Roger Zimmermann

Oh! I did not went that far. Now I understand the problem...What about lowering the roof there? (Ah Ah!)

Why are both rear windows diffrent? A consequence of the body repair or was it original? By looking at the shape it was when you found it, I understant that there could be some difference now between RH & LH!

No, just the bolts! By the way, this relay was used on many Ford and Studebaker vehicles, it was not specific to the Mark II.

At least I could fill all the tiny holes from the polyester and apply a coat of primer. Then it was the turn for the straps holding the tank to the floor. I have the impression that the straps are too wide; I will look at my Cadillacs the width of the straps; it must be similar on the Mark II. The plumbing will be done later, just prior the final assembly as it makes no sense to do the fuel and vent lines now to store them a long time with the damaging risk.

From time to time, I have to repeat it: I fell on my head when I was 15. The bolts are bought from a company called Scale Hardware in Florida (metric and stainless steel!) and the brass ones are from a company in Germany.

Oh yes, the change is evident: it's not the same color!

Pat, are you satisfied? It looks good in pictures but you know that pictures are lying! It seems that you got some snow...

Another small part which is ready. Well, not quite, I have to grind the heads from the front .5 mm bolts. In fact, the bolts may be too long. They will be adjusted to proper length when the nuts are on. Those tiny nuts are wider in proportion than the real ones. Today, I got the wood to make the body pattern; therefore a completely different kind of work is waiting!

The dog was maybe adopted by Fred?

Sometimes I amazed myself! Yes, the wing nuts are tiny; one of the difficulties was to clamp them to work them. The "resistor" is tiny too; fortunatly, the drill went intact after the 20 holes. Afterwards, I broke a slightly larger bit...Nobody is perfect!

Yesterday, I did the resistor. I did it twice in fact as, near the end, I did a major mistake. Well, at least, I did not waste a lot of brass! The challenge for me was to drill the small holes. They are .3 mm (0.012"); had the bit since ages, but never used it. I had to use my first Unimat machine with a custom chuck to hold it...

Me too! Do you ever correspond with people in France for that project?

The fuel tank is an annoying thing. I let the primer dry for some time; I will come back to it soon. In between, I began the fuse holder. This is a rather large sheet metal part attached to the firewall. First came the bracket, held with 4 screws at the firewall. On top of that is the fuse holder, as well as some relays. Fuses and relays are protected by a cover attached by 3 wing nuts. There is some space under that cover; what could I store here? Some diamonds? I spend a long time doing the wing nuts, but I succeed! The ignition coil and the remote starter motor relay are attached to the main bracket; I did the coil which is attached by two 0.5 mm (0.02") screws I bought in the USA! Up to now, my smallest screws were 0.6 mm; fortunately I still don't shake too much when I'm doing the threads...The resistor to the coil and the starter motor relay are coming next.

They want to restore "that"?

Bernie, I'm looking more than I'm giving an opinion because, like other, I have no knowledge of that period. I'm more "Fifties"! When you look at the number of views from my own topic, the number of answers and comments are lower than on your post. The fact is that I'm not asking questions but just showing what I'm doing and, for most, that model's construction is beyond the possibilities of most people, like the reconstruction of this Packard!

Bernie, if the bolts are well visible, I would choose the acorn nuts (dome nuts). I believe this kind of nuts was commonly used at that time.

Chris, this rear window weatherstrip is not good looking...Before you are planing to replace it, you have to think that when you will install once an headliner, the rear window is to be removed as the material is pinched by the weatherstrip...Same procedure for the side panels. Next thinking: if you once would like to paint your car, to have a nice job the front and rear window must be removed...Think about that!

Anyway, it's going forward!

Is the outside surface not too high for this cosmetic improvement? Having that engine, I would hate to see the coating peeling after a short time...

It seems that Shadow is enjoying the drive, like our dog!

The rotors you found for a very cheap price are maybe better than the original ones. However, we could not use them in Switzerland: if the original parts are not drilled (they are not) , the drilled ones would not pass our mandatory vehicle inspection!

Or, it's the Lagonda which is small!

As the wood for the body pattern is way from ready (the people at the woodwork are busy), I'm continuing with the small elements which have to be added anyway. Now, it's the turn of the fuel tank. After looking at the pictures, it was obvious that the upper and lower halves are stamped on the same die; the plumbing is added after the parts are pressed. I took the decision to take a different way with the tank: a pattern made with wax, the negative done with the same material as the tires (but no black tint added) and the tank itself with polyester. A long process for a simple part! Doing the form with wax does not require much strength but it's an annoying materiel to work with: the small shavings like to stick to the tools and table; too warm hands let the wax to melt and, if an error is done, there is no way to glue something to repair the blunder! Polyester has also his disadvantages: there is usually lot of air pockets, the tools have a short life because of the fiberglass, but it's strong and light. As the model will have electric windows, both halves from the tank will not be glued together as I may need the inner space to hide some electric module, who knows. The last picture is showing both polyester halves and the flange which is coming at the separation line.

That's bad luck...Hope you can rescue the part.

It seems that you had a nice weather, but somewhat cold. I was once in Hershey; it was also nice but warmer. Lot of things to see...and tired legs at the end of the day!