Packard Truck Restored To “Factory Original” Condition
“My friend Peter Trant and I have been restoring vehicles together for more than 40 years, and one of our toughest, yet most rewarding, projects by far was the 5 years we spent rebuilding a 1909 Packard truck,” says Paul Carter of Vancouver, B.C.
A bus restorer in Montana had worked on the vehicle and had gotten the engine running, then decided the remaining work was too much for him to handle. Carter bought it and then trailered it to Vancouver with his son, where he and Trant began their lengthy restoration of the vehicle, which was originally sold to a Nevada mining company for $3,850.
“Peter and I have worked on several ‘brass-era’ century-old vehicles in the past,” Carter says, “but this one was especially challenging.” It was painted black, the seat was a wood box, and it had the wrong wheels. Several engine parts that couldn’t be repaired had to be re-cast, re-formed, and basically remade from scratch, Carter says. They completely re-built the crankcase, re-bored the cylinders and fitted new pistons with oil rings, ground the valve seats and machined diesel engine valves to fit. They made patterns and castings from factory literature pieces for several engine components and by trial and error shaped new governor flyweights. With careful fabrication and machining they salvaged the bronze water pump. A new radiator core was purchased from England. A friend supplied the correct magneto, which they had re-wound in the U.S. along with the battery ignition system. Every detail was replicated down to the correct Yale ignition lock and key. Carter says all that’s missing from the original is a small triangular Packard coil-box badge on the ‘like new’ original four cylinder engine.
After the engine was back on the chassis they built a mounting system for a new electric starter. The running gear was completely disassembled and the frame was stripped and powder coated in the original Packard Blue. Running gear parts including the spring leaves were powder coated in Packard Cream. A retired old time sign painter applied authentic Packard lettering and the pin striping was handled by a local pin-striping expert. A friend who used to paint for Mercedes-Benz painted the rebuilt seat, firewall and running board boxes in Packard Blue.
Carter says rebuilding the drive system required new shafts and bearings and fitting slightly larger drive sprockets to increase the truck’s top speed from 12 to 18 mph. Broken pieces of the transaxle cover plate were re-formed into a template for making the new part.
Carter says one of their toughest jobs was building new wooden wheel rims, known as felloe bands, to replace those that were rotted and filled with holes. That required producing new half-circle felloes that they split down the spoke center, then glued them around the spokes in a staggered pattern to create a full circle. They machined the sides and outside diameter on their wheel lathe. Producing new felloes for the dual rear wheels, which weigh about 500 lbs. when assembled, was complicated by having to avoid cutting into the outside steel band, which they later sanded and smoothed to accept solid rubber tires. Overman Cushion Tire in Ohio made and vulcanized tires onto the rims.
To register the vehicle for road use they hauled it to a certified scale at a metals business in Vancouver, where the weigh master jokingly said after noting its weight at 6,460 lbs., “if you’re scrapping it, we’ll take it.” Carter replied “that’s mighty generous of you, but I think we’ll be taking it back home after putting in more than 5,000 hours to restore it in the past five years.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Paul Carter, Vancouver, B.C. Canada.
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Packard Truck Restored To “Factory Original” Condition TRUCKS Conversions “My friend Peter Trant and I have been restoring vehicles together for more than 40 years and one of our toughest yet most rewarding projects by far was the 5 years we spent rebuilding a 1909 Packard truck ” says Paul Carter of Vancouver B C A bus restorer in Montana had worked on the vehicle and had gotten the engine running then decided the remaining work was too much for him to handle Carter bought it and then trailered it to Vancouver with his son where he and Trant began their lengthy restoration of the vehicle which was originally sold to a Nevada mining company for $3 850 “Peter and I have worked on several ‘brass-era’ century-old vehicles in the past ” Carter says “but this one was especially challenging ” It was painted black the seat was a wood box and it had the wrong wheels Several engine parts that couldn’t be repaired had to be re-cast re-formed and basically remade from scratch Carter says They completely re-built the crankcase re-bored the cylinders and fitted new pistons with oil rings ground the valve seats and machined diesel engine valves to fit They made patterns and castings from factory literature pieces for several engine components and by trial and error shaped new governor flyweights With careful fabrication and machining they salvaged the bronze water pump A new radiator core was purchased from England A friend supplied the correct magneto which they had re-wound in the U S along with the battery ignition system Every detail was replicated down to the correct Yale ignition lock and key Carter says all that’s missing from the original is a small triangular Packard coil-box badge on the ‘like new’ original four cylinder engine After the engine was back on the chassis they built a mounting system for a new electric starter The running gear was completely disassembled and the frame was stripped and powder coated in the original Packard Blue Running gear parts including the spring leaves were powder coated in Packard Cream A retired old time sign painter applied authentic Packard lettering and the pin striping was handled by a local pin-striping expert A friend who used to paint for Mercedes-Benz painted the rebuilt seat firewall and running board boxes in Packard Blue Carter says rebuilding the drive system required new shafts and bearings and fitting slightly larger drive sprockets to increase the truck’s top speed from 12 to 18 mph Broken pieces of the transaxle cover plate were re-formed into a template for making the new part Carter says one of their toughest jobs was building new wooden wheel rims known as felloe bands to replace those that were rotted and filled with holes That required producing new half-circle felloes that they split down the spoke center then glued them around the spokes in a staggered pattern to create a full circle They machined the sides and outside diameter on their wheel lathe Producing new felloes for the dual rear wheels which weigh about 500 lbs when assembled was complicated by having to avoid cutting into the outside steel band which they later sanded and smoothed to accept solid rubber tires Overman Cushion Tire in Ohio made and vulcanized tires onto the rims To register the vehicle for road use they hauled it to a certified scale at a metals business in Vancouver where the weigh master jokingly said after noting its weight at 6 460 lbs “if you’re scrapping it we’ll take it ” Carter replied “that’s mighty generous of you but I think we’ll be taking it back home after putting in more than 5 000 hours to restore it in the past five years ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Paul Carter Vancouver B C Canada
