Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Bob Carriere]

..... nice to read about your progress and eagerness.

Bob C.

[Private_collector]

Am currently spending some days down at Mothers place. We have been slowly working our way through some of Darryls drawers, and came across some fantastic old photos. Several of the photos are over 50 years old.

There are a few photos of various cars Darryl owned, including this one, of his 1960s GMH Monaro. Sorry it's a really crap photo. I took it just now with my tablet thing, while the original (already blurry) photo sat on the coffee table.
20130905_215925.jpg
I had forgotten it was actually a genuine GTS vehicle. It would have been a few years old when he first got it, so wasn't so desirable as would be now. A brief search has shown a couple of these in well restored condition have sold for up to a quarter million dollars. Seriously!!??!?!. Wonder if its still on the road, or scrapped years ago. As an ironic addition, in one drawer I have found some (5 or 6) old speeding tickets, with two from the period when my Brother owned the Monaro. I guess $20 was a lot of money then! Typically,the fines were hidden in the bottom of a wooden cigar box, which was in turn at the bottom of a drawer. Never seen these fines before. Mother hadn't either. Guess he and I had some of the same habits then.

Here's another good photo. Darryl (left of view) with his friend Paul, standing in front of Darryls GMH HQ Premier. The 308 c.i engine had heaps of things done to it, and it sounded great. Not a great photo of the car, unfortunately.
20130905_212912.jpg

[Private_collector]

Got a few little things done over the past week. Repaired the pitting corrosion to water outlets on both cylinder heads (? Inlet ?), using one of those pliable, putty-like, metal fillers. Not had need to use one before, so I found the exercise interesting. I'm reasonably pleased with the results. Deliberately left the repaired surfaces rougher, hoping the rough surface would assist in keeping the water hose in place. Time will tell. Both heads were then painted in the final color. They had been sandblasted about a week prior, but I had to go over them lightly at home, because the blasters had left them out in the rain.........once again. This is an old trick of theirs, and despite changing their guy that does the actual blasting THREE times in past 2 years, not one has the ability to see the need to keep freshly denuded steel out of the rain. Maybe i'm just gifted in that regard, or maybe it's just easy for me to predict the past (Like the Irish psychic). In a case of sheer coincidence, my set of new spark plugs arrived about an hour after I put the final coat of paint on the heads. Did a test fit, and they are exactly what I need. I even like the color (black metal & white insulator, of course).

Had the sump pan to a local welder, for repairs to two small rust-outs along one side, where the block water jacket plugs leaked water directly onto the sealing edge of the pan. They had no problem doing the repairs, and I started painting the pan the day I got it back. You will notice I said "started" the painting? That simple job turned into a trilogy in four parts!!! I put on a coat & a half of VHT engine paint.........then the spray can ran dry. And here's my BIG mistake, I had another full can of engine enamel, but of another brand, so after a little (too little) consideration of the pros & cons, I decided to take the risk of incompatability between the two enamels, and finish using that paint. Guess you know things didn't go too well. There were obvious problems right from the first coat of second paint. They didn't like each other at all! Not bad enough to require stripping again, but sufficiently troublesome to require wet sanding the next day, before being able to go any further. The paint would normally have been well dried overnight, but the mixing of the two types meant I was sanding something akin to pudding, or perhaps treacle. I left the pan out in the hot midday sun after that, for further hardening. By this time I had gone into town (1hr round trip) and bought a can of my original engine enamel. This is exactly what I SHOULD have done when I ran out in the first place, but noooooooo, thought I would take the risk and have a go. Results speak for themselves. To end the long story quickly, once I repainted again with the prefered paint, everything was finally 'ticketty boo' again. Who says you can't make strawberry jam out of pig crap?

With the whole oil pan 'abortion' still fresh in my mind, I turned to my set of NOS exhaust pipes. At least, the part of the exhaust that comes from the manifolds. I have both pieces, and have been itching to get them cleaned up for a long time. The original coating of paint, light surface rust, welding slag (very small bit) & adheased part number ticket, posed no obstacle to the wire cup on the angle grinder. I was very pleased with how the metal cleaned up. Three coats of VHT Flame Proof grey later, I hung them in the shed to dry. The rear end of the exhaust pipe is 2". For some reason I thought it would have been smaller diameter than that. Is that size correct, of are these pipes off a civilian Ford vehicle?

