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Well done Mal, an excellent job on the badge bar.

Also I hope that Gina continues to keep us up to date on their travels in 'The Apple Isle'. Perhaps we could consider a Packard contingent for the Targa Tasmania one day?

Tuesday 3rd May 2011

After picking up PeterL at Morrisset, on the way north in the Coupe, and about 10 minutes away from our destination I called AllanC and was given detailed directions on how to find and approach the property because of the dangerous corner the entrance is located on. Made it there safely, to be greeted by Allan, Anne and friend MalcolmB at the front gate, but only because we were in the Coupe. If we'd been in a modern car, we would have arrived without the accompanying welcoming throng! Then, after a refreshing cup of tea and Arnott's Milk Arrowroot biscuits, a longtime Aussie favourite, we viewed the collection. But, enough of the chit-chat, I'll let the pic's speak for themselves.

See this link for the Picasa album of today's pic's, most of which are captioned. There are some interesting snippets, one of which will no doubt set Packard tongues a wagging!

Quote:Matt,

Another pic below. It came with this comment
"Pepe says "tough life south of the border" may have to return to mainland sometime in next month" Pepe is FredD better known on PackardInfo as PepePackard. That's him on the right of the pic.

Quote:I would expect a certain Packard Biposto will be leading the charge at the Targa?

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Monday 9th May 2011

Not much happening. Did take Harvey's brake drum puller to the workshop this morning. Big Bad Barry had borrowed it to change over a spare pumpkin into his '35 Sedan, and had returned it to me at the PACA committee meeting last Thursday evening. First thing I noticed at the workshop is that John and Rick each had an additional hoist installed over the weekend. Shouldn't be so difficult now to schedule Packard time on a hoist!

Also had a PM, over on the PAC Site, from a US Packard guy who's going to be in Sydney shortly for a 10 day stay. In the midst of trying to tee up some Packard and other car related activities during his stay so he doesn't go into withdrawal.

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Wednesday 11th May 2011

Latest pic from Gina of the Tasmanian Packard Rally. Gina's words used as the pic caption!

And Brian, the US '49 Packard owner, missed his flight and now arrives tomorrow. I'd tee'd up a run for him and his wife on Sunday to a couple of old car events, weather is looking good, but they have other commitments. I'll now catch up with Brian next week for some Packard related activities.

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Thursday 12th May 2011

Received another pic from Gina with this message - "....the blokes talking cars at Ford Motor Museum in Wynyard - now heading for Devonport to board ship...."

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Saturday 14th May 2011

A pic in the previous post is titled "Meanwhile, back in Australia, 2 little girls were playing in Poppy's Packard." Although they were having fun my wife Kath, who was in the Coupe with them at the time, became concerned. The bracket mounted on the bottom edge of the dash below the radio for the heater controls became dislodged "and there are wires sticking out". Girls will be girls so it seems, with no respect at all for Poppy's Packard, must have inadvertently kicked or leant on it.

Today, after examining the mayhem more closely, saw that the bracket is screwed to a metal strip which in turn is pop riveted to the bottom of the dash. Obviously not a Packard part but I'm happy to leave it there because it serves it's purpose. In order to remove the pop rivets unscrewed the heater control bracket, took the metal strip down to the workshop and drilled out the pop rivets. Also scored some replacement pop rivets from Rick for the remounting.

Remounting was fun, I got to act like Wade, upside down under a Packard dash! First had to drill out the holes in the bottom of the dash because they were fractionally too small for the new pop rivets. Pop riveted the metal strip onto the bottom of the dash, then the fun started. Todays experience only reinforces my admiration for the way Wade literally dives under dashes and works upside down in such a confined area. Of course being all thumbs didn't help my cause but, like Wade, I persevered and finally was able to screw the heater control bracket back in place.

The State and National umbrella clubs for the old car movement here in Australia promotes one day a year as National Motoring Heritage Day, which this year is tomorrow. All clubs are encouraged to be out and about to showcase their cars to the public on this day. Additionally there are a number of venues for club runs to commence from, or to be destination to. So, after picking up Noel in the Coupe we're heading south to Berry, one of a number of the venues in and around Sydney. Time permitting, on the return journey, we'll call in to the Australian Motorlife Museum which is another of the venues. Couple of other Packards may join us on the day, I hope so.

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Sunday 15th May 2011

After returning home, from the Packard jaunt south with Noel today, found that Gina had send another pic. This time from Howlong. Besides the frost, looks like Wade has a big job on his hands cleaning up Big Red after being on the road for the best part of a month.

But more about todays jaunt in the Shows and Events Forum when I get the pic's captioned. I'll create a thread and post a link to my Picasa album there.

