Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[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]

passenger door damage 4.jpg passenger door repair 5.jpg passenger door repair 6.jpg
As usual, the area around the lock was cracked on all corners. Of coure i'm getting used to that by now.

driver door hinge contact.jpg
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.
passenger door repair 7.jpg
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]

passenger door repair 8.jpg passenger door repair 9.jpg passenger door repair 10.jpg passenger door repair 11.jpg
A couple of hours spent filling & sanding, more filling, more sanding. Fair result but not as good as drivers door.
passenger door repair 12.jpg
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]

passenger door primed 1.jpg
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.
passenger door rained 2.jpg passenger door rained 1.jpg
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.
passenger door painted 1.jpg passenger door painted 2.jpg
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]

fit of windscreen frame to cab.jpg
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.
drivers door fit 1.jpg drivers door fit 2.jpg drivers door fit 3.jpg
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:
door bolts.jpg
Shave the hinge bolts to correct thickness.
windscreen frame packing.jpg
Pack the windscreen frame so it didn't stick out the side too much.
door shims.jpg door shims 2.jpg
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.
door dash gap.jpg
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]

door hung.jpg door hung 2.jpg door hung 3.jpg
Here is the finished product with the door. It's still not perfect but it will do.
floor bolts painted.jpg
While I was there, I took the time to paint as many bolts as I could. Three coats each takes a lot of time!!!
door lock stuck.jpg
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]

rifle cups 2.jpg rifle cups 5.jpg rifle cups 4.jpg rifle cups 1.jpg
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.
rifle cups 3.jpg
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.