March 3, 2001
It’s saturday and I drive from Las Vegas to Etiwanda (3hrs on I-15) to check out my Packards and catch up on old and current times with Ken and his son Kevin. Since my expectation is low of my pair of 1956 Packards condition, I am pleasantly surprised when I inspect them. Almost all the stainless steel trim, the bumpers and sheet metal are in fine condition. Both cars are complete, although the Clipper’s radiator is on the passenger front seat and its heater is in the trunk. The paint on both cars is long gone and are mismatched, probably because some of the doors were replaced with good used ones at some point in the past. The engines and engine bays are caked with brown dirt to the point you can’t tell what color the engines were painted. The interior on the Clipper is trashed, but the seat springs and frames are OK. The power seat in the Clipper is a pleasant surprise. The interior on the Executive is almost as bad, but the seat material is intact. The vertical dash in the Executive is in fine shape, just dirty. Both cars have electric pushbutton transmission gear selectors mounted on the steering column. At least 8 wheels come with, but the tires are junk.
March 14, 2001
Ken Crocie finishes his measurements of the Clipper 2dr HT for the disc brake conversion. Transwest Auto Transport picks up both Packards for hauling to Las Vegas. Even though they both arrive in Las Vegas the next day, but for a couple of reasons the Clipper 2dr HT won’t be delivered to my house until monday.
March 19, 2001
The Clipper 2dr HT is delivered to my house. The “vehicle dollies” (Harbor Freight Tools special for 4 for $100) work great. I can single hand the 4,000lb Clipper, pushing it to one side when I’m done for the day, leaving room to also park my Patrician in my garage. Since the Clipper doesn’t run or stop, we had to use a coordination of the trailer winch and manual come-along anchored to the garage’s back wall to pull the Clipper up the incline of my driveway and into the garage (sorry no JPGs of that--I was too busy cranking on the come-along and no one else was around!)
March 20, 2001
Started disassembly. The first major task is to remove the “front clip.” I’m doing this for several reasons. First, the front clip from the Executive 4dr sedan will replace the Junior front end for that “Executive” look. Second, with the front sheet metal out of the way, it will facilitate removing the engine with my “cherry picker” Because my driveway slopes down to the street almost immediately from the garage front and the low height of my garage door , I can’t move the “cherry picker” with engine attached backward from the front of the Clipper too far. With the front clip out of the way, I can swing the engine and transmission to the side. Third, I can get to the front suspension (for an overhaul) and brakes (for disc brake conversion) more easily. So, I removed the hood, lower bumpers (assembly), headlights (assemblies) and grille & oxbow (assembly). Hints for anyone also doing this. 3 big bolts per side get the bumper assembly off. The grill and oxbow assembly won’t come off without first removing the parking light assembly. Use WD-40 or other penetrant on all bolts & nuts. Impact wrenches (high torque and ratchet) are HIGHLY recommended.
March 21, 2001
I finished removing the front clip. Also removed the front & rear seats, cleaned out the trash from the interior and vacuumed out the dirt. The good news is that there’s no sigificant rust on the floor pan. I’ll clean and check the trunk later since I can’t open it with the rear end of the Clipper under the overhanging storage.
March 22, 2001
I spent part of the day visiting local wrecking yards specializing in collector car parts. I also talked to a “hot rod” shop who agreed to do the Panther hood scoop and rear fender openings. I also talked to a painter and trim shop. Just lining things up for the immediate future, but no decisions yet on vendors.
March 23, 2001
With the assistance of an old friend, Bill Geoghegan, we pulled the engine and trans assembly from the Clipper. A couple of things of note about the removal. The rear trans crossmember has three bolts per side, not two (another out-of-sight, out-of-mind example that caused some delay). The driver side exhaust manifold was removed to provide easy access to the engine mount bolts. By the way, the engine hoist is foldable for easy storage when not in use. The engine load equalizer worked great. Both are new from Harbor Freight Tools ($200 & $30 respectively).
March 24, 2001
With the engine and trans still attached to the hoist, but the engine mounts laying on a couple of jack stands, I tried turning the crank over by hand with a 16”x1/2-drive breaker bar using 6-pt 1” impact socket. It wouldn’t budge. I’ve heard this is quite common for an old engine which hasn’t run for many years (the rings “freeze up” in the cylinder, apparently). Using an old mechanic’s trick, I removed the spark plugs and squirted a generous amount of MARVEL MYSTERY OIL into each cylinder. Six hours later, I tried it again, but this time with a 6-foot pipe extension on the breaker bar. The crank turned about 1/8 turn twice. I repeated the MMO treatment and tried again in six hours. Success! After forcing it to turnover about twice, it started to turn fairly freely. Now I could get to the remaining converter bolts on the flexplate. After separating the engine and trans, I hung the engine on the stand and finished for the day.
March 25, 2001
With time off to watch NASCAR and NHRA shows on TV, I stripped the engine down to the short block. Everything inside looked OK for a rebuild, just covered with sludgey oil. Finally, I removed the #1 main and rod caps to inspect the bearings. They looked OK as well.
Conclusion: this engine can be rebuilt!
.
March 26, 2001
Today, I started full disassembly of 352 Clipper engine. The harmonic balancer removal required a 3-jaw 6" puller. Later, I delivered the starter & solenoid to Interwest Rebuilders for overhaul. I also talked to Motor Mission about the radiator upgrade for the Panther.
March 27, 2001
I completed the disassembly of the 352 Clipper engine. All components look good. The Clipper's original radiator was picked up for modification by Leonard of Motor Mission. While at my house, he suggested that Motor Mission be considered for the engine machine work as well. I agreed to check them out.
March 28, 2001
I searched more wrecking yards for suitable bucket seats: no joy yet. Started cleaning years of grease & dirt off front frame members with hand tools (screwdriver & putty knife). There’s plenty of cleaning to go yet, as you can imagine.
March 29, 2001
Today I was given a tour of Motor Mission's engine facility by Jimmie, one of the owners. Based on their capabilities, personal attention from a family-owned business and their interest in the Panther Project, I decided to change vendors. It didn't hurt that Jimmie volunteered that minor additional machine work like custom brakets, etc would be no problem.
March 30, 2001
The 352 engine components were picked up by Motor Mission, except the camshaft which I will have independently reground (more on this later). I got pickle-fork tools from CSK and purchased a sledge hammer in preparation for removing the power steering assembly tomorrow AM.
March 31, 2001
Today I removed the power steering assembly and linkage. I hope to adapt a Saginaw-type integral power steering gear to the Panther. I'll provide before & after pictures when I get it all figured out and installed. By the way, CSK (Checker Shucks Kragen) has a good deal where one can temporarily "buy" certain specialized tools (like pickle-forks) and return them within a few days for a full refund.
Continued...
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