Mr.Pushbutton
-
Posts
124 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Never
Content Type
Forums
Gallery
Events
Posts posted by Mr.Pushbutton
-
-
Packard V-8, The symptom you describe sounds like inadequate tension (drag) on the actuator (adjusted via the large brass screw and jam nut on the foreword upper face of the actuator)which is causing over-travel after the desired position is reached and power is disconnected to the actuator motor. A small amount of "flywheel effect" can occur if the tension is too low. Too much tension will cause the motor to labor, and possibly trip the circuit breaker.
-
A couple of things that might (or might not) help Larry--One of my Pushbutton customers has a Caribbean HT that suffered complete push button shut-down. He had not driven the car much after purchasing it, put it away for the winter and then experienced push button failure. I fixed the push buttons, and found the shift actuator to be out of adjustment to the trans. After a very careful re-alignment the trans was very erratic as to behaving properly in Drive (sometimes would act like "High") or High(would act like "Drive") Reverse was always good, and Park (the two extremes of travel of the actuator)was always fine. After a couple of test drives, and fine-tweaks, I figured that: the push button actuator was doing everyhing it was designed to do--rotate the control shaft to the desired position. It did that fine. The problem turned out to be excessive wear of the control shaft bore into the valve body. The local T-U guru went over the whole trans, finding and fixing other budding problems, but he felt the wear to the control shaft bores in the valve body caused the "non-compliance" of the trans. It worked wonderfully after he rebuilt the trans, and four years (and lots of miles/trips) later is great.
Brian, I think you are right about the T-U valve body. My former employer had a beautiful '56 Caribbean convertible. I drove it from his storage building to our shop one fine spring day, in preparation to take it to Perrysburg. The car never once left low gear. Not once (the trip was about 9 miles, all on surface streets). I very emphatically reported this problem to our chief mechanic, who either ignored, or forgot about this. He did not test drive the car himself. The bosse's wife drove the car, in a convoy to Ohio. 30 miles down the e-way the trans gave it up for the ghost, and the engine wasn't happy about running at high RPM's for so long, but luckily, no damage there. The trans fluid leaking out the trans was so hot that when the car was loaded on to our closed trailer, the drips set fire to the absorbent runner on the trailer floor. Well, Big Chief mechanic finally came out of denial re: the trans, and it came out and went to a local shop with antique experience. He went through the trans (how thouroughly we don't know) and initally it worked OK when installed back in the car. Not long after, it would shift fine when the trans was "cold", just after starting the car, but as you drove, or started and stopped, the shifts would come later and later (@ increasingly higher RPM's) until they wouldn't come at all, and the trans would again be stuck in "Low". We wondered if the valve body had been irrepairably warped by the intense heat of "the event"--any ideas?
-
I assume that most people on this list are aware that the '55-'56 Clipper tail lights are favored heavily by customizers--which throws them into a financial stratosphere entirely beyond what we (post-war)Packard folk are accustomed to.
I have been to junkyards where all of the '55-'56 Clippers had their rear quarters cut off--that's all. The rest of the car(cass) was all there, such as it was. Those quarters are now welded on to Fords,Chebbys and what-have-ya's. They look good on the back of a mid 50's Ford lead sled. John
-
See, You have proven what I was saying all along in the "24 volt experiment" thread. You now have a starter in proper working order, with all parts in good health (and proper resistance) and it is cranking her just fine. The ghost of "Boss" Kettering is smiling now! John
-
B.H.--just so's you know, the Perrysburg event was started, and has always been organized/operated by the Motor City chapter of PAC. It has always been structured to be an event open to all Packard enthusiasts regardless of their club affiliation, and especially to members of PI, who may have been excluded from past PAC run events. The "Matthew 7:1" attitude re: the "car show" aspect of the weekend makes it that much more enjoyable, in addition to the packard part swap meet. It's about inclusion, to the greater enjoyment of Packard automobiles. John
-
go to www.dcbattery.com/optima2.html or www.batteryweb.com/optima.cfm for a table of available optima batteries and their case dimensions, free of "what vehicle is this for" look-up limitations.
-
Methinks that is from a '55 DeSoto--am I seeing it correctly, do the ends of the "wings" curve downward? "It's Delightful, It's Delovely, It's DeSoto!
And tell them Groucho sent you
-
Auburn had a similar "test car" with a Cummins Diesel engine, about 1935. Fast foreword to the present: the Dodge Ram trucks with the Cummins engine--one of the best trailer pulling trucks I've had the pleasure to drive. POWER!
