Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[lynx42]

Originally Posted by Tony Wheeler

Come to think of it, not such a bad idea! I'm picturing blitz drags down the main street of Corowa...

Tony don't start that one again. We had a jet powered blitz stir up the town a few Corowa's ago. Took a fair bit of talking to get things straightened out. Many of the towns people thought a jet had crashed in the town. The boys in blue came from as far away as Albury to investigate.

Regards Rick.

[Keith Webb]

That was one of the scariest contraptions I've ever seen... but it made for great video which can be seen on the Year of DVD. I remember him saying it was nice and smooth until you backed off the power and it wanted to go all over the place. Poor thing was a F15 with a Holden front end.
The most controversial bit was when he fired it up in the carpark at night.
His other vehicle was a similarly modified motorcycle. As a friend commented: "I wouldn't like to be riding with a time expired Rolls-Royce Viper between my legs when it started throwing turbine blades."

Originally Posted by lynx42

Tony don't start that one again. We had a jet powered blitz stir up the town a few Corowa's ago. Took a fair bit of talking to get things straightened out. Many of the towns people thought a jet had crashed in the town. The boys in blue came from as far away as Albury to investigate.

Regards Rick.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by lynx42

We had a jet powered blitz stir up the town a few Corowa's ago.

I hadn't heard about that Rick, that's just INSANE !! I must get a look at Keith's footage.

I don't think we have to worry too much about blitz hotrods though, a 4 ton hotrod is something of a contradiction.

[Keith Webb]

Not one with 2,700 pounds of thrust at 13,800 RPM PLUS a home made afterburner~

Originally Posted by Tony Wheeler

I hadn't heard about that Rick, that's just INSANE !! I must get a look at Keith's footage.

I don't think we have to worry too much about blitz hotrods though, a 4 ton hotrod is something of a contradiction.

[Private_collector]

I recall someone saying he was not far from where I am.

His name is Ron Laycock, if I remember correctly.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gocatters/4445705485/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-hEyybOUsw

[Private_collector]

Still working on the chassis. Nothing worthy of photographing today. All photos shown now are old ones.

I Removed the front cross member....carefully, and made the 'new' one ready to go on.

rear chassis box 3.jpg rear chassis box 1.jpg
Then tidied one of the chassis rails at the very back , where previous owner/s had done some bodgy work by modifying the rear 14in of each rail.............by turning them into a fully enclosed bux section for that length. Couldn't tell you why. I'm absolutely stumped. Why would someone vandalise a perfectly good truck chassis by doing this to it!

It took several hours of very careful, almost surgical grinding (contradiction of terms?) to undo all that shanagans! Next weekend I buy another bunch of cutting & grinding wheels, and do the other side. Better buy a set of ear muffs too. I presently have a ringing in the ears that resembles the old ABC TV test panel. The sound that was left when they switched off transmission late at night. Ah, the good old days!
rear chassis box 2.jpg
The pointless mod included adding a piece of steel plate on outside of each rail, at rear. This piece of plate extends roughly 12in, and is brought to a taper towards the front of the piece. In fact the taper looks like a boats bow. I would understand doing this if there was some diabolical damage to the rails that needed drastic work to repair, but far from damaged, the rails are PERFECT. At least at that part anyway. There is some VERY minor repair work needed to the passenger side rail, where there is a crack on the underside, eminating from a bolt hole. This had already been 'fixed' but I will grind the weld out of the area and the engineers will fix this properly!

As a parting gesture, nearly a gallon of degreaser was sprayed on the front 3/4 of the chassis, in several applications, with a hearty water blasting between the coats. Now very little grime buildup anywhere on the chassis. The sandblaster (Shane) will be very greatful for this, as will I, because the more I get off, the better the blasting job will be.

You don't make a friend if you send something for blasting coated in excess (or any) grease, oil, rust scale or caked on and time hardened dirt. They won't put in the extra hours needed to remove this with the grit, so you will get the part back beautifully primed......... ............with the gunk still in places that were too hard to reach thoroughly.

Alternatively, you will get an immaculate part back, with a $$$ bill that would send you broke in one foul swoop!

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

previous owner/s had done some bodgy work by modifying the rear 14in of each rail.............by turning them into a fully enclosed bux section for that length. The pointless mod included adding a piece of steel plate on outside of each rail, at rear. This piece of plate extends roughly 12in, and is brought to a taper towards the front of the piece. In fact the taper looks like a boats bow.

It's only a wild guess, but maybe the original F60L chassis got bent like my old one (see pics) so they chopped it off at that point and butt welded a new length of channel on, then reinforced it with plate on the inside (making it box section) and welded a "band aid" patch over the join on the outside. Then, at some later date, a subsequent owner chopped it off at the join and shortened the wheelbase.

I'm told the tapered "band aid" patch is the correct way to reinforce a join, because it distributes the stresses more evenly. The RAAF used a boat shaped band aid patch on their lengthened F60L chassis.

That's about the only explanation I can think of for there being reinforcement on both the outside and the inside.

Whatever the case, they've certainly made a lot of extra work for you!

[Private_collector]

Tony,

I don't mind the extra chassis repair work. It's half done now, and will be finished next weekend, as always, weather permitting.

The patches had to come off, or I wouldn't have been able to fit the pintle system correctly. The added plates on outside of the rails would have resulted in pintle attachment brackets sitting too far apart, and I think the spring bit would have been able to slop from side to side.

The only real handicap this remedy has inflicted is the cost of the cutting & grinding discs. And even thats just a tener!