Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[cliff]

Yes we have distant water views from our place now as water has covered the sports fields just down from us but it is no where near the height of last year when we had waterfront water views

We got 20mm of rain but just south of us got 300mm (1 foot) overnight so this accounts for the moderate flooding

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Tony

Here are some photos of the passenger hold down handle. I have photographed three of them and measured them none of them are the same. I'll do a cad drawing. But here are the photos.

[Private_collector]

Cheers Phil,

Awfully decent of you!

These photos will do just great. I'm pleased they are all different

I start reassembling the cab interior and flooring, in about an hour. Have to travel into town for 4 bolts, the size of which I had overlooked when ordering last week.

Hoping to post some meaningful photos tonight!

Clouds are gathering again, but my work this week is all inside the workshop.

Thanks again,

[Bob Carriere]

On the "holy ****" handle differences.

I suspect that such a non critrical part may have been produced in numerous small shops.... maybe different contracts....all from the same specs....... but all slightly different in the jig they used to bend the handles. Steel barrels full of small stuff was then collected and sent to assembly areas...... those were the last days of the once flourishing "cottage industry" ........

When I was a kid growing up in downtown Hull almost every small steel fabricating shop ....... wrought iron fences and veranda railing was trendy back then........ had bunches of old 45 gallon drum filled with left over production parts all the same that they had made and never got delivered....some had small weird brackets, rings, corner brackets, etc......

May explain why the factory pictures of the CMP battery box shows regular nuts for fasteners on the top cover but later in service battery boxes have a variety of fastener of at least 2 or 3 different design.

My grandmother did contract sewing at home....... she would get huge rolls of single, double and triple braids to make Lance Corporal, Corporal and Sergeants stripes sewn to a felt backing. Some old gents delivered the raw material and at the same time pick up the finished products..... she did them in army green and airforce blue........ and was paid cash and probably at a very low rate. Such was the war effort.

Bob

[Private_collector]

Well, the day started with promise.
P2270807.jpg
The dashboard was attached.
P2270815.jpg
The two vertical bars that the engine hatch clip into were attached,
P2270811.jpg
and cab rear frame mount assembled & bolted into place.

And thats where the progress ends, because when I had finished bolting the two larger floor plates I took a good look & wasn't pleased with the screw head bolts I had selected. The exact size I needed was no longer available, and the ones I chose were slightly larger. They still fit OK but don't look quite right.
So tomorrow, I buy 60+ of those bolts in next size down. I had one of these laying around and tried it for fit, it fits well. It fit well several weeks ago too, but I decided against them because they didn't fill all of the recess in the floor plates.
P2270809.jpg
The ones I tried today were a tiny bit larger than the holes, and sat about 0.5 to 1.0mm above the floor plate surface. I thought I could live with this......but now that I have seen them installed............I can't stand the sight of them.

To add insult to injury, there would not be more than two holes bored with the same depth of recess, and the most shallow holes seem to be where it would look the most obvious. Some look bad enough to trip over getting into the cab. Tomorrow they all come back out and new (slightly smaller) ones go in. I don't expect to get this all done tomorrow. I am picking my sons new car up at 1000hrs, and will be returning to town later, to surprise him with said car when he walks out of school. He knows we have been looking, but doesn't know we have bought one. Rebuilding the Flathead V8 will have to wait until next year, now.

I also expect that the bolt shop will have 'just run out' of the size I want. Hope for the best but expect the worst. That way nothing surprises you!
No, I take that back.......I DID get a startling surprise today when one of the neighbours dogs came to visit without announcing itself and scared the hell out of me when it sneaked into the workshop and jumped up for a pat.

I must go to the markets this Sunday and buy a couple of rabbit traps. They should work a treat on a fox terrier

I'm kidding of course. One trap should suffice!

[T Creighton]

Hi Tony,
I like the ongoing story and attention to detail. Keep it up.
The bolts you need for the floor are 1/4"x1"BSW CSK. I used 304 stainless.
I will also put up a sketch of the rifle butt holder when I get a minute to spare. I need to make a couple as well for myself.
I will pm you on a different subject.
Regards,
Terry

[Private_collector]

Firstly let me apologise for lack of photos today. Yesterday morning I started marking the dents and rustouts on the rear cab panel. I needed to replate three areas. Two where holes had been cut for something to go through, and one along the bottom edge where rust holes couldn't be welded up without blowing the hole bigger and bigger, as a consequence of poor metal surrounding the holes. These were the easy part. The difficulty arose with rust scale between the angle iron frame and panel steel that had caused a bulging effect. I considered cutting out these sections and replating, but knew that if I started doing this I would have to follow through with every place this has happened. That would mean virtually cutting off most of the lower 30-35mm. My metalworking skills don't extend to this sort of job. As Dirty Harry once said, "A mans got to know his limitations", and I do!

This afternoon, I spent a leisurely two hours, laying the first application of filler to the curve on passenger end. This part received a lot of my attention yesterday with hammer and dolly. Someone had torn a hole through the area and despite a quite good weld job, there was much work & time needed to get the area to an acceptable state, where minimal filler was needed.

I HATE PANELBEATING, I REALLY hate panelbeating. And I hate sanding filler WORSE than that! Thats why I tried to have the metal as straight as could be, to minimise how much filler I had to use (and then sand). The result achieved on the end done so far, looks promising, providing I have succeeded in preserving the little vertical groove approx 1in in from the panels end. A coat of primer tomorrow will answer this issue, one way or the other.

I don't want to prolong this job one second further that I have to, and hope to have all repair work finished tomorrow. Body filler sanding is definately an OUTSIDE job. There was so much dust on me, I looked whiter than Michael Jacksons face. What, too soon? I was far too contaminated to touch the camera, hence NO photos. I will take photos tomorrow morning, before I kick-on with the rest of the repair work.

The bolts ordered for floor plates have not yet arrived, so no joy there. Tomorrow won't be as hot as today............apparently it'll be hotter, so that will be nice for working outside, applying filler before it goes 'off' in the moments after application. I could move into the workshop for this bit, but I am rather messy with the filler, and manage to drop the stuff all over the place. Suffering the sun and heat is my penance for being a sloppy pig!

My small angle grinder went west today, just as I was needing it for roughing up surfaces for body filler. This slowed things down considerably. Had to resort to scouring the metal by hand with 36 grit sanding disk.

Jeezus, I HATE panelbeating!

P.S: Terry, did you get my reply message?

[Private_collector]

Panelbeating finished.
P3020819_2.jpg P3020818.jpg P3020820.jpg
Had intended to get primer on today, but I took ill suddenly and had to stop work for the day. I was just about to start spraying too.
P3020821.jpg Cab panel drawn-on.jpg
It is my plan to spray a light coat of stone guard onto the inside of this panel, in the areas which are marked in black (last photo). This should hide all the little irregularities left from the dent repairs. Even if I could apply filler to the inside as well, it would be a nightmare to do. Besides.......I HATE PANELBEATING!!!
Attachment 47531
Oh, I nearly forgot! I have bought rubber strip to make the 'anti squeak' between cab frame & rear panel. This will be a little job slipped in while waiting for primer / spray putty to dry. A set of circle hole punches arrived for this job, just yesterday!