ramair

I like the way you think! Hopefully someone here will share some experience with its use in an antique car coolant system. Something I am curious about, when the twelve was originally built the heads and timing cover was made with 1930 technology aluminum, which most likely had impurities, add in the likelihood that from the time it was near new the proper coolant maintenance was not done and even if it was, it is doubtful that coolant chemistry took in to consideration electrolysis. So fast forward to the last 30 years or so, what has changed, I will guess that a vast percentage of the drivable twelves now only have a new aluminum timing cover as a lot of owners have switched out the heads to cast iron. Could it help to have less aluminum content in the cooling system as far as electrolysis? Perhaps I am worrying for no reason, if it took the engine approx 30 years to fail with several things going against it and I remove some of those, in theory it should last forever, right🤔 below is a picture I have of one of my old covers, unfortunately the corrosion is not visible

I have had some not so fortunate experiences with the Packard twelves in the past. So when I bought this one I reached out and talked to one of the regular contributors on this forum that restores prewar including twelves. I asked about availability as I heard that the gentleman in Washington that made them for years past away. I was told they are still being made by a capable machinist. After I bought the car the previous owner said that my new car had the new timing cover in it, so my job as the new caretaker is to keep that timing cover in good shape. For those that are not familiar with what we are taking about it is not just a simple casting it is a very complex piece that takes days to machine and very difficult and labor intensive to change with engine in car, probably $12,000 to buy and do the job , but not to worry because if it fails and you do not catch it before you start the engine you will have to completely overhaul the engine, this could be a $70,000 mistake, like they say you choose. About the Green globs, I would flush again and try a different brand of coolant, it sounds like contamination either from the Evaporust or a bad batch of coolant, either way the next step would be the same

This is great info on the Valvoline-Zerex G-05 as I have a 1915 and a 1928 Buick that both like to foam, I have made sure my water pump seals are good and have even slowed the flow with a restrictor that I made out of a washer and installed in upper hose. I keep my antifreeze solution at about 20% and it’s livable. I will try valve line and see what happens, thank you

I am unsure of Cummins small displacement engines as I only have one, but the large engines have a spin on filter that has a slow release additive. I have dozens of John Deere between 200ci up to 466 ci they recommend just using their premix💰💰coolant and depending on usage somewhere between 3 to 5 years before change. These are wet sleeve engines and the area around the liners with the automotive type coolant would pit so badly that water would eventually enter the crankcase, another area that was common to eat through is The backup plate for the water pump, of course this did not cause a total melt down like the first. Engine overhauls in wet sleeve engine up until recently were affordable. We use to do in frame overhauls on our Caterpillar D6d with the 3306 engines in one day, start at 6:00 am and be back in the field the next morning for less than $10,000. They would bring an exchange head, gasket set, liners, pistons with reconditioned rods and new bearings and a rebuilt turbo, ah the good old days. Last engine I did that needed everything including crankshaft damage was approaching a full blown Packard twelve engine job💸💸💸💸

Hi all, I read the thread on adding cutting oil with great interest and I did not want to hijack it as my question is not about the merits between cutting oil and antifreeze, my question is between the different modern antifreeze that is available has anyone seen a difference in certain properties like foaming our suppression of corrosion with dissimilar metals? I am putting the finishing touches on a 1939 Packard twelve that I bought last year. The car came to me with “green” coolant, the car did not overheat on several mountain climb test drives, however the vehicle had a lot of deferred maintenance that needed attention, one of which was the coolant overflow tank was missing. Amazing to realize that the Packard twelves were early adopters of what many of us would consider a modern accessory. In order for it to work it requires a pressure cap which Packard modestly kept at 4 pounds, the cooling system holds 10 gallons and the water pump runs at 40 gallons per minute ( yes Ed I know the Pierce runs at near 50 GPM). I put a reproduction tank back on and started thinking about what was the greatest contribution to the cooling system . The 4# cap didn’t raise the boiling point much, but maybe keeping the top of the radiator full of coolant does not allow air in the cooling system, which must help preserve the either expensive or unobtainium timing cover and aluminum heads ( mine have been replaced in the past with cast iron). So here is what has happened to me at my day job, I have a lot of farm and construction equipment and recently I have had 2 diesel engines go down needing major overhauls due to internal corrosion. All my rigs get coolant changed out every three years and I have always used the “green” stuff. Our water that I blend with is neutral PH and is fairly soft. One engine was a Cummins and the other was a John Deere, both dealerships told me to use their proprietary pre mixed coolant which ironically is the same color of yellow. The John Deere dealer told me that every time one of their tractors come in with all of its coolant in the oil pan, the remaining coolant is the old standard “green”. He also added that there are all kinds of dissimilar metals in these engines that just want to corrode.I just wanted to know if others have tried anything else and if there is any positives or negatives

