John_Mereness Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Hello,Attached (hopefully) are pictures of my next sympathetic restoration project, a very original and almost virtually untouched 1932 Packard 906 Twin Six Seven Passenger Sedan. The car is perhaps the only closed 906 that exists. The project includes mechanics (hoses, fan belt, carb, fuel pump and etc), replacement of broken die cast, some minor paint touch up, repainted wheels, replated lock rings, restored hubcap emblems, and new 7:50 X 18 Bedford Double White Wall Tires (they came last week and are spectacular) from Lucas Tire. This week the project consisted of research and new Wiper Arms from Ficken. A new stainless driver's taillight bracket came today via Marge Verdone. We were also lucky several weeks ago to track down its original sidemount tread covers and are on the look out for the original side plates. The project for next week is having a locksmith make the missing keys (tool box, battery box, ignition, pass door, and tire locks). A few other people are helping with missing parts as well and we will update you as this project shapes up. Does anyone have a set of Trico air horns or at last trumpets ? You will see a broken up set on the front and will replace them as holes are drilled in front fenders.Does anyone have a V-12 rack and/or a set of luggage rack strips? I can make do with the non 12 rack if needed.How about a driver's side interior sunvisor ?Who has recast the passenger side hood handle ?This car is in the permanent collection of Citizen's Motor Car Company, America's Packard Museum, in Dayton, Ohio. The museum is in an original Packard dealership from 1917 and sits on a 1/4 downtown city block. The museum is starting an "Adopt A Car" program (I am first with this 32) and we are starting a more active volunteer base (time for some handy people to come out of their retirement - plenty of projects for every taste). If interested in helping, please e-mail me at johnmereness@aol.com<span style="color: #CC0000">Visit: The Citizens Motor Car CompanyAmerica's Packard Museum</span>420 S. Ludlow St.Dayton, Ohio 45402 Office 937.226-1710Fax 937.224.1918<span style="color: #3366FF">AmericasPackard@aol.com</span>A Section 501 ©(3) organization under the Internal Revenue Code. All gifts are fully tax deductible.Thanks,John M. Mereness, Esq. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted March 29, 2009 Author Share Posted March 29, 2009 Here are a few interior photos. A good cleaning and some careful moth repair is very much in order.<span style="color: #CC0000">Visit: The Citizens Motor Car CompanyAmerica's Packard Museum</span>420 S. Ludlow St.Dayton, Ohio 45402 Office 937.226-1710Fax 937.224.1918<span style="color: #3366FF">AmericasPackard@aol.com</span>A Section 501 ©(3) organization under the Internal Revenue Code. All gifts are fully tax deductible.JMM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F&J Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Hi John, I will PM you about a long time clasic era restorer/collector/shop owner that might be of some help. He is mainly Packards of that age, with some big Cadillacs/etc thrown in. He is the guy that helped me track down the former owners of my 32 Nash.I'll find his card and send the info today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share Posted April 5, 2009 Hello,I did not get very far this week due to the job search - so much for negotiating Software purchases for one of the World's largest banks. I did snap some engine photos for those asking and I did grab the battery box lid to start getting keys made (hopes are that same key fits Battery, tool, and spare tire locks, perhaps even a door handle if we hold our breath.JMM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share Posted April 5, 2009 This weeks visits were productive in many other ways also. Cincinnatian's Dan Shaw and his son Joshua Shaw (well known in Rat Rod, Hot Rod, pinstripping, sign painting, and historic race car restoration), were kind enough to stop in all day Friday and touch up the original paint and pinstripe on the Museum's 1935 Packard Dietrich Twelve Convertible Sedan. The big yellow car was looking very enticing to play connect the dots on so their help is greatly appreciate. The Twelve also runs super sweet thanks to Daytonian, Don Boeke, "The Egyptian." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 Twin Six gets reproduction front frame end covers via Bill Hirsch and a restored trunk rack emblem being Dale Adams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 Twin Six gets a radiator cap rebuild via parts courtesy of Max Merritt. The cap was loose as a goose and sat crooked. Inspection revealed the inside of the cap was cobbled up junk from the inside of an old gas cap. Now with new reproduction guts it actually will be able to function as a cap - nice reproduction part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 Stopped in on Tuesday after a job fair at Wright Patterson Air Force Base (thousands of unemployed people showed up - a real mad house but made two really good contacts - helps being from a top 5 global business) and installed a pair of pedal pads from Bill Hirsch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 Made some progress on Friday. Several weeks ago a tailight base came from Marge Verdone and I have been prepping it to installation - which went very well. The original was badly broken and being die cast was best replaced with a new casting (in this case stainless). Also Hoosiers (the nickname given to people from Indiana) Steve and Roger Gardner stopped in the prior weekend and traded me (they needed a Bijur pump) the rare Trico Clarion Air Horn buggles to replace the destroyed originals - You see these installed in the same