How To: Ford CMP "Blitz" miscellany

[Jacques Reed]

Good Day,

I have been a bit quiet on here but still plodding away at my passion. I've had problems uploading photos to MLU for a long time. I deleted my saved password in Edge and that may have fixed the problem.

I addressed something this past week that has annoyed me for years.
A previous owner of my truck attached the GS body to the chassis with long bolts and drilled steel bars top and bottom. I had noticed years ago that the bottom flanges of the chassis rails at the mounting points had been bent slightly upwards about 3/16" by the bolts on the inside of the rail. There was never any crush blocks fitted to back up the bottom flange of the rail so any overtightening of the bolt would bend the flange.
I knew this was not original but kept it as a temporary solution. To me, there are too many bits to move and work loose by this method of attachment.

About 4 months ago I took measurements and had 5/8" diameter U-bolts fabricated as per original method of mounting the body.
First up I had to straighten the bottom rail. That was done as shown with a small button jack and scrap I had laying around to back up the top flange. The channel was an offcut from a retainer wall and the 1" threaded rod and nuts came with some other junk I acquired and kept "just in case".
A bit of pumping and checking and rechecking got it back to shape.

I have seen wooden crush blocks here on MLU and they looked like they were one piece and had the groove routed out. Not having a router, I decided, however, to fabricate them by laminating three pieces of hardwood with glue and screws. Of note, is that to have full contact with the bottom flange, the blocks have to have a taper of 1:16 at the bottom and have to be mirror images. I set my circular saw on 3.5 degrees which is 1:16 slope to cut the bottom of the blocks. I cut the top of the blocks square and about 1mm larger, then test fitted and adjusted by sanding so that they were a tight fit between the chassis rails.

Maybe not 100% original but ten times better than what I had before.

Hope this is of some interest.

Cheers,

[Jacques Reed]

A bit more miscellany:

A discussion with a fellow member about the hose from the radiator to the overflow tank on our cab 13 Fords got me interested in finding a solution. Any hose, original or even NOS if you can find one, is probably too perished to put into service.

The first thing to determine is what threads are on the tube nuts. Using my thread restoring file as a thread gauge, and taking measurements of the male end of the elbow showed it to be ½-24 TPI with parallel threads. In Machinery’s Handbook ½-24 is listed as a UNS thread (Unified National Special). With the olive on the tube I could reasonably assume it was a compression type fitting. The brass elbow has 1/8 NPT threads into the tank and ½-24 threads to the tube. A rare fitting I would say.

I searched various hose company catalogs to see if Pirtek or Enzed might have any hose ends with those threads but didn’t find any. I then tried hose fitting catalogues. Finding the actual size threads on the compression fitting nuts was not easy. An American company, Dixon Valve, did show their 5/16” tube nuts had ½-24 threads. As always, in Australia sourcing parts from the US can be problematic however.

I revisited an Australian fittings catalog and by chance I saw their 5/16” tube compression nuts were listed with ½-24 threads. Surely then their 5/16” compression fittings would have the same threads. Interestingly, that was the only fitting part in the catalog that specified those threads.

I obtained two 5/16” female joiners and a two barbs to match with 1/8 BSP threads on them. A bit of 5/16” radiator hose completed the connection.
I considered putting OTK type clamps on the hose but I don’t think it is necessary. The hose ends had to be put in hot water to fit onto the barbs with a fair bit of pushing to get them home. After it cooled there was no way I could pull the hose off the barbs.

Also of note is the cab 12 and Cab 13 hose are different based on parts catalogue numbers.

I am sure there are other ways to plumb it in but this works for me as I like to keep as much as possible of the original fitment on my truck.

Thanks, Tony, for the original photo and measurement.

Hope this is of some interest.

Cheers,

[Beau Bruce]

Originally Posted by Jacques Reed

A bit more miscellany:

A discussion with a fellow member about the hose from the radiator to the overflow tank on our cab 13 Fords got me interested in finding a solution. Any hose, original or even NOS if you can find one, is probably too perished to put into service.

The first thing to determine is what threads are on the tube nuts. Using my thread restoring file as a thread gauge, and taking measurements of the male end of the elbow showed it to be ½-24 TPI with parallel threads. In Machinery’s Handbook ½-24 is listed as a UNS thread (Unified National Special). With the olive on the tube I could reasonably assume it was a compression type fitting. The brass elbow has 1/8 NPT threads into the tank and ½-24 threads to the tube. A rare fitting I would say.

I searched various hose company catalogs to see if Pirtek or Enzed might have any hose ends with those threads but didn’t find any. I then tried hose fitting catalogues. Finding the actual size threads on the compression fitting nuts was not easy. An American company, Dixon Valve, did show their 5/16” tube nuts had ½-24 threads. As always, in Australia sourcing parts from the US can be problematic however.

I revisited an Australian fittings catalog and by chance I saw their 5/16” tube compression nuts were listed with ½-24 threads. Surely then their 5/16” compression fittings would have the same threads. Interestingly, that was the only fitting part in the catalog that specified those threads.

