How To: Ford CMP "Blitz" miscellany

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Jacques,

Perhaps we should point out that the side curtain shown in your images is for the '44 pattern Australian cab which had a flat-frame, de-mountable door with external hinges on pins welded to a forward insert in the door frame, which I think was about 2 inches wide, and an external door clamp at the rear end which snigged into a slotted plate welded to the exterior of the cab.

Maybe this different configuration accounts for the difference in length, although the actual 'window' opening above the door was still the same length, I think?

Mike

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for that great info. I cannot remember what the door looked like, I thought it was the same as mine, double skinned, but I have seen a photo the same type curtain on a double skinned door. Perhaps a post war use of what was on the surplus market at the time then, even if it was not the correct one for that door?

Guess this means back to the drawing board! At least for the one for my doors.

Cheers,

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Jacques,

The curtain for the standard, double skin, 'non-demountable' door has a step in the bracket that slots into the bracket on the inside face of the door. The step spaces the curtain so it sits on the outside edge of the door, with the underside of the step sitting on the top flat of the door. With the Aust '44 pattern door, the depth is only the thickness of the frame material, I think about 1/8th or 3/16th, plus its canvas covering, hence the straight, flat mounting bracket visible in your images.

There was a whole raft of 1950s-era CGCF-marked door curtains floating about at one stage (20+ years ago??) I'm reasonably sure that Blitz enthusiasts such as Keith and Euan have examples. These were the stepped design for the double skinned door, but the canvas covering had a smaller plexi? window than the WW2 version.

Mike

[Keith Webb]

The 1959 replacements were all for the Chevrolet turnbuckle type front flap and I think had a larger clear window than the originals. Billy Drew had a truck body full of them in the 1970s, tied together in pairs which from memory he sold for $6.00 a pair.

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

There was a whole raft of 1950s-era CGCF-marked door curtains floating about at one stage (20+ years ago??) I'm reasonably sure that Blitz enthusiasts such as Keith and Euan have examples. These were the stepped design for the double skinned door, but the canvas covering had a smaller plexi? window than the WW2 version.

Mike

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Keith,

These are the ones. Fifties made Billy Drew's. Made with round bar and has the turn posts for the Chevy CMP.

Gee, thought I was on a winner then Mike popped my happy bubble!

Still would rather get it right and at least I haven't fabricated the wrong ones for my truck. Sometimes it pays to procrastinate.

Kind Regards,

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Jacques Reed

Hi Keith,

These are the ones. Fifties made Billy Drew's. Made with round bar and has the turn posts for the Chevy CMP.

Gee, thought I was on a winner then Mike popped my happy bubble!

Still would rather get it right and at least I haven't fabricated the wrong ones for my truck. Sometimes it pays to procrastinate.

Kind Regard,

What kind of tires are those and where did you get them?????

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Bruce,

They are original NOS 9-00 x 16" Dunlop Trak Grips.

For display only due to age. Bought them years ago from a business nearby that had a Marmon Herrington also for sale. They had been in a windowless shed for many years which saved them. Wish I had bought the Marmon too at the time. The seller said the tyres were to go with the truck but when I pointed out the Marmon had 18" wheels he agreed to sell them separately.

Attached photo taken in the days of 35mm film so a long time ago.

Cheers,

[Jacques Reed]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Hi Jacques,

Perhaps we should point out that the side curtain shown in your images is for the '44 pattern Australian cab which had a flat-frame, de-mountable door with external hinges on pins welded to a forward insert in the door frame, which I think was about 2 inches wide, and an external door clamp at the rear end which snigged into a slotted plate welded to the exterior of the cab.

Maybe this different configuration accounts for the difference in length, although the actual 'window' opening above the door was still the same length, I think?

Mike

Hi Mike,

I have attached a photo of the type of side curtain you mentioned attached to a double skinned Ford door. Same as my pictures and drawing. This was the red herring for me. Note it is flush with the inside of the door and stops short of the front of the door sill. This makes sense as you mentioned for a flat frame door.

I apologize to whomever I copied the photo from, Keith maybe? Lifted it a long time ago and enlarged it. I cannot remember the source. Would like to acknowledge where it came from just the same.

Cheers,

[Jacques Reed]

Good Day,

Been a bit quite lately as Melbourne's Covid 19 lockdown restricts my travel to 5 km from home.

I have been revisiting the radiator mounting arrangements on my Cab 13.
Years ago I bought a Dennis Carpenter radiator mounting bolt and pad set similar to an original set used on my truck as shown in the attached.

