Packardkiwi

How deep are the groves ? If they are not too deep, you could machine them out. To machine the rear drums you need a jig to hold them by the bolt holes and a shaft with a taper which fit into the hub so the setup can be accurately centred. I can help you with a drawing of the jig. With the front drums it is best to clock them out using the tapered roller bearings and a "dummy" shaft.

Here is a picture of the repaired top of lubricator. The two steel rings replaces the swaged seam.

Thank O D for your reply. I did cut the lock seam open in the lathe and made two rings. Tomorrow I will pick up a suitable diaphragm and the unit should work again.

Thanks for that. The required item was not on their website nor could I find it anywhere else on the net. Did email them but they could not help me. There must be lots of people who experienced the same problem. Maybe the only solution to cut the lock seam, fit a new diaphragm and fabricate a clamp arrangement to replace the cut lock seam.

Been asked to find the reason why the automatic Bijur pump is not working on his 1104. Found that the diaphragm is leaking. Does anyone knows where we can get this repaired or where there is a new diaphragm available ?

After the bolts are removed nothing else should hold the wheel on. Just push the wheel from behind or maybe it is necessary the hit the inside rim with a rubber or wooden mallet. You can find my contact details on through this forum. I can answer more questions you might have in Dutch which will be easier for you. Arnold van Zon

Be careful. The new one will be 3 percent smaller in all directions ! You can use bog to make the original 3 percent bigger where it is critical.

Here is a picture of the alternator drive setup on our 640. I used a Japanese alternator driven by a M section V belt. Alternators can run in both directions. The driveshaft is not the original Packard one as the car is fitted with a Mitchel overdrive.The gearbox output flange is original.The piggy back pulley is mounted on the gearbox side of the flange. By the way, an advantage of changing to 12 volt is that the availability of an electronic ignition conversion is much greater .I fitted a Pertronics chip in the distributor. Never had to re time the ignition since.

You do not have to rewind the starter motor to suit 12 volt. Connect a Bendix spring in series with the motor terminal. You will find that the voltage then drops to about 6 volt during starting. if you do not do this and put the full 12 volt on you risk smashing up the Bendix mechanism. Re. the generator, you can get the field windings rewound to suit 12 volt and if not already use a modern regulator to control the field. You can leave the armature as it is but the current output will be less. By the way, I am looking for a big 8 generator armature for my 640 as the excising one is damaged beyond repair. I run a 12 Volt alternator off the output shaft of the gearbox at present but would like to go back to the generator setup if possible. If you are interested in the alternator setup I can provide you with a DXF drawing for the "piggyback" pulley mounted on the output flange. (if 1935 gear box output arrangement is the same as the 1929 one, I am not sure about this).

Thanks Grimy for your prompt reply. I am remaching the a spare set of drums and did not want to strip a hub on the car just to get the bearing numbers.

Cannot find any information re. Timken part numbers for the inner and outer front wheel bearings for a big eight 6 or 7 series . If someone can help it would be much appreciated.

Thanks Otahuhu. At the moment I have the recently obtained front drums checked for truness and hopefully they do not need machining. If it is only a very light skim I might get away with it. Once back on the car will find out if this have improved the braking performance and have a "closer" adjustment which means less pedal travel. Will keep you posted with the result.

Thanks for that. There is some very useful info in that thread. Even at my advanced age and being an engineer you can always learn something! I have printed that article re. spot hardening causing distortion and how to avoid it. Maybe that is the problem with the drums I have on the car at present (not for long I hope).

Thanks for that. Had a look at their website. No Packard drums listed. Of course I could supply them with an engineering drawing. In the mean time I have obtained two old 640 front drums. After grid blasting I will put them in a lathe and see how true they run. If not too bad I can machine just a little bit of the braking surface without introducing to many different stresses in the steel which could cause ovality..Always nice to stay with the original Packard drums if course.

Thanks for the reply. The steel drums on our car need machining and this could mean even less drum thickness, which lead to even quicker heat expansion during braking. The modern brake shoe lining friction coefficient is less than that of the original asbestos one.Steel offers less resistance than (special) cast iron. On our narrow, windy and hilly roads in New Zealand we found the Packard brakes wanting. Therefore my search for a cast iron type of drum to get a better braking performance and less drum expansion due to the thicker wall.