I obtained two 5/16” female joiners and a two barbs to match with 1/8 BSP threads on them. A bit of 5/16” radiator hose completed the connection.
I considered putting OTK type clamps on the hose but I don’t think it is necessary. The hose ends had to be put in hot water to fit onto the barbs with a fair bit of pushing to get them home. After it cooled there was no way I could pull the hose off the barbs.

Also of note is the cab 12 and Cab 13 hose are different based on parts catalogue numbers.

I am sure there are other ways to plumb it in but this works for me as I like to keep as much as possible of the original fitment on my truck.

Thanks, Tony, for the original photo and measurement.

Hope this is of some interest.

Cheers,

Hi Jacques,

I’ve been in the background working on this for a while with Tony also, with the top photo being the hose assembly from my fairly original late war F60S water tanker. I think you’ll be interested to know that I am currently having custom fittings made to replicate the barb as close as I can to an original sample. I’m not expected to have the fittings complete production for another month or so due to production back log. Once I receive the fittings I endeavour to produce a crimped product to be as close as I can to an original.

As for the 12/13 hose compatibility, I haven’t 100% confirmed but a quick look at some of my wrecks, I believe they may be the same, with the only difference being originally the cab 13 hose being a “set bend” type hose, while the 12 cab being of “set straight”, but this is only an assumption at this stage.

I don’t regularly get a chance to be on MLU but I’ll try to keep you informed when more progress eventuates.

Regards

[Jacques Reed]

A follow on from a long while ago:

Some Australian CMP's carried 2-gallon foam, or Soda Acid fire extinguishers externally on a bracket at the rear of the cabin. My F15-A Battery Staff truck would have one foam extinguisher fitted. A parts truck I bought supplied the bracket but minus the retaining band. I finished the band a couple months ago and I am just awaiting some new KG3 paint from the supplier this week. I will post photos of it when painted and installed on my F15-A

A few interesting points: the anti-squeak on the bracket was held on by brass rivets similar to brake lining rivets. I could not duplicate that method because of limited rear access so settled for bifurcated rivets which was used, however, on the anti-squeak on the original Chevy band. I rolled the band with a mini roller. The over center catch and hinge was kindly supplied by Euan McDonald along with a modified Chev band. As always Ford and Chevy seem to do it differently with the location of the catch. A local welder with a heavy-duty pedestal spot welder attached the fittings that I salvaged from the band.

The extinguisher is a Foam Transport Type with the lockdown cap mechanism to prevent the two chemicals from mixing and going off when the vehicle bounced around. I will post a photo of it soon when painted and installed on my truck. My thanks to Euan, Trent McClure (who supplied photos and measurements of the catch when I thought I would have to fabricate a replica) and David Brauer who kindly supplied photos of his original band on a Chev.

Cheers,

PS: Hanno, your tip worked. I tick "remember me" when I log on. No problem now uploading photos. Often the simplest things are the solutions.

[Mike K]

Nice job Jacques

Did the extinguisher originally have a instructions decal on it ?

And, do you know what brand it is, Simplex or Quell ?

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Jacques Reed

PS: Hanno, your tip worked. I tick "remember me" when I log on. No problem now uploading photos. Often the simplest things are the solutions.

Good to hear, Jack. And glad to see you are posting these interesting little restoration tidbits.

[Jacques Reed]

Originally Posted by Mike K

Nice job Jacques

Did the extinguisher originally have a instructions decal on it ?

And, do you know what brand it is, Simplex or Quell ?

Hi Mike,

I have three foam extinguishers- two transport and one standard type. The one shown had no decal that I could find, not even a remnant. It also had no date stamp on the bottom as the other two did. It also lacked any manufacturer's name. The cap does not fit my Simplex ones, so I believe it is a Quell. Screws on a few turns then binds. The colour is almost a perfect match to Royal Blue based on very well-preserved samples inside the bases and out of sunlight

The second one dated 1950 has an elaborate brass shield on it and is a Wormald Simplex with a standard cap.

The third one dated 1962 is also a Simplex with a transport cap and no decal visible but looks like there was one at one time.

The one show and the 1950 dated one have rivetted vertical seams in the tank. The 1962 dated one is seamless so sometime after 1950 they stopped being rivetted.

I also have a soda-acid transport type Simplex dated 1948. Rivetted seam also. Of interest it has a round knob and the Foam types have fluted knobs. Perhaps to distinguish the type in the dark?

I may use the 1950 one as it is my birth year and closest I can confirm to WW2. From looking at many of them online the design did not change much over the years. I can just put the 1962 transport cap on the 1950 extinguisher and hide the shield to the back as shown in the last photo. The handle then faces out which is even more appropriate.

Cheers,

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Jacques,

You said "The 1962 dated one is seamless so sometime after 1950 they stopped being rivetted." (I'm assuming overlapped, rivetted and soldered?)

How is the seamless body constructed, please? Is it rolled and butt-welded?

Thanks, just curious.

Very nice job with the truck.

Mike

[Mike K]

Adverts from two Qld. retailers The extinguishers were made in different sizes ?

Wyeths advert from 1953

Reddys from 1948

Disposals auction was in 1946

Quell display circa 1970. They didn't change the design much over the years.

https://collections.museumsvictoria..../items/1826156