Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Jacques Reed]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

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.

Tony,

I'd say it is just a add-on by someone to try to keep the steering ends from turning.

Maybe the diff was off a home made crane setup using two front ends as was sometimes done. That rod would help to keep the wheels in the straight ahead position if the owner found he didn't want to look after two steering wheels while using the crane.

Turf it- it's not required or original!

Cheers,

[Private_collector]

Originally Posted by Jacques Reed

Turf it- it's not required or original!

Good, consider it gone!

Thanks,

[Private_collector]

It's off! The damn thing came away just as Jacques said. First couple of beltings did nothing on passenger side, so I started clouting the driver side, and it just fell out. No fuss, no swearing. Went back to passenger side, and another whack got it out too.

Also went to the sandblasters and retrieved the pintle spring, bumper brackets, pintle hook thingy and the backing plate that it bolts to. These will get painted Saturday, then fit to place Sunday.

Rear axle U bolts not yet had threads re-cut, but i'm sure they will get around to it soon...ish. A quick measure shows the threads will need to be cut another 50mm to fit my rear spring bundles (ones without the HD spring set).

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Now a slightly diffferent tac. I have noticed most Ford front bumpers (as above) are attached by one bracket on driver side, and a Y bracket on passenger. I have a second bracket on the Organ Donor that goes on driver side. Looks to be original, and goes on the inner side of chassis behind the steering box bracket. I meant to get it off and photograph it last weekend, but just forgot.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

I have a second bracket on the Organ Donor that goes on driver side. Looks to be original, and goes on the inner side of chassis behind the steering box bracket.

It's definitely original Tony, but for some reason it wasn't always fitted. It seems to have been omitted from many early production Fords, including several of my own 1942 trucks. There's no question of them having been removed subsequently, as the chassis bolts are too short to allow fitment in the first place. However in every case the main RH bracket is drilled to accommodate the second bracket, which leads me to wonder if it was a design change, followed by a delay in supply of the new part.

Interestingly it's present on my two FGT chassis, which would also have been 1942 production. This leads me to wonder if it was initially designed for winch trucks, ie. to brace the bumper against sideways displacement caused by cable force through the front rollers. Perhaps this was found to be a problem when winching sideways.

I happen to have a particular interest in bumper brackets, stemming from an incident 40 years ago in my first blitz. I'm sure Keith will recall the altercation with a tree that left the bumper bar rubbing on the RH tyre during turns. This was the result of an incomplete RH bumper assy - one of the many parts missing off this blitz when it was rushed into service!

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Tony Wheeler

This was the result of an incomplete RH bumper assy - one of the many parts missing off this blitz when it was rushed into service!

Correction - photos reveal it wasn't so much a lack of RH bumper bracket, but a lack of front crossmember to bolt it onto! This would have left the small RH piece to take the full force when challenged by the tree.

[Keith Webb]

Oh, I remember it well! I was wondering what it would feel like to smash my face into the top of the windscreen, but fortunately the impact wasn't that great.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

Oh, I remember it well! I was wondering what it would feel like to smash my face into the top of the windscreen, but fortunately the impact wasn't that great.

Yes, we really could have used some seat belts that day! Fortunately there were plenty of saplings to slow us down a bit before finally hitting the tree. I think this photo Keith took may show part of the scene.