Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Private_collector]

On Sunday I hauled the front axle assembly around to the workshop entrance and started pulling the thing apart. First I had to kill the small brown snake that was living underneath. Removed the wheels/tyres, got off the springs, and gave em a good look over for any damage.
Front springs 1.jpg Front spring leaf clamps buggered 1.jpg
Spring sets were OK, but half of all the leaf retaining clamps were either broken or missing entirely. Damn! Guess I call on the springworks for a quote. All the clamps looked to be original, but one end of each set had brackets formed around the leaves, the other end of both had ones with a bolt. Puzzling!
Front springs missing bushes.jpg
I also need two new bushes for the front of each spring set. I always make a point of keeping any parts together when I disassemble something, but I CANNOT find these bushes anywhere. I don't recall noting they were missing originally, but also don't recall removing them when I pulled the front axle and suspension off the chassis some time ago. Once again......puzzling!
Steering joint 1.jpg
I attempted removal of the steering components, but this bolt won't come out. Maintenence manual says to whack the arm it's attached to, and it'll come out, but I only read this in the evening once I had stopped work, so I have not tried this so far.
Front axle assembly 1.jpg
A good read of the manual last night, has enlightened me on how to remove the pivoting part of the axle, which I will get done next weekend....I hope. It is already obvious that some of the seals are worn out, because when I tipped the axle to one side when removing the wheels, oil came out the pivot assembly. That means another shopping list for Ross Prince, for new seals.

Also found that this vehicle had the two part pivot seal retaining assembly, and for this I am truely thankful. It should make replacing the pivot oil seals a little easier. In theory, that is.

Look at the area just left of the diff housing. You can just see the brake line 'T' connector. What I want to know is what the hell is that long flat rod sticking out from it??? It is attached by the same bolt that holds the 'T' to the diff housing, and I have NO idea what, if anything, it is there for. Any ideas? If it's not supposed to be there, I would love to remove the bloody thing, as it poses a safety hazard to my shins and ankles.