Due to the lack of success in finding the right piston for my replacement engine, i've decided to shelve it for the time being and concentrate on my latest acquisition; Thanks very much to Bob McNeil, I now have a Chev 235 motor for the Blitz! John Mackie picked it up for me while he was in Cowra, and we've been working on it at his place to get it going.

We set ourselves up on the back of John's ute in his backyard, and we've been doing all we can to get the engine into the best possible shape. The engine itself isn't in the worst shape, thank goodness, and although we've struck a few problems along the way, nothing has been insurmountable. We flushed a fair bit of rubbish out of the motor as you can see, but we have in this engine good material to work with!

More to come...

Having worked on the engine through the 8th and the 9th, we finally put the old 235 to the test on the 9th. My ignition coil turned out to be done for, so i had to borrow one off John Mackie for the purposes of test firing the engine. We timed the tappets and reconnected all the accelerator linkage on the left hand side of the engine, and put a new/old carby on. We then worked out the electrics, setting up a jury rig which connected the engine to John's ute battery.

The first few goes yielded no result. It turned out that the distributor points weren't content with the thorough clean given to them, and we pulled it apart, rectified the problem, and put it back together. After that, she finally fired! It was a very brief run, and it only used the petrol that we poured down the carby, but what a great sound comes from restored engines! After several more tries we almost had it idling, although again only for a few seconds. That was enough for myself and John, and we planned to bring it home and put her in my Blitz.

Finally, yesterday, we launched the operation to place the new engine in the Blitz. We fairly quickly established that the crane on the back of John's ute couldn't lift the engine in the way we needed to get it in the right position in the engine bay. My dad and I raced up the road to our neighbour's place to borrow the good old tripod again.

This time, we had to open the top hatch in the Blitz and run the endless chain through it, attaching the hook to the bell housing. We manoeuvred it into position and lowered it onto the crossmembers. We ran into a problem when we discovered that the hook was jammed between the bellhousing and the floor of the Blitz, but a bit of deft screwdriver levering once the tension was slackened off the hook got it out.

We also cleaned up the gearbox and put it back in and took off the two fuel tanks, both of which are inevitably full of rubbish. We'll have to clean them out with some product before we can use 'em again, but John has recommended the stuff we need. We also reconnected the clutch pedal and had some discussions about how to get around the fact that the accelerator linkage across the front of the engine is prevented from going in it's normal place by the different water pump. Obviously some modification will be necessary there!

Anyway, things are happening. I'm hoping to get the old girl going before I leave for the Defence Force next year, and we're on track for that, touch wood!

Well, after some work, the original problem with the Blitz looks like it is on track to be solved. I've had a new engine pipe made to replace the old one which was smashed off many years ago , and it's a beauty. I've also ordered a fuel tank kit from Permanent Painted Coatings to clean out the two fuel tanks, as they are in a fairly lamentable condition.

The Carby Kit i ordered from Chev Parts arrived, and with John Mackie's assistance we reconditioned the Rochester Carburettor in preparation for re-installation. The accelerator linkage problem still needs to be got around, so to speak; the water pump prevents the linkage from going in it's usual place across the front of the engine. Anyone else struck this problem? How'd you get around it?

Which linkage depends on which water pump
 

Several people have of course done the 235/261 conversion, and the the accelerator linkage across the front of the block is a general issue. In all cases that I have seen it means fabricating a new accelerator cross linkage.

How you go at it depends a lot on which water pump approach you use. From your pictures looks like you are using the 235 stock water pump which is lower than the original 216 water pump, but as the top or thermostat housing is where mounting bolts for the cross shaft connects it is more of an issue of making it fit your thermostat housing. With the lower water pump you don't have the clearance problems of squeezing the cross shaft behind the water pump fitting.

I've fabricated two cross shaft linkages to fit two different engines, I'll dig out photos of both post them and perhaps everybody else who done could do likewise.

While I dig for pictures check http://www.canadianmilitarypattern.c...ifications.htm

Hope this helps

Cheers Phil

Thanks to Mr John Brill of Griffith, I now have a pair of Blitz seats that look (to me) as nice as they must have looked when they come out of the factory. Of course, they're too good to put in the truck until I've got the canvas doors, side windows and the windscreen fixed to seal the cabin, but at least i'll have something to sit on when i get the truck going!

As you can see from the photos, the seats have come a long way from what they were!

Thanks for that info as well Phil, that'll be a great help when I get up to it!

Well, after acquiring my Chev Blitz back early in 2009, and a fair bit of hard work since then, our efforts were finally rewarded today. Myself, my dad and John Mackie put in two days of work on the Blitz to get her running, and I'm thrilled to announce that after sitting dead for around about 50 years, my Blitz today went for a drive!

