Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Bob McNeill]

We have had several regularly on rallies over the years, from the Chrysler club in Sydney.

[Private_collector]

Firstly, Bob I conceed those cars are actually quite attractive provided they haven't been rolled or had a 'crocodile' tank walk over them


With the poop weather this weekend, I didn't get much done. I got the nose panel back from sandblaster....in the pouring rain...under a tarp. My shoes are still drying from the muddy yard at the engineering co. who does my stripping. On the more possitive side, we got 75mm of rain in 48hrs (3 inches). It's 'good for the wheat' as Basil would say!

Did get some disassembly & blasting done for one of the seat sliding mechanisms. The seat base/back itself will be blasted professionally, later this week.

I'm having trouble uploading photos right now, so I'll edit this & add more tomorrow.

[Private_collector]

Andrew,

You are right of course.

I didn't notice the difference when I posted the pic. Must have been the excitement of the moment.

[Private_collector]

With a fellow MLU'er, I travelled to Allora, QLD on Saturday morning to pick up some parts a chap has been holding onto for me.

Came back with:

Fuel tanks (one set of two & a dodgy one)
Headlight sets
Voltage regulator
Master cylinder
Tank brackets & straps
Set of shock absorbers & linkages.

I should be able to add a steering wheel to the list, but left it behind by accident. Hopefully this can be posted to me in near future.

I have been working on the shock absorbers / linkages this afternoon. One will need to be pulled apart. May just need fluid I hope, but ???? why it would be down in level. Leakage perhaps?

I am now needing a set of the rubber seals that cover the linkage joints. Anyone know of a supplier?

Also need one of the locking plates that go on the end here.

[Grant Bowker]

Only having Chev CMPs I have no experience to tell me if these fit, but they certainly look like yours.
The tins for the shock links seem to be at http://macsautoparts.com/shock-absor...R3CHL1129717E/
Matching rubber seals for the tins are http://macsautoparts.com/shock-absor...R3CHL1129716E/
They are small and light enough that shipping might be reasonable, or there may be a distributor in Australia.

[Private_collector]

Grant,

I may end up trying those rubber grease seals from Macs, but there is a difference in that the hole for the shock link is offset from centre, and the exact type that came off had the hole dead centre. I don't think they have any other ones, at least not that I have found.

I am also looking at LWD Parts. There are some there that may also fit.

[Private_collector]

[Keith Webb]

Now to acquire all the bench testing gear, eh?

[Phil Waterman]

It would be interesting to read the text to see just what they are testing for. I tried rebuilding one of these units by putting it back in the truck to test and that just is not really practical. I was working from the standard CMP MB-C2 manual. Set up to test it on the bench with a vacuum pump and it was a lot easier. Issues I ran in to were as follows:

1. Leaks between the base plate and barrel
2. Leak at the one way check valve
3. No problem with the piston shaft
4. No problem with the actuator valve
5. No problem with main piston seal

Using the vacuum pump with and a ball valve I was able to test each component for leak down. As the number of leaks was narrowed down listening with a stethoscope became useful. When all the leaks are tracked down an minimized the brake booster will hold vacuum up to over night. Though even with a booster that will not hold charge once the engine is shut down the boost in braking power is significant.

Keeping the air that is going into the unit clean seems to be the biggest issue. Which means finding a replacement for the bellows boot, fortunately off road shock absorber boots can be found that are a very good size match.

But as I said it would be very interesting to hear what the major test the Bendix Book is recommending.

Cheers Phil

[gjamo]

Here is a pdf of a similar manual if anyone is interested.


http://www.tm9-801.com/tm9-1827b/tm9-1827b.pdf

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi Tony - Bower Brakes here in Adelaide rebuild these. I have had several done and I believe these guys are the only ones in the country that do them.

Bob

[Phil Waterman]

Thanks for posting the link to the Bendix Manual download. It just amazes me that you can a question about a resource and with in hours some body comes up with a resource.

The Bendix Manual looks like it will make interesting reading.