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Tuesday 17th May 2011

He's baaaaack! Had a call from Wade last night to advise he'd be at the workshop today. Arriving there with Big Red covered in road grime, after being away for over 3 weeks, a good wash was certainly in order. Before doing that, first it was around to Tyre and Wheel Co for a replacement tube for Big Red. Half an hour after starting out on the trip Big Red had a right rear flat and Wade changed to the spare. When I say Wade changed to the spare, he eventually did, but required some assistance in doing so. The flat happened on a 110kmh section of motorway, and fortunately Wade was able to pull into a breakdown bay. So far, so good. But the jack Wade had taken, just wasn't up to the job. So onto the emergency bay phone and about half an hour later a motorway breakdown truck arrived. They also didn't have a decent jack but by using both jacks Big Red could be elevated enough to effect the change. Turns out the tyre had started to separate internally and with the flexing of the case the loose flap of rubber abraded the tube causing the flat. What Wade wanted to accomplish today was to use an old tyre and a new tube just to carry as a spare for a few days. Left the flat tyre and rim and old used tyre with Tyre and Wheel, going back later to pick up a rolling spare. Then on Thursday David, from Antique Tyre Supplies, is delivering 2 new WWW's, one as a warranty replacement for the one with the split case, the other to replace the old spare. What will happen then is that the 2 new tyres will be mounted, balanced and go on the front, the 2 best remaining tyres will go on the rear and the remaining tyre will then be used as the spare. I imagine there'll also be a bigger, better jack thrown into the boot as well!

Back at the workshop it was Big Red cleaning time. Armed with bucket, sponge, cloth and hose we cleaned off the accumulation of dirt, grime and insects. Then followed a session of chamoising resulting in a much shiner Big Red than earlier in the day. But, before starting washing, Wade warned me about another problem that had developed on the trip, the front of the roof insert had developed a leak. Previously the rear of the insert had leaked but this had been sealed before departure. The trip travel and body flexing combined with the 70+ years top resulting in another "minor" matter to fix. It'll be resealed in the next few days in the same manner as the rear was so it's ready for the Rally next month to Stawell 600+ miles south west from Sydney. Wade's really running up the miles, clocking up 2,480 miles for the recently completed Packard Tour of Tasmania 2011 at 14.9 mpg(Imperial gallons) soon to be followed by well over 1,200 miles more. You could never accuse Wade of leaving his Packard in the garage.

Then into Big Red again, this time with John joining us. A local automotive business, Ryde Steering, is closing down and selling off their equipment. Including the hoists, one of which is a four post hoist with a 4,000kg lift capacity, sufficient for Packard work. And if the price is right, Wade could soon be the proud owner of a hoist in Packard corner. Then there won't be any concerns about time on Rick or John's hoists even though they have just doubled in number! Finally back to Wheel and Tyre Co but, because they didn't have the right tube, there wasn't a spare to pick up. Instead brought the offending tyre with the loose flap of rubber back to the workshop for warranty changeover in a couple of days.

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Thursday 19th May 2011

Noel picked up PackardInfo member PhilfromTassie from the airport and brought him to "Casa Ozstatman" from where we then made the 40 mile trip north, in the Coupe, to Vintage Motor Garage at Central Mangrove. Phil flew up from Tasmania to see the progress made on his '26 Sedan Limo at VMG and discuss various matters with Jonathan concerning it's restoration.

Link to Picasa Album of pic's taken - VMG pic's

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Friday 20th May 2011

Had the day planned for Philfrom Tassie whereby we would visit a PACA member with 6 Packards but, like many good plans, it just didn't work out. Instead, I picked up Phil from the Bankstown table tennis warehouse where Noel stores some of his stuff. Noel still has a pallet of Club Stock parts there because of a mishap when the pallets were sent down to Peter Packard who received a pallet of Noel's '41 parts instead of the pallet still at the warehouse! Believe this situation will be rectified in the near future when Noel takes this pallet down to Peter. But, because the pallet was there, it gave us a chance to look through the parts. Phil didn't find any '26 parts. Noel found a couple of rear quarter windows from which he may be able to use a handle for his '41 160 Coupe. And I found a pair of '40 110 front quarter window frames, which are much better than the ones in the Coupe. Now all I have to do is determine if they fit!

After leaving Noel, proceeded to the workshop where we met Rex, Wade's brother, who is over from New Zealand for a short holiday. Was also able to provide Misty, John's dog, with a doggie bag from the dinner we had last night at a Korean B-B-Q restaurant. Must have been appreciated because, a little later, there wasn't a skerrick left. Shortly after Phil and I arrived so did Tony, Noel's mate, with Peter Packards re-woodgrained '37 Super 8 dashboard. It looks fabulous, Peter!

On our arrival, Big Red's front was up in the air with the front wheels removed. The two new Coker WWW's were around at Tyre and Wheel Co getting mounted on the rims with new tubes and balanced. And Wade tells me there was another flat tyre episode on Wednesday morning. This time the vulcanised brass valve fitting in the valve stem had de-vulcanised. Some super glue and air later and Wade was able to get Big Red to the workship. So besides the two new tyres on the front, the two rear tyres were treated to new tubes while the spare had had a new tube fitted only recently.

But lunchtime was fast approaching and so most, but not all, adjourned to the Eastwood Rugby Club. Rick wasn't able to go because of a couple of late customers who demanded his attention. Rick wasn't pleased, although he didn't really miss much, just good food, good wine and good company! Wade's daughter Lorna also came along so, from Wade's perspective, it was a family affair. Of the eight people at lunch seven had Filet Mignon, cooked to perfection, while Phil had Atlantic Salmon, he has to support the Tasmanian fish farming industry doesn't he?

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