seal replacement for the original packing nut and seal arrangement.

At one stage in the afternoon John called us outside to witness something he hadn't seen in 30+ years of working on cars. The Saab pictured below had come in without any power, John couldn't find any reason for that until he took it for a run round the block. Came back and said to Graham "I think the exhaust is blocked", to which Graham responded "You'd better have a look at what's coming out the back". See for yourself!

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Boys will be boys!

ROFPML!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A fabulous story Guscha, I can tell that your teachers must have loved having you in their classes!