Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Jacques Reed

I am thinking it is the same dimensions, minus the bends, as the hard to find tailpipe bracket that attaches to the left rear fuel tank bracket.

As you say Jacques they do seem hard to find. Not one of my vehicles has one, but surprisingly there's one on this stripped down F15A chassis. This $200 pile of blitz bits off ebay is proving to be quite handy (eagle eyes may notice 25pdr wheel on rear) but unfortunately the winch is homebuilt from a Ford axle - something I failed to detect on the ebay pic!

Anyway the bracket is clearly the same as the front one, sans bends, and possibly a bit shorter. There's also a support strap underneath, presumably to minimize flexing over rough terrain...? I imagine this piece would have been straight originally, and was possibly bent by a size 12 boot using the tailpipe as a convenient step!

I'll stick these in the mail too Jacques, you're welcome to keep them but I'll definitely need drawings eventually, unless someone stumbles on a box of NOS!

[Private_collector]

Jacques, ole pal, you are my new best friend! Thanks for posting the place to get those grease lines. I found another one here today, that I had on another spare gearbox. It looked to be in great shape, UNTIL the removal, when it crumbled to bits, like the dead sea scrolls!

Also thanks to the other Tonys! Those photos will assist me greatly. Looks like the brackets are more easily sourced than expected.

The weather today was far from ideal. I wasn't comfortable trying to continue stripping front end between rain squals. So what do you do when the rain is coming and going all day long? You paint a gearbox case, of course. At least it's kinda portable. Must have carried it in/out of the workshop about ten times in total, but it's now painted and ready for the guts to start going back in.
Box stripped 1.jpg Box primed 1.jpg Box painted.jpg Box painted 1.jpg
It will be interesting to do a comparisn of local VS overseas prices on the bearings, if I can. The results may be surprising. The seal I bought for gearbox rear is $11.50ish. I bought two. Adding the shipping cost still has them landed here for under $50.00.
Box disassembled 1.jpg
When it comes time to put all the bits back together again, I hope the roughly two dozen photos I took of the disassembly go in my favor. Couldn't hoit!

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

Looks like the brackets are more easily sourced than expected.

Yes, after searching the net I don't think they're worth fabricating, so there's probably not much point making drawings - which is good news for Jacques!

Closest I've found is this $30 kit which contains 3 brackets, all of which could be used with minimal modification and be undetectable as non-original:

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....Z5Z5Z50000019A

Mac's have the same kit:

http://macsautoparts.com/ford-pickup...0R3CHL1143645/

Jacques, I imagine these brand new brackets may change your plans a bit so I'll leave the old rusty ones where they are for the moment!

[Jacques Reed]

Originally Posted by Tony Wheeler

Yes, after searching the net I don't think they're worth fabricating, so there's probably not much point making drawings - which is good news for Jacques!

Closest I've found is this $30 kit which contains 3 brackets, all of which could be used with minimal modification and be undetectable as non-original:

Jacques, I imagine these brand new brackets may change your plans a bit so I'll leave the old rusty ones where they are for the moment!

Hi Tony,

Thanks for your information. I did buy a Dennis Carpenter exhaust bracket set a while back but there was not enough length on the longest one to make the bracket that attaches to the fuel tank bracket as shown in the photo.
Yes, thought about the adding a length of flat bar to an existing clamp in the set but forgot about the asymmetrical design too. Good spotting. The set did give up a good old design 2" muffler clamp when I wiggled the poorly spot welded clip attached to it shown in the centre of the photo. Thank God for Dennis Carpenter's poor Chinese made stuff. Saved drilling out a spot weld!

Will check out the supplier mentioned.

When you get a chance Tony would you be kind enough to give me the dimension between the centre of the bolt hole on the clamp to the centre of the first hole where it attaches to the fuel tank bracket then I can work out the length and see if their bracket will do the job. Many thanks again for all your help and a great afternoon with the trucks.

Cheers,

[Tony Wheeler]

Hi Jacques,

Attached pics show rear tailpipe bracket dimensions as measured in situ, I'll need to remove and straighten it for complete accuracy. I'm pretty sure your Dennis Carpenter bracket will reach the first hole in the petrol tank bracket, and the hole for the rubber mount may be conveniently close to the correct location. Clearly it will need to be extended to reach the second hole, which means butt welding a piece of 1 1/4" strap to the end. The support strap will prevent any flexing at the join so it shouldn't fail. They could even be spot welded together for complete confidence.

The front tailpipe bracket is the offset clamp type, of which there are 3 in the Mac's 48-52 Pickup set. These are considerably longer and will reach the chassis rail, but will still need to be extended to bolt in the original hole. This would have to be an overlap join as there's no support strap, however it would be inside the chassis rail where it wouldn't be seen.