Cheers Phil

[Private_collector]

I have started assembling the wheels to tyres.

Only minor hitch was the 30 minutes it took to tighten the nuts, because I wanted to wrap each one in low tack tape before putting the spanner onto them, to minimise the damage to paint. Notice I didn't say 'eliminate'! I vaguely recall there used to be a rubberised compound you could buy for dipping tool handles. That stuff could possibly have coated the spanner or socket. If I can find the stuff I will try it.

What color do I paint the ends of these wheel bolts? Are they red like the nuts, or green like the wheel?

Rear shock finished. The other one is still soaking to allow easier disassembly.

[Private_collector]

Finished the first seat today, with help from new bolts, springs and eventual success getting sandblasting done. First time seat was blasted, the guys left it out in the rain, unprimed.



This was the original state when I first saw them.

Sound condition though.

The seat canvases look quite good, but I can't seem to get all the wrinkles out of the back, no matter how much adjusting I do. The stuff in the seat runner tracks is actually grease. Once I slide the seat along mechanism a few times, I will remove excess.

With daylight fading, I started pulling the brake vacuum booster apart. I had read the manual fairly lightly & promptly forgot it, so when I got the two parts of the vac chamber apart, the giant spring that jumped out at me came as somewhat of a surprise. It also prompted several very bad words which would make a bikie blush!!!. Great bloody way to end a weekend. Like being on the set of The Magic Roundabout.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

What color do I paint the ends of these wheel bolts? Are they red like the nuts, or green

Erm, Tony, I really think you are doing a great job, but maybe you are taking it a little over the top? This is a military truck, which was assembled from parts, sometimes in various colours (green, sand, brown), and then spray painted a uniform shade at end of the line. Painting red wheel nuts or applying camouflage colours was done with spray guns or brushes by the military users with available paints. They were not too concerned about scratches on wheel nuts, or any other parts for that matter.

Keep up the good work, but don't overdo it. My €0,02 worth anyway.

Regards,
Hanno

[Private_collector]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

Erm, Tony, I really think you are doing a great job, but maybe you are taking it a little over the top? This is a military truck, which was assembled from parts, sometimes in various colours (green, sand, brown), and then spray painted a uniform shade at end of the line. Painting red wheel nuts or applying camouflage colours was done with spray guns or brushes by the military users with available paints. They were not too concerned about scratches on wheel nuts, or any other parts for that matter.

Keep up the good work, but don't overdo it. My €0,02 worth anyway.

Regards,
Hanno

Hanno,

Now, Now. Plenty of time for scratches later. When my enthusiasm wanes. As my dear old Dad used to say, Perfection will be adequate. I'm not quite that bad though. Still, you should see my chook house


P.S: All jokes aside, by the time I finish this truck, these bits now will be well worn. Trust me.

[Andy Cusworth]

Hey tony,

seats look good, maybe wrinkles will go with wear as the material gives.

Regarding colouring your nuts I'd say the thread head is green so that if a nut was not put on you notice instantly the absence of red prior to inflating tyre or if you lost one of that makes sense ?

Thats a posh Chook House .... i bet you have the manual for it too

[Keith Webb]

Hi Tony

If you keep searching you may be able to find a pair of original seat cushions to repair and use. They are sprung and until you try them you don't realise what an integral part of the truck's suspension they form.

Here's a pic of a very good original so you can see how thick it is. They are also reversible which is why they have two sets of tags.



You can see the difference:

[T Creighton]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

I am now needing a set of the rubber seals that cover the linkage joints. Anyone know of a supplier?
Also need one of the locking plates that go on the end here.

Hi Tony,
Those ball joints are early Ford steering tie rod and drag link ends.
It looks like Macs have the seals
http://macsautoparts.com/early-v8-st...d/F30/cc/1125/
I bought mine locally so you might be able to get them in Aus somewhere.
Keep up the good work.
Cheers,Terry

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

Now, Now. Plenty of time for scratches later. When my enthusiasm wanes. As my dear old Dad used to say, Perfection will be adequate. I'm not quite that bad though. Still, you should see my chook house

Tony,

Perfection is great, but when you come to a point where perfection is not defined one should make choices. Anyway, I will anser your question: the ends of the wheel studs most likely were red, as the nuts were painted red by the military using a brush.

