restoration os 1941 ford truck TEX MORTON

[John Mackie]

About1960/1970 our garage aquired this truck fron Mount Hope NSW the engine was partly dismantled . it was painted red and had 18 ' military wheels.
Another engine was found and it was sold to a farmer who made it into a fire fighting truck. About 1980 the farm eas sold and my interest in things military had improved so i asked the owner about it. He said it was a failure so they cut it in half and made the back into a trailer, come and get the front half. Son John and i collected it . It now had 1949 front gaurds and grille the red paint was gone revealing the arn 29590 and Tex Morton rodeo and circus on the bonnet (hood). Tex Morton was a country and western sinder who traveled the back blocks of NSW and Victoria. Over the years i have collected 2 complete trucks and major parts of 3 others.Restoratoin commenced in 2006. 2013 has been serious work carried out. the chasss i am going to use is totaly bare. both front shackle brackets are removed as they were excessivly worn. all springs have been dismantled the plates cleaned and re-assembled. the gearbox and handbrake are rostored. an engine needs to be started and assesed. work has been done on the gaurds, grills and body parts.. i will post photoswhen i know how!. More later.

[Howard]

John,
I can help you with posting the photos,
Give me a ring on the weekend if you haven't been able to figure it out before then.
Howard.
PS I'm sure you have my number, drop me a PM.

[John Mackie]

restoratiobn is still progrsing but not as fast as i would like . i recently strippad the best bonnet i have on removing the bit with ford on it i found that the reverse side was chrome but had been painted with red undercoat and light stone. looking at the word FORD it is obvious that the lettrs had been picked out in blue and overpainted with light stone.
obviously the truck that the bonnet belonged to has had milatary history.
i photograpfed the part and will put it up when able.

[Ganmain Tony]

Very interesting news about the bonnet John.....No old ARN's anywhere???

Keep it coming...its all interesting...

[Jan Thompson]

Hi John
Do you hope to have it at Corowa in March for Year of the Ford?

[John Mackie]

Hi all . It has been a while since i have added any information about this. yesterday the chassis arrived back from the sandblaster. they did a magnificant job. I was out at 0700 this morning and got 74 % undercoated before it got too hot. also managed to change both front spring rear shackle brackets. apart from this the chassis is in excelent condiotion, no cracks and no loose rivets, i have a lot of photos in the camera and will add them to this when i am comtentant!

[John Mackie]

here is an update. The chassis has been painted , springs and axles fitted,engine (tempory) gearbox and driveline fitted. Spent all one day sorting out rims and tyres. Have located 5 rims all the same size and spoke shape. I will get the tyre service to dismantle them. They will then be sandblasted, painted and assembled.
I brought a cab down yesterday and have striped out the wind\screan frames, trim and any removable bits. will try to weld up the cracks and extra holes tomorrow.

[John Mackie]

here is another update. there is not a lot of visible progress. i am sorting out engine bits. Have had to strip another two engines. one was bored 050 oversizeand i need 2 new pistons for it.another engine has a slinger only rear "seal"and a good block BUT the rear main cap does not have the replacable aliminum seal carrier..I have decided to sacrifice another truck. The cab is rust free the bonett (hood) is very good, the gaurds have had a lot of pannelbeating and welding on them, there are big cracks where they join the cab. the engine in this truck had solid brass big end bearings, this is the second tine i have found this.

[John Mackie]

There has not been a lot of visible progress of late. 2 more engines have been stripped down and i am awaiting quotes for parts etc.
Ihave decided to sacrifice another truck. it has a very good cab the gaurds are fair . THE inner gaurds are the best so-far. it does not have a fold out windscrean or a hatch. there is only minimum rust in one of the doors.

[John Mackie]

After a long peroid of inactivity I am now starting to make some progress. after searching through many engines i have decided how to go. The engine i decided to use came from the truck that I deciced to sacrifice, the engine appeared to be locked up, howeved it was the gearbox that was locked up.. I had dismantled the engine ,all but one piston came out easily,the last came out after soaking with white vinegar.it has been bored 50 thou and the pistons and bores and crank are OK to use..
When the decision was made John Toohey and I managed to remove all the valves and guides by removing the valve springs in an afternoon.The block has been hot-tanked and i have been arranging spares.
Yesterday i spent the morning cleaning the piston-ring groves and found that there was i odd conrod.the cap showed marks of a missmatched capboth in the bore and on the side faces , both were marked L4 with similar stamps , all the orther rods match up OK. as usual the numbers on the rod do not tally with the bore they belong . On one piston both gudgeon pin wire circlips had failed , the pin had moved but did not damage the bore.
in the next week i hope to do some more cleaning and fit a new set cam bearings.

[Bob McNeill]

John, there,s only one way to stop the cab crackin, weld the door shut then cut a new door.

[jack neville]

I know these old Ford trucks, or those that still exist, have been workhorses and are over 70 years old. I also acknowledge that the roads and conditions they endured are not what we encounter today but were they more prone to cracking than other makes of their era? The guards seem to crack in a number of places. The cab floor around the gearbox area, the windscreen pillars and the firewall also seem vulnerable. Having no shocks can't help but I've never noticed too many comparable cracks in the chassis. Obviously use and abuse varies considerably but I just wonder if other makes are similar.