Blitz Chassis and Truck info wanted

[Jason Linders]

I am looking for any information on my Blitz truck. Wanting to know if it was a long wheel base cut down? or is the engine cover the wrong one for the vehicle? what type of vehicle was it? And any further info would be greatly apperciated Thanks!

[Jason Linders]

more photos

[cletrac (RIP)]

It looks like a cut down gun tractor. The roof and the floor are too long for anything else.

[Euan McDonald]

Hi Jason and welcome!
what you have looks like it started life as a FGT No8 Aust, that would mean it was a gun tractor at some point. The engine cover plate would indicate it came from a long wheel base truck.
Whats the plan? it would be great to see it restored back to a GT.
Looks to have had a hard life around the rear end, front looks very original.
Can you post pics of the glove box if it still has one?
Do you have fuel tanks?
Please keep the pic coming!

[aj.lec]

Welcome to MLU Jason
looks to be on the original GT chassis too with 2nd row cross member at rear (so wheel base not cut down 101 inch original)
Poor thing has had a very hard life.
As Euan said it would be great to see it go back to a FGT No8

[Jason Linders]

Thanks for all the replies.
Yes, it still has its glove box, missing all its fuel tanks though
Still even has its log book holder above the drivers window and all the rifle holders still in tact

How do i check the wheel base to check the 101 inch?

New to blitz's

[Tony Wheeler]

Yes it's a FGT8 Jason. Have you checked under the bonnet yet? The chassis model was painted on the underside, it may still be legible. Engine cover looks to be original but the dashboard is off an F60L (I'm assuming that's where the data plate is).

Anyway nice find Jason, it's pretty rough but it's always good to find another FGT. What are your plans for it? Can you send a pic of the ARN, looks like a couple of digits may be legible.

Cheers,
Tony

[Jason Linders]

More photos

[Jason Linders]

I am planing on rebuilding this poor old girl, so the chassis is standed and has not been cut and rewelded to make a shot wheel base then, if that the case ill have a mate fix the cracked rails properly and replate it.and is the winch between the rails standed. and what is it then a f60s or a f60l

[Keith Webb]

The engine cover is definitely from another truck, the No8 and 9 gun tractors did not have the big winch plate which was part of the Australian winch modification.

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by Jason Linders

I am planing on rebuilding this poor old girl, so the chassis is standed and has not been cut and rewelded to make a shot wheel base then, if that the case ill have a mate fix the cracked rails properly and replate it.and is the winch between the rails standed. and what is it then a f60s or a f60l

It is a FGT chassis, Ford Gun Tractor.

You might find it easier to get a F15A chassis and transfer the bits onto it.

As Tony mentioned it would be good if it is possible to discern the Army Rego number once painted under the windscreen.

The winch looks to have the drum on the wrong side, but it is a blitz winch.

[Jason Linders]

Thanks for all the help and how would one go with the missing rear cab section

[Keith Webb]

This is on my FGT and shows the same Canadian winch installation as yours would have been fitted with originally. The cable is paid out through the rear fairleads then forward to the fairleads on the bumper, which is why it is on the left side.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Jason Linders

How do i check the wheel base to check the 101 inch? New to blitz's

No need to check Jason, it's definitely a FGT chassis. The twin rear crossmembers are unique to FGTs as Andrew says. There are 3 different wheelbases in the CMP range (Canadian Military Pattern, aka blitz):

SWB: Fords are 101 1/4", Chevs are 101"
Medium: Fords 134 1/4", Chevs 134".
LWB: Fords 158 1/4", Chevs 158".

Gun Tractors use the SWB chassis, and Ford Gun Tractors include certain chassis mods, notably twin rear crossmembers. They're instantly recognizable, as is the glove box which is also unique to FGTs.

"F60L" denotes "Ford, 60 cwt, Long wheelbase", so whatever that data plate is attached to is off another blitz (sometimes they're on the dashboard, sometimes on the engine cover).

Anyway welcome to MLU Jason and well done on scoring a FGT first up, most of us have to wait decades to find one! They're extremely rare, less than 200 built (84 FGT8 and 98 FGT9) so it's always exciting to see another survivor, regardless of condition. Actually yours isn't too bad, it's considerably better than the FGT9 I'm planning to restore. Very few bodies have survived, they invariably get the chop like yours. BTW the body is Australian designed and built - hence "Australian Pattern No.8", and the chassis is Canadian - hence "CMP".

Here's a few pics of the FGT9, main difference is the small step in the roof.

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by Jason Linders

Thanks for all the help and how would one go with the missing rear cab section

You could either be incredibly lucky and find one or you could fabricate it - the drawings exist for the No9 FGT (we have almost all of those) and probably also for the No8 too but not sure how you could access them.

[Jason Linders]

Thanks for that Tony and Keith so what do you think i should do, turn it into just a single cab or try and find blue prints and build the rear my self.
is it possible that the winch was fitted upside down when the jib was mounted or the cracks were welded

[aj.lec]

Originally Posted by Jason Linders

Thanks for that Tony and Keith so what do you think i should do, turn it into just a single cab or try and find blue prints and build the rear my self.
is it possible that the winch was fitted upside down when the jib was mounted or the cracks were welded

The chassis you have is also been cut past the spring hangers (common cut) There is about another 12 inches past that

No 8 bodies are even harder to find than No9 bodies but would be far better to fabricate a rear body if you cant find one rather than single cab

Adelaide military museum has a No8 that they fabricated a rear body for . They havent fitted any internal lockers though
Pictures attached are Adelaide one

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

No8 and 9 gun tractors did not have the big winch plate which was part of the Australian winch modification.