Unless one of your ancestors was a soldier and a perfectionist like you. He would have removed the wheel nuts and spaypainted them red, thus leaving the wheel studs green - that is, if they had any paint on them to begin with. . . .

Keep up the good work!

Hanno

[Andy Cusworth]

hope this does'nt drive you Nuts Tony

Hanno, I know what you are saying and likewise any vehicles coming out of the British Army used to have up to 15 layers of paint literally slapped on as they deployed to different theatres or for squaddies on jankers but Tony is an ex painter and with high professional standards it would be hard to let those high standards go ... I however have no such qualms about low standards and will upset the rivet counters being at the other end of the scale... only joking !

[Private_collector]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

Tony,

Perfection is great, but when you come to a point where perfection is not defined one should make choices. Anyway, I will anser your question: the ends of the wheel studs most likely were red, as the nuts were painted red by the military using a brush.

Unless one of your ancestors was a soldier and was a perfectionist like you. He would have removed the wheel nuts and spaypainted them red, thus leaving the wheel studs green - that is, if they had any paint on them to begin with. . . .

Keep up the good work!

Hanno

Cheers for the info. Red they will be!

Funny you should jest about soldier ancestors, because my Father was WW2 veteran, and was trained as driver / mechanic on Blitz's! I'm no perfectionist, not by long way, but Dad really was. I know he thought very fondly of both the Ford & Chevrolet CMPs. If his stories were an indication, I do believe he fancied the Chevs over Fords. I'm not sure how he tolerated the jungle mud on his trucks without going insane! When Dad left the army in 1946 he started a new career as a builder. THAT'S where his perfectionism really paid off. Any close look at my restoration work will show nothing is perfect, some things nowhere near it!. With these trucks I am working on the premice that everything deteriorates the moment you finish working on it, so I try to start high. I do appreciate your comments and input.

Terry, I do believe you are right! I'll order a few bits in coming couple of weeks anyway. Might as well stick these onto that list. In meantime will keep my eyes open for nearer source. There was a swap meet at Gympie last weekend & I had asked 2 suppliers but didn't have a sample with me for them to look at. May photograph & email to them just out of curiosity.

Keith, Those seat bases look nice & chunky. I have only seen the spring frames without the padding or covering. I have plans for manufacturing some seat pads & canvas one day, but thats a while off yet. I will need to learn upholstery before I attempt that. The two sets of tabs was a great idea, but i'm don't know why they didn't just attach one set half way up the side. Then they would still be reversable but use less material. That secone pair of tabs just hanging out there would annoy me.

P.S: Keith, i'm still needing a set of F60 data tags. General hint!!

Andy, You cheeky bugger! No manual for chook house. That one came from inside my head. Your logic about the nuts makes sense too, but i'm lazy & am gonna make a hex shaped template to fit over the nut and spray the whole thing red.


There probably won't be any progress this weekend. With the recent rain & temperatures going up, it's mowing time.............yayyyyyy! Bloody grass, taking my truck time away from me.

[Andy Cusworth]

I still prefer green centres

The dip stuff for tool handles is also marketed as a do it yourself wiring connections sealer and is stocked at i think BCF and Supercheap, it comes with a small brush attached to the lid and i think its about 20 bucks.

Look on the bright side, once the truck is done you can attach a gang mover to the back and impress the neighbours with your giant green mower !

[Private_collector]

Originally Posted by Andy Cusworth

I still prefer green centres

The dip stuff for tool handles is also marketed as a do it yourself wiring connections sealer and is stocked at i think BCF and Supercheap, it comes with a small brush attached to the lid and i think its about 20 bucks.

Look on the bright side, once the truck is done you can attach a gang mover to the back and impress the neighbours with your giant green mover !

Andy, whats a gang mover??