-
Chitownexc--sounds like you want the job. This is why publications have a "letters to the editor" section in the front. It is where facts are set straight, by those who have more accurate information than the author, or were involved in the process rather than writing about it after that time has passed. Stuart has done more good than harm, for a lot of years.
-
One thing to keep in mind here is that Stuart does not write for a commercially distributed publication like "cars and parts" (just an example). He is volunteering his spare time, which I am sure is as precious as it is for all of us Amerikans these days. Stuart has been doing this for over twenty years, and has lived with deadlines, and I am sure, lack of incoming content. The above <span style="font-style: italic">kvetching</span> is most likely a case where he wrote an article about an individual he did not have the pleasure of knowing, as the dissenters here have, and in this case only knows what he was told, or could find out. Oh sure, he could have put a Woodwardian effort out and produced an immaculately researched piece, but as we say at another non-profit club I am active in "cut his pay in half!" If ya think you can do better, and hit all the publishing deadlines, knock yourself out.
-
I worked the NAIS ("North American Auto Show"--Detroit auto show)all last week, and saw the new Zephyr. It's another bloated taurus to my eyes, not unlike the Continental of the early to mid 90's. What I would worry about re:the Zephyr name would be that Baby boomers who have no knowledge of the Zephyrs of the 30's and 40's will only associate that name with the late 70's-early 80's Mercury--Ford Fairmont based "square cars". Those cars were truly the anti-Christ on wheels. They were P-poor in their design and assembly, but (in that annoying FoMoCo way) just competent enough to stay on the road long enough to become a safety hazard. That could be the turn off to those of us who were around then. Someone who can remember the original Lincoln Zephyr might think that this new car has a useless slug of an engine, like the originals. Bad choice, Ford guys. There was a very nicely restored '36-'37 2 dr. coupe there, and it got as much attention as the new car.
-
Constellation writes of the late cars, and some of the options put on those cars. My '56 400 was a Packard company car, and was owned by the controller, a Richard Naylor. He got it right at the end (my car is 5687-4134, built six working days from the end) and it has about everything that is decent to put on the car, including A/C. It had the wire wheel hub caps (and will again, I have a set to restore). Back in'76 Joel Ray rescued the car out of Naylor's yard, located in Detroit. The kids had stolen the two WW hub caps they could reach through the fence, and had broken the windshield, side windows on one side and rear window.
Joel replaced all the broken glass, but said his heart was broken when he could not save the "Packard executive parking" decal from the shattered glass of the windshield. J
-
DeLorean was thought to have contributed to the re-design of the Ultramatic into the twin-Ultramatic, under the direction of Forest McFarland. A good friend of mine is a gentleman by the name of Walter McCoskey. Walt was an engineer at Packard (he began his career there). A young Walt can be seen demonstrating T-L, climbing on the back of Bill Allison's '55 Patrician in the T-L video motor city Packards fashoned from Bill Allison's 16MM "home movies". that particular scene was filmed in 1955.
Walt worked with John DeLorean, and has said that DeLoren was a good engineer, but his claims to have been Packard's "director of advanced engineering" was a bit of artistic license he (DeLoren) took after the departure of McFarland. Things were getting pretty shaky then, and folks were already looking for employment elsewhere, Ford being the "open door" company for anyone from Packard. McFarland left, and DeLorean sort of "named himself" advanced engineering head, though there wasn't much of that going on, and no one above him would of had time to even think about that position at that time. The next time I see Walt, I'll ask him about anything else DeLorean may have innovated.
-
One organization I can definitely recommend is RM, in Ontario, Canada. Honest guys who stand behind what they sell. Can't say that for many, including some big advertisers in the hobby magazines.
-
How appropriate that the "last dealer" be located in Pennsylvania, "the state time forgot".
-
1937hd45 asks "Are there any single marque club judges reading this? Do you have to backoff on your marque standards when judging an AACA event?" I would say (IMHO) NO!, you should call it the way you would at the marque event and educate the judges in your class with your knowledge of a particular make/model, or the whole thing is for naught. There can be judging wrinkles in a multi make club like the AACA or CCCA. No one judge can truly know how every car in that class "was built". The team approach is best here--a deeper pool of knowledge. If a person is trying to skate with a national first for a restoration not thoroughly researched, their worst nightmare is a judge who has the same car!