I didn't know that Keith, does that mean these chassis arrived as F15A?

[Jason Linders]

Thanks Andrew so about another 12 inches past the rear hangers needs to go back on. and ill give the museum a call and see if they have the drawings
that they used. and what year model is it

[aj.lec]

Originally Posted by Jason Linders

Thanks Andrew so about another 12 inches past the rear hangers needs to go back on. and ill give the museum a call and see if they have the drawings
that they used. and what year model is it

1942

Chassis rear layout in picture

[Jason Linders]

Thanks for the help and info and are the fuel tanks the same as all the blitz's

[aj.lec]

Originally Posted by Jason Linders

Thanks for the help and info and are the fuel tanks the same as all the blitz's

GT fuel tanks are larger capacity than a standard CMP tank. Same width but higher and longer

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by Tony Wheeler

I didn't know that Keith, does that mean these chassis arrived as F15A?

No, the Aust which kit was used as a retrofit and I believe the whole kit was made here including the winch.

The thing which makes the FGT more interesting (and I believe the CGT also) was the chassis came here as a complete kit with winch fitted. The Canadian winches have a guard fitted which local ones do not and also the front fairleads are quite different, incorporating the towing D on Ford gun tractors.

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by Jason Linders

Thanks Andrew so about another 12 inches past the rear hangers needs to go back on. and ill give the museum a call and see if they have the drawings
that they used. and what year model is it

As far as I know these are kept on microfilm in deep storage and not accessible any more. Older copies were made before they were sent to the AWM.

As to building bodies, the Adelaide No8 was built on an intact subframe, but many of the details in the new build are rather dodgy and lightly made compared to the original.

Were you able to make out any of the ARN on the front?

Your chassis number (which is the same as the original engine number) should be stamped on the top right chassis rail just behind the engine mount. It will start with 3G and end with F. If you have those details we may be able to tell you more about it's history (not a lot but something is better than nothing!)

[Keith Webb]

Looks like you have a number of stencils there.



Worth giving it a gentle wet and dry to see what you can bring out.

Usually it will be "GT 42" but at the factory the full model designation was often hand painted there.

[Ken Smith]

Good day Jason,
Nice to see another one saved. I have a rear section of a No 8 body I would be interested in selling, pm me if interested.
Cheers Ken

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Jason Linders

Thanks for that Tony and Keith so what do you think i should do, turn it into just a single cab or try and find blue prints and build the rear my self.

My suggestion would be to restore it as a single cab and worry about the body later. That's my plan for the FGT9, it will get me on the road a lot sooner, and I can fabricate the body at my leisure in the shed. Building a FGT body from scratch is a major project in itself, with lots of nuisance bits to find or fabricate somehow, so it makes sense to do the vehicle project first. Plus it will be a lot easier to build in the shed than on the truck, and I can build it complete from nose to tail and have it painted and fully fitted out inside, ready to bolt on in a single operation and drive off down the road.

If you chose that route you'd need to buy or borrow another cab to get around in temporarily. However, if you can afford it, you'd be far better off to buy a complete running truck. If I were you I'd be looking around for a tidy F15A (SWB Ford 4x4 blitz) as a basis for this FGT project. That way you could be on the road almost immediately if you want, and you could upgrade the F15A chassis to FGT status at your leisure. That means transferring the winch associated components off your FGT chassis - crossmembers, fishplates, sidemounts, guide rollers, pigtails, plus relocating one existing crossmember. All holes for these components are pre-stamped on F15A chassis, there's no drilling or aligning to be done, just bolt them straight in and you have a FGT chassis, ready for a set of rear fairleads when you find some. The only welding required is a bead along the top sidemount brackets, which doesn't need to be done until you're ready to use the winch.

If you're not up for a whole new truck, the other alternative is to find a bare F15A chassis and start from there. That's what I'm doing, however if I had my time over I'd buy a complete running vehicle, hence my advice to you! In the long run it's probably cheaper, and certainly a lot easier, than trying to replace or repair the numerous missing or damaged parts on a FGT wreck individually.

Whichever way you go you'll definitely need another chassis, I promise you'll regret trying to salvage yours, for a whole lot of reasons. And if you ever did manage to get it on the road again, you'd regret it even more! If you can't find one up there I have a spare one you can have cheap, I'll dig out some pics shortly. Don't know what transport costs would be but it would save you a lot of grief in the long run.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

No8 and 9 gun tractors did not have the big winch plate

...and here I was feeling quite pleased with myself at having picked up one of these winch plates on ebay for my FGT9!

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

Looks like you have a number of stencils there.

They're probably service history stencils like those found on FGT8 ARN 132257. This is Northern Command record so possibly a stablemate of Jason's FGT8 at some stage. Stencils appear to read:

Date repair to Class
Class before repair
N/Comd
Mileage before repair

Mine shows E/R (presumably Engine Replacement) some time in '57, and Jason's shows a '50s date in the same location, so I'm tipping it also refers to engine replacement.

[Jason Linders]

Thanks for all you help with this Tony