Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Private_collector]

Hi Lynn,

I did consider making a pair of domed ends, but after getting them made I would need to find someone to attach them to a suitable standard muffler. My welding often resembles rat vomit, except a little more chunky! Though what I lack in skills, I try to make up in enthusiasm. In this instance........i dont got either.

As Dirty Harry once said, a mans got to know his limitations!

I can't afford that expense right now, but should be able to after tax return.
From what I am hearing in the media, sounds like I will be having to work another few years before I can retire. Govt. is raising the retirement age again, this time to 70 years. Won't be thanking them for that, miserable swines! Obviously they don't care that a lot of folks won't be physically able to hold employment by that vintage.

[Lynn Eades]

O.k. I'll try this another way. Some muffler shops make their own mufflers.
You might be able to have what you want, made for a bit less than the $200 for the American one. With practice, lumpy rats vomit becomes smooth rats vomit.

[ozm29c]

Tony,
I know its a long shot but have you contacted Mercury Mufflers in Buderim? They are muffler manufacturers and based very close to you. They only supply to the trade however I am sure that they could advise you what they have in their inventory.
http://www.mercurymufflers.com.au/index.html
Cheers
John

[Private_collector]

Cheers John! I'm looking into their website now, and will call their Buderim facility on Monday. I would be more interested in keeping my $$$ here in Australia, if possible. The US seller is also capable of manufacturing to my specs., and can do this at any time I request, so it is good to keep that as a last resort. Speaking realistically, there is still a chance that it may be cheaper to buy from the other side of the planet, than from a retailer here in Aus. Global market indeed!

When my Father in law passed away, I got a good quality MIG welder returned back to me, having given that to him about 7 years ago. That one is a 'real' welder, and is capable of working either with gas or gasless. It can also be adapted to TIG. Tomorrow I will have a little play around with it, to get familiar again, and hopefully use it ongoing from now on. My other one (well, actually I have 2 identical 'others') is only gasless, and although it is quite usable, it does have a quirk in that the wire is always live. The good one only makes the wire live when the trigger is pressed. When I found the other one had that quirk, it took some time to come to terms with. Initially I thought it may have been faulty, but this is not the case, it's just a different way of working. I will be pleased to return to the old fashioned way of working!

When I was spraypainting, all those decades ago, I was taught to MIG by a friend of mine who was a panelbeater. I found it very difficult, because the helmets then did not have a self changing glass, so in the second or so that it took me to lower visor.......well, lets just say I had 'wandered' a little. Still within same post code of the area the weld was intended for, but often astray sufficiently to be useless as a weld! I have a slight tremor that makes me entirely unsuitable to stick welding. The distal end of the rod waves around like I was water divining. At least with the self changing masks, I can usually get away with MIG welding, even if I cannot use the other hand to stabilise the nozzle.

I have some more welding to do tomorrow on a breech mechanism I am making, and will do that with the better welder. That said, it has become BITTERLY cold here tonight, and I believe tomorrow will still be cold and windy, with possible rain. If there is rain, I won't be welding. All my welding is done outdoors these days.

I'll post again tomorrow night, with outcome of how I went with the good welder. If the results are still not acceptable..............don't expect any photos! Ideally I will be able to finish that part and show it off. With FAR TOO MANY episodes of being let down by the guys that do my blasting, I finally told em I had tolerated their repeated delays too long and would not be giving them any further business. A chance discussion with a long time friend enlightened me that the other sandblasting business in Gympie had changed hands, so I went there on Wednesday with a number of small parts (for both truck & replica artillery piece). The boss took my parts and said they would be ready for me to pickup next day. Sure enough, they were. I had asked them not to etch the parts, because I wanted to see their workmanship. Very pleased to discover they were all PERFECT! Took the two barrel pieces there yesterday, and will get them back mid next week. Don't think I will get them joined together (or to the breech) before I go back to work in a weeks time, but will try. The 40 metres of 55mm wide steel box I brought home recently, will be making the upper & lower edges of the carriage legs. Steel plate will make the sides of each leg. A local welding works has been promised that last task. They are keen to get involved in the project. That's serious welding there, so i'm keen to have them do it instead of me!

