Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Hanno and Tony,

Great afternoon talking 'green stuff' Tony, thank you!

First, I should say I'm not familiar with the finer points of the 115 inch WB chassis, so both Tony and I were working from that point on Wednesday.

What I observed was:
(1) no weld marks to indicate a 'cut and weld' shortening of the chassis, and no bolt holes to indicate that the spring hangers had simply been moved forward. Without knowing the finer points, it certainly looked like an original uncut chassis to me.
(2) no chassis number on the top of the right hand chassis rail, as per Ford Australia practice. The absence of a chassis number in that position is a pretty good indication that the truck was not assembled in Australia from imported and local components.
(3) the cab that came with the truck is an Australian assembled cab: both the rear and roof sections are Aust manufactured, and the floor is 1/4 inch Aust chequer plate, ie a 'standard' Aussie assembled Ford cab.
(4) the 115 inch wheel base seems too much of a coincidence for a farmer-shortened chassis.

So I'll be very interested in comparing images of Tony's chassis rails with those of an original 115 inch WB chassis, so if someone has one, some side images would be appreciated by both Tony and me, to do a comparison.

Mike