Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Private_collector]

passenger door damage 1.jpg passenger door damage 2.jpg passenger door damage 3.jpg passenger door damage 4.jpg passenger door damage 5.jpg
The second (passenger side) door has now been collected. I had always considered this door the worst condition, and while it is certainly in a bad way, I don't look at it with the same anxiety I did with driver side door. Still needs its share of working though!

This one has a small but quite defined dent on the outside, about 1/3 down from the top. This I will certainly lift out part way with a welded stud and slide hammer (or whatever I can find to use). When applying filler to a flat panel, it is best to try to support from the inside to stop the flexing that occurs. Repair work is more likely to be without a visible border once painted. Because the door lock access opening is not the full size of door cross section, I will use/insert a wheelbarrow tube and inflate to fill the space. An old panelbeaters trick, tought to me by an old panelbeater! Jeezus I hate panelbeating

I will also incorporate Phil's Technique to stabilise the inner hinge plate.
Speaking of hinges, the 2 from this door are in great shape, and wil not need to have any attention.

[Private_collector]

spare doors.jpg
I have these three damaged doors for parts or donor metal, such as the piece that will be needed to re-plate a section of passenger door arch. I just checked, and do have a pair of replacement hinges for driver side, so won't need to re-pin the originals.

I do still need the bolt-on plate around driver side catch release lever. If anyone has one for sale I would like to hear from you.

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Tony

I wish I had the skills of some of the "old line panelbeaters" I've got one friend who fits this description. I've worked on panels with dents or creases with no visible progress, Larry will come into the shop pick up body hammer and mandrel give the panel couple of hits and its done. Drives me crazy.

Another thing I can't do is body filler, takes me way to many tries to get it smooth. Think this is why I enjoy body work on CMPs nobody expects them to be smooth.

Cheers Phil

[Private_collector]

I had a phone call this morning from the shop which had been acquiring my floor bolts. They said they had been trying to source them, but have had no luck getting them with the flat screwdriver head. They offered ones of correct size but with hex key head instead. I deferred my decision to commit to purchase.

This afternoon I sought a second opinion, and this company concured that they also could not get them in. I really don't want to use anything but the original specs, but bought 65 of the correct size with phillips head instead of slot and nuts & split washers. These all cost $5.00 in total! Thats why I got em, and they are as a plan 'B'.

I started looking on internet tonight, and have already found a few places that have the right ones in their online catalogue. Whether these are actually in stock will be discovered tomorrow.

[Private_collector]

In contradiction to local shops (x2), I have now found and ordered the correct Ford Cab Floor Bolts from: http://www.statewidefastener.com.au/

They have cost me the grand total of $22.00, including GST & Delivery! That is for 70 bolts and 70 nuts. If you remember, some time ago I removed the floor bolt caged nuts due to 'poor health'. Thats why the 70 nuts!

[Private_collector]

Its rather late to be posting, but my son just got off bloody facebook!

This afternoon I was making the remedial repairs to drivers door hinge side, as recommended by Phil. I drilled a total of 9 holes to strengthen the door from future cracks, and also made three spot welds along the edge of the skin where it overlaps the inner frame.

While doing this, I was thinking through the forces & mechanics that would have caused the original cracks (now repaired). I kept coming to the conclusion that there must be more to the problem than I already understood. While pondering, I began to examine the hinges themselves. Thats when I discovered a rather devious little flaw with the hinges, or top hinge to be more specific.

Consider the upper hinge as three parts, one that bolts to the cab frame, one that bolts to the door, and the hinge pin as third. I found that when I moved the upper hinge to the 'door closed' position, the two parts came to end of travel BEFORE the door would have been closed. Only just before, but the hinge parts met in a certain place and would go no further, no matter how much force was applied. This would mean that the door itself would have had a load force placed on the frame to complete the close. I checked another door (also cracked) and saw that it too had this issue. I checked a third door, that did not have any cracks, and the hinge pin was worn to the extent that more movement was possible between the two main hinge parts. This hinge did NOT butt up in the same place as the others had because the worn pin permitted additional movement.

I had initially intended to replace the pin on the drivers door (passenger side was OK) but found a good set on another door in my spares. On the top hinge that will now be for drivers side, I used the angle grinder to remove a little of the height that caused the binding I had described above. This hinge now has a travel of another few degrees. I suspect this may relieve one of the contributing factors to future fatigue of the door frame. I will know more once the door is painted and fitted to the cab itself.

Drivers door and hinges will be painted tomorrow (weather permitting) and I will let you know how things go once hung in place.

I made the repairs to door outer surface this afternoon as well, and must say I am somewhat disappointed to find the door skin had a slightly dished in appearance that I don't believe I can remedy! It is not a dent as such, but may be a result of years of slamming the door. I will have to live with this unless I get brave enough to go ahead with an idea I had to have pressure applied from the inside to force the skin permanently out. It wouldn't take much, and I considered using a small amount of expanding foam in a plastic bag to do this. This would be sound in principle, but theory doesn't always hold in practice. I'll wet sand the door and see how it looks after that.

Excuse typographical errors, it's late, i'm tired and about to hit the hay!

[hrpearce]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

Its rather late to be posting, but my son just got off bloody facebook!

Tony 20 minutes once a week is plenty of time for facebook, my boys have become used to this restriction after some initial wining.