Status of '29 645 Sport Coupe Restoration Project

[Guest imported_Speedster]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">How is your 645 coming along? I haven't seen any pictures of it in a long time. I knew last time you were making speedy process on it.

-Kev</div></div>

Thanks for asking,

Well, the top is finished, including drip-rails and landau-irons (those drip-rails were NOT easy).

The interior is finished (including the rumble-seat area), except for the wood trim pieces inside door windows and back window. (Those are about half done.)

The body painting is complete except I need another coat on the hood top pieces, (the hood sides are done except for painting the belt strip at bottom)

Fenders, seat-steps, spare-tire hangers and runningboards are complete.

The drive-train has been checked and seems to be Okay, but I need to do more extended testing when I get the radiator back.

The rear light is on and working. The headlights and bumperlights have been tested and are ready to be mounted.

The trunk rack is complete, with wood trim pieces.

I've been working on the bumper bars, trying to get out the rust pits some before taking them to be chrome plated. (They charge a lot less if I do most of the clean up work)

The wheels, covers and hubcaps are complete.

The brakes, electrical systems, oiling system, steering system, controls, etc. have all been checked and are operating.

So the radiator, wood trim, hood latches, a little painting and bumper bars are about all that needs to be done, except for further Testing.

I'll take more pictures after the radiator and shell are re-installed and post them.

[Guest BigKev]

Wow, you really got alot done in the last year or so. I wish I had your drive. Can't wait to see some pictures of it!

Most of the work on my '54 has been split between actually working on the car, and reworking the garage to make it easier to work on the car.

My big project the last few months has been stripping and painting the engine. I think it came out really good. I have now moved on the front brakes and suspension.

You can find my Project Blob here: http://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=57&forum=10

There are lots of pictures and narrative.

[R W Burgess]

Nice Web Site, Kev.

Engine looks good.

Wayne

[Guest imported_Speedster]

Yes, I Agree, Great website Kev!

By the way, I'm still trying to find out if there are Any other '28 thru '30 Packard 'Sport Coupes' in existance anywhere. If anyone knows of one, Please let me know.

(The body type number in '29 was 378)

(For those that don't know, a 'Sport Coupe' is like a regular coupe except they have a completely Fabric covered top and look similar to a convertible, and I think they all had landau-irons.)

[Guest BigKev]

Thanks guys I appreciate it.

Well the are no Sport Coupes currently in the registry on my website, you may want to add your Sport Coupe to the Registry as other owners may then find it if they try to do a web search.

Slowly more and more Pre-War folks are finding the website. I have some more content on the way to me as we speak and hopefully I will have those online towards the end of next week.

[Guest imported_Speedster]

Well, Henry Yeska was able to find 2 of the Hood latches. (At least they sound like the same type, from his discription)

It also sounds like they will need some repair work, but That's Normal for All the parts used on this car.

If those work out, they will be the Last components needed, (that I can't make myself), to Complete the 645 restoration.

The Radiator re-core is Still Not complete. The guy doing the assemble is blaming it on the guys making the core. The latest is that it will be ready about 2 days from now.

[Guest 1956Packard]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Speedster</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> The guy doing the assemble is blaming it on the guys making the core. The latest is that it will be ready about 2 days from now. </div></div>

Rick:

A couple of days should provide you with enough time to take a bunch of pictures and post them (hint).

Geoff

[Tom M]

You southern boys have all the luck with that nice weather to complete your cars. Up here in the polar north we have to hibernate.

Keep up the good work Rick and keep us posted...

[Guest imported_Speedster]

Yes, the weather has been great, It's even warm enough to spray paint. I did the final coats on the hood side trim and some small pieces yesterday.

I wanted to wait until I get the radiator and shell mounted before taking the covers off everything and taking the pictures, so it will look more like a complete car, Not one that has it's Nose chopped Off.

[Tom M]

Say Rick my nose is chopped off and then some.

[Guest imported_Speedster]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Packin31</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Say Rick my nose is chopped off and then some.

</div></div>

You might even say, 'Your Whole Face has been Chopped Off'. As in DeCapitated. I think you need some Help from Dr. Frankenstein, to 'Make it Come Alive'.

Sorry, a little Halloween humor, there.

[Guest imported_Speedster]

I installed one of those new sealed 6.volt Relays in the 645's Horn circuit today. (mounted inside frame-rail) It made the Horn louder and it will definitely Protect the homemade contact under the horn button, that I was worried about.

The mounting-tab screw is a good place to connect the contact wire, of relay, that connects to chassis. (positive on this car) Allows a short easy connection.

