1940 Packard 120 Convertible Restoration

[theastronaut]

This is my current restoration project, a 1940 Packard 120 Convertible Coupe with tons of rust.  The owner is from Connecticut and heard about us from another Packard owner who lives near us and stops by our shop regularly. It was bought as a driver but the owner kept finding more and more wrong with it so it came apart for a full restoration. He and his wife drove down a few months ago to meet us and check out some of our work, and decided to have us restore it.  We had only seen pictures until then... had no idea it would be this bad!  We'll be doing the rust repair, metal work, bodywork, paint, upholstery, and final assembly.  The owner and a friend have already done the suspension and mechanical work. 

 

 

This is it as it was delivered, we have the rest of the parts in storage.  The owner was a helicopter mechanic and is very detail oriented so all of the parts were boxed meticulously; each box is labeled with a list of parts and hardware inside.   

 

 

I started the project last year so I will be a little behind starting off this thread. I'll post the work already completed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[theastronaut]

Pics of the rust.  There won't be much original Packard metal in the lower 8" once we're done. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trunk area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[theastronaut]

Bondo check... used my 3" grinder to get to bare metal around the bottom edge.  Lots of filler over caved in metal, and there are gobs of brass showing around all the "patches". 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old floor "repair" with aluminum pop riveted over the original rusty floors.  The rivets had fallen out long ago.  

 

 

[theastronaut]

I made body braces out of 1x1 tubing with turnbuckles welded in so I can adjust the door gaps before everything it welded back in.  Some of the body mounts are completely rusted away so it's doubtful that the body is still sitting squarely on the frame.  This will also keep the body from folding in half once it's on the rotisserie. 

 

[theastronaut]

Started digging into the driver side lower cowl, rocker area, and lower quarter panel.  It was tough to find the rocker seams in the door jamb since they were butt-welded from the factory.  I took everything apart the way it was assembled so I could use the original parts for templates.  I'll leave the other side together for reference until the driver side is back together. 

 

 

The cowl was pretty rough, had stress cracks all over it plus rust at the bottom.  Cut it out to get to the inner layers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Made a paper template before cutting it out. 

 

 

 

 

Inner door post. 

 

 

 

 

Inner panel rust. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[theastronaut]

Starting on the rockers. Tons of lead and filler. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trying to find the rear rocker and quarter panel seam. 

 

 

 

[theastronaut]

Cutting out the quarter panel. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B pillar post base. 

 

 

 

[theastronaut]

Removing the outer rocker. 

 

 

 

[theastronaut]

Removing the inner rocker.  Had to cut the inner fenderwell back.

 

 

 

Not much left to go by on the body mount areas. 

 

 

 

Rear half of inner rocker removed. 

 

 

 

Turnbuckle added to adjust height of body.  

 

 

 

Cutting out the front pillar. 

 

 

 

 

 

The way the inner brace and sheetmetal were layered made this hard to cut out without doing any damage. 

 

 

[theastronaut]

Pillar and inner brace cut out. 

 

 

 

 

Cutting out the toe board. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Front half of inner rocker removed. 

 

 

 

 

 

Car is now halfway rust free!! That was the easy part. 

 

 

 

Body brace/mount under the rear seat. 

 

 

 

Made a template of 1/2 of the inner rocker. 

 

[theastronaut]

Got the B-pillar post done.  

 

Edited May 18, 2015 by theastronaut (see edit history)

[theastronaut]

Made the driver side kick panel patch. 

 

 

 

 

 

The cowl vent was rusty so I cut it out. 

 

 

 

Blasted a spot so I could match up the mesh with new stainless mesh from McMaster Carr. 

 

10 openings per inch. 

 

 

 

.020" wire size.

 

 

 

.082" openings. 

 

 

 

McMaster didn't have the exact mesh size but it'll be close enough that nobody will notice. 

 

[theastronaut]

The local Packard guy that landed us the job brought a firewall section to the shop last week to use as patterns.  First thing was to make toe boards. 

 

 

Paper template. 

 

 

 

Pattern transferred to metal, bead rolled, and the botom edge bent to match the floor pan. 

