Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

Attachment 47973
I bought this piece of wiring, which was identified as C11Q-14403. According to the parts manual, C11q-14403 should be a Ford harness for headlight & horn. It looks a little too complex for that!

Is it really that part?

At $5.00, I was happy to take the punt anyway.

Yes it is but for a cab 12.
There's also a cab 13 version, same number with C29Q prefix.

[Private_collector]

Andy,

These are the grease seals we were talking about.
rubber seal 1.jpg
Total length - 45mm
rubber seal 2.jpg
Diam of small hole - 15mm
rubber seal 3.jpg
Height - 21mm
rubber seal 4.jpg
Diam of large semi-circle is 26mm
rubber seal 5.jpg
The thickness of the rubber in large curve is 3.5mm (ish) for most of the length, but one end is slightly thicker. Possibly a subtle design included to create better seal on the lower end. Take that, gravity!!!!

Hope this helps.

[Private_collector]

I had an SMS from the sandblaster this afternoon. The second door is blasted & ready for me to take. Hopefully they will be working tomorrow morning, or it will be next week before I can look at it. Regardless, there is plenty of work to be done on the drivers door, and that may take all my time this Sunday anyway.

I made a point of buying that CIG brand roll of MIG wire. I have had good results with that brand. Not so much with others. As a fairly inexperienced, amateur welder, I need all the help I can get.

If I get to an impasse with the door, the next task is to examine window glass frames, and choose the best I have for repair. I have some really bad ones that I won't feel guilty pulling apart to examine construction method or to experiment repairs with.

Just a little while ago, I was reading some MLU postings on another thread, regarding use of molasses in de-rusting parts. I would like to give this a go for something in near future. Maybe this might be a good thing to drop the window frames into. I don't fancy trying to get those frame screws out without some serious chemical assistance. Can't use heat because the glass is too good to destroy. Molasses is easy to get around here, so I may even get some tomorrow while in town. Doubt I will be saving any for the morning toast though.

With another week passing without hearing from the bolt shop, I guess they will get a visit as well. Where did good customer service go?????

On a much sadder note, I happened to be passing through Kandanga this afternoon, at the same time a funeral memorial was ending. It was the funeral of a little 12 year old local boy, Jake Garrett, who had passed away early this week, following an accident he had while on a ride-on-mower. The poor lad had been in an induced coma at the childrens hospital in Brisbane for many days, and his injuries were numerous and of such severity that they were ultimately not compatable with life. As I was passing the hall where the service had been held, I heard the uncontrollable anguished screams of a child, perhaps a sibling or friend of the deceased. I have had both the honor and the curse of attending many funerals, Civillian, Military, young or old, but the sound I heard today is one that will stay with me all my life. Just when you think you're hardened to suffering and death, something like this comes along and jolts reality back again.

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au...ight-for-life/

[Private_collector]

Had a few things to do in town this morning. The bolts still haven't arrived and the shop didn't seem too worried about it. I managed to get them a little more motivated, after a brief chat.

As previously mentioned, I have become increasingly interested in trialling use of molasses. I priced it today at the local rural supplies store, and was very pleasently suprised to hear it is 66c/litre! Pity the car won't run on the stuff After a brief search around Gympie, a suitable storage container was bought, and I now have 20L of the stuff ready to use. I wish I had the trailer on, I could have had a 44gal drum to use as the dipping tank too. If only I had a Leyland P76, I could have brought it home in the boot of the car. At some point tomorrow, I'll mix up a batch to dip the two shackles from front bumper, which are well & truly frozen solid. If it frees them up, I will be very impressed.

nose first fit 4.jpg nose first fit 3.jpg nose first fit 1.jpg nose first fit 2.jpg
With insufficient day left to set-up and start welding, I settled for a trial fit of the nose panel to cab frame. After a little manipulating, it's sitting OK for a first attempt, but I have marked several areas for slight adjustments and the odd hammer blow to get better final fit. Any welding needed on the nose was done weeks ago, so now it only requires cosmetic touches prior to painting and fitting.

Welding & repair work will commence on drivers door tomorrow. If lucky, that work may be completed by stumps. I won't be watching the clock though.

[Private_collector]

Driver door 4.jpg driver door damage 1.jpg driver door damage 2.jpg driver door damage 3.jpg driver door repair 1.jpg
It took 6 hours, but the door is almost done. I still have to apply some filler to outside skin, where I welded up 6 holes. The poorly repaired section on hinge inside edge was worse than I had expected. Once the old 'repair' was removed, the full extent was seen. I considered replacing the whole strip along this side, but settled for a massive amount of re-welding, inserting two patch plates and a light skim of body filler to cover some grinding lows.

More to come!

[Private_collector]

driver door damage 4.jpg driver door repair 2.jpg driver door repair 3.jpg
This tiny little countersunk hole caused me the most pain today. I attempted to just apply weld to create the rough profile and finish with a good filing. Every time I touched the area with MIG, I blew the hole bigger, so that method ended fast. Finally settled for manufacturing a new countersunk hole (or 1/2 of one). The shape was easily formed using a broken flathead V8 intake valve head placed onto a pre-drilled piece of sheet metal, and belted repeatedly into a length of soft wood, until a 'countersink' was created. A small magnet inserted into door, held the patch in place for welding.

Welding it on wasn't as hard as I had expected, but here's where the pain comes in. A weld spark managed to get into my welding helmet, bounce off that, and into my ear! I promptly exclaimed 'oh darn!', or perhaps something ever so slightly more ribald. To be honest, the actual comment contained a reference to the son-of-god and a speculation on potential dubious parentage. Oh well! What doesn't kill you.........makes you angrier.

The hardest part of this repair, was in flattening the weld back to panel level. The grinder couldn't be used because the area is too tight.

More to follow.

[Keith Webb]

Tony, enjoying your enthusiasm, great work and the dedicate to take pictures and share them with us.

[Private_collector]

driver door damage 5.jpg driver door repair 4.jpg
The sandblasting revealed a dent along to lower part of lock edge. With time getting away from me, I decided against my original idea to weld a plate to the low spot and lift this out with a dent-puller. A 4 inch strip of body filler had to do in this instance. I don't like doing that and am trying not to dwell on it, or I might be tempted to grind it out and go with original plan.
driver door damage 6.jpg driver door repair 5.jpg driver door repair 6.jpg
Every corner of the lock access opening was cracked, in some places very badly. The missing bit remained missing, despite a lengthy search in my original shed. If you remember, I removed that piece when door hardware was stripped months ago and put it in a 'safe place'. It is still safe! In it's absence, I had to make a new piece to weld in. The middle two holes are a minor design improvement I added for strength. Through these holes I welded the repair patch to the door frame, making the area a little more rigid. I also applied a small spot of weld around the corner, in hope of holding the little 'flap' a little more firmly also.

Last part to follow.