Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Private_collector]

David, your stencil material arrived yesterday, and I will do a test cutting with it as soon as my new pinch rollers arrive. They are expected around this time next week. Certainly an interesting material. Very keen to cut holes in it!

After looking into a number of options, my king pin kit (81T-3111) has been ordered. I broke my own rule, it's NOS. I did ask a lot of questions about condition before buying, so fingers crossed. Total cost = $95 including the postage. The muck you see on the pins is preservative, not rust.

Hopefully I won't have any problems with the kit, but even if I don't like the condition of bearing/s or felt seal/s, it is cheaper for me to purchase a pair of them new afterwards, as opposed to buying entirely new set from somewhere like Macs! Theirs are ~$90 + postage of $45. Ouch! All prices are in USD. New thrust bearings are $4.95ea. New felt seals are $0.95c each.

[Private_collector]

Heading off topic for a moment, I recently ordered a large format print of a favourite photo.
The end product is nearly 1.2Mt x 0.9Mt, and I am very impressed with their work. The print is suitable for a range of displays, and it cost under $13.00AUD. That price included postage within Australia, but I see more recent listings show an additional post cost. They can do prints of up to 3Mt x 1.5mt. My photo wasn't even a good resolution image, so a high res pic could look stunning. The photos are printed onto a fabric material that is easy to work with, and stated to be very hard wearing.

Here is the particular listing. http://www.ebay.com/itm/LARGE-FORMAT...IAAOSwBP9UVP1t

And here is my photo.

I have no association with this company, but just had to bring their work to your attention.
I figured most people would have a special photo or two, that they would love to see enlarged. At $13.00, it's a very reasonable way to make that happen.

[Private_collector]

The inside areas of my wheels are finally painted. Was in town this morning, and when I got home in early afternoon there was still enough time to splash some colour around.

Normally the paint would be touch dry within a couple of hours, BUT this time I had decided to try the pre-packed pressure cans. Nah, it's not something I would go looking for again, unless there was a reason only a spray can would do the job. I can't imagine what that would be! Apart from having a sore 'trigger finger', my main issue is simply no hardener in the spray cans. I don't know what this will mean in the long run, but there is a chance the edges of the rims may react to the paint I apply to the outer surfaces. Sometimes enamel which has dried only a short time, can 'fry' when a fresh coat of paint (it's the solvent actually) hits it. Doesn't matter that it's the same paint, and this can occur without warning. Trial and error, im afraid. Hopefully nothing happens. I will sure be putting the coats on lightly as I can. I think if I put a light first coat (quite a good idea with enamel anyway!) and let it dry a bit, everything SHOULD be fine.

The rim nuts don't look too bad once cleaned of crap, do they? Hah, it's a trap! Read on...
I realised today I hadn't sent all the rim securing nuts to the sandblaster, so they needed my attention. I started cleaning them up while the wheel paint was sort of drying. I'll blast them myself, in my cabinet, but it's not a job I look forward to. Will be rather uncomfortably warm this weekend, so sticking my arms into elbow length rubber gloves is NOT attractive. I don't know how veterinarians do it! At least my arms only get stuck into a blast cabinet. There's no poo involved in that. .

This is the innards of the same nut. Not so great looking now, is it? Absolutely rotten to the point of having virtually no thread visible....at all. Imagine having 8 like this one holding the two halves of a fully inflated rim together. There WOULD be poo involved in that! I think I have a couple of spare nuts around somewhere. Probably somewhere 'safe', I expect.

Last bit of progress. I literally stumbled across the C & B cats-eyes I bought several years ago, so put them onto the gun shield before I lost them again. The 'safe' location had struck again. Searched all over the place when I wanted them, couldn't be found. Gave up, then kicked my toe on em. If you doubt things are currently that disorgainsed, ask Lionel, he paid me a visit today, while in the area. Always good to catch up with MLU bretheren.

[Private_collector]

It's heart warming to see that my luck continues to hold true.

My NOS king pin replacement set arrived yesterday. Take a close look. Notice anything unusual? That's right, one of the bronze bushings is a 'some assembly required' item. Broken into 4 pieces, to be exact. Neither the USPS box, nor the Toledo Steel box that contains the kit, had been damaged in any way. I am therefore suspecting the damage didn't occur in transit. Seller has indicated they will rectify the situation, in some way. Don't know if I will be having to search for replacement bushings yet, but with my luck of late, that could very well be the outcome!

I tell ya, it could be raining gravy and I'd be the one caught holding a fork!

[David Dunlop]

Well, Tony, as long as you are not waving that fork madly above your head at the height of the storm, I suspect you'll be OK.

David

[Jacques Reed]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

That's right, one of the bronze bushings is a 'some assembly required' item. Broken into 4 pieces, to be exact. . Don't know if I will be having to search for replacement bushings yet, but with my luck of late, that could very well be the outcome!

