Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Stew and Grant

Guess RATS sums it up. Sorry to hear that is their approach, locally they never charge for shipping unless I want it next day.

My other good source for bolts (grade 8) is the local tractor/heavy machinery dealer who has their bolts stock out in the parts area for customers and they sell all bolts nuts, washers etc. by the pound about $4.30 an lb. so they almost always beat the local hardware store.

Cheers Phil

[Grant Bowker]

As iritating as paying shipping gets, I can sort of understand that if the bolt I want isn't in their "normal" warehouse path that there are additional handling and shipping costs above the"normal" channel. If I can, I wait until I have several "odd" items to order so that the shipping charge in $/item improves. I also often order more than I need to have a bit in stock "for the next truck" or in case I drop one in the mud or failed to count correctly (or other excuses) or so the other inhabitants of the barn have access.

[Private_collector]

Gentlemen,

I have been intending to put a 6 digit serial number on the doors of my truck, and spoke with a sign writing place this afternoon, regarding creation of a stencil 'mask' I can apply, through which to spray the numbers onto the doors & snoz! The mask would then be removed entirely, leaving only the number.

The number I want to use has absolutely nothing to do with being correct for the vehicle (or any other). It is actually my Fathers Military service number. I am even considering adding the "Q" in front of the number, making it match his number exactly.

When I have been looking for placing, size and font of others vehicles, I have noticed some unusual things, as follows.

The vast majority of CMPs I have seen with door numbers are Canadian. Is this a coincidence? I have seen many varieties of font used, and my preference is for a stencil type, similar to that which was used on crates etc., but I have seen some which are solid numbers in a range of styles. I don't know which would be more accurate for the period?

And finally, I have seen trucks with the same numbers on one or both sides of the nose panel. Even ones with the numbers applied vertically instead of across. Is there a 'correct' method?

I will also be applying a division TAC sign on passenger side of nose, once I find out exactly which division the 29/46 Inf Btn was attached to while in New Guinea. It was a Victorian Btn I believe.

Can any of you good folks offer any insight into these queries????

[Mike K]

The NZ C8AX's always had the number on the doors ..........MIKE

[cliff]

Have sent you an email concerning this Tony.

and yes your suspicions are correct I can help with most if not all your queries.

[cliff]

As this thread is posted to on a regular basis I have stickyed it. Yell at me if you mind

[cliff]

29/46th Battalion (East Melbourne Regiment/ Brighton Rifles)
29/46th Battalion (East Melbourne Regiment/ Brighton Rifles)
After the First World War the defence of the Australian mainland lay with the part-time soldiers of the Citizens Military Force (CMF), also known as the Militia. The Militia was organized to maintain the structure of the First AIF and kept the same numerical designations. The Militia units were distributed in the same areas the original AIF units were raised. Thus Melbourne’s 29th Infantry Battalion was the “East Melbourne Regiment”, while the 46th Infantry Battalion was the “Brighton Rifles”. Both battalions were raised in 1921. In 1930 the 29th was linked with the 22nd Infantry Battalion, forming the 29th/22nd. Although it was separated several years later, the 29th and 22nd maintained a close history, as both battalions and the 46th were part of the 4th Brigade and served together during the Second World War.

When the war started in September 1939, the 29th and the 46th held numerous training camps. However, with Japan’s entry into the conflict and a run of victories in South East Asia and the Pacific, the battalions’ training intensified and in March 1942 the 4th Brigade was sent to Queensland. In August the 29th merged with the 46th, thus forming the 29th/46th Infantry Battalion. The 4th Brigade, composed of the 29th/46th, 22nd, and 37th, spent just under a year in Queensland, first at Warwick and then Caloundra, Mount Gravatt, and in mid-September in the Maroochydore-Mooloolaba area.

In March 1943 the 4th Brigade was transferred to Milne Bay in Papua and spent the next 16 months in the islands. While at Milne Bay the 29th/46th carried out intensive jungle training, conducted patrols, and was used as a source of labour for work parties. In March the 4th Brigade joined the 5th Division. But it was with the 9th Division that the brigade would go into action, returning to the 5th Division later in the war.