 

 

 

Other side made, both pieces washed with PPG DX579 Metal Cleaner and DX520 Metal Conditioner. 

 

[theastronaut]

Making the front inner rocker. Laid out the pattern on sheetmetal. 

 

 

 

 

 

Pre-stretched the bead rolled area in the english wheel using the smallest diameter wheel.  The beads will "pull" metal inward causing the metal to distort around the beads so this combats that from the start.  Much easier to pre-stretch than it is to try to get the distortion out later. 

 

 

 

 

Half round beads added.  You can see that the area around the bead is flat. 

 

 

 

After rolling the raised area using offset dies in the bead roller.  Some distortion but it's minimal and easy to work out. 

 

 

 

After about 5 minutes with a rubber mallet to flatten the panel.  

 

 

 

[theastronaut]

The front corner was a little sharp so I used the tip of a screw driver and tapped it a little rounder.  Then ground out the marks and smoothed it with a DA sander.  Not really necessary on an inner rocker that no one will ever see... 

 

 

 

 

After bending the top edge 90* and washing with PPG DX.  

 

 

[theastronaut]

Same process on the rear half of the inner rocker. 

 

 

[Guest BillP]

Wow, what a project! I'm glad you're saving it the right way. There has to be a partnership between the restorer and owner to do it this way. Be sure to torque the Jesus nut properly. 

[r1lark]

Oh, wow - that previous "restoration work" was disgusting!

[theastronaut]

Wow, what a project! I'm glad you're saving it the right way. There has to be a partnership between the restorer and owner to do it this way. Be sure to torque the Jesus nut properly. 

 

 

It's definitely the biggest project I've tackled so far.  We do have a good relationship with the car's owner, very thankful for that.   I had to look up "Jesus nut" as I wasn't familiar with the term- that's a very important piece!!

 

 

Oh, wow - that previous "restoration work" was disgusting!

 

It was pretty bad!  We keep one of the old quarter panel bottoms in the shop just to show people what was underneath the paint.  It weights about three times what it should from the gobs of filler and extra metal brazed on.

[theastronaut]

Started on the braces that attach to or around the inner rocker.  This one is the front floor/body mount brace that also goes up the inside of the kick panel. The deep recess with a curve in the middle made it a challenge.  I wasn't able to stretch the center enough to make it in once piece so I used two pieces and formed the inner recess over a wooden/bondo buck. I'll make the top part from a separate piece and weld them together. 

 

This is one of the parts that was too far gone to use for patterns.  The other side was better but still not 100%.  

 

 

 

 

Ugliest wooden buck in the history of wooden bucks...  This was my second attempt at this, the part came out too small the first time.  The part has an offset curve to the upper half so I made the buck shaped for one side, made the part, then built the buck back up with body filler and reshaped it to make it fit the other side. 

 

 

 

 

Rear brace for the inner rocker.  This ties the inner rocker to the fenderwell and floor. 

 

 

 

Probably the most challenging part of the whole car.  This brace goes inside the inner rocker under the hydraulic ram for the convertible top. 

 

[theastronaut]

Finished the left side curved/cupped front body mount/kick panel brace. 

 

 

 

Test fitting the inner rocker and b-pillar piece for the first time. 

 

 

 

Started building the outer rocker.  I made this in two halves, upper and lower.  The door jamb area had straight 90* bends that were easy to make in the brake but the outer part was curved to match the door's shape.   I bent the inner bends first, then trimmed a straight curved outer edge with an extra 3/4" on the edge. We bought a set of 90* dies for the bead roller to make curved edges so that set of dies worked well to create the curved 90* edge.  The bottom half was made the same way.

 

 

 

After trimming welding the two halves together. Still needs to be trimmed to the correct length and the jamb ends need to be shaped to blend into the a/b pillar bottoms. 

 

[theastronaut]

I had already made the toe board repair panels so I welded the left side to the original panel. 

 

 

 

Trimmed/clamped. 

 

 

 

After welding and smoothing. 

 

 

 

I knocked down the biggest part of the weld bead with three 4" cut off wheels stacked together to keep them from digging in. Then used the 3" 90* air grinder with a 36 grit disc, then an 80 grit disc to take out the deep grinding marks. Finished up with 60 grit on a DA sander. 