Hi Tony,

You might be able to get a replacement bronze bushing from a local bearing supplier or at least one that is close in size and can be machined and/or reamed to the size you require. The bearings places I have visited, often have a range of standard sized bronze bushings in stock or can get them in.
It all depends if Ford used off the shelf bushings or made up their own sizes just to be difficult.

Anyway it may be worth a try if you get no joy from the supplier.

PS: When I read your trials with parts and service suppliers it at least makes me feel I am no longer alone!
Experiencing things like receiving used parts from overseas being passed off as NOS, Khaki Green paint tinted but no record of the formula kept, and a part welded on upside down despite the welder being supplied a photo of the correct position are just a few of my recent experiences too.

Cheers,

[Private_collector]

G'day Jacques,

I must be about due to write you another novel soon.

Can totally empathise with your experiences. My most frustrating episode of 'you just didn't listen, did you' was back when I had a local welder (what is it with welders?) attach a pair of land rover axle stubs to a length of steel tube, which would then become my gun carriage adle. I made a point of telling them to be sure to align the 6 holes in the two stubs with each other. The brake backing plates had to bolt onto those, so it was VERY important to me that this occur. Do I really need to say what they did? Yes, they were out by a good 10 degrees, requiring me to drill another set of holes in one of the backing plates. As a consequence, I don't go there any more!

On a happier note, the seller of my king pin kit has indicated he will send me another bushing, so unless it gets lost in the mail I have a good outcome. As it turns out, the seller is a pair of Gentlemen who deal privately in vintage vehicle spares. The fellow I have been corresponding with is the younger of the Father and Son in Law team, and is a very decent guy to deal through. Quite apologetic and honest! Their motivation is the preservation of vintage vehicle, so I admire them for that. Kinda restores you faith in humanity.......some of humanity, anyway!

The set of replacement wheels for my grey truck have been painted, last Sunday in fact. I placed them laying down on my trailer once able to be touched, then put a tarpaulin over the entire trailer, so they could cook through this working week. Cook they would have too, because we are already having mid summer type temperatures. Ghastly! I was initially at a loss for best way to paint the wheel nuts red while suffering least amount of damage torqueing them up. Came up with the decision to spray full coat of etch, then turn em upside and spray the red onto the bevelled edge. Once they are all in place, the rest of the nut will be brush painted. How it will go, anybody's guess, but I'll know on Sunday. That's when I will put them all together.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

Neither the USPS box, nor the Toledo Steel box that contains the kit, had been damaged in any way. I am therefore suspecting the damage didn't occur in transit.

I disagree Tony. The outer box is fine but the inner box containing the bushes has clearly been damaged by shifting contents, some of which have lodged inside a bushing, and the heavy king pin has jarred into the side of another bushing, causing it to shatter. If the kit was transported upright with the bushes on the bottom, this would occur at the very first bump in the road! To my mind the seller is responsible due to incorrect packaging. I'm pretty sure Mr. Toledo designed the SQUARE inner box to fit SQUARELY inside the SQUARE SECTION outer box, so the bushings would be END ON to the heavy king pins. Plus of course he probably used a heavy cardboard divider as well. You may want to suggest this to seller.

[Mike Kelly]

The king pin bushes . I've seen some that are steel backed with a thin bronze lining rather than all bronze. I had some new king pin bushes made for my Dodge ute and the guy used brass which was too soft for the application . Some of these machinist guys are hopeless .


When I had 1/2 ton Dodges I went to a machining business and got some of the spring shackles bushed as they were terribly worn to a oval shape. They managed to stuff up the job and the bushes they fitted were out of alignment and it cost a small fortune at the time . That's why these days I do these repairs myself, buy a lathe ... its cheaper in the long run Mike

[Private_collector]

Tony,

I put the lock washers and nuts into the smaller box, and some of the damage to smaller box would be my fault. I accidentally tore away a portion trying to get better access, to take photos. In taking a closer look at the packing of contents within the original packaging, looks like you are probably spot on about the king pins jarring on the bushings. Don't imagine Toledo Steel ever meant their goods to be thrown around in the manner of modern global shipping.

Seller said everything was OK when he posted it, and he does present as trustworthy. Bearing in mind what you have pointed out, sounds like just pure bad luck.

Mike,

You reminded me I need to buy another flathead oil pump idler gear (think that's what it's called) for same reason. Reaming of the new bushing was bollocks up to point that the gear wobbles slightly on it's shaft. Second Time lucky, perhaps?

[Private_collector]

I have had the MOST BIZARRE day, today.

