How To: Ford CMP "Blitz" miscellany

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Ian,

I am not sure but the one bracket on the right side of the cowl in your photo looks like a Tac sign holder similar to the one in the attached photo.

My first truck lacked the welded on tabs for the Bridge disk also, but had the Tac sign bracket on the left side of the front cowl. The Bridge weight limit was painted on the top of the right hand cowl.

The spacing on my TAC sign mounting holes are 4" apart but the bridge disk mounting holes are 5" apart. That might not mean anything, however, depending on the diameter of a bridge disk

Perhaps someone more learned in vehicle markings can shed some more light on it.

Cheers,

[Jacques Reed]

Good Day,

Thought I might dust off this old thread.

Been doing a lot of various work on the F15-A since the last post here. Much of it has been covered elsewhere such as bending up new brake and fuel lines, fabricating wiring harnesses, making hand brake cable clips etc.

Recently I have been rebuilding my transmission and in the process, swapping NOS gears and shafts from one case to another.

Thought the following may be of interest:

Removing the countershaft is fairly straightforward. A bit of persuasion with a hammer and brass drift is all that is needed. Getting access to the reverse idler shaft is another matter.
I made up a mini Jack as shown in the picture using a bit of ½” UNC threaded rod 4” long, ¾” pipe 2-1/2” long, 3 x ½-UNC nuts, I x washer, and 2 x 13/16” AF spanners. The short one I cut down from an old bent one of my Dad's
It worked very well. On one transmission the shaft did not want to budge easily so I heated the boss at the shaft with just a propane torch not wanting to put too much heat into the casting or risk breaking the boss with too much force on the jack. After about 30 seconds of applied heat it moved very easily. Probably just needed to soften up the gunk between the shaft and the boss. The brass drift in the countershaft holes keeps the cut down spanner from turning and frees up a hand in a tight space.

I salvaged the bearing retainer rings from a third transmission. Struggled with a screwdriver slipping off the rings, and chasing the rings around the groove in the case. I thought if I could grip them that would be an easier way to remove them. After trying various pliers which could not get the right angle onto them I remembered my Vice Grip nut holder pliers.
It worked perfectly. It has the correct angle to reach inside the bearing pocket to grip the rings. Pulled them out in about 10 seconds each after wasting half an hour trying other methods.
Those nut holder pliers are a great tool and especially if there is no one around to hold a spanner "on the other side". And as shown, they can do other things that are not their main purpose.

Hope this is of some interest.

Cheers,

[Grant Bowker]

Thank you for more helpful hints.
In creating your jacking bolts, you may find that a fine thread will apply force more smoothly and maybe more force on the parts you want to move for the same effort on your part due to the smaller angle on the threads.

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Grant,

Good thinking! I used what was available but a 1/2-20 UNF thread would probably be better for more force. I am sure it will give others ideas based on what they have at hand.

Cheers,

[Jacques Reed]

Good Day,

Here is another project I finished over the winter.

A year ago I looked at ways to repair rust holes in the diaphragm on a Ford horn. I put it on the back burner as I do when a solution doesn't quickly spring to mind.

A replacement diaphragm was not forthcoming so I thought of ways to seal the holes at least to prevent ingress of water. I discounted solder as that would probably fall out over time with vibration. Brazing or welding was out due to the possible heat effect on the diaphragm which I think is type of spring steel or tempered steel to allow for it to flex during vibration.

I found some vinyl inflatable pool patches in the shed and thought that might be a solution if glued to the diaphragm. Being thin, Light weight, and flexible it should not greatly affect the resonance of the diaphragm.

I tested a piece of it on a tin can using Sika Flex contact adhesive and it took all my strength to pull it of after it cured so I gave it a go.

It stuck well, and after reassembly and putting it across a 6V charger it blurted out a loud sound for the first time I would imagine in quite a few decades. Looking at the original condition I really didn't think it would work so it was a very pleasant surprise.

Cheers,

[David Herbert]

Well done Jacques, a very creative solution !

David

[Jacques Reed]

Thanks David, Dont think I will have any problems with the horn. Won't be using it in Rome or Mexico City where the horns get more hours on them than the engines!

Jumping back to the transmission rebuild, I am almost ready to finish it off. I was awaiting some new clutch cross shaft bushings which just came. I also have a NOS cross shaft to use in the gear case. The shaft and bushings can be subject to quite a bit of wear and therefore sloppiness as shown in the photo.
Found a couple interesting things about the bushings: There are two sizes of them for Ford Flatheads: 0.945" OD and 1.000" OD. My truck uses the smaller OD type. I also found two types of material used: Solid bronze, and steel backed bronze lining. See the attached photo. The newly manufactured one is on the right, original steel backed on left, and original solid in middle.

I seem to remember long ago tapping the steel backed ones carefully into a case with the shaft installed to prevent damage. I am not so confident to do that to the softer solid bronze new ones without crumpling them. Presently started turning up a guide tool to pull them into the case instead, and yes. threaded rod will be used again.

Will post results when done but truck work is on hold for a week or so as I look after my four-legged best friend after some surgery last week.

Cheers,