 

[theastronaut]

Got the toe board finished up.  Had to make the gas pedal mount area and weld it in, patch the lower right side with the panel I made earlier, then weld the left and right sections together.  Got it blasted and shot with epoxy this morning. The original primer color on the car was red oxide so I used DP74LF to match that. 

 

 

[theastronaut]

Made a new side panel for the cowl. 

 

 

 

Test fitting the cowl panel with the inner rocker, hinge pillar, and pillar cover. 

 

[theastronaut]

Reworked the front of the rocker to blend into the A-pillar post. 

 

 

 

 

Upright section of the rocker was flared to round into the A-pillar. 

 

 

 

New section welded in and fitted. 

 

 

 

 

The gap will be lap welded to replicate the factory seam. 

 

[theastronaut]

You would have never guess what we found under the paint on the tail panel... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Same thing in the passenger side door jamb. 

 

 

 

 

Stripped the quarter to see how tall the patch panel needed to be made. 

 

Edited May 19, 2015 by theastronaut (see edit history)

[theastronaut]

Since the body had been off of the frame without proper bracing it was sagging pretty badly.  We bolted up the doors to check how far off it was and the doors wouldn't close at first, they were overlapping the quarters.  We adjusted the opening with the adjustable braces I welded in to get the door openings back into shape. 

 

 

 

 

 

Front half fitted to the cowl first, then tack welded in place.  

 

 

 

 

 

After leveling the body on the frame and adjusting the bracing to fit the doors. 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the body was back in shape I added more bracing to keep it in place.  Definitely don't want it twisting out of shape on the rotisserie! 

 

 

 

 

Made a few more patch panels. 

 

[Scotts_DG8]

This is one major restoration going on here. Lots of hard work and talent displayed in your photos. I'll sure be one of manay following your project. Scott...

[theastronaut]

This is one major restoration going on here. Lots of hard work and talent displayed in your photos. I'll sure be one of manay following your project. Scott...

 

Thanks Scott! 

[theastronaut]

We were waiting on a local fab shop to make new floor braces so I could go ahead and start welding in my new panels... but we weren't happy with the pieces they made. So all that time waiting was wasted.  As rusty as the original braces are, they were still stronger than what the fab shop made.  So we decided to patch up the original braces by reinforcing them with steel plate and bars.

 

3/4" x 3/8" bars that'll be cut and shaped to fit in the recess.  

 

 

 

Put an arch in the bars using our tubing roller. 

 

 

 

 

Some of the body mount areas were thin so I cut and bent 1/8" plate to reinforce them. Not pretty but they'll be between the brace and floor pans so they'll be hidden. 

 

 

 

 

 

We took the body off so the owner could change the transmission out to an original overdrive trans. He also took the center section out of the axle and had a new crush sleeve installed.  

 

 

Once the body was back on I braced the right rear body mount to keep it from collapsing.  I leveled the body on the frame so I'd have a good starting point to start setting up floor braces at the right height.  I'll get the floor braces blasted, then weld in the reinforcements and start welding in the new metal.  

 

[theastronaut]

After blasting and welding in the reinforcement plates and bars.  

 

 

 

 

The owner had the original running boards stripped, then sent them to Hunley Acuff to vulcanize new rubber over the metal.  We were very impressed with the way they turned out. 

 

 

 

[theastronaut]

Started cutting out the left rear inner wheel well rust.  This was the better side, 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Made a new inner flange. 

 

 

[theastronaut]

Started on the outer panel.  I bolted the fender in place to mark the correct shape. 

 

 

 

Outer edge folded over and shaped, then welded in. 

 

 

 

 

Upper half made and welded in.

 

[FJD]

Fantastic job.  I have a 40-120 4 door and have been reading this topic with interest.  I have a few questions if you would be so kind as to address them.  Would you be so kind as to post pictures of the clutch - brake assembly attached to the frame and transmission.   Did you have to replace the shaft that the clutch and brake pedal rotate on?  If you did may I ask where you got it.

 

Keep up the great job.

 

Thanks  Fred D.

[GARY F]

you do some outstanding work. I enjoy following what you do.