I noticed that I use the Horn more often, when driving my other '29, than I do when driving modern cars. Infact I never use the horn in modern cars, I found that it just makes people mad. So I ignore their stupid mistakes and go on. But in the '29 I toot my horn at all the young ladies (and older ladies also).

[Guest imported_Speedster]

I got the ReCored Radiator installed with No problems, then reinstalled the Shutter assembly with few problems, (lower 2 bolts are difficult to tighten).

But when I tried to reinstall the Shell it seemed about 1/4" too short. I had to bend the 2 upper shell-mounting-tabs, on radiator, down a great deal, to get the shell down enough to clear the lower part of shutter assembly. Had to bend them so much that the screw holes in the tabs don't line up with shell anymore, and the shell is down against the radiator at sides.

I didn't make any changes in the Shutter-assembly so it seems that only changes to the upper radiator tank would effect that distance, and there's no changes there that I can see. So I don't know what happened?

So I'll have to drill more holes in the tabs or just leave those 2 screws out and cover the holes in shell with hood-lacing.

I can't see anything that changed that could effect that distance. It fit okay before.

[Guest imported_Speedster]

Something kinda strange happened when I prepaired to start the engine, to test the new radiator core and connections for leaks, etc.

The engine wouldn't Start!

After checking over everything for about 30 minutes, I remembered that I was in the process of testing a backup Carb. when I first noticed the radiator was leaking and removed it. That's before I ever tried to start it with the backup Carb. So I installed the Carb that I knew worked, and it started right up. So looks like my Backup Carb needs a little work.

They say that the memory is the first thing to go, when you get old.

Now, What was I Talking about ???

[Tom M]

You where I think talking about your carb intake or something like that.

Ah 2 more hours here at work then down to Florida to refresh my memory.

[Guest imported_Speedster]

Have Fun in Florida!

Bring back Pictures.

[Tom M]

I will take some at the Packard event and will post when I get back

[Guest imported_Speedster]

Well, the Coupe moved forward and backward, under it's Own power, for the first time today, (in probably 50 years.)

I think I'll go have a beer and celebrate.

[Guest imported_Speedster]

Well, the Re-cored Radiator caused Another problem.

Since I had to lower the Grille-shell on radiator to make it fit the shutter-assembly and the side tabs on radiator, that made the complete assembly Lower, so when I tried to fit the hood-sides they were hiting the frame-rail-caps. I had to jack up the radiator and put another 1/4" spacer under it on each side.

Man, 'It's Always Something'

[Guest imported_Speedster]

I made the hood sides with removable pin-wires in the hinges, so I can remove and install the heavy side pieces, without removing the complete hood. That makes the hood assembly much easier to fit and work on. That way I can remove and install the hood, by myself, with no special jig to hold it. I only need towels or blankets to keep from chipping the paint.

I also used stainless-steel hinges so the pins won't get rusty and stick.

[Guest imported_Speedster]

I started doing a visual inspection of my Backup Carburator and couldn't find anything wrong with it, until I took off the brass tube that mounts on side of carb. It was plugged with crud, at the elbow going into the air inlet.

I'm not sure what that tube does, but I think it puts a vacuum at air inlet to pull gas from bowl, before the engine starts, (a primer)?

Hopefully that will fix the problem. I'll try it again someday.

You can see the tube in center of attached picture:

[Guest 1928Packard526]

Speedster—

I think the following bit quoted from my "1928 Packard Six Owners Manual" covers the purpose of tube on your backup carburetor.

<span style="font-weight: bold">SuctionTube</span>

"A suction tube leads from the base of the spray mixing tube into the upper part of the mixing chamber above the throttle valve. The function of this tube is to prevent loading of the motor when it is idled or driven by the car in coasting with the clutch engaged. This is accomplished by the tube removing the gasoline which collects in the carburetor body due to condensation. It also prevents loading under continued low throttle driving and aids in giving immediate response in acceleration. Failure of the suction tube to function properly is evidenced usually by gasoline dripping from the carburetor and by loading of the motor as described.

The cause of failure would be air leakage into the tube or connections, or more frequently, clogging of the passage way either in the tube elbow or carburetor body. The best way to clean this passage way is to remove the tube and lower elbow connection. Blow these and the drilled leads in the carburetor body out with compressed air."

There is also a fine cutaway illustration in the same manual, if your are interested.

