Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Private_collector]

I get my two fuel tanks back from the panel shop this afternoon. They did good work and I will only need to apply very minimal filler to the areas they repaired. That & a couple of insignificant dents to be filled as well.

I have been thinking about the fuel filter that goes on back of battery box base. Would prefer one with a glass portion, so I can see any sediment or contamination, and remove it easily with the base plug out. There are a couple of suitable candidates available. So I may just install the original one in a cosmetic capacity, with the lines in/out going nowhere, but disappearing from sight. The 'real' filter could be hidden on opposite side of chassis rail (I.E: inward side & under cab). That way I get best of both worlds, modern functionality & original appearance on the visible side. This is looking the most likely way I will go.

Have sent enquirines to local (<100km) paint shops, asking about fuel tank treatment sets such as the KBS Fuel Tank Sealer Kit, which is a three part set suitable for tanks up to 100L. In this case, two tanks of roughly total size combined.

If I get an acceptable reply, I might be heading down to Nambour to buy same, this Saturday.

[Private_collector]

Scott,

Its difficult to see from the angle of their photo, but that does look like my original one. It's pricey, but it may be far less work to just buy one of those and be done with it. I'll save that page and go back to that when the time is right.

Any idea what shipping cost would be to Aust?

Thankyou Scott!

[Phil Waterman]

Hi All

One of the problems I have noticed with original fuel filter assemblies of this type, that have been used is that the shaft are often rusted resulting in a bad fit at the bottom of the filter element. With unfiltered fuel to leak around the element shaft. No easy fix that I have figured out.

Cheers Phil

[Grant Bowker]

Another likely source for repro filters is listed as part WO-A-7850 at http://www.debellajeepparts.com/mbgpwfuel.htm I don't guarantee that the assembly is identical but I found the spring that Peter DeBella sells for the jeep filter fits the CMP filter. (And this one is cheaper than the one above.)
I also recently snagged a filter from a gent who sells DUKW parts on ebay that is described as a DUKW filter but seems dimensionally similar to the CMP so CCKW is also probably similar

[Private_collector]

Phil,

I think your concerns are quite valid. They are now my concerns too. One of the attractive things about a modern replacement, was guaranteed reliability & ability to buy filter body with a glass bowl to see the quality, or potential sediment in fuel.

Grant,

I see the Jeep parts place has those filters considerably cheaper! I like cheaper. Don't suppose the fuel senders would fit CMP too? They're not a bad price either.

Scott,

That filter you bought looks to be a perfect match for replacing my old (& buggered) one!

assorted parts.jpg
I got a little sidetracked today. Hadn't intended to work on the vacuum booster right now, but did some cleaning work on a couple of the parts, including frame bracket and vacuum intake filter assembly. Breather still had the original filter element inside too. Yuck! I'll make a suitable foam one to replace it.
Passenger tank painted 4.jpg Passenger tank painted 2.jpg Passenger tank painted 1.jpg
Didn't get those parts painted but did get the first of the fuel tanks finished. Stenciling will get done next weekend, unless I get inspired to do it sooner.
Brake mechanism painted 1.jpg
Also painted all the brake mechanism for master & booster. Can't see me waiting to next weekend to put this back together, so I guess it will get done some time through the week, when the television watching is particularly poor. That could be any night!

Cont'd...

[Private_collector]

The world famous (well......not really) Glenwood swapmeet was on Saturday, and my feet are still sore from 3 hours of walking. Not that it was geographically immense, I just walked around several times, to make sure I didn't miss anything.

I did get a couple of small pieces. Two of which I have since made redundant, in one swoop of fate.
Pipe bender.jpg
I bought this brake & fuel line bender for $20. Notice it has 2 different sizes to bend with. Never seen one quite like it, and it caught my eye. Made in UK too, none of this 'made in China' muck. I have tried it today, and found it to be wonderfully easy to use, with just a moderate effort required to bend 5/16 steel brake line. I also bought a brake/fuel line flaring tool of advanced years, and once again, made in UK & far superior quality over modern stuff. That cost $6.00. They would come in very handy with making the brake lines for my truck, and that's where the redundancy comes in.

