Repairing a Packard...

[Scott --]

Hi, all -

I have a new (to me) Packard shutter. Two piston model. The time piston opens and returns, but the instant piston doesn't. I'm comfortable with working on such things m'self, but was wondering if anyone's broken into one of these before I commit.

Thanks for any input.
Scott

[Ash]

Mine is the same.... it needs one piston up for the other to work it seems. No idea where it is or I'd check which does which. Mine appears to have been modified or "repaired" at some point.

Any sign of those bellows???

[Gene McCluney]

The Packard shutters, including the 2-piston models are utter simplicity. If one of the pistons doesn't work, it is just stuck. If you take the shutter apart, you can see how simple the "innards" are. The 3 shutter blades can be carefully removed, and the inside of the metal shell cleaned of corrosion with a scotch-brite pad. The shutter blades can be rubbed with a light coat of graphite as a lubricant. While apart the pistons can be removed and cleaned and sometimes rubbing a bit of graphite into them can help keep them smooth. The shutter blades are a teensy bit fragile, so just be careful.

[Pete Watkins]

Jim Galli is the king of the Packard shutter and he has a lot of good advice on Packard maintenance on his website.
Pete.

[Scott --]

Thanks, guys. Got it working again. Now that I know how it goes together, I'll pull it apart and give it a decent CLA.

Scott