I am not well educated on this particular era Oldsmobile, but I do like the car, surprised myself as I am not a fan of brown or beige and yet this car looks great

All the hard work already done! Ready for mild reconditioning and assembly ! Makes you wonder if people that advertise on Facebook have a roulette wheel that has various insane dollar amounts? I have a similar wheel that I spin after I make a purchase, it usually lands on “Bankrupt” 💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸

Grimy has the best idea, you can look around and maybe find something close, but then you get to deal with 2 issues. 1 is adapting and the other is dealing with rust, leaks on a hundred year old tank. Best money you will spend is having a new tank fabricated

I can’t understand if it is valves or rings or head gasket shouldn’t the compression very a little bit. i would think if they are close at 60 # perhaps the cam is off one tooth?

I have had a good experience at the restoration division of Original Air in Holiday Florida. they are one of the few shops that will restore compressors, valves even crimp new hose on your factory fittings with a OEM look, when you make a reservation for this service you send them a picture of what you are working on and they ask you if you are putting it on a car that is going to be shown or do you want the components finished to match the patina of the car. It took 4 weeks for my time slot, they will call me with an estimate when they receive .

Not to hijack this thread, but…, when I was driving these Toronado’s when they were 6 or 7 years old, I needed a front bumper so I went to a big wrecking yard. The parts guy asked me what I was looking for and he said he has eight 68 and 69 cars in the yard, but no front bumpers. Of course I said something like others beat me to then? his reply was none of the cars had usable sheetmetal in the front as most toronados can’t stop especially the ones with the drum brakes!

How about trying to stop and fix it properly ( could not resist!)

JonW I would suggest that you rebuild your master cylinder as opposed to a quick fix. We are talking about a 4,400 pound car and I can speak from experience , in 1975 I was taking my girlfriend home in my Toronado and I pulled behind her dads parked car when my brake pedal went to the floor, that night her dad lost his 67 Chrysler 300, I lost my girlfriend, the toro lived on, but not with me, but hey we are all over 21! Of course I wasn’t back in 1975!

I think we need more info, does this toro have the J-52 disc brake package? Does the brakes stop the car and if so does it stop with the same front to rear balance? Has brake system been worked on lately? My 68 Toto that has the J-52 disc brakes had a similar issue about 12 years ago, it was a messed up piston seal in the master cylinder, I might mention that the 1968 models use the Delco Moraine four piston fixed caliper and the 69 if equipped with disc brakes would have the popular single piston floating caliper

I own all four generations of Toronado’s. My opinion of the second generation is the 1978 is my favorite , I have owned a 1972, 1973, 1976 and 2 @1978. The 1977 and 1978 had what Oldsmobile fans would call the 403 engine a small block. They used a simplistic version of computer command that would advance the spark for fuel mileage and it had the ability to retard if detonation was detected. This made the car pretty perky and to me it felt more powerful than my 1976 with the 455. The second generation was a really big car, Oldsmobile went to the B body for this series. The first , third and fourth were E bodies. The front seat was really a six foot wide sofa. I could drive these for 800 miles per day and not be tired, of course that was 40 years ago, not sure if I would want to do that anymore. I still had that 78 when my present wife and I were dating, she named it “Boatus Maximus”

BlueDevil, I had the same problem trying to find a car cover for my 1915 Buick big six 7 passenger touring. I looked through other cars that was listed and saw that they had a 1916 Cadillac seven passenger touring so I bought that one. a observation that I made was most car covers say custom fitted, even though they may have a bulge or two sewn into them, I believe that they really don’t have very many designs and I would suspect that they don’t have a lot of patterns. For what it’s worth it worked for me

