Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Keith Webb]

Nicely illustrated Jacques. That green colour is pretty.

Incidentally (I know you probably don't need any now) I have some NOS handbrake cables for the F15A as well as the little rubber accordion boots for them.

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Keith,

Yes they are pretty, pretty hazardous to health if ground down to dust!

Jokes aside, I think I may drill out the rivets on the linings keeping everything wet as I do to prevent any airborne dust. Once the linings are off and the shoes are washed down they should be safe from contamination.

So Tony if you need them give me a shout. I have two NOS, and 2 VG used 3 1/2" wide shoes. They are no good to me as they do not have the pins for the handbrake lever as used on my F15A. I have a correct spare set anyway.
And thanks Keith I have the handbrake cables, boots and a spare set too.

[Private_collector]

Hi Guys,

And thanks to all, for the information.

My front brake hubs are most definately narrower than the rear, which poses more questions than answers. My chassis was 'reduced' to 115", so it must have been longer, correct? If it WAS a longer chassis, and assuming the writing under the hood lid which was "60L/1942", is original (and I believe it was, based on script and condition of writing) then my front axle should not be the F15/F15A/F30 type?!? It is though. Can you confirm I am right or wrong from the following two photographs, please.
Front axle assembly 1.jpg Steering joint 1.jpg

Jacques, thanks for the offer, but I have a second set of 3 1/2" on my spare rear axle assembly. I'm confident the front ones will be 2", though not fully understanding WHY they are. Some axle swap in the past, most likely.

Now i'm even MORE keen to get those on ebay. That's a whole lot of front pads for me to choose best of, and send another set away for relining. Some of the auction ones seem to be colour suggesting previous relining, and others obviously original, and evil! That said, I agree with Jacques, that there are safe ways to remove, and dispose of, asbestos linings.

I recall the exact day I was enlightened to the dangers of asbestos. It was a Sunday, and 60 Minutes (a current affairs show, for all you foreign folk) ran a story about a number of people who were dying of asbestosis and mesothelioma. Earlier that day I had just finished removing inside walls of a house we were renovating. Guess what the walls were made of! While I watched the 60 Minutes story, the asbestos wall lining was sitting in a shattered pile in back yard, ready to be carted away. We made a good show of breaking the chunks into small pieces, so it would fit in the back of the car. There must have been asbestos dust EVERYWHERE that day. No idea it was of any concern until that evening. My Father had asbestos related lung damage, which he never knew about, and was only discovered by CXR the day he passed-away. He had been a builder for over 30 years......right through the 50s, 60s and 70s, which were of course the days when asbestos health problems were not known about, at least by general population.

I curse you James Hardie!

[Private_collector]

Bought the remainder of bolts needed to finish assembly and installation of pintle. Some parts yet to be painted. Thats tomorrow job #1.

Bumper brackets are also to be painted, thats tomorrow job #2.
inspection lamp assembled 2.jpg inspection lamp assembled 1.jpg
The new wiring for inspection light arrived wednesday, and I finished reassembly last night. I managed to knock a few bits of paint off, while man-handling to 'encourage' two parts to come together, so it will need another lick of paint tomorrow as well.......job #3!

The last pair of Ford engine mounts arrived yesterday. These were needed for the cab floor front mounting positions. I put those through the brackets this afternoon, primarily so I don't lose them. Never did find the two bushes for for'd of front spring sets. They're here somewhere..........I think!?!?

Currently searching internet for 3/4 UNF csatle nuts to go on tie rod ends. Original ones are OK, but not good enough to be re-used.

Finally, I have found this set of radiator hoses for sale.
radiator hose set.jpg
Are these the style that were original? I have two conflicting images in two manuals, showing this type in one and a solid metal pipe style in other. Grrrrr!

[Keith Webb]

To explain a little more about the front ends, the 6" steering ends were not introduced until well into cab 13 production, so all the earlier 3 ton trucks had the light front end and steering box.
So this configuration is probably correct for your truck.

[Private_collector]

Cheers Keith, I will get some sleep tonight after all.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

I have found this set of radiator hoses for sale. Are these the style that were original? I have two conflicting images in two manuals, showing this type in one and a solid metal pipe style in other.

I've always assumed the metal pipe was used on all CMPs, as a means to save rubber during the war, and that any full-length rubber hoses found on CMPs are post-war replacement parts, like those seen in pic 1 (purchased 1973).

I've noticed the Army retained the metal pipe in post war years. They're still present on my FGTs which would have been disposed of in the '60s.

I'm planning to use metal pipes on mine because they look more genuine to me, but unless someone knows of a source I shall have to get some made up. They need to be mandrel bent, as opposed to press bending done by exhaust shops, which squashes the inside of the bend (looks wrong and would probably cause problems fitting hose clamps). Some specialist exhaust shops can do mandrel bending to maximize gas flow (eg. for turbos) and various engineering works, eg. bullbar manufacturers. I made enquiries recently and was quoted around $200 set up cost, plus material and labour at around $20 per unit. For the moment I've just used straight exhaust pipe with suitable rubber sections (two bends from a Falcon radiator hose) as seen in pic 2.

Perhaps I'm wrong Tony, ie. full-length rubber WAS used on some CMPs. However I much prefer the look of the metal ones myself. The two small rubber sections in your pic look right, ie. rough surface texture and spiral moulding marks. Not sure about the red stripe though. Hose clamps look right, ie. pre-worm drive type.