[Private_collector]

Fired up the better MIG this morning, and did that welding I needed to get done. Played around a bit first, getting all the settings right. Damned pleased I did too, because it took me a little while to 'un learn' the technique I had been using on the other, crapier welder. This one is sooooooo much better! Never had a misfeed, didnt have to suffer that horrible continually live handpiece, nor did it sound like it was a microwave running on defrost! Excellent machine. And I can finally buy the wire in sizes larger than sewing bobbins.
Breech Block primed.jpg
The breech block is now under primer, with a first coat of blade putty applied. I had not yet applied the putty at time of taking this photo. Tomorrow I will sand that back and see if I need to apply any more.
Front Drive Shaft & Jack Shaft.jpg Front Drive Shaft parts.jpg
With that done (anti-climax, really) I turned my attention to blasting some driveshaft parts, including the pieces Robert had sent me. The blast cabinet was constipated, so I emptied all the medium out from the hopper, and intended to clean the cabinet & strain the grit. Then I remembered I had bought a hand held spot blasting gun, so I used that to do the job instead. Only problem was that within 2 minutes I had completely changed color, to a nice hue of Garnet (The mineral that is, not the Warren Mitchel character). Another 15 min of work and everything was primed, ready for painting at next opportunity. Wouldn't dare have tried applying color today. Quite windy, and rather chilly. Not painting weather.
Front output shaft from Transfer case.jpg Oil seal retainer, front output.jpg
As one final gesture, I did a test fit of the recently arrived flange...thingy..that the emergency brake drum is attached to. Fits beautifully. I found an issue with the oil seal retainer plate and coresponding bearing cup where the gearbox shaft goes. The bearing cup does not fit in the transfer case sufficiently deep enough for the seal plate to fit as it should. The bearing is definately in as far as it can go. The shaft turns OK, with no slack or strange noises. This little problem has me scratching my head. I really do not want to disassemble the case a third time. Only other way around it is to apply an extrordinary amount of shims, and thats just a cowboy fix! Has anyone come across this before? All bearings & cups are new, and all others sat in the correct positions and did not need anything more than just a single gasket +/- a thin shim. Buggered if I can work it out!

Oh, I nearly forgot......May the 4th be with you. :-)

[Private_collector]

Started assembling a couple of driveshafts this afternoon. Ruined the first one! While tapping in one of the end caps, the universal body moved down a little too far, and one of the rollers that sit inside the cap fell down on the top of the spindle. Didn't realise until I discovered I couldn't push the cap in properly. Cap couldn't be retrieved, so I had to cut the uni, destroying it entirely. Never had that happen before. I'm tempted to blame the LNP Govt., but really it's just my stupidity. Too late in the day. Brain had already knocked off. The body should have as well. Words were said!

Am hoping to get the transfer case into the chassis tomorrow afternoon. The problem with painting something nicely prior to installing is the obvious fear of paint damage.........often becoming the reality of paint damage. After scratching my head a bit, I came up with sleeving the chains in some of that foam tube that goes over roof racks. The local foam shop has it, and i'll get some tomorrow when in town.

Bought a set of tool cabinets yesterday. Been wanting those for a long time. Supercheap has a special on (OK, I know they ALWAYS have a special on) and I couldn't resist. Now I will have somewhere for all the tools I have inherited from Dad and my Brother, Darryl.

The new sandblasting guys came through for me again. I had sent some tapered metal tube (an old light post) earlier in the week. He did say they would be finished by end of the week, and they were. Exceptional work.......again. Wish the current owner bought the business long ago. I wouldn't give business to previous operator. Didn't like his attitude.

Still trying to find the time to disassemble the fuel storage tank I have been given. Maybe tomorrow morning. Maybe.