Packard Paddock Tribune

Tappet Mystery

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:27:34 -0500

Here is a movie showing horizontal movement of a tappet arm in one of my tappet assemblies. I am curious if this is the correct behavior. The other tappet arms do not move horizontally along the shaft. If this is not correct, how are they kept in place? If they do move, how do they keep aligned with their valves?

Painting begins

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:29:00 -0500

Before I get to the painting, I need to cover a few other bits that have been done. I have decided to go with new, oversized pistons. Piston’s were ordered and delivered to Quality engine so they can get the correct bore size. I have also spent some time doing a little work on the garage to make things more comfortable for summer work. This involved closing a hole in the ceiling to the attic using some high-quality, left-over cardboard and installing an air conditioner. It is still hotter than blazes, but my skin has stopped melting off.

I have also rebuilt the starter. The starter is an Owen Dyneto DI 850, and is correct for the car. The starter seems to be in pretty good shape. I went up to Texas Starter and Alternator and had them replace some bushing and smooth the commutator. The folks at Texas Starter and Alternator are very helpful, and I got great service both times I have been there. I cleaned up all the old copper dust, grease, oil, etc. The Bendix gear is in good shape, only needing a little cleaning. After painting the exterior parts I put it back together and then set it aside in a safe place.

All chassis parts are going to be painted black using POR-15, a rust preventative paint that I think has a nice look to it. Any parts that will be exposed to sunlight will also get a coating of chassis black, as POR-15 is sensitive to UV light. The process I am using is very easy. First the parts are cleaned of grease and dirt via scraping, brushing, scrubbing, oven-cleaner, brake cleaner, lacquer thinner, toothbrushes, scrubbing pads and elbow grease. Some of the larger parts were then taken to be hot tank dipped and bead blasted at Quality Engine. Once largely clean of old grease, oil and dirt, they are then stripped of old paint and rust using a wire drill brush. Then any remaining oils are removed using Marine Clean, a detergent provided by the folks at POR-15. This is then followed by treating the surface with Metal Ready, another POR-15 product that increases bonding between the paint and the metal. POR-15 is then applied with a cheap chip brush. The only tricky bit is getting any POR-15 on your skin off very quickly using lacquer thinner. If allowed to dry, it is very much stuck until your skin naturally sloughs off. I had some nice black eye shadow for a few days.

Below is a little movie showing the prep of one of the brake backing plates.

Another progress update

Sat, 7 Jun 2008 19:26:57 -0500

Although I have been lax in my blog updates, much has been happening here at the Packard Paddock. When I last updated this blog, I was on my way to Houston, bringing the engine block and head to a chem-strip facility. I am going to go on record and say that one should probably not use the facility I chose. According to others, the engine should have come back silvery and very clean. This was not the case. It came back a dark grey with lots of residue covering most parts. This includes such important things as the cylinder walls. In addition, there was considerable corrosion in the cooling passages that was only exposed by the process. Either that or it was not rinsed and then dried after the stripping, which is probably the case.

Although overall disappointed, much corrosion was removed, particularly on the exterior of the cylinders. Before the stripping, the exterior cylinder walls were rough with corrosion. After stripping they were heavily pitted but largely free of corrosion.

Unfortunately, when I got the parts back I could not immediately paint them with epoxy primer (see AACA discussion about epoxy primer). Albuquerque called, and I went. Luckily, my brother came over a day later and painted the rough cast surfaces. We did not paint the cooling passages, as there was too much corrosion. I will have to deal with that later.

When I returned from ABQ, I spent a little time with a drill and steel brush and cleaned up the head, block deck, and cylinder walls. After this treatment, I applied a little motor oil to keep things from rusting. This treatment definitely helped. Unfortunately, I did not take before and after photos.

Once the block and head were in Houston (a 3 hour drive...ala Gilligan’s Island), my next task was to bring a ‘large - really large - bucket - o - parts’ to a place that could clean them well. These are parts that are just too large to clean with brake cleaner, lacquer thinner, and elbow grease. My garage is enough of a super-fund site as it is. Included in this bucket were things like the front brake backing plates, steering cross arm, steering arm, other steering bits, flywheel, and lower crankcase housing. Based on a friend of mine’s recommendation, I chose Quality Engine Exchange (QEE). I was not disappointed. QEE has two operations, rebuilding your standard engines and making/rebuilding racing engines. They also do odd engines, and were more than wiling to help with this engine and parts. I chose to give them a cleaning job first, but given the success of that project, they now also have the block and head to do the machining. All work is overseen by the loud and jocular Clyde, and I have tremendous confidence in this shop after talking with him. The shop is chaotic, but Clyde clearly understands the rarity of this engine and has tasked his best guy to head up the project.