I guess it depends how obsessive you are about appearance! I'd be interested to know what others have used.

[Jacques Reed]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

Jacques, thanks for the offer, but I have a second set of 3 1/2" on my spare rear axle assembly.

No worries,

If anyone else out there wants them please contact me. They are no good to me without the F15A handbrake lever pins. I will very carefully remove the asbestos linings, 2 x NOS, and 2 x used giving you a full set of bare rear shoes to reline for spares. The used shoes are very clean and free of rust.

Cheers,

[Private_collector]

Tony: I was giving serious consideration to sourcing metal tube radiator pipes UNTIL you mentioned the price! Bugger me, that's the cost of my first car....ish. Have a look at this s/s kit from Macs:

http://macsautoparts.com/early-v8-fo...0R3CHL1140489/

It's polished within an inch of it's life, but nothing a sandblaster wouldn't remove ASAP. The kit is for 42-48, and may be a better option than getting some made?

Todays debarcle
Thanks to bad weather, today was a let down. No painting could be done. Rained off & on all bloody day, with not even a patch of clear sky to apply a quick couple of coats and rush the parts inside again.......while laughing maniacally They will wait until better opportunity presents.
Mud flap frames ready to cover.jpg
Instead, I worked on the front mudflaps, and now have them ready for the upholsterers. The guys had a great & clever way to ensure the canvas layer over the upper plate stays in place and doesn't twist while tightening bolts to mudguard. Simple really, make all the holes a tight fit for an eyelet (think thats what it's called) to be tapped into place once the canvas is finished. In the above photo, you can see one of the eyelets that will be used, along with the two original door check-straps. I'm hoping the upholsterers will be able to find a good substitute for these hard, old ones.

Between rain squawls, I got a little further with the front end disassembly.
Front hub driver side 1.jpg Front brake shoes 1.jpg
Took driver side hub off. Easy enough! Took out the brake shoes. Easy enough! Notice my brake shoes don't have the lining along the entire length of the shoe? Why is that?!?! The ebay ones are getting more and more attractive.

I REALLY wasn't expecting the the major problem that I came across next.
Driver side back plate welded on 1.jpg
Some berk has welded the brake backing plate to the steering body, in two places! Great welding. They really should be congratulated for that. Pity they chose to showcase their abilities on MY TRUCK! This discovery puts a HUGE barrier to the way I intended to work on these parts. I really can't sandblast backing plate safely while it is still attached to the other part. And if I don't get it off, painting the two parts together will be a nightmare too. To remove the 2x welds, I will need to buy a special air tool that can take burr bits, and spend christ knows how long removing the weld. The good news is that wheel bearing and cup look to be OK, and may not require replacing. Guess i'll sleep on the weld issue.
Pintle test fit 1.jpg
Finally, I got to prepare the pintle parts for paint, and made a trial fit to make sure the bolts would sit correctly. After removing a little metal on the spring set where pintle bolts pass by, everything lines up well.

[Jacques Reed]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

Tony:

Took driver side hub off. Easy enough! Took out the brake shoes. Easy enough! Notice my brake shoes don't have the lining along the entire length of the shoe? Why is that?!?! The ebay ones are getting more and more attractive.

Tony,

On almost all drum brakes with the wheel cylinder at the top the leading (front) shoe always has a larger lining on it. The trailing (rear) shoe always has a smaller lining on it. The front shoe provides most of the braking force when going forward. The drag between the drum and linings tends to apply more force to the front shoe and less to the rear shoe when going forward.
In reverse, less speed is achieved which means less braking force is required so the rear shoe has a smaller lining. If the linings were the same area as the front ones you would get "reverse whiplash" when you touched the brakes driving in reverse.

Cheers,

[Jacques Reed]

As per attached photos the name "Raybestos" on the inside of the linings says it all. It can also be seen faintly in the genuine Ford lining

I decided to remove the linings as per a previous post before I moved them on.
A 34 C degree day is not the best time to be wearing a spray painting mask while doing this but if I stick them back in storage they will remain there for another few years until I get a roundtuit.

Interestingly the used linings which appear grey in colour are the ones shown here so they don't have to be green to contain asbestos.

Cheers,

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

Tony: I was giving serious consideration to sourcing metal tube radiator pipes UNTIL you mentioned the price!

Yes, you'd need to order 20 units to spread the set-up cost, that would bring the unit price down to around $30. I haven't shopped around though so there may be cheaper options.

Some time ago there was a NOS pipe on ebay, with a Buy it Now price of AUD 183 plus shipping from the US!! It kept recycling on my watched items list for about a year until I finally had to delete it!

I had a look at the Macs dress kit at a nearby hot rod shop a while back. It's designed to fit under car bonnets so the bends are close to 90 degrees, as opposed to about 45 degrees on CMP pipes. It would probably fit but it might kink the rubber section.

I'm very interested to know what pipes have been used on other CMP restos. Or does everybody just use full length rubber hose...?

[Private_collector]

Shame about the Macs ones.

I'll just bide my time and see what shows up.

I won those brake shoes on ebay too, by the way.
Sellers sound like very nice folk, and have restored a F15A of their own.

Today is the first time I was flooded OUT from home.
Major piddle down in the early afternoon lead to flash flooding, and although I left work as soon as I found out about the rising waters, we didn't get home in time and had to sit a two flooded causeways while the waters went down again. First one, then the other. Despite all the pleading and begging of emergency services, there are soooo many people who take the risk still.