The Gympie Swap Meet was on last Saturday. It was MUCH bigger than last year (which was crap!), and there was a really good variety of things on offer. It was surprising to see so many pieces of old farm equipment there. I wonder if the current trend of making garden features from rural machinery is responsible for that? I nearly bought an old military box, that was for storing a wireless and I think it mentioned an antenna on the side as well. In the end, I didn't buy it, because I wasn't convinced it was WWII vintage. Having researched a little since then, I now know it actually WAS the right age. Didn't even get as far as asking the price, so not aware of exactly what bargain I may have missed...........or vice versa. What I really wanted to find was a suitable exhaust muffler. That didn't eventuate. If I wanted a drainpipe sized exhaust for a tarted up japanese 4 cylinder guzz-box, I could have come away with enough to cover the entire rear of the vehicle. That's a sign of the times, I guess. All I ended up buying were two Flathead V8 engine dip-sticks, NOS, still wrapped in the cosmoline and grease paper. I didn't actually need them (or one), but at $5 each, I couldn't resist the urge to see how they had survived under all that preservative for 70+ years. That night I unwrapped and cleaned one of them. It came up nearly 100% perfect, with only a single patch of light corrosion on the top of the round cap. Incidetally, I never knew there was a foam pad under the cap, until I cleaned this one. Guess the lthers had all crumbled away long before I got to see them.

I do have some photos on the above topics, but am not at home for the next couple of days. I'll download and post those photos when I am able.

P.S: Am currently bidding on an original Ford battery case of what I hope is the correct size. If I get it, I plan to look into making a mold so replicas can be made that will take a modern sealed cell battery inside. The case isn't something that often comes up, so competition may be withering. At least the seller is willing to ship me the case.

[Slava]

Tony,
I looked over your thread long before and with a lot of interest.
Almost my hat off!
I probably put my cheers to you before but forgot it was done or not.
Good luck on your way.
Vlad.

[Private_collector]

As promised earlier, here are some photos of my escepades of recent times.
2x NOS Oil Dip Sticks 1.jpg 2x NOS Oil Dip Sticks 2.jpg
The NOS dipsticks I found at the Gympie Swap Meet on 14th.I only opened one. It cleaned up VERY well.
Heads painted 2.jpg
Heads were cleaned thoroughly, water necks repaired, then a lick of paint to make em pretty. You may notice the neck is wider at opening than closer to the head. That's my attempt to keep the hoses in place, since the remnants of the original rings around the circumfrence (for that purpose) were almost obliterated when the repairs were done.
Left side exhaust pipe painted.jpg
This is one of the exhaust pipes I was talking about. Is 2" tube the correct size for these trucks? I was considering making enquiries around town for a suitable (but not authentic!) round muffler, but will hold off doing so until I know the correct tube size.
Oil pan painted.jpg
This bloody oil pan didn't arf give me jip! My own fault though. Never mix paint types on same part.

[Private_collector]

These spring clamps were made to replace the originals, which were damaged and mis-matched (two different types on same spring set!?!?). Is that original spec.? A local welding/fabricating shop did the folding for me. The bushes you see are for the front of main spring leaves. I don't know how, but I must have lost the original ones. I do know they were buggered, but would have been REALLY HELPFUL to give them to a lathe operator for duplication in original specifications. Guess they will turn up now that I don't need them any more.
New front spring clamps & spring bushes.jpg
Not a bad fit. All except one of the rivet shafts remained stuck firmly in their respective hole. The missing one was replaced by welding a very short piece of round rod to the clamp going in that location. I considered building up weld on all the clamps to replicate the rivet heads, but it would have taken me hours to whittle the blobs back to a round dome. I know, I tried it! I'm also too shakey to hold the grinder accurately. Maybe I could glue little wooden buttons on them.
I still need to remove the excess thread on the clamp bolts. Will do that in the morning, just before I 'string em up' for painting.
New front spring clamps installed.jpg
The spring 'eyes' at front were not round, so the new bushes had to be ground down to the right profile. I used a pedastal grinder with fine stone wheel. Once the bulk of the metal was removed, I finished off the last little bit of shaping with a hand file. I don't EVER want to do that job again. Painfully slow if you're as paranoid as I am about taking too much metal.
New front spring bushes installed.jpg
Despite being careful, the bushes were not a 100% perfect fit, which means the grease would have pumped out the sides instead of getting to the spring pins. That's bad! Sealed the bushes completely, using the pliable metal substitute that was used to rebuild the water necks of the engine heads. It's really good stuff, and I have no doubt that it will do the job. I have a sore thumb now, from forcing the stuff in between bush and spring eye. And Yes, I did remember to make the grease hole in both bushes. They even line up.
New front spring bushes, sealed.jpg



