Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[hrpearce]

Great buy Tony.

[Private_collector]

Door curtain frames 1.jpg Door curtain frames 2.jpg Door curtain frames 3.jpg
The frames for side curtains are finished, painted and ready for sending to the upholsterer next week. Better make that late next week, to allow for sufficient curing time of paint. Ignore the white specks on the black paint. It is filler dust, and paint was surface dry when it landed.

I have made a slight change to the way door latch access panel is held closed. Formerly it had a tiny metal catch to sit behind once lifted up and over. Maybe it worked better when new but now it's a bit tired and worn. When I make the new pieces of card for the flaps (which will be given to upholsterer for covering), I will be including a small 'rare earth' magnet that will mate up with a piece of metal welded to lower frame rail (can be seen in photo 2). My only concern is that the magnet will stick too well. It's a tiny magnet but VERY strong. Unbelievably strong! I can put one of those magnets on my hand and move it around with another under the hand. Apparently these were often used by magicians as part of their kit! evil swines

More to come.

[Private_collector]

I had really good success with making the side curtain frames, and was happy with the result.............but...........
Engine hatch etch primed 1.jpg Engine hatch etch primed 2.jpg
got no joy with the work on engine cover, in fact the phrase 'total bollocks up' comes to mind! A patch was shaped, welding started, and then the problems started. First, heat pulled the metal more than I had expected. I alternated weld sites and allowed each to cool sufficiently before continuing, but it still shrunk the metal like I had never seen before. In photo 2, you can just see the filler under the 'emergency' coat of etch. I only got as far as etch before I ran out of day.
busted panel hammer.jpg
I guess the work required to stretch the metal back to some semblence of normal was just too much for the poor old hammer!
Engine heat & acoustic shielding.jpg Engine heat & acoustic shielding 2.jpg
I found this acoustic/heat shield at the local rubber shop. It's adhesive backed and supposed to be easy to apply. I had intended to cut it to desired sizes today. That didn't happen because of the time I spent whacking the engine cover into shape. Not the right shape you understand, close, but definately not right. I am not pleased with losing definition of one of the metal creases on welded side. As Dirty Harry once said...." A Man's Got to Know His Limitations". God I HATE panelbeating

[Phil Waterman]

Hi

General question about the side curtains, from your pictures it is clear that the design of the side curtains are completely different from my Chevy side curtains. So here is my question are the Ford Australian side curtains different from the Canadian Ford?

Seen of photos of CMPs in the South Pacific with canvas doors.

Has anybody got photos of the different door and side curtain design if so lets start a separate thread on just that topic as a historical/restoration resource.

Tony great information as always.

Cheers Phil

[Private_collector]

Phil,

I would be interested to hear the answer to that question also!

All other curtain frames I have seen (live or in photos) are made using flat bar for frames.

[Private_collector]

Phil,

I don't believe I got back to you regarding the ammendments to your blueprints for the rifle butt cups.

The fellow that made mine from your drawings had told me that there were two different sizes of imperial measurements. I have never heard this before, but he said there is both an "English" and an "American" set of measurements, and that they are slightly different! Bearing in mind that he had all but completed the woodwork before I even knew he had started, I had no opportunity to answer any questions he had regarding which measurement type was used on the drawings.

I have been told it was a direct consequence of using the wrong sizing that resulted in a slight variation, making the cups too small. When the guy re-measured with the other size system, it was (after initial enlarging) then correct against the detalis you had provided. Therefore, the measurements were correct!!!!

As I have said, the whole 'two imperials' thing comes as a complete surprise to me. Does this make sense to you?

[Private_collector]

The unceasing rain today has brought useful work to a halt.

Instead, I got one of the side door curtain flaps from upholsterer, and sourced adequate polycarbonate sheeting to make two new ones prior to sending frames to upholsterer on Mon or Tues.

I had taken some reference photos yesterday, showing the position of frames when installed on the doors. These are specifically to avoid any misunderstandings of how the whole thing works. I have noticed that both frames are identical in that they are not 100% parallel to the windscreen support frame. This is found now, due to me not attempting to fit roof at time of assembling doors and w/screen panel to cab. Therefore exact position of windscreen panel will not be realised until roof is fitted. That will be MUCH later.

The original curtain frame on drivers side showed the same thing, so it will either be remedied by later adjustment of screen panel, or curtain has NEVER been quite right. Either way, no problem because the original canvas did fit, and new canvas will also.

While I may not get the engine cover undercoated tomorrow because of rainy weather. I have bought a number of sheets of cardboard today, to make templates for cutting the heat/acoustic insulation for under the cover sections. That I can do in the workshop, regardless of weather. I never paint in workshop, due to great risk of paint dust adhering to other surfaces before it dries. That risk is doubled in cold weather.

I got the drivers floor plate from sandblasting on Friday, and it will get a small welding repair tomorrow, unless it's raining really hard.

So, overall, no dramatic progress achieved. No photos worthy of publishing. The photos I had intended to take from our Memorial Lane murals, have now been put on hold until the Blue Skies Chase Those Dark Clouds Far Away!