While at the meet, I did just that, met a fellow whose company specialises in the manufacture of brake & fuel lines, the hardware that connects, all attaching bits and associated parts. They custom makes all lines, both flexible kind and metal, and in all sizes and materials. As the swap was fairly close to my location, he called-in on his way home, to see what I would be wanting done. Very professional fellow and thorough as well. When i'm ready, he will come and make everything needed right in my workshop, and install the lot on-site, there & then.

The business name is: Wide Bay Brake Hose Services
Website: http://www.brakehose.com.au/
There is a very extensive online catalog, they can make ANY type of hose or pipe, and will post Australia Wide.


horn.jpg
While at the swap, I also found this horn which is fairer match for my truck than the longer bodied version I already had. It may not be exact but it's close enough. It also gives me a little something to tinker with on the weeknights when I couldn't be bothered going down to the workshop.
Driver side tank 1.jpg Driver side tank 2.jpg
I stripped the drivers side fuel tank today as well. Was in process of running over it with the wire cup when the light started failing, so I will continue next weekend. Don't know if I can get it to paint stage, but should have all repairs done and under primer by stumps Sunday next. There are a fair few dents to receive attention on this tank. I'm not as lucky with this one, compared to the passenger side, which was in pretty good shape.

Managed to finally catch myself with the twisted wire cup I was using to strip the tank. This had been expected for some time, as I fear I had been getting braver (more foolhardy) with it's use, and attempting to hold ever smaller items closer & closer to the cup while in use. I wasn't actually doing the tank when it bit me. It was a far smaller and more fragile part I was doing, when the wire cup caught the part and threw it to one side, thus exposing the finger directly to the spinning wheel. "Oh My Goodness" I exclaimed..............or something of a loosely similar nature. You will be very pleased to know that the small part (vacuum booster breather filter) was NOT at all damaged. The finger.........as the Black Knight would say, was "A mere flesh wound". Silly Bastard!

[Phil Waterman]

Hi All

Tony your tank looks great.

I would like to offer a comment for people looking at repairing or stripping tanks. Of my 3 Chevy CMPs the 1941 Pat 12 and the 1942 Pat 13 have plain steel tanks with the neck soldered on, but the 1945 HUP tanks both right and left appear to have been lead or tin coated. I mention this so that anyone can check to see if their tank looks like it is coated. Aggressive cleaning with wire brush, scotch pads or sand paper seems to cut through this coating. The HUP tanks have NO evidence anywhere in side or out of any rust. While the 1941 tanks will need to be rebuilt or replicated because of rust holes and the 1942 showed minor rust when I restored the truck, no holes or leaks then or now.

Has anybody else encountered a coated tank?

The only reason I can see for the tanks to have been coated in the first place was to prevent rust, or to seal tanks that had minor leaks at time of manufacture.

Cheers Phil

[Lionelgee]

While at the meet, I did just that, met a fellow whose company specialises in the manufacture of brake & fuel lines, the hardware that connects, all attaching bits and associated parts. They custom makes all lines, both flexible kind and metal, and in all sizes and materials. As the swap was fairly close to my location, he called-in on his way home, to see what I would be wanting done. Very professional fellow and thorough as well. When i'm ready, he will come and make everything needed right in my workshop, and install the lot on-site, there & then.

The business name is: Wide Bay Brake Hose Services
Website: http://www.brakehose.com.au/
There is a very extensive online catalog, they can make ANY type of hose or pipe, and will post Australia Wide.

Hello Tony,

Thank you for putting the link up for Wide Bay Brake Hose Services. It will be a very handy site to access in the near future. I went to get the pricing for getting some brake wheel cylinders re-sleeved in stainless steel locally, and I was told that no one in Bundaberg does them anymore. All parts are sent to the Sunshine Coast. I thought this was pretty sad since Bundaberg was one of the world innovators in sugar harvesting engineering.

It was good to finally get to drop in and see you, and to have the opportunity to admire the results of your meticulous craftsmanship on your CMP. Keep up the great effort.


Kind Regards
Lionel