FGT No9 (Aust) 134855 restoration

[Keith Webb]

Euan delivered the now sandblasted rear body frame and some work will need to be done on it before it is cut (precisely I hope) to join the rest of the body.
I spent some time today cutting some spare pieces from the remains of the old wrecked body to salvage some pieces of angle to use to replace the mountings for the lower left 2 gall can holder and step (which also needs to be fabricated).
Also cleaned and painted the shovel clamp, the spare wheel ramp clamps and the clamps which are used to secure the fronts of the wooden floorboards in the rear of the vehicle.
I've been labelling and bagging these as they are primed and they're going into a dedicated (marked) ammo box until they're needed.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

Euan delivered the now sandblasted rear body frame and some work will need to be done on it before it is cut (precisely I hope) to join the rest of the body.

Any progress yet Keith? Anxiously awaiting developments here! Hoping to see many pics of FGT 9 body reassembly - a rare and sacred event! So many of these got the chop after disposal it doesn't bear thinking about. The unusual thing about 134855 is they left the subframe intact - I presume you'll just use the superstructure off the rear section....?

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by Tony Wheeler

Any progress yet Keith? Anxiously awaiting developments here! Hoping to see many pics of FGT 9 body reassembly - a rare and sacred event! So many of these got the chop after disposal it doesn't bear thinking about. The unusual thing about 134855 is they left the subframe intact - I presume you'll just use the superstructure off the rear section....?

I've looked at all possibilities, but because the existing subframe has been cut and has a fair bit missing the cut will be just in front of the 'D' pillar, which is the rear of the crew compartment. Unfortunately the crew seat has to come out because it needs a fair amount of rust repairs.

Hoping to do this ASAP and will take lots of pictures. Euan has access to a plasma cutter so we can do nice straight lines - I find angle grinders are difficult to control.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

I've looked at all possibilities, but because the existing subframe has been cut and has a fair bit missing the cut will be just in front of the 'D' pillar

Yes I can see it would be quite a complex job to retain the original subframe, not really worth the extra effort. D pillar looks like the logical place to cut and weld. Just make sure you hang on to any left over bits, I need patterns for fabrication! Initially I'm planning to get some lengths of subframe channel made up, and hopefully the sheetmetal sections for the crew seat as well. If this is possible I'll get a few spares folded up at the same time for potential future projects. If yours are badly rusted you may be interested too, I'll give you a ring to discuss.

[Keith Webb]

Hi Tony, great idea... we can pattern from my crew seat if you like - I'm sure there will be several other projects in need of this.

[sth65pac]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

I've looked at all possibilities, but because the existing subframe has been cut and has a fair bit missing the cut will be just in front of the 'D' pillar, which is the rear of the crew compartment. Unfortunately the crew seat has to come out because it needs a fair amount of rust repairs.

Hoping to do this ASAP and will take lots of pictures. Euan has access to a plasma cutter so we can do nice straight lines - I find angle grinders are difficult to control.

Keith,

Just don't cut that outer rail. They are unique to Gun tractors. One piece - twice as long as the 13 Cab. Nice to see you are underway. That rail helped me identify a few chop-shop sawmill versions.

Ian

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by sth65pac

Keith,

Just don't cut that outer rail. They are unique to Gun tractors. One piece - twice as long as the 13 Cab. Nice to see you are underway. That rail helped me identify a few chop-shop sawmill versions.

Ian

Hi Ian
Not sure which rail you mean...
All Ford No8 and 9 gun tractor lower side rails are in two pieces with a join at the rear edge of the standard cab outer rail. You can see it in the pics of my FGT earlier in the thread.

[Keith Webb]

Yesterday with the help of Andrew Laiton (standing to the left in the rear view) the FGT was finally reunited with a rear body. There's still some adjustment to make before any welding can take place as it appears to have sprung a few mm when one of the cross members had to be removed but should line up fine in the end.
Paint is Khaki J from Flowrite paints, huge thanks to Gina for ensuring the best possible colour match.

[Tony Mathers]

Looks very nice, I will have to come and have a look