[Restorer32]

It would be interesting if you would be kind enough to could keep the forum updated on roughly how many hours this work is taking. It would give folks an idea of how labor intensive this type work actually is.

[Roger Zimmermann]

As I restored years ago a '56 Cad Biarritz which was very rusted, I really do appreciate the way you are restoring this Packard. You dont' have two left hands!

[pacerman]

I would like to know how you smooth the welds so beautifully.   Do you use a flap disk?   It's fun to watch your progress. 

[theastronaut]

Fantastic job.  I have a 40-120 4 door and have been reading this topic with interest.  I have a few questions if you would be so kind as to address them.  Would you be so kind as to post pictures of the clutch - brake assembly attached to the frame and transmission.   Did you have to replace the shaft that the clutch and brake pedal rotate on?  If you did may I ask where you got it.

 

Keep up the great job.

 

Thanks  Fred D.

 

Fred, the owner delivered the car with the chassis/running gear already restored so I'm not sure what all was involved in rebuilding the pedal assembly.  I can take pictures and PM them to you. 

 

 

 

you do some outstanding work. I enjoy following what you do.

 

Thanks! 

 

 

 

It would be interesting if you would be kind enough to could keep the forum updated on roughly how many hours this work is taking. It would give folks an idea of how labor intensive this type work actually is.

 

I haven't totaled the hours so far.  I have made more progress than I've posted here- once I've caught up on posting I'll make note of the hours then so it's more accurate. 

 

 

 

As I restored years ago a '56 Cad Biarritz which was very rusted, I really do appreciate the way you are restoring this Packard. You dont' have two left hands!

 

Appreciate it!

 

 

 

I would like to know how you smooth the welds so beautifully.   Do you use a flap disk?   It's fun to watch your progress. 

 

The best way to make the weld seam look good after grinding is to make the two panels to be welded 100% even with each other before and during welding.  If they're offset even slightly then no amount of grinding will make the weld seam flat.  I start by knocking down the very top of the weld with a cut-off tool, with three discs stacked to keep them from digging in as easily.  This makes it easier to focus on cutting just the weld down and not the surrounding metal.  Then I switch to a 3" pneumatic grinder with 36 grit to level the weld with the surrounding metal.  I go to an 80 grit disc to smooth out the 36 grit scratches, then finish with 60 grit on a DA sander.  The 80 grit and DA sander steps can be skipped if its an area that is going to be shot with a thicker/textured product like Raptor Liner (we use it in fenderwells and the bottom of the floors) or Lizard Skin heat/sound insulation (inside floors/firewall/inside of doors).  No need to spend extra time making the surface 100% smooth if it's not going to show through the thicker coatings- that saves the customer some labor cost.

[theastronaut]

The owner brought a set of pans made by Classic2Current Fabrication when he delivered the car .  They would work ok for patch panels if you aren't picky but they're nowhere near close enough to use as full replacement panels.  Their patterns for the beadwork was laid out wrong, plus they didn't keep the bead roller on the pattern they laid out. They were also missing the recessed areas for the body mounts, or the metal ahead of the body mounts that butts against the firewall.  After taking a closer look at them I decided to make my own instead of reworking their pans.

Transmission cover laid over the C2C floor pan. Its not even close to being useable around the trans area. There were other issues too.

The original passenger side floor pan hadn't been cut out yet so I was able to trace over the stampings to make a rough pattern.

 

 

Rough pattern transferred to translucent paper.  The L/R floor pans are mirrored so I can use the same pattern for both sides.

 

 

Transferred to metal and mocked up to check the location of the body mount dimples.

 

 

Marked the area to stretch with the plannishing hammer.  Pre-stretching the beaded areas keeps distortion to a minimum, especially with these 1" wide beads that want to pull a lot of metal from the sides.  The bead roller doesn't have to work as hard either, there is a very noticeable difference in the amount of force needed to tighten the dies together.

 

 

After stretching the metal with the plannishing hammer. Looks like it's raised too much but the bead roller will pull the metal back into shape.

 

 

After rolling one of the beads.  Some distortion but nowhere near as much compared to not pre-stretching. This was also before detailing the ends of the beads, which helps level out the panel as well.