I think that's the solution for tailpipe brackets, clearly it's not worth trying to fabricate new ones when these items from Mac's can be easily modified. The required kits are:

Ford CMP front tailpipe bracket (48-52 Pickup set): http://macsautoparts.com/ford-pickup...0R3CHL1143645/

Ford CMP rear tailpipe bracket (35-38 Pickup set): http://macsautoparts.com/early-ford-...R3CHL1141416E/

I've ordered both sets and will test these mods when they arrive and post results here for general info.

Of course, the 48-52 Pickup set will serve for both brackets, the only difference being the offset clamp on the rear, which is hardly likely to be noticed. After all, we didn't even know there were two types until today!

[Private_collector]

article17775683-3-001.jpg article42320187-3-001.jpg article52474632-3-001.jpg article64703019-3-001.jpg

[Jacques Reed]

Originally Posted by Tony Wheeler

Attached pics show rear tailpipe bracket dimensions as measured in situ,

I think that's the solution for tailpipe brackets, clearly it's not worth trying to fabricate new ones when these items from Mac's can be easily modified.

Hi Tony,

Again, thanks for you great help and good suggestions. In the interim I will go using one of my Dennis Carpenter brackets welded to a flat strip to make the tailpipe bracket that attaches to the fuel tank bracket. It will look reasonable and position it in the right location anyway thanks also to the dimensions you supplied.

May scratch build that bracket later when I get the urge to do a bit of metal working. Should be relatively easy as the original brackets are made of lighter gauge steel than the Dennis Carpenter repro's.

Cheers.

[Private_collector]

Yesterday I called into the local bearing shop, and asked about the BB7025 & BB7065 bearings I want for the gearbox MDG shaft. In the past, these fellows have managed to find what I need........usually. To be quite frank, I expected the standard search on computer, followed by further enquiries via phone to their suppliers, over a period of days. Sometimes it's fruitful, sometimes not. When I gave the part numbers yesterday, they checked the computer then walked away to the back room.............and came back with both bearings!
New transmission MDG bearings shielded both sides.jpg Ford BB7065=NTN6307 and Ford BB7025= NTN6209.jpg
Now, these modern bearings are shielded each side, which the guys indicated would provide better protection against oil leaking past the bearings and out along the shafts. Sounds good! Anything that keeps me from having to look at future oil stains is alright by me.

Now to the price comparison. My enquiries overseas resulted in a quote for the two bearings at $35.00 each, plus $30.00 in postage. Hmmmmmm! The quote from Gympie Bearing Service was just a little better, at $30.00................FOR THE PAIR!No postage there. They didn't have a throwout bearing in stock, but put an order in yesterday afternoon. It was ready for me to pickup after 0900hrs today. It cost $22.00. That's a grand total of $52.00 for the three bearings. On this occasion, local was considerably cheaper and quicker. When you're wrong, you're wrong! In this instance I nearly dismissed the local guys as too dear to bother with. As I say, when you're wrong, you're wrong.

I will be reassembling most of the box this weekend. Will still be waiting on new bushes, MDG shaft clip, locking wire and the rear seal, but majority of the work will get done, with several cardboard tags hanging to remind me what still needs to be done. Not heard back from Ajays in NZ yet, regarding the grease hose to throwout bearing. It is now only needed to lube the shaft for throwout assembly to move on. The bearing itself is sealed, unlike the original which was also lubed via the hose.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Jacques Reed

May scratch build that bracket later when I get the urge to do a bit of metal working. Should be relatively easy as the original brackets are made of lighter gauge steel than the Dennis Carpenter repro's.

I'm fast coming to the same conclusion Jacques, ie. easier to scratch build than try to modify the very thick repros, which appear to be way too small in clamp diameter. I suspect you may be right about the Chinese manufacturers - they got their IDs mixed up with their ODs! Maybe the Mac's ones will be closer to original but I'm not hopeful.

[Keith Webb]

Shame I only have one...

[Tony Wheeler]

Oops...I tried to edit my post and managed to delete it! Here it is again:

Another option for tailpipe brackets would be to bolt a replacement clamp onto the appropriate length strap. It wouldn't be perfect but it would pretty close and would save a lot of fabrication work. This mob appears to have the correct clamp (bottom left of top pic):

http://www.cgfordparts.com/wwwsectio...LAMPS/HARDWARE

Also Mac's have a bracket with the correct clamp:

http://macsautoparts.com/early-ford-...R3CHL1141416E/

Evidently there are brackets available too:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1948-1952-Fo...p2047675.l2557

Keith, your clamp is pretty close but the "correct" one is asymmetrical.