-
Hey, look at the bright side--A model A Ford has 80% of the (replica) parts available! I've seen those catalogues, you look up your part#, call a toll free 1-800 phone#, give them your Vias/MC #, and the big brown truck truck delivers them that week (or month). We Packard guys can only dream! It's either NOS or inaccurate.
-
Yes, the AACA is in general easier than a single marque club. But that sword cuts both ways. I represented a car I was involved with (our shop frame-up, nut and bolt restored it) We did well with the CCCA with this car, so we looked forward to showing the car @ Hershey. A judge there insisted that we should have a point deduction for moving the battery from under the seat to the outer frame rail, under the fender. We very politely pointed out that this particular make located all of their batteries there (in that model/year), that's the way it was built.
"No, all these big cars had the battery under the seat" was the reply. It was an exercise in diplomacy, but we were able to convince the judge (with the help of a well known collector) that the battery was where it belonged. We always had the toughest time at the single marque national meets. One club in particular was a little funny in that the head judge for the annual meet was also the main supplier of replica parts. He had a competitor who made other parts for the same make, but different parts, the second fellow didn't want to duplicate anything "supplier A" was offering. The second vendor was really upset at the fact that anyone attempting to duplicate/replicate a given part for a vintage car has a budget, or point of no return investment, and very few replica parts can be made <span style="font-style: italic">EXACTLY</span> as original. Sometimes there is a detail in a stamped part that affects appearance, but not function, and the cost of the additional die, or die operations would be absolutely prohibitive. He (supplier "B") was upset that any car having parts that he produced would get slapped for points ("that's not how the original was"), while supplier "A"'s parts (which fell under the same financial constraints of reality and would occasionally omit certain details) were A-OK!. An automobile company puts more money into a single part than any one person can afford. Of course "vendor A" ruled the judging, and they were none too helpful during the process. I do not have issue with the clubs judging on authenticity, I think that is only right. I helps when you are splitting hairs between two 1st place candidates. You are either going to judge on authenticity, or on workmanship--like the streetrod boys. Very few "antique cars" receive that quality of body and paint work. Some big dollar 30's classic lumber wagons do,and a few 50's convertibles are getting that treatment now, but that's another subject. I just don't see what the harm would be to make this data available. Commercial shops would be happy to pay for this information, it would save the customer money needed for research. If it's going to remain a game, how about giving a list of your (the experts) resources? John
-
Joel- You taught me the parody of the old standard "ain't we got fun?" at the Stude meet in South Bend, over 20 years ago. I'll share it here for the enjoyment of others. (to the tune of "ain't we got fun?")
Stude-a-baker,
stude-a-baker,
ain't we got RUST
-
Little bit of irony there, I just used "model A Ford" because it was the first thing that came to mind. Turns out both clubs publish a list of "correct" judging criteria. J
-
Does any single marque (or model-related club i.e. chevy corvette) publish a list of what they know/consider to be "correct" for a particular year/model vehicle? I know of a couple of (single marque)clubs where it's a game of sorts.
It's goes something like "We 12(or so) old-timers who have known each other since 195X KNOW how these cars were built. We did our research, and we stand in judgement of your car". Well, we are all going the way of all flesh, and for the sake of recorded history, are you taking that (presumed accurate) information to your grave? Would it not serve the cause of a particular make/model/year for the experts to publish (or make available on the web) a list saying "for 1929 model A Ford (just an example) we consider that the engine should be this color, X should be nickel plated, Y should be painted gloss black and Z should be painted body color"
Does any club do this already?
-
Go to www.dcbattery.com/optima2.html or http://www.batteryweb.com/optima.cfm to see the size/voltage/cold cranking amps of the optima batteries. BH, you seem to have some fiberglass moulding experience--this could be a nice side line for you. The optima battries are smaller than lead/acid battries, and fit easily into the old cases. They have excellent CCA ratings, and that is what gets the job done!
-
Is your phenolic material that reddish-brown stock that has the fabric embedded in it? That is great stuff. We had sheets of varying thickness in the shop I worked at, and used it for many projects. You can cut it on a bandsaw, and sand it to tweak the final shape. It can be brittle. John
-
BH-remember that the Optima is a 10 year battery, so the inital cost justifies the trouble/expense. Yes, all Packard V8 cars were shipped with a Willard brand battery. The cases for the group 60 batteries pretty much look the same, one could fake the Willard logo on the computer and stick it on the optima-filled case. John
?55 to ?56 transmission swap?
in Packard
Posted
Stick with the '56 unit on the '56--they learned a lot in that year of production.