It wasn't much of a drive, admittedly, as there's still a few small issues that need to be ironed out, but the old girl astonished me with her virtually thoroughbred quality! After a bit of initial hesitation that we diagnosed as a blocked fuel line, the engine was running magnificently, with the merest waft of the hand over the starter and a touch on the throttle. What an amazing experience it is to bring such a thing back to life!

Thanks very much to you Phil for providing that site about the modified accelerator linkages; that helped us get around the problem of the water pump, quite literally!

As soon as I get the right nuts for the rear left-hand axle, and a missing transfer case shaft to stop the oil leaking out, then we'll be able to take the truck on a much more long-distance drive, which will be awesome!

Spent this morning completing the treatement of the two fuel tanks. As you might imagine, both tanks have been accumulating rubbish inside for the last 50 years, and one of the tanks had more holes than a sieve. On John Mackie's recommendation, we turned to the Permanent Painted Coatings kit to clean 'em out and make them useable again. I applied the tank sealant this morning, so the tanks should be ready for use by Saturday. Eventually, we'll strip the tanks back and paint them, and they'll be ready to put back on the Blitz.

declutch shaft
 

Toby if your transfur case looks like photo 1 then I will post whats in photo 2. :cheers:

Yeah Robert, that's what it looks like. As i said to you on the phone, I'd say that along with everything else the old Fire Brigade did to the old girl, they've given the transfer case a wallop with something, and taken all the missing bits off and either sent 'em off for repairs and never got around to re-installing them or filed them under "broken" in the junkyard down at "Willanthry".

OK Toby the parts have been packaged. There were no shims present only a gasket so I included it as a reference to thickness. Good luck with the start of a new career. the package should be on the workbench when you get your first leave. :cheers:

I'm Back
 

Thank Goodness for the Easter Long Weekend! I'm home for the first time since i left to start my New Entry Officer Course at HMAS "Creswell" in January, and i can catch up with you all.

John Mackie, Dad and myself went for a drive out to Mossgiel today following up rumours of a Ford Blitz out there. Sure enough, there is one, and quite a nice one as well. The bloke whose property it is on says they start it up every so often, and when John inserted the crank handle, the engine turned over with ease. However, I cannot locate a legible ARN number on it, but it's been an army truck, as you'll be able to tell from the photos. Eminently acquirable, but as with everything, there's a hurdle. This Blitz was sold to a chap over 5 years ago, and he never came to get it. The former owner hasn't heard from him for years, and frustratingly, he's lost the contact details of the buyer. So that Blitz, although extremely tempting, will have to sit on the backburner for a while.

My Chev Blitz is going great guns. Thanks very much to Robert Pearce for providing that almost pristine part; the transfer case is now ready to receive the front shaft and to be run without losing all the oil. Apart from that, I haven't had time to do much else with the big girl. Officer training is quite hectic, and weekend leave isn't enough time to get home and back again. But I certainly look forward to getting it to Corowa one of these years!

Anyway, great to catch up with MLU again!

Arn
 

You can almost read the ARN - looks like 132867 as it seems to be repeated underneath the Tac sign as well as along the top.
Did you get the details of the data plate if it was present?

But what a beauty otherwise - 1942 F60L with dropside tray.

Hi Toby, I'm glad it arived safely and didn't get broken in the post :D
While on weekend leave you could visit the Yass area, plenty of blitz boys to chat to there. :cheers:

I have some more photos of the Ford Blitz here; the data plate is a bit fuzzy, but you can make out some details...

I've been through Yass quite a few times Robert, and i'd love to drop in and chat next time i have five minutes. Actually, when i was on the bus, i noticed a Blitz in someone's backyard in Church Street, if you know who that is!

Interesting
 

Going on the data plate and the floor this would appear to be a full Canadian import rather than an Australian assembled example making it a fairly rare find here.

A full Canadian import you say? So we got fully built trucks as well as getting the parts and putting them together I take it. What makes this type of truck fairly rare (and consequently a very desirable acquisition)?

full imports were rare thus making this a desirable truck to have :)

Imports
 

The full imports were cab 12s and cab 13 F15s which were official orders.

Others would have come here as refugee cargo or by other means in dribs and drabs.

blitz in Yass
 

the blitz in church street is a F15
not sure if he has it going yet

Toby if you are going through Yass let me know and I will show you around
Max

No worries Max; it might be a little while before i get time to poke around Yass, but I'd dearly like to see some of these underground tunnels rumoured to be around the area! I'll definitely take you up on it one day.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'll soon be able to start a Ford Blitz restoration thread, because thanks to some good detective work, I tracked down the long-disappeared owner of the Mossgiel Blitz and persuaded him to let me buy it off him. As it turns out, he owns two Ford Blitzs of his own (not in anything like as good nick as this one), and also knows where at least two more are in the Riverina (or were when he last saw them). Isn't it amazing how many of these old girls are still lurking around out there? Anyway, it'll be a chore getting it back home, and quite expensive, but worth every penny! I've well and truely caught the Restoration Disease, however...