place on only two other cars - both of which were custon designed for personal use by Walter P. Chrysler (a roadster and a sedan that both survive today). Also, installed a new gas cap from Bill Hirsch to replace the original - they must have heard something fall off so they backed up over it see what it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 Had a few unexpected projects on Friday. First one was that the 1947 (originally purchased by ganster Al Capone - his last new car ever purchased prior to death) would not run so worked with the guyes through the day. Here is a picture of Scott with it at perhaps midnight just prior to being able to get it to run. Therafter, we were discussing the 30 Town Car and determined the car was in dire need of a trunk for storage of misc items that would be required for its use in a Saturday wedding - so we scavanged up a trunk from the basement and gave it a good clean up. Surprise was that trunk was filled with a perfect set of luggage (temp set aside). Argh, we finished this project at like 1:30 a.m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 Here is a little project that I need parts for - does anyone have the automatic choke linkages for a Stromberg EE-22 Carb for a 1933 and 1934 Packard Super or Standard 8 ?Also, did have a second to snap a picture of the building late in the day Friday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 Roy's daughter from Roy's Locksmith Shop on Third Street makes all the keys for the Twin Six. The Oakes Locks give her grief for almost three hours - apparently they used die cast lock fingers for 1932 - cheap and frozen up - one comes out fine after hours and the other is hopeless and has to be drilled (Casting survived and just needs new fingers and tumbler). Keys are good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted April 29, 2009 Author Share Posted April 29, 2009 This is an picture from the 20's of Citizen's Motor Car Company - "some things have not changed much in 80 years." Every night all the neon is lit and it is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hupp222 Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 I just got some BEAUTIFUL Trumpet horns from Cecil Nuxholl in Spokane Wa. 509-838-1735 They are awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BJM Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 That is the 1st engine shot of a Twin Six I have ever seen and I am amazed at the location of the exhaust manifolding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted May 11, 2009 Author Share Posted May 11, 2009 The whole engine is pretty impressive. I started cleaning on it and was amazed at the amount of chrome and nickle trim on it and on the firewall. I also started cleaning underneath the car and it is perhaps nicer paint than on the topside (someone coated whole car with oil underneath, but what a filthy dirty mess to get to the paint). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted May 11, 2009 Author Share Posted May 11, 2009 Changing the subject for a minute. This is my next project - a 1939 Packard 120 Town Car, originally built for Lilly Ponds, an opera singer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted May 11, 2009 Author Share Posted May 11, 2009 No, not a Lumber Jack or Paul Bunyan, but a rather surprised (did not see my camera coming) James from Grismere Tire in Downtown Dayton. He was just coming back from a truck roadside repair when I called and begged for help. Problem was the tires were 8 ply truck and could have stood on their owwn without air - HAAAAAAAAARRRRD as a Rock. The bead on each tire excepting the one original Firestone spare was almost 1 1/2 inches thick each (not much room when you also have an area on a 4 1/2 inch rim that has a metal valve stem through it. James had all the proper tools and basically resorted to brute force. He spent nearly 3 hours to demount 6 tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted May 11, 2009 Author Share Posted May 11, 2009 Finally, Stone Guard Brackets are made and installed. Hours were spent cleaning up the stoneguard (it has a brass screen behind it that was polished - and now has been repolished), repairing emblem, and getting whole thing mounted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted May 11, 2009 Author Share Posted May 11, 2009 Cecil makes beautiful horns - The ones on the car may clean up (so much to clean and so little time available each week) and have no dents; but if they do not clean then Cecil will be my first phone call. Glad to hear hear he is still in business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 John....feel free to change the subject if you will continue to show us such rare and/or custom rides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durant Mike Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 I just love Packards! Wish I could afford to own one but it is nice to see how the rich lived and traveled back then. Beautiful cars for sure! Keep sending those pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbirdman Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: John_Mereness</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Finally, Stone Guard Brackets are made and installed. Hours were spent cleaning up the stoneguard (it has a brass screen behind it that was polished - and now has been repolished), repairing emblem, and getting whole thing mounted. </div></div>I think you just solved my stone guard mystery. I have the same stoneguard that I bought off Ebay and had replated for my 32 Deluxe eight. However, I could not figure out how to mount it. It did not seem to fit. Mystery solved as it appears that it would fit a twin six and not a deluxe 8 because of the headlight bar on the