The Spares Parts List shows a rubber insulator No. 8124 at the lower bracket of the radiator. I was not really happy with the use of the springs and washers there as the 11/16" diameter hole in the radiator bracket is much larger than the 3/8" bolt allowing a fair bit of movement. The hole in the chassis support has been enlarged over time also from this movement.

A parts truck had an original bolt No. 22237 on it and a mismatched one on the other side.

I Googled part 8124 and found the attached link.https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/27430874...53.m1438.l2649

I don't plan to use 80 year old rubber parts but it shows what they look like.

Thought I might go with a Nolathane polyurethane bushing of similar size.
Interested on any thoughts on the subject.

Cheers,

[Keith Webb]

Be handy to have a source of supply when you find a nolathane replacement insulator. I love all this detail, thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by Jacques Reed

Good Day,

Been a bit quite lately as Melbourne's Covid 19 lockdown restricts my travel to 5 km from home.

I have been revisiting the radiator mounting arrangements on my Cab 13.
Years ago I bought a Dennis Carpenter radiator mounting bolt and pad set similar to an original set used on my truck as shown in the attached.

The Spares Parts List shows a rubber insulator No. 8124 at the lower bracket of the radiator. I was not really happy with the use of the springs and washers there as the 3/4" diameter hole in the radiator bracket is much larger than the 3/8" bolt allowing a fair bit of movement. The hole in the chassis support has been enlarged over time also from this movement.

A parts truck had an original bolt No. 22237 on it and a mismatched one on the other side.

I Googled part 8124 and found the attached link.https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/27430874...53.m1438.l2649

I don't plan to use 80 year old rubber parts but it shows what they look like.

Thought I might go with a Nolathane polyurethane bushing of similar size.
Interested on any thoughts on the subject.

Cheers,

[Jacques Reed]

Keith,

I found a closer match to the size required for the radiator insulators.

Just received them after a 3 week wait for the post.
According to Nolathane's own technical info they can be machined to fit other applications. They give tool angles and feeds required on a data sheet. I just have to turn down the collar that fits through the radiator mounting holes.

Working on a mandrel to hold it in the lathe. Will see how it all goes.

IMG_0170a.JPG

On a completely different subject: I posted the attached photos on another site which may be of interest.

Yesterday I painted the headlight buckets a close match to the original reddish brown primer. They had been in just red primer for a long time.
Looking at available colours in aerosols of many brands, the closest match I could find was Mission Brown by White Knight paints sold at good old Bunnings. Although it was in gloss, a coat of clear satin took away a bit of the shine. It may not be a perfect match but it looks better than the red primer and give the buckets a bit of extra protection. Reassembled. last photo.

IMG_0164a.JPG IMG_0167.JPG IMG_0173a.JPG
Cheers,

[Keith Webb]

Good find Jacques! And you've also done a great job with the colour of the headlamp buckets.

[Jacques Reed]

Good Day,

Sometimes when you have been searching for info for a long time it just drops in your lap. The following is a case in point.

I have looked for original dimensions of the bows for a Holden Body Works 15 CWT GS body for my Ford F-15A. Found a few photos of them over the years but was unsure of their originality or the quality was too poor for estimating or scaling sizes. Have seen some with a crank in them where they fit the body and perhaps they are also genuine but a variation. Will stick with these anyway.

On a Facebook group I follow the original photo of a Chev C15-A was posted recently taken from the militaryimages.net website. Probably an archive photo also. It is a wartime photo so leaves no doubt in my mind to the accurate representation of the bows. My GS body is identical to the one in the photo.

On MLU a while ago an original drawing of a 3 ton Australian GS body was posted. It specified 1" gas pipe for the bows. It also showed an outside radius at the bends of 6". A bit of an assumption but I assumed the same 6" outside radius would be used on the smaller body hoops. The scaling was consistent with that size radius which was reassuring. The radiator brush guard is also 1" pipe but heavier Schedule 80. The OD is the same however and a spare one fits well in my holders.

1" pipe schedule 40 is 1.314" OD. That fits in perfectly with the space at the original holders on my body. Knowing the inside distance between the side of the bows, 83" and the distance from the top of the sides to the bottom of the sides, 25-1/2" it was relatively easy to scale up the dimensions. The length of the lines shown are specified at the time of drawing. A bit of reverse model making!

So hopefully this is accurate. At least it is better than the dodgy 3/4" pipe bows that came with the truck. Always happy to accept better info if it comes to hand.

Hope this is of some interest.