Of course, for the machining they need the valves. And they currently have only the exhaust valves. The valves ordered from a large supplier of ‘obsolete’ engine parts shipped intake valves that had keeper slots 3/16” too close to the head of the valve. After a very cordial conversation with said supplier, the new intake valves and one old intake valve were returned, and they are now manufacturing intake valves with the correct dimensions on the keeper slot. Although disappointed that the valves were not initially correct, I am extremely pleased with the response from the company. So, once those arrive, along with the valve guides I forgot to order initially, QEE will have all they need to finish the machining work.

The clutch has been brought to Austin Clutch for facing, the flywheel will get faced at QEE. I am on the trail of a machine shop that can help with the worn steering knuckles. I have not figured out what to do with the brake arms.

Parts are now being shipped back and picked up, so the garage is getting a bit crowded. The parts I initially dropped off at QEE are back (except for the flywheel, and some splash pans I am having them bead blast), and the vibration damper will soon arrive back from Damper Dudes. Various parts have also arrived from vendors and Ebay sellers. So, to keep on top of things, I decided to do some painting of returned and rejuvenated stuff.

I have posted a few more photo albums.

Next time, painting begins...

Progress Update

Thu, 22 May 2008 08:35:09 -0500

Just a quick update on the weeks progress. First, the disassembly of the front steering and brake systems is complete, and parts are now being cleaned, inspected, repaired, and prepped for painting. As previously mentioned, I have ordered most of the engine parts necessary for the rebuild. And, the crankcase, crank and connecting rods have been shipped to OH! I also ordered new felt seal inserts for the front and rear axles, and a few parts for the 1934. The next thing to do is drive to Houston. Ugh.

Hard to find parts

Wed, 21 May 2008 07:21:25 -0500

Early on I discovered that this car had the wrong generator. The generator worked, but it was not the kind of generator the car would have had originally. Sometime in the mid 1930s, the generator burned out, and a newer model (from 1934) was installed. This is a higher output generator, with better voltage and current regulation, than the stock unit. Technically, a better generator.

The goal in many restorations is to bring the car back to ‘showroom’ condition; what you get after restoration is what you would have driven off the showroom floor when the car was new. In some respects, this seems silly. Why not take advantage of the new technologies and improve the car? In my opinion, and for cars like this Packard, that is wrong. These cars are not just machines, but works of mechanical art and pieces of rolling history. And as such, they should be restored, preserved and appreciated. Given this is my goal, I needed a ‘new’ generator, one built at least 4 years earlier than the generator currently installed.

Which brings me to the point: I can’t go to my local Napa to pick up a 1930 Owen Dyneto CD840 generator. But I can go to the internet. And I can find a guy in Forest Lake, MN that is parting out a 726 sedan, built the same year and with the same basic chassis; just a shorter wheelbase. And from him I can get a well used CD840 generator. And an impossible to find speedometer. And some other miscellaneous bits. And so, through contacts like this, the judicious use of Ebay, parts suppliers that specialize in Packards and other antique/classic car part dealers, I have been able to find nearly all the parts I have needed. This, to me, shows the considerable benefit of the internet for obscure hobbies like restoring Packards.

But not all parts can be found. And if they can’t be found, you need to either have them made, get the parts you have restored, or make them yourself. For example, many small seals and gaskets are not available. But, even with my limited tool chest of talents, I can make these from stock gasket material, leather and rubber sheeting. And I can clean things, and do some painting. With these sorts of talents, I can do much of the work required to restore or resurrect many parts, like the above mentioned CD840 generator (see this photo album for a pictorial on my generator restoration).

But I can’t make a new speedometer, nor do I have the skills or equipment to repair them. So off to Bob’s speedometer goes the instrument I got from my friend in Forest Lake. The brake support and arm from the driver’s side, pictured above, shows a lot of wear. In my looking through ebay and craigslist, and by talking with some of my contacts, I have found that a replacement part in better shape is going to be very very difficult to find. So, it will have to be rebuilt. But unlike a speedometer, there are probably no specialists rebuilding this part. Luckily, it is a simple part, and I will hopefully find a machine shop that can grind down the worn shaft and fit an undersized bearing.

In the end, this is all part of the fun. I do like doing the research, and the thrill of victory might just be a mouse-click away.