FGT No9 Aust restoration

[Keith Webb]

I had some time today to begin the task of removing the rusty panels on the recovered body.
It is not as simple as you may think. When these bodies were assembled some 68 years ago at the Ford factory in Geelong they were diligent in their panel attachment. Wherever they could tack weld, they did. As you can see from the images the skeleton of the upper body is angle iron whilst the lower sub-frame is channel.
The panels are 16 gauge sheet steel and in addition to being tacked every four inches or so are seam welded where they join.
I know two others have completed the task of removing the panels from either a No8 or 9 FGT so I would be interested to hear your approach. I have found the best way is to cut along the lines of the frame using a thin cutting wheel on a small angle grinder, remove the large panel then (because there is a lot of rust) chisel along the lines where possible before using the 9" grinder to remove what's left of the weld as well as rust. The plan once it is stripped will be to have the frame sandblasted before reskinning.
Fortunately we have almost all of the engineering drawings for this body which show where every attachment goes.
So if anyone can suggest a better way, please yell out.
Here are a few images:

The first panel removed.



Despite the panel rust the frame seems to be usable.



Looking down on the right side. The bracket you can see is for the spare wheel which was carried internally on the No9 which was not equipped with runflat tyres.



One of the seam welds.



Tools.



Note the D^D on the chisel.



Cheap Chinese 9" grinder.

[gjamo]

Keith give up on that chinese rubbish and buy some German pferd wheels.
We have done tests here running all brands of cutting disks side by side.
Pferd lasted twice as long cut faster and cooler. Check Epay for some cheap prices.
For spot welds I use an air chisel its really quick but wear stout gloves the pain from sharp edges is amazing.
Make sure your tetanous shots are up to date.
Graeme

[Keith Webb]

Good thinking Graeme, It would be a good investment I think.

Also agree re the crappy Chinese stuff - that one came with the crappy grinder.

Originally Posted by gjamo

Keith give up on that chinese rubbish and buy some German pferd wheels.
We have done tests here running all brands of cutting disks side by side.
Pferd lasted twice as long cut faster and cooler. Check Epay for some cheap prices.
For spot welds I use an air chisel its really quick but wear stout gloves the pain from sharp edges is amazing.
Make sure your tetanous shots are up to date.
Graeme

[gjamo]

Keith,
If you want to borrow my air chisel for a trial your welcome but you need a decent compressor to drive it without a lot of delays.
Graeme

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Keith,

"You're not letting any grass grow over it", as we say in Dutch. My goodness, the body is still on the trailer, you are still covered in Border Raid dust, and you've started hacking away already. Well done!

Hanno

[Snowy]

As Hanno said, can't wait to get it off the trailer so you must be keen

Re the comments on cheap grinders. Surprisingly my crappy chinese grinder long outlasted my much more expensive german Bosch one. I was doing a lot of rotary wire brushing on the Weasel hull, and the wire brush is never perfectly balanced. Owing to the constant vibration, the bearings in the angle casing got hot and subsequently the top bushing loosened and started to spin, which melted the plastic even more, which led to more vibration, and so on to the point it was shaking violently. :
I shimmed the bearing but it wasn't long before it happened again. The chinese one has an alloy gearbox that doesn't choose to melt after a bit of punishment.

I would never ever again buy an angle grinder that has a plastic/GRP gearbox casing, no matter how reputable the brand. I hope someone is reminded of this next time they are looking buy a new one.

Steve.