July 4, 2001
With temperatures over 110F during the day the last two weeks, it’s been too hot in my garage to get any significant work done on the Panther Project. So today, I added some pages of fellow enthusiasts 1955-56 Packards. The Packard pictures are accessible in from the Showroom section
July 8, 2001
When I removed the interior and dash some months ago, I left the door panels and glass installed. Since I'm going to start work on the interior soon, now was the time to finish the removal. The trickiest part is removing the inside door handles and window cranks. There's a clip inside the hadle that must be pushed to release the handle from the shaft. Seeing what the inside looks like makes it easier to position a trim tool (or thin piece of sheet metal), releasing the clip and then wiggling the handle loose. Eventually, they all gave up. For the door panels and window regulators, just follow the shop manual instructions. Except the rear regulators did NOT have any retaining clips contrary to the service manual. With a little persistence, they also came out.
July 9, 2001
Today I trial fitted the 3-piece front bucket seats into the Panther. The new mount bracket is narrower than the stock Packard seat mount. This necessitated removing the underseat sheet metal humps on each side. With the hump out of the way, I built a heavy duty cross strap to connect the new mount bracket to the original mount holes. There is a reinforcing plate spot welded underneath, so the mount will be plenty strong. Once the new mount bracket was in place, it was a simple matter to bolt in the three seats. The seats can be arranged bench-like or with the center back folded down into a console.
July 10, 2001
Since I've decided to retain the stock rear drum brakes on my 1955 Patrician for a while while I continue to test drive the front disc brakes, I needed to check out their condition. A special 3-prong puller that bolts to the drum is required to get the drum off the tapered hub. IMPORTANT: keep the large retaining nut screwed onto the spline to prevent the hub from flying off when it finally lets go. In my case, I had to jury rig a stouter setup in order to apply more torque to the center screw than the normal setup would allow. The steel rod rides against the loose nut and keeps the drum & puller from rotating. The floor jack supports the socket and eliminates the sheer force trying to peel the puller off the drum. The shoes needed replacement, but everything else looks OK (I won't bore you with the details of a standard brake job).
July 11, 2001
I bought the correct rear brake shoes for my Patrician at Nevada Brake & Auto. Drums were turned also by them. I reassembled the rear drums and test drove it. Boy, it stops even better now! No more nose dive on hard stopping; the rear end stays down like it should. I don't know yet if I'll need a proportioning valve or not.
July 15, 2001
A fellow Packard enthusiast pointed out that the current (Sep 2001
) issue of Custom Rodder magazine has a sidebar on a 1956 Packard Executive being sectioned (front & rear). I'd like to do a minor section job on the Panther body, but it's out of budget for now.
July 17, 2001
I cleaned up the lower curved outer trim molding off the front doors of the Clipper, packed them and sent them off a fellow Packard enthusiast in need of same (for a fair $, of course). The Panther won't be equipped with that trim piece.
July 20, 2001
I
started chemically stripping the paint from the Clipper door moldings and removing the rust on the steel flat panels. Just grunt work, but it's gotta be done
.July 21, 2001
Bought a good used Sears Kenmore sewing machine at the big swap meet across town. This is in anticipation of doing my own work on the Panther interior.
July 23, 2001
Removed all the upper exterior stainless steel trim. It's in fine shape so it should cleanup and buff very nicely...almost as good as new!
July 25, 2001
Today I polished and buffed all the interior stainless steel trim in anticipation of doing the Panther interior
July 26, 2001
The entire ClassicCar.com website was shut down today. This included the Packard (and all other makes) chat room which had been very useful and informative to myself and others. Financial problem with the parent company, I understand. Myself and several other Packard chatters are trying other free sites, but they're problematic so far.
July 27, 2001
Cleaned up and polished one of the ever popular 1956 Clipper tail lights housing and lens today. It'll look even better on the Panther! I also removed the rust from the lower window frames and cleaned them up. They look pretty good, but not exactly like new. I also cleaned up both door handles (click here for before & after); they turned out fair and certainly serviceable.
July 28, 2001
I met fellow Packard owner and enthusiast Gerry Bonner at Las Vegas Upholstery Supply to purchase the materials for the Panther interior (click here for a materials list). We drove both our Packards there and of course had to give a talking tour of both to the store personnel.
July 30, 2001
I drove out to the storage lot on the other side of town to remove the rear seat from my 1956 Executive 4-dr parts car. It has the fold down rear seat arm rest like Patrician (and all other senior Packards). It looks like I'll have to weld in the arm rest mechanism to the Clipper seat back, since they are different on the sides.
Continued...
Webmaster: Craig Hendrickson
Back The Inspiration The Basis What's Happening Project Topics Showroom
The Library Special Projects Related Links Site Map
Email comments