This is how the front springs used to look.
Front springs 1.jpg

[Bob McNeill]

Tony since the grease is fed from the pin to the bush the spring eye will only get the excess, well that how I see it.

[T Creighton]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

These spring clamps were made to replace the originals, which were damaged and mis-matched (two different types on same spring set!?!?). Is that original spec.?

Hi Tony,
It's pleasing to see you back continuing your interesting thread again.

The front springs have two different style clamps.
Bolted ones on the front half and fold-over ones on the rear half.
It's to do with having less clearance between the spring and chassis at the back I would think.
After being rivetted to their respective spring leaves the folded ones are manouvered over the main leaf then the intermediate leaves are slid in between (with a bit of hammering), then the centre bolt and the front clamp bolts fitted.
On my truck I ground all the rust from the mating spring leaf surfaces, primed them, then gave a coat of Molybdenum di sulphide grease to get a nice smooth spring action.
Some say that this can cause broken leaves but I have never seen that happen.
Kind regards,
Terry.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

I was considering making enquiries around town for a suitable (but not authentic!) round muffler, but will hold off doing so until I know the correct tube size.

Pete Ashby once told me a Volvo 240-series exhaust muffler makes for a good replacement; the flathead keeps a throaty roar with one of these fitted.

H.

[Private_collector]

Thanks for telling me about the Volvo muffler, Hanno.

I took another look at the Ford manual, and it shows front springs with bolt-on clamps all round. Anxiously looking forward to the test-fit this afternoon.

20130923_061642.jpg

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

This is one of the exhaust pipes I was talking about. Is 2" tube the correct size for these trucks?

Tony,

1-3/4" seems to be the standard, reportedly bigger diameter pipe makes it lose the "old flathead" sound. If you want I can measure up my truck's exhaust pipe tomorrow.

Hanno

[Private_collector]

Thanks Hanno!

That would be great, if no inconvenience. I'm not i a great rush.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

This is one of the exhaust pipes I was talking about. Is 2" tube the correct size for these trucks? I was considering making enquiries around town for a suitable (but not authentic!) round muffler, but will hold off doing so until I know the correct tube size.

Your engine pipe looks correct to me Tony. All my Fords have 2" engine pipes. Two of them have what appear to be original mufflers (dished end plates, 6" diameter, 18" length) and both of these have 1 5/8" tailpipes. This is consistent with several original tailpipe brackets examined by Jacques and me recently. We determined that they're designed for 1 5/8" pipe. They will accept 1 3/4" pipe, but will not fully close when tightened.

I notice Macs Auto have a suitable muffler for about $58, however it's probably not worth the inconvenience.

[Private_collector]

Thanks very much, Tony!

All this information from you fellows is valuable and greatly helps me to make the right decisions.
$(KGrHqR,!jYFDgmmB8w+BR!H4j81Gg~~60_57.jpg $T2eC16d,!ysE9sy0jKf0BR!H4zmc0Q~~60_57.jpg
I had once investigated ordering one of these from USA, but cost of shipping was incredible. From memory, muffler was less than $90, shipping was more than $200! Bugger that.
$(KGrHqN,!qcFC5srddwYBR!H4pKyG!~~60_57.jpg
It was a genuine Ford product too.

I downloaded these 3 photos at time of first contact with the vendor, but have lost where their I wrote down their web address. Can't order one now, even if I wanted to pay the roughly $300 it would have cost me!