In September the 29th/46th and the rest of the 4th Brigade left Milne Bay for Lae in New Guinea. Moving by landing craft, the brigade was to protect Red Beach and support the 9th Division during the Huon Peninsula campaign. The 4th Brigade saw extensive service in New Guinea. After patrolling the rugged country behind Sattelberg, from December to April 1944, the 4th Brigade followed the coast from Gusika to Lakona and the 29th/46th captured Fortification Point. Between April and August the brigade garrisoned the Madang area and carried out numerous patrols.

In September the 29th/46th returned to Australia and, after some leave, regrouped at Strathpine in Queensland for further training. However its stay in Australia was brief and the brigade returned to the islands in January 1945, this time to New Britain.

Rather than carry out a major offensive against the Japanese, the much smaller Australian force used active patrolling to confine the Japanese to Rabaul and the Gazelle Peninsula. The 5th Division’s two other brigades, the 6th and 13th, were the first to arrive on New Britain, in November. During the campaign, the 6th Brigade carried out most of the Australian advance, establishing the line across the Gazelle Peninsula. The 4th Brigade arrived at Wunung Bay, on the southern shore of Jacquinot Bay, where it was based for the next 12 months. The Japanese threat to the area was minimal and the 29th/46th spent most of the time training, as well as patrolling.

Following Japan’s surrender, the 4th Brigade moved into Rabaul, as part of the occupation force, in September. With the war over, the ranks of the 29th/46th gradually thinned, as men were discharged or transferred. By March 1946 most members of the battalion, who had sailed to New Britain in the previous year, were discharged or awaiting discharge in Australia. In June 1946 the 29th/46th Battalion was disbanded.

http://www.awm.gov.au/units/unit_11313.asp

[Private_collector]

Don't mind at all Cliff.

Makes it easier for me to find possibly

Guess the graphic will be the platypus & boomerang then!!!!

[cliff]

The formation sign would be the 9th division platapus over a boomerang on a black base as they operated in NG under the 9th division. will work on the unit sign tomorrow. Below is the vehicle layout of the markings of Aussie vehicles

[Private_collector]

The floor plate bolts, originally stated to be 'unavailable' have now arrived from Statewide Fasteners & Engineering Supplies in Brisbane.

statewidefastener.com.au

70 cost a whole $8.72c
Postage was $9.00c

Hmmmmmm!

I also ordered 70 nuts to suit. These they failed to send but they are in the invoice. Email has already ben sent.

Has anyone else ever had the thought their CMP (or other) project must be posessed or carries a curse? There seems to be runs of bad luck to weather until smooth sailing returns.

[Private_collector]

Attachment 48221
The passenger door is definately the worst of the pair. This is just one of the areas that needed attention. All the others are minor by comparisn though.
Attachment 48222 Attachment 48223 Attachment 48224 Attachment 48225
This was without doubt the most complex repair I have had to weld so far. I do not consider myself a 'good' welder, but plod along and get there in the end. In this case, the end of the day. All up, the repairs took around 7hrs.

As you see from the first (corner) repair patch, I have used the grinder to cut two half moon holes which were welded directly to the thick backing plate, adding extra strength and rigidity. Additional holes were also drilled into the original metal piece, and the new strip of folded door skin was tacked in three places to the other repair patch and I later decided to drill this and plug weld to the frame.

More to come in a minute.

N.B: Why the sodding hell aren't the photos showing properly? All I see is the name of the files, but they open up OK!

[Private_collector]

As usual, the area around the lock was cracked on all corners. Of coure i'm getting used to that by now.


I started reassembling the drivers door today too, and found that the bloody top hinge would STILL cause a stress force on the door before it was properly closed, because the hinge contacted an area of door skin along the recessed area. This was easily fixed by carefully removing (sounds better than "Grinding") a little of the hinge thickness. Now I will need to respray the hinge when painting the passenger door.

With all welding now completed, tomorrows job will be the panelbeating and application of plastic filler. I can't escape that on this door. There is just too many small dents to be sorted any other way.

