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Dave Mitchell

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Posts posted by Dave Mitchell

    A cautionary tale for anyone buying a "restored" vehicle

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    West, your dad is a smart and experienced guy, besides being a nice man. His advice is right on. The part about "no matter how nice the car looks" is important. Cosmetics are not everything, as we can see with the red pick up. The underside does not look as nice as the top, and to be honest, does raise a red flag for me, but I deal with this all the time.

    Excellent point, Dave. My dad, whom you know very well, taught me to always assume the engine is going to need to be rebuilt no matter how good the car looks, and no matter what you've been told about the engine... and to make an offer on a car accordingly (in other words, about the same amount you'd pay if the car wasn't running at all). That way (assuming the seller accepts the offer), even if the car needs an engine rebuild right away, you're not immediately upside down in it. Yes, you'll walk away from a lot of cars you'd like to own, but if money isn't growing on the tree in your back yard, it's good advice.

    Many times he bought cars that didn't need an engine rebuild right away, but as much as he toured in cars across the country, they eventually did.

    A cautionary tale for anyone buying a "restored" vehicle

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I hear a lot of people say that you can buy a "fully restored" car for less than it costs to retore one. I'm skeptical of that. Usually you get what you pay for. I tell people that unless you know the car really well or hire someone who does know what they are doing - and look at it in detail, you don't know what you are getting. I also hear guys (including seasoned big collectors buying from well known dealers) complain about how they didn't have time to go look at a car they bought - then they get a car that isn't the great deal that they thought, and they spend a lot more time on it than it would have taken to either go look at it or the money that it would have taken to hire a qualified restorer to look at it. It costs a lot to properly restore a car and it also costs a lot to go back and fix all the things that weren't done or were done poorly on a restoration where corners were cut. I know - I have had to do this and my friends with reputable shops do it too. The only way to really know what is done and what isn't is to either do it, or check it and make sure it is done, or buy a car done by a reputable professional shop and talk to that shop to learn what they did. Not all customers can or will pay to do it right or do it all, so it may not even be the shop's fault. Some big collectors have restored cars to win trophies and not to drive, so just because a car has gorgeous paint doesn't mean it is a fully restored car. When it comes to Packard V12s I have been amazed at what some shops have not done as part of an engine rebuild - I tell people that if they can't prove to me that one of the very small number of people who I know who do Packard 12 engines right have done it, the engine most likely needs to be done.

    Packard parts for sale

    in Packard - Buy/Sell

    Posted

    Hi Bill,

    Which body style do you need the stantion for? I have a front license bracket. Send me an email and I will give you my phone number.

    Take care, Dave packard12s@hotmail.com

    [

    QUOTE=wtppackard;1139279]Dave,

    I need a passenger side rear tail light stantion, as well as a front license plate bracket, for a '37 Super Eight. Let me know if you can help.

    Bill Piggott

    PreWar Mercedes Benz

    in CCCA - General

    Posted

    I wasn't implying anything, I just don't want you to run afoul of DB. Jan is very precise and strives to keep track of cars, but it isn't easy. I know that there are at least a couple instances of multiple cars with the same numbers, and the cars move around from one country to another.

    Absolutely right. I am not trying to find chassis numbers for every car made, just the "known" cars that survive. Jan did include chassis numbers for the known cars in Volume 2 and in his third book about cars sold to the Norse countries. I understand and agree that info on "unknown" cars should not be published for the very reason you state.

    Packard Ring & Pinion Interchangeability

    in Packard

    Posted

    The best parts book to look at would be the one for 35 - 41 and the ones for the post war Clippers may also interchange, so you might be able to check that one too. I think one from a post was car will fit. You do have to use the matching pinion gear. I don't think that you can change the entire rear axle - there are too many things that are different - such as the brakes and even wheels.

    1934 Packard 1100 Crank balancing and bobweights

    in Packard

    Posted

    If you don't have a milling machine, you can slowly drill them out using graduated sizes. It will be obvious when you get far enough into the bolt. They are also staked from the side. The cap screws will work fine and can be welded in place. You will have to have the whole thing balanced after the journals are ground and the weights reinstalled.

    The only way to properly do this without removing the weights is to use a now obsolete portable crankshaft grinder which will get to all parts of the journal. Finding someone who knows how to properly use one, assuming you can find one of these grinders, is not easy. We had a man who came to our shop years ago and he did this routinely with his portable machine shop - he actually did work for my grandfather at his Sinclair station back in the 40s and 50s. (He also repaired Sherman tank engines in WWII both in Europe and the Pacific.) Since he and most of the guys like him have gone to the machine shop in the great beyond, taking it to a good machine shop and having them do it it probably best.

    Dave packard12s@hotmail.com

    How many 1930 Packard Model 745 roadsters were produced?

    in CCCA - General

    Posted

    I haven't had time to look at this thread, but my point is that a real, documented 745 roadster is a rare bird and always was. Surely fewer 745 roadsters were built than 740 roadsters, but any number on my part would be a guess. I just know that I have only seen a very precious few that when push came to shove the owner could say had always been 745s, I have seen a lot more that used to be 733s or 740s. Personally I would rather have one that has a documented history.

    My old 1946 Clipper club sedan was in Gene Perkin's collection the last that I knew, but he didn't like the blackwalls, so it got wide whites before it went there as well as skirts. I liked it better with blackwalls and no skirts, but that is just me. Those 700 - 15 Michelins were magic on that car - it was the easiest driving vintage car I have ever been in. It was fast and with those tires it was rock solid and responsive, as well as good in the rain or on grooved or rutted pavement.

    I spent 9 years on the CCCA national board and was for a couple years membership chair. I never thought that raising the dues was a good way to increase membership, especially when a lot of members are mailbox members. I have noticed the addition of more ads to the magazine, and thought perhaps that was an attempt to not raise dues, but I guess not. It seems a shame to add more color to the magazine and use it for ads. I remember how happy Bev Kimes was when we added more color and how unhappy she was when it was taken away because the board had squandered money on things that didn't really help the general membership. There are things that the CCCA could do to attract members, but they seem to concentrate on other things... This is not to belittle the club at all, I have spent a lot of time working to help the club, but I feel they need to think about what people want and how to give it to them in a warm and friendly way.

    Good point, Cardinal Mitchell. As my auld friend well knows the provenance, having decades ago owned this very example, unmolested since leaving East Grand Avenue, the above's of no concern in this case. But thanks, and let your word of caution forearm others on the brink of impulse purchase.

    Whatever became of your nice '47 Custom Clipper club sedan? Per your and others' suggestion some years ago, i'm running 7.00 x 15 correct bias sized blackwalled radials on my '47 Super. Best thing for any old car since overdrive and a pre-oiler for full oil pressure before starting. In fact, it's pictured so shod on the adjacent discussion of the various speed saloons. Happy New Year!

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