eight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 Crisis possibly adverted on Memorial Day: Roughly 12 hours to actually clean out oil pan (with a hammer and a chissel) and pick-up screen - it was TOTALLY CLOGGED (plus, it took 1/2 hour to get pan dropped and 40 minutes to reinstall. Sorry, did not have camera, but take it as a lesson - ENGINE WOULD HAVE BEEN DESTROYED IF I HAD STARTED IT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 Wednesday, May 27th: Lock rims picked up the Monday prior to Memorial Day and they came out rather nice. Wheels were picked up from the painter the Thursday before Memorial Day. Todd the owner of RIMWORKS in Centerville did a very good job. Todd sandblasted and painted, but also had to repair some curb damage, misc scrapes, and one chunked out section of rim that was on the driver's side rear wheel (someone had apparently run it into a curb and not only damaged rim, but also caused damage to the threads on the brake drum (a quick call to Ted Davis in OK revealed thread was 9/16 x 18 (friend Glenn Grismere happened to have a tap) and all holes were rethreaded except one that was a hopeless and all bolts were basically hopeless as well so replacements were sourced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 Wednesday May 27th - Picked the wheels up from Grismer tire and they did a great job in mounting (and little to no paint damage as well - which you know is nearly impossible on a lock ring / snap ring style wheel). So here are the pictures of the wheels mounted to the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 (edited) Here is a close up of the sidemount with the cover installed. Paint color on wheels is Aztec Olivine Green - Light (IM 1096). Edited November 16, 2018 by John_Mereness (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 Engine bay is starting to take shape with lots of cleaning and I rebuilt the fuel pump and carb (plus did quite a bit of work to get coils in the car - they were stolen or lost - jury is still out. Carb is an EE-3 and is beautifully built (that was 8 hours of my life that I am never getting back). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 Pictures of the fuel pump and carb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 So what do you use when taken off or re-installing wheels ? Of course, you use a jack that is as old as the car. Check out its size. We may just start calling it a crocodile. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, WE HAVE TWO (2) SUCH JACKS and the other was camping out under thwe 1939 Lilly Pond Packard 120 Rollson Town Car while Frank Crawford and Mike Mereness (my dad) were adjusting valves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 So here is the final product of the paint touch up on the 35 Packard Twelve: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 1903 Packard Gray Wolf LAND-SPEED RECORD HOLDER gets the broken sprocket for the crank removed from the crankshaft. This could have been days of a project though came out freely in just shy of two PAINFUL hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 So you have heard of 1920's and early 1930's CCCA cars having undercarriages color keyed to match the exteriors - the 1932 Twin Six is one of those cars and what you are looking at is what you find when willing to get the dirtiest you may ever get in your life - the frame has been well oiled to protect the underside. There are only a handful of cars that can come close to this car in originality and condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hddennis Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 First let me thank you for sharing these great photos with us. Amazing collection.Please forgive my lack of Packard lore but after viewing these pictures I just had to find out more so I Googled "Grey Wolf" and I came up with 2 different cars, similiar but different. Can anyone explain?Howard Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 There are actually two (one original and one reproduction). The Packard Museum in Dayton has the original and the other is an amazing duplicate has been built using the original drawings by a fellow by the name of Ted Davis in Oklahoma (at the cost of some half million dollars). My guess is the original was saved in the early days of car collecting by Barney Pollard of Detroit. The original is powered by a very rare Model K Packard engine. My understanding was the original was wrecked at some early point (1904 or so) and the restoration was done in the early days of car collecting to a level that was the best available for the time period though is not up to today's standards. I am not sure if Ted's is powered by an original "K" engine or an exact reproduction (stunning nevertheless) engine. Both cars were exhibited together at Amelia Island Concours two years ago (see www.conceptcarz.com for pictures). JMM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbirdman Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 FYI, Ted Davis has reproduction Packard parts for sale especially Twelve's items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mika Jaakkola Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Wow , what great photos and cars! Please, let us know about the progress!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest abh3usn Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 I beleive there's a 1903 Packard at the mesuem in Warren, OH as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 The 1939 Packard 120 Rollson Formal Town Car gets a valve job and some engine detailing - more details to follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 A night shot of the 54 Carribean - Has anyone a stash a green leather to match this color ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now