I will be in town tomorrow A.M for some sandpaper and other minor supplies (groceries etc) so no work will get done then. The afternoon should be sufficient to finish the bodywork, and hopefully it will be under primer by nightfall.

About 20min ago, I noticed I had an email from one of the Gympie Woodworks Museum chaps, regarding the rifle blocks. Apparently he has been working on these for me and will now need me to supply my spare SMLE butt for fabrication & test fit. Cool!

[Private_collector]

A couple of hours spent filling & sanding, more filling, more sanding. Fair result but not as good as drivers door.

Getting the little line straight plagued me, and i'm not convinced I got it good enough. The bit furtherest away from camera was/is the wabbly part. It doesn't really show up well in the photo, but it's there! I gave that an extra coat of spray putty for a really good block sand tomorrow.

Paint on tomorrow, as usual..weather permitting.

I spoke with the fellow who made my rifle butt blocks, today. They are ready and I will pick them up Monday.

Phil, it was your plans that he worked from, and I also sent him one of the photos you had posted on 11th March. Thanks again.

[Private_collector]

The passenger door was rubbed down by 1030hrs and I was ready to setup for painting. Door was hung up and wiped down with prepsol. The weather was looking unsettled and there had been light drizzle off and on.

The rain stopped and clouds looked a little friendlier, so I mixed the paint. Thats where things turned decidedly NASTY. Rain returned, got heavier, clouds got blacker and wind started. And there's 700mls of paint thinned with hardener added, and I was damned if I would waste it. I had used this tarp before, when painting the cab frame, but then it was to keep the sun/heat away, not rain. Got the tarp in place and started spraying. All went well UNTIL the rain turned monsoonal and the wind carried spray back under the sheltered area. This paint is just so forgiving. No more than 10min (max) after last coat applied, the spray mist started getting on the freshly painted door. I kept the air-dust gun moving the water around on the surface until weather cleared, then got the door into the shed as fast as I could.

After blowing off the remaining water droplets, I saw no rain damage on the paint.........anywhere!

[cliff]

Tony you should have done what I did when it first started raining - Used it as an excuse to go inside and have an afternoon Nanny nap LOL!

[Private_collector]

Some time ago, I was pondering if the windscreen support frame needed a pack or shim to align it properly. My concern was that it sat out further than the edge of cab, and both the vertical sections were wider out at bottom when measured across to the centre post.

When I did a trial fit of drivers door this afternoon, I discovered that it touched the windscreen support upright. This contact starts when about 30-40cms away from door closed position. This despite the hinges NOT being tightened fully against the cab. This will definately require some effort to correct, and a thick shim (roughly 3mm) will be manufactured to keep the windscreen frame upright post away from the door. I will bolt in the window assembly to check it still fits too!

I reattached cab rear panel and tightened into position before attempting door hanging and discovered that it is leaning slightly forward, bringing it to contact rear of the door. This will be easy to fix, and i'll add it to the list of things to do tomorrow.

To do list for tomorrow:

• Remove nose panel for better access to door hinge bolts

• Buy slightly longer bolts, to allow for shim thickness

• Make shims x2

• Make alteration to rear panel so door closes

And I discovered that the modern bolt version of hinge to door are ever so slightly thicker heads, so they will need to be removed and shaved to original specs, or this too will cause contact against cab frame.

If these vehicles were intended to be thrown together by unqualified laborers then I don't understand why they didn't make far greater tolerences in panel fit. It wouldn't take any more effort in design stage and might have made the workers life easier. Now I know they didn't give the proverbial about such things, but jeezus, think of us poor restorers would ya!

[Private_collector]

No 'nanny nap' for me Cliff. Not today anyway. It would have put a whole week behind if I didn't get that thing painted, besides i'm too stingy to waste the already mixed paint. It's the Scottish heritage in me you see?

I once dropped a 20c piece, and bent down to grab it sooo fast that it hit me in the back of the head!

[Private_collector]

The drivers door is now attached properly. More on the door later.
To get the proper fit I had to:

Shave the hinge bolts to correct thickness.