The restoration disease
 

Yes Toby it is instant but rarely fatal thankfully. Excellent news you're going to start on a Ford restoration. The Riverina is very kind to old vehicles.
Any chance of pictures?

Congratulations Toby :thup2:
Nice pick up
Looks like a very good truck and very complete :salute:

It starts with one then . . . . . . . . 1> uncureable green (and usually rusty) disease

Whilst on leave....
 

Hello everyone! I've graduated from the Royal Australian Naval College and I'm back in Hillston on leave and the first thing i had to do was go and look at my new acquisition again! On tuesday, myself and my old man went out to Mossgiel (he couldn't work because of the recent rain) and got the Ford Blitz into a position to be transported home this weekend.

As luck would have it, the Government is spending $1 000 000 on a set of boom gates for a remote railway crossing nearby, and a mate of ours has his digger and lowloader in the area to this end. Thus, we can get the Blitz home, hopefully for nothing more than a carton or two of cans.

We went out to Mossgiel and chucked all the rubbish out of the tray. It appears that a windmill has been stored in the back of it at some time or another, but it's all gone now, and the tray itself has stood up quite well to the elements, with little or no rust except in the usual places superficially. Unfortunately, the two front tyres gave up the ghost not long after being reinflated and promptly deflated, but they stayed up long enough for us to tow the Blitz out of it's hole and out into the open. Looking forward to this weekend!

I also visited John Mackie yesterday and watched last year's Corowa DVD; i was, as usual, extremely impressed with the production and the vehicles; it never ceases to amaze me that vehicles like the Buffalo actually float!

My Chev is coming along slowly; i haven't been home, and i can't really attempt anything ambitious on it at the moment because of time constraints. I'm just giving it some TLC, and re-arranging it's shelter; i found a tarp big enough to cover the whole truck, which is much better indeed.

Congratulations
 

G'day Toby,

Congratulations on graduating from the Royal Australian Naval College - it must be a great feeling to have it finished.

Kind Regards
Lionel

Thanks very much Lionel; it's a great feeling alright! (Half a year down, 9 and a half to go...)

Here are a few photos of Tuesday; the little tractor's heart was in the right place, but it couldn't quite move the Blitz out of it's hole, so we commandeered another truck to pull it out. The Blitz is now sitting on the clay pan at Barwonnie Station, Mossgiel, ready for me to collect it. This, however, has suddenly become next to impossible for me to do myself, as a change of plan from my mate means that he's going out there with his lowloader on Sunday, the day I board the plane for Sydney. So I won't be able to get it home myself, but at least it'll be back!

G'day everyone, sorry it's been a while since I last posted, but i've been away from home basically all year with my RAN officer training. I'm currently posted to HMAS MANOORA, at Fleet Base East in Sydney.

Consequently, nothing has been able to advance on the Blitz restoration front. I organised to have the wheels from the ford sandblasted and painted, but the primer either didn't go on quick enough or it wasn't enough, because they've started to rust already. That'll be solved soon enough though.

I'm looking forward to Christmas leave so that i can get some serious work done. The Chev is still top priority, but i'll try and get the Ford running at some stage as well. Also, myself, my father and John Mackie attended a clearing sale in Lake Cargelligo last weekend, where the steal of the day (in my opinion) was an old Bedford truck, which was a firetruck and came with a tank, which went for $500. There was a Ford Blitz there as well which went for a bit over $600. I walked away with a toolbox for my Ford, and John acquired several starter motors. All in all, a day of bargains!

Toby,
I can well appreciate the difficulties in trying to restore a vehicle and enjoy the hobby whilst serving at sea. Use your spare time for research, parts purchasing etc etc. There are plenty of things that you can do to compliment your restoration whilst at sea. It took me ten years to restore an Amphibious Jeep when I was in the Navy. I was also amazed at what Naval Stores still carried in stock for Jeeps (not sure now of course). I still have the list of DSN's somewhere. The other thing was how many Amphibious jeep parts (Engine, gearbox, T'case radiators etc etc) that I could fit into a Patrol Boat :D :D
Rest assured the time will come when you will get some work done on the Chev. Perhaps a posting to Navy Office.
Anyway enjoy your sea time
Cheers
John Wilson
(Ex CPOMT)

G'day all! Time to get down to some serious restoration now that i'm home for christmas. Most of my efforts since i got home last week have been concentrated on cleaning up the Blitz (the spiders have moved in something chronic) and waiting for the rain to stop, but with some time on my hands I'm looking to make some serious inroads into restoring the truck.
First thing on the agenda is finishing off the basic functionality of the old girl, which i'll begin with looking for bits for the handbrake. Someone's robbed a bit of gear off my truck, and it looks like a few vital pieces are missing from the handbrake assembly around where it bolts on to the side of the gearbox.
G'day to you Chief Wilson! Good to see there's some more Navy restorers out here!