Pete

pflaumer1@earthlink.net

[Guest imported_Speedster]

Okay, Thanks for the Info. (I'm Glad Someone reads the Manuals) LOL

If that's all it does, then I don't see how the tube being plugged could cause it Not to Start? I'm pretty sure it wasn't a Flooding problem that caused it not to start because there was not any excess gas dripping out of carb. So maybe I didn't find the only problem with it? It seemed to be Not Enough gas getting thru the carb, causing the problem. I'll just have to test it again, the next time I get in the mood for some Extra Work.

[Guest imported_Speedster]

I got the hood sides attached to hood top pieces today, and they fit pretty good. They fit Much better than I thought they would, with all the jackin' I had to do with radiator assembly. That's a difficult job to do by yourself.

The hood-sides on a 645 (with the spring-loaded doors) are much Heavier than on a 626 (with louvers).

I still haven't got the latches I ordered from Henry Yeska. I'm startin' to get worried about them. I've still got to do some paint buffing before I can put on the handles, latch-pins, etc. to finish up the hood assembly, anyway.

[Guest imported_Speedster]

I got the hood latches from Henry.

They have some Flaws, but they are usable.

The pin-loop on one appears to have been repaired and drilled off-center and the base plate on both appear to have been made by a 6 year old kid (or an 88 year old with shaky hands and bad vision) LOL . I think I can replace them with parts from some brass type latches I have.

But what ya gona do, when that's all you can get.

I for one, am Happy that Henry is still available to Help us with parts we need.

[Guest imported_Speedster]

The extra hood latch base plates, I had, are exactly like the ones on the other 2 good latches I had. Since the ones I got from Henry had been modified using a regular bolt in the center, instead of the crimped assembly in originals, it was easy to replace the base plates, with original type instead of the homemade things Henry had on them, and add some lock nuts to keep them from coming apart internally. So I'm Happy with those, Now.

I now have 3 latches that look Very good and 1 that's good.

Another difference in the 2 I got from Henry is that the spring in them is much weaker than the originals, but I always thought the originals were Too stiff, (Too difficult to pull up). I'll put the stiff ones on the Front, where they may be needed to pull the hood down tight, and the weaker 2 on the rear, since they will be harder to get to, behind the spare wheels.

[West Peterson]

I always found the rear ones easier to pull up, cuz you had that big 'ol spare tire to leverage against.

[Guest imported_Speedster]

But you can Flop your Belly on the Fender for leverage, when pulling the Front ones. LOL

[Guest BigKev]

Rick, when you get done with your '29, I may have found you your next project car!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Packard-1...sspagenameZWDVW

I always know you like a challenge!

[Guest imported_Speedster]

Yes, If I had space to park another one, I would surely bid on it. Unfortunatly I'll have to Sell something before getting any more project cars. I don't think my neighbors will let me park them in my Front yard, which is the only place left.

If I ever do get another Packard, I'll be looking for maybe a '34, if I could find one in similar condition, that would be Great. I have 2 '29s already, which is about what that car is (but with a small engine), so I need a more Modern car, like a '34. My '37 and '56 are just Too Modern for me, so I may be selling them to get a '34.

I had been looking at it, tho. See 'Interesting eBay Item' thread:

[West Peterson]

Rick

I can't wait anymore. Pull out your camera and show us some details.

[Guest imported_Speedster]

Okay, I wouldn't do this 'For Just Anybody', but here's some pics. Since it's still parked under my painting tent, and there are cars and a fence on all 4 sides I couldn't get back far enough and enough light to get Good pics, but maybe you can see a little of it. (Remember it is Not finished yet, still working on several areas)

[Guest BigKev]

wow.... It looks really good! You should post one of the "before" shots so people can see what difference you have made. I never thought what you started with would evey look as good these recent pics!

Great job. If you ever come out to Calif, I may have some work for you!

I need to show those to my wife, everytime I try to show her an old rusty car, she doesnt belive that they can be brought back from the dead.

[Guest imported_Speedster]

Okay, here's what it looked like when I got it. Many parts were missing. The complete floor, the complete top, the seats, the trunk lid, the golf-compartment door, lights, front bumper and many other parts were missing or Not usable.

[West Peterson]

Thanks, Rick!!

[bernardi]

I admire your persistence and your skill. That is really bringing one "back from the dead"! That also makes me humble - the work on my cars pales in comparison.

[Guest imported_Speedster]

Thanks for the compliments everyone, that really makes me feel Good. This has really been a Fun project.

[Earl B.]

Rick, the word beautiful is an understatement!!! You're truly an artist!!! I can only hope mine looks nearly that good... B

[Tom M]

Wow Rick, you have come along way compare to where I am at. Nice work..

[Guest imported_Speedster]

Thanks Guys.

I'll post some better pictures when I get it out of the car port.