When ever I scan down the for sale list, even though I should remember not to open this ad, I do and it hurts my eyes. Kind of like when I enter my shop and just then one of my employees will strike an arc with the welder. Since it seems like this car never sells and always comes back to our thread I think I will start wearing sunglasses 😎

Whoever is thinking of buying this project car would be way better off talking to Ed about his old car, fly to Europe with fists full of money buy Ed’s car no matter what the price, ship home and I think you would come out ahead by leaving this one in Nevada😃

If you are not a member of the Toronado club, I would suggest you join as they have a lot of active members, especially gen 1 cars, 1966-1970. i have a 1968 and if I let it sit for more than a few weeks it will leak transmission fluid. I just have to remember to drive it more often

How do you value something made out of unobtanium , first I would not ship them in one box, I know some might say that it’s harder to get lost when it is large and heavy. i would insure each item for no less than $1,000 each. I have also heard that some carriers want you to buy insurance, but when there is a loss they put up a fight rather than pay, hopefully someone on here can give you some advice from past experience.

Most of my early cars and trucks used the system you described, some of my antique tractors also used the rubber disc between radiator and frame, but then they also used extra long bolts, which had short springs that allowed the radiator to compensate for vibration. If I recall correctly the bolts were cross drill for cotter key, that way you would put tension of spring but would not collapse it. you really don’t see a lot of fancy mounting systems on radiators on cars until the mid to late thirties. Possibly for a couple of reasons, aerodynamics came into play and most cars did away with a functional external radiator shell, in my opinion the other reason was the manufacturer’s went to the thin brass upper and lower radiator tanks which crack if flexed to much,

Do not glue, if so you are adding another variable for disaster. If you are just looking for a larger piece of inner tube , go to a tire shop in farm country, some of my tractor tubes are not only thicker than truck tubes, they are also huge, some of my tires are 25” wide and 6’ tall. it is true that some of the newer tractor tires are tubeless, but all of our tractors have tubes. I will add again my caution. I understand the truck only goes 18 mph and you aren’t going to insure it or perhaps even drive it on a public road. I would worry that if the brake system will stop the truck easily with vacuum pressure and you need to stop quickly for something like a grandchild and the vacuum failed, the extra force required may not stop the truck in time,

I would think twice before undertaking that project , but if you do, let us know which state you will be driving the car with your “rebuilt” booster as some of us might stay out of harms way. Joking aside, there are at least 3 companies that I know of that have decades of experience rebuilding the different types of boosters, some are really difficult to cut apart and even harder to put together so they don’t look like you used a sledge hammer and chisel . Most can also refinish to show standards, some are just black paint, others gold anodized type finish and others look like a cadmium or zinc?

I have owned every year of the generation 1 and 2 except 1969. This is a pretty nice car with a few flaws. The color looks like chestnut which is a color that has a lot of depth. The interior is a standard not a deluxe which means it does not have the strato- bench seats, no center armrests and this would have had all vinyl interior, the color is called parchment (white), all 1969 cars have single exhausts. All in all for a 55 year old car not bad. If any one is interested please do yourself a favor and ask if it has J-52 disc brakes in the front as the standard drum brakes with its front wheel drive weight balance would scare you especially in Calif . By the way this has a 130 mph speedometer and then it starts over, ask me how I know! below is my 1968 force air induction W-34

I have a friend that took a part off his car to help someone out to have it reproduced, my friend did not need the part until now, since the original part is gone, the fellow that asked for it disappeared and whom ever was going to make the part . So in my infinite wisdom, when I was asked about sending my near perfect rumble seat steps on my 1928 Buick master C-54 country club coupe to a well known restorer and parts source for this model year for reproduction , I said no. I did not want to be hard nosed about it so I relented a little and we agreed that I would take them off and send to a my foundry that I have had good experience . I sent them out and they came back in unfinished form, thank god I didn’t spend the money finishing them as 1 week after I mailed them, they came back with a note, not very pleasant I might add saying that they were poorly done and that I should go get my money back. Needless to say I did not get paid nor my money back from foundry as they did a respectable job. as I recall a uncle of mine had a saying, “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished “. Fast forward 8 years, I keep the casting of the step in my office as a reminder. Don’t get me wrong I have given away good unused parts to other collectors, just as others do when I am finished with my restoration. We have a great hobby with maybe a percent or two of bad actors, probably way better than most things in the world