Pack the windscreen frame so it didn't stick out the side too much.

Shim the door for better clearance. Two shims top, and one at bottom. Yes, I know they look a bit rough in places, but you don't see those parts. Heres a little wrinkle, when I made the second & third ones, I shaped the cut-outs sloping slightly downwards. That way they sit in place nicely, without moving around.

That was the only way I could get a decent clearance between the door and dash panel. At one point it touched strongly. I was not always able to actually see the touching point, so I would slip a piece of paper down there, and when it moved freely I knew it was clear. Now it's well clear, thanks to the second shim in top hinge and moving the dash itself as far away as I could.

This evening I met the guy who has made two rifle butt holders for me. He is one of the woodworkers from the Gympie Woodworks Museum. BLOODY HELL!, WHAT A FANTASTIC JOB. Far better than I had dreamed they would be. He is a true craftsman. The holders are absolutely exact in every way, sloping base and all. When I went there this evening, it was first time he was able to have my spare rifle butt to check the fit. It was a tight fit and he wants to 'tweak' them a little before handing them over. I can't wait to show them to you guys!!!!! I have already asked if he would be interested in making more for sale and he is thinking on it.

More to follow.

[Private_collector]

Here is the finished product with the door. It's still not perfect but it will do.

While I was there, I took the time to paint as many bolts as I could. Three coats each takes a lot of time!!!

The only thing I have yet to do is an adjustment of door lock, which sticks in the door when fully retracted. I know what the problem is and how to fix it but ran out of daylight. There is no permanent power to the workshop, yet.

Next weekend...........fit passenger door, make two new side curtain frames , weld two cracks on engine hatch and work on nose panel (minor weld x1 & panelbeating / filling repairs).

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Tony

Once he has perfecting the fit of the Rifle Holders would you please remeasure and send me the measurements so I can correct the drawing?

How did you machine your door adjustment shim wedges?

When you shimmed your windshield post did it help the fit of the windshield frame?

Great work,

Cheers Phil

[Private_collector]

Phil,

Yes, I will send you the finished dimensions once I get the blocks. The o/d will remain the same, i/d length will be altered with corresponding change to wall thickness at the curved part and possibly all over if he decides to make it all the same thickness, which not doubt may be done. If so, it will be done very well!

Re Door Shims
The shims for door hinge adjusting were a very simple item, made from a thin strip of 30mm x 1.6mm aluminium flat bar. By pure luck, my local hardware (35min away) had a range of these for hobby use.

Manufacture was as follows:

Place the hinge over the aluminium and draw around the outside of hinge, also marking hole locations. Centre punch & drill the two holes, then shape to desired size. I used a grinder with cutting wheel on. I was too lazy to change to a grinder wheel for a few seconds worth of grinding, it really was that quick. Once shaped, I then used the cutting wheel to cut in from the long edge twice for each hole. That is all there is to it! Very simple but VERY effective. There is no way I could have achieved the desired result without the shims, and at 1.6mm each, they were not going to make a gross change that looks out of place. One little tip on the shim finish, etch prime each side and paint the edges that may be seen. I brushed the green along all edges regardless of being visual or not.

Re Packing to Windscreen support frame ends.

I found the single packing I used on each end of the windscreen support frame totally eliminated the possibility of touching door, with the most desired side-efffect of bringing the individual window frame opening to within 1mm out of square! This is the case with my truck, but I would expect the tolerences to be greatly variable between vehicles. My window on drivers side will have an even 5mm (roughly 3/16) clearance on both sides with the pack insitu. Eack piece is a 50mm x 3mm flat bar, once again aluminium, making it easy to shape as needed. You would notice two of the corners are cut at 45%, this is because the taper of cab frame was just a 'bees dick' narrower than the aluminium strip at the very top. When the whole thing is assembled, the aluminium should not be visible in any way. Regardless, I painted the edges prior to finall permanent assembly.

Hope this helps.



I will discover what the passenger side has in store for me this weekend.

[Private_collector]

The wooden cups that hold the rifle butt in place are finally in my hands. The
No. 1 Lee Enfield fits perfectly, but No. 5 'Jungle Carbine' is slightly too wide to take the metal loop that carry strap is attached to.