I will look for the tool handle stuff tomorrow afternoon. Also going to truck tyre place to order some new tubes & wheel liners.

[Andy Cusworth]

3 or 5 gang mowers used for cutting grass, were popular for towing behind Grey Fergies etc.. A lot of cricket grounds and councils still use them in England.

[Andy Cusworth]

This is a Timber Crane conversion i am always banging on about

no confusion over the colour of the wheelnuts either

[Private_collector]

With the nose panel & second seat not ready for return from sandblaster due to a machinery breakdown, I went back to work on the rear axle.

This weekend I got the drivers side hub off & removed all bearings from both sides. As with the mates side, the drivers side hub nuts showed signs of chisel marks in direction of loosening. Nuts are OK & needed only a filing down to remove burrs. Notice the 'dimples' on the stub in the 2nd photo? Only short axle end had these. Other end would have been done by someone else & I guess they had other ideas.

With the inner seals removed, it was easy to see why the insides of both hubs were dramatically fouled with oil/grease and dried dirt mixture. The seal shown here was the worst of the two. The extent of gunk buildup has been shown in a previous posting.

The short axle shaft has been damaged at some stage. It's not the damage that concerns me so much as how it happened. There was no metal pieces in the drained oil, at least none that fell out with the oil. May be best if I crack the two halves of the diff open to check the crown & pinion. Are the correct gaskets still available or will I need to make my own???

Hopefully, I can take the hubs to the blaster next weekend with some other pieces. Won't have to worry about sand in bearings, but will pack these areas heavilly with rags so no damage occurs.

The bearings have been checked, cleaned, given a coat of light oil (until i'm ready to repack) and mothballed on the shelf while I await new seals, gaskets and wheel cylinders from RockAuto in USA.

I've got 2 weeks off in mid October & hope to have the diff back together by then, so it can go for blasting and priming. There is a sodablasting Co local, BUT they charge $210.00 per hour. An old mate of mine reckons thats more than prostitutes charge........................I wonder how he knows that for sure.

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Tony


Having played the game of broken axle shafts I would suggest that you go ahead and remove the Diff Carrier and clean it well. When an axle has broken often it leaves lots of small bits of metal. You may find that the marks on the end of the axle shaft didn't even happen in your truck and that the shaft has been changed from another truck.

I've never seen the big diff gaskets, what I've done is gotten a couple of good grade lithograph paper from a print shop and cut my own. Then I use a good spray gasket sealant to soak them and let them dry then give them another coat both sides and install.

If you get to the point that you need another axle, then obviously looking for a donor is always a good idea. Down your way that should not be to hard. Where I live there are not many CMPs so I actually had shaft made by a racing equipment outfit, they make axles for race cars and drag tractors.

Cheers Phil

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

Attachment 44132 Attachment 44133
This weekend I got the drivers side hub off & removed all bearings from both sides. As with the mates side, the drivers side hub nuts showed signs of chisel marks in direction of loosening. Nuts are OK & needed only a filing down to remove burrs. Notice the 'dimples' on the stub in the 2nd photo? Only short axle end had these. Other end would have been done by someone else & I guess they had other ideas.

Tony,

Looks like the stub has been worked over with a centre punch, creating raised dimples. This is sometimes done to give the inner bearing race a bit of grip to prevent it from rotating.

HTH,
Hanno

[Private_collector]

Originally Posted by Phil Waterman

Having played the game of broken axle shafts I would suggest that you go ahead and remove the Diff Carrier and clean it well. When an axle has broken often it leaves lots of small bits of metal. You may find that the marks on the end of the axle shaft didn't even happen in your truck and that the shaft has been changed from another truck.

Phil,

You are absolutely right. I plan to open the diff this weekend. Don't want to have any need to do so later, and that means there can be no shortcuts now.

Re: The diff gasket. Do you mean you join two pieces of gasket sheet to make one piece? If so, do you double them over and build up to an even thickness??

I'm sitting here making new axle gaskets, but am not sure how you mean for the diff one.