F60L serial numbers

[Paul Viner]

Hi all, new to the Forum and I guess to the world of Military Vehicles. I have the chance to buy 2 Ford Blitz trucks, one being a F60L with the following details Chassis 160444 Cab 13 Chassis Serial 150793 Engine Serial G20888L It's a goer and also comes with a dual axle trailer that has the square front not the curved. I know this vehicle was not fitted with this trailer as normal as it has RAAF painted on the top of the drivers side mudguard, this may mean nothing. The vehicle is also 4wd. Would it be out of place to fit this trailer to the truck as I have not been able to find out any info regarding trailers. Hoping to find out some information before I purchase, it also has a little brother F15S that I can purchase as well 2wd. The other vehicle is Chev Blitz RAAF fire truck. No numbers as yet but is missing engine and gearbox but is complete including all the rear pump unit and some original hoses and couplings.

[Mike Cecil]

Paul,

Welcome.

Does it have any registration numbers painted on or under the paintwork on the flat areas below the windscreen?

The engine number should be something like '2G37711F' ie a number, then 'G' then a number sequence, then 'F'.

Where did the numbers you have referred to come from? A plate on the dash or the vehicle itself? The chassis numbers on Aust CMPs were the engine number, stamped into the chassis adjacent to the front cross member, right side, on the top of the frame.

The RAAF operated semi-trailers too, so don't discount the combination just yet: give some more info and we will see what we can come up with. There are some pretty clued-in people on the forum (Keith, Tony ... chime in anytime!!)

Got any images to post?

Mike

[Keith Webb]

Welcome Paul, good to see your post here.

A 2G prefix would have originally come from a cab 12 as it indicates a 1941 build, fairly common for engines to be replaced with another from rebuilt stocks - you see it all the time in the AWM126 series of records.
And a very small clarification to Mike's remark about the chassis numbers being the engine numbers - that only applied to Ford CMPs. Chevrolets started with the type code e.g. 8443 for a C60L then the number and often but not always a letter suffix such as B, P, S or M to indicate which plant they were assembled in.

Look forward to seeing some photos in due course.

[Paul Viner]

I forgot to add the last bit of the note which was E52-382 built jul 17 44
Unfortunately the trucks are 6hours away so just going on the info supplied I will attempt to post pics

[Paul Viner]

This belongs to the big blitz and the last plate belongs to the small one

[Mike Cecil]

OK, the images make more sense:

RAAF 210055, A "Truck, Water, Ford F60L", engine number 4G207481F, taken on charge 20 September 1945, disposed of 1958.

The engine number I stated before in the earlier post was, of course, an example - the one I usually quote because it was the last engine installed in my first F15 cab 13 before disposal.

Mike

[Keith Webb]

Interesting to see the publications plate on the F15 is for the 4x4 version. Either it was a mistake (unlikely) or the plate or dash has been swapped at some point as the spare parts list is incorrect.

The F15 looks really nice, and is the fully imported Canadian version rather than the Aussie built one, you are also fortunate to get the Aust 15CWT body sitting on the back of the 'big' blitz - that will fit the F15 nicely even though it's original 2C1 body was a bit different.

The water tanker would have been a 400 gallon version. There's a restored one in Corowa and Ian Styles in Temora also has one restored.

Great finds!

[Mike Cecil]

Keith

It will be interesting for Paul to check out the F15 and provide some more info. Being a full import, I suspect he might find a 'BB18' engine number stamped on the forward top edge of the gearbox, and hopefully, he might be able to see the registration on the scuttle below the windscreen. It may be one of the early group most of which were registered around 55XXX (like my first F15 - 55401, now 'gone to Blitz heaven'). This was a fairly small group - don't remember the exact number, but 400 comes to mind for some reason - so if he finds the 'BB18...' number we may be able to isolate a rego number for him.

Looks like he has the makings of a couple of Aust steel base bodies for his F15: besides the two attached sides, there are four more stacked in the tray.

Whatever happened to the Peter G F15A hybrid with the nice CDN 2C1 body and spare tyre carrier? Has Allan G got it now?

Mike

[Keith Webb]

Hi Mike

Re the Growse one, Alan had it when we visited him, he had passed it to his son as a project. I have not had any contact with Alan since he moved to east Gippsland some years ago.

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Keith

It will be interesting for Paul to check out the F15 and provide some more info. Being a full import, I suspect he might find a 'BB18' engine number stamped on the forward top edge of the gearbox, and hopefully, he might be able to see the registration on the scuttle below the windscreen. It may be one of the early group most of which were registered around 55XXX (like my first F15 - 55401, now 'gone to Blitz heaven'). This was a fairly small group - don't remember the exact number, but 400 comes to mind for some reason - so if he finds the 'BB18...' number we may be able to isolate a rego number for him.

Looks like he has the makings of a couple of Aust steel base bodies for his F15: besides the two attached sides, there are four more stacked in the tray.

Whatever happened to the Peter G F15A hybrid with the nice CDN 2C1 body and spare tyre carrier? Has Allan G got it now?

Mike

[Paul Viner]

Thanks for all the info guys, it has certainly opened my eyes to it all. I will visit the trucks in the coming weeks. Still don't know what to do with the trailer, should or could it go on the F15 or is it more suited to the big brother?Can you buy books on these military vehicles or is there some sort of definitive list that you can work off?