The Gentleman who made these (Tony) will make more, at $25 AUD each. They would be virtually identical to these, allowing for individual differences between grain of timber of course. If interested, let me know. He does have a computer at home but only his Wife uses this and she is away until end of this month. Beyond that date it would be easy to gain permission to email the Wife and have her pass information or orders to Tony.

[cliff]

that looks good Tony but you got to paint them army green mate

Just goes to show just what talented folk live in country towns. You know people like you, me, Lloyd (#12FGT) and the fellow that made those butt holders along with several hundred more plus.

[Private_collector]

Cliff,

No, I won't paint these yet.

'Yet' may be subject to change..........or permanent.

I will attach them as is, for now. Too much work went into getting them looking nice. Seriously I can't bring myself to cover with paint!

[cliff]

The trouble with our climate Tony is eventually they will split as the heat dries them out. So no matter how good they look now they will wear quick. Soaking them in a good timber preservative as used on your rifle butt will keep them looking better longer.

But it is your truck Tony and if you wanna paint it any color but green you may do so. I was pulling your chain in a gentle way as I too think they are too good to paint....just yet anyway!

[Private_collector]

Cliff,

Thats cool! Don't worry.

They are already sealed with a matt clear. That should protect OK.

I also suspect (but forgot to ask) that they are already seasoned / dried.

[Bob Carriere]

.... have you considered using them as candy dishes....?

You have to see a NOS model.... roughly made of readily available Canadian hard wood.... maple...ash.....even suspect pine..... and quickly painted OD. These were made by many local wood shops under contract and the quality, finish, manufacturing techiques and dimensions would vary greatly

I have seen 60 year old ++ examples in the back of cabs that were still in one piece.....dirty...moldy but still intact. I beleive a lot has to do with the orientation of the growth rings and slow tight growth ( higher quality wood) versus quick thick growth rings of poorer quality wood.

By the way what kind of exotic wood did he use....?

Bob

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by cliff

but it is your truck Tony and if you wanna paint it any color but green you may do so. I was pulling your chain in a gentle way as I too think they are too good to paint....just yet anyway!

You will see they match perfectly to the wooden dash and door cappings Tony will eventually fit ...

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

You will see they match perfectly to the wooden dash and door cappings Tony will eventually fit ...

Perhaps Tony can wear clogs to drive it too.

[Private_collector]

I didn't think of a wooden dash. That would be nice.
Perhaps in burl walnut!

I have worn clogs......once, when in Amsterdam. I was gonna buy a pair but couldn't get a wallet to match.

As for the timber used for rifle cups, you know I didn't think to ask. I was really quite overwhelmed by the craftsmanship and it slipped my mind. I have asked the fellow to call in here and have a look at the CMP for himself, which he assures me he will do in near future. I will be sure to ask about the timber when I see him then. In some ways I wish he hadn't done such a good job of the cups, and I would have no issue with painting them. Give me a few weeks to get used to the idea and they will no doubt turn green, but I just can't do it now. It would seem a little disrespectful to hide all the beauty and effort that made em. Maybe I could 'accidentally' knock one, causing a blemish I would have to hide. Naaah!

I remember when I was first told that the Chevs had a wooden steering wheel and Fords didn't, I was disappointed. The wood steering wheels look great, if restored well. I will have to make do with having the bland old plastic one tarted up. Come to think of it...............what the hell is it made of? I really don't know.

I'm hoping to get sufficient materials to make two new side curtain frames, tomorrow. If the passenger door is on this weekend as planned, and I have the frames made and checked for fit, I will take them to auto upholsterers next week and give the 'go ahead' for work to begin. It will be a milestone to have them on the newly restored doors.

This weekend I am going to see a 'free' trailer with a usable axle and wheels. If suitable, I can proceed with removing both front & rear ends, in readyness for sandblasting. Transfer case will come off prior too. If the side curtain manufacture starts soon, I will wait a while for chassis work, on financial grounds. The 'kitty' is getting a little light.