For what feels like forever, I have been working towards getting my spare set of 16" wheels ready to take a set of NDB tyres I was provided with at time of purchasing my grey CMP. For 9 months those tyres have been in my way, and served as a constant reminder that I have a job which should have already been done. I have kicked them, temporarily stored stuff on them, squeezed past them, and chased vermin from around them more than once!

Today, I had everything ready to finally complete the job, in preparation to then take the freshly assembled sets into town for balancing.

..........but the tyres don't @#&|$ing well fit. What the sodding hell is going on. I probably used more of my long dormant vocabulary today than I have ever done. I'm grateful wheels and tyres don't have feelings......(or lawyers!). Rotten mongrel B so and so's.

In desperation, I first slapped grease onto the mating surfaces, then removed all that goop in preference for a mixture of very soapy water. Nope, wasn't having any of it. The bead of the tyres were just a few millimetres too snug for the wheels. Never had this problem on my 20" wheels/tyres! Tried a little gentle 'persuasion' with a block of wood & hammer. Not a sausage. Ok, getting desperate now.......and very, VERY, annoyed. Rang a fellow who has put these on many CMP rims. He has had no problem with them. Oh thank you universe, another special treat just for me. I unloaded another wheel from it's slumber in my trailer, and another tyre from the stack in my shed. Ground hog day. Perfect copy of what I have just failed at. Could have been mistaken for Basil Fawlty in one of his less restrained moments, but I wasn't quite that composed, nor as slim. If muttering curses under ones breath ever becomes an Olympic sport, I'm ready to take gold for Australia. Lord knows I've had practice today.

Tomorrow I take the #*(@/, €¥~%ing, rotten @+\£§ swine, #+*ed things to a truck tyre place. They can share in the fun too. Probably only takes a tap when they give it a try. If not, I'm out of ideas........and swear words. Even the local motorcycle gang members blushed with embarrassment today.

The only positive out of todays train wreck, is simply that the tyres and wheels are now loaded into the back of my truck, and it will be another opportunity to drive it, which I really enjoy. That said, in context of luck today, I fully expect the truck will catch fire on the trip into town, then that fire catching an orphanage alight, followed by the smoke blinding a passing ambulance carrying a pregnant woman who has just been savagely mauled by a vicious dog, all topped off with seven kittens fleeing from under my vehicle....directly into the path of the fire engine! Still, it'll get rid of those damned tyres and wheels, I guess. Not my problem then!

[Wayne Henderson]

Hi Tony,
Welcome to the wonderful world of Blitz Rims. I've had Bridgestones fit on like a glove and no luck what so ever with MRF's. Bought some US tyres that were guaranteed to fit... didn't.

Don't take them to a tyre shop, you"ll just waste yours and their time, been there done that and no one is happy.
Find someone with a large lathe and take 2 ml off the rims. This cleans all the rust pits out and makes the tyres fit. Take care with the edge where the bead fits.
Also hammer wood in behind the rim when in the lathe to stop the ringing or wear 3 pairs of ear plugs

Yes it makes the rims thinner so don't carry 12 tons in the back or jump buses in it.
Some people claim a tapered or flat bead edge makes a difference but that made no difference in my case. Good luck.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Tony,

Sorry to hear about your aggravation....

Read 9.00 X 16 U.S. versus British wheels and new 9.00-16 tyres for WD split rim wheels: conclusion is that US size tyres are too small for British 16" 15-cwt rims.
You basically have two options:

• turn down the diameter of the rims on a lathe (like Wayne said)
• or increase the diameter of the tyre by shaving the tyre bead.

Because of production differences, of course some of us will find some tyres with just a little larger diameter bead, that can be fitted with plenty of soap and force.

20" British rims do not have this diameter difference, so US sized tyres fit without a problem.

Hope this helps!

[Private_collector]

Thankyou Hanno, that gives me some idea what is going on.

Wayne, your info both comforts and depresses me.

With the info you guys have given in mind, I expect the tyre shop won't want to have anything to do with my tyres, potentially on 'safety' grounds. Very nervous, some folk! Probably also quite wise.

I see my options as:

1/ Persist with trying to fit these tyres, via tyre shop in town.
2/ Return the tyres, and buy something new. ?starting same issue.
3/ Whittle down perfectly intact tyres, on the off chance I dont bollocks the job.
4/ Forget the whole waste of time, and cut my losses as such.

Now, I'm not a quitter, as my local tobacco shop will testify. These tyres and wheels only become mine once the set currently on the vehicle are returned, so I am loathe to butcher them. I will follow through with the run to tyre fitting place/s, just to say I have exhausted that avenue. I'll take advice from folks tomorrow, then contact the 'owner' of these tyres, for direction. I judge from my discussion with him today, that this problem has not arisen with him in the past. That is despite mating the tyres to other CMP wheels. I wonder if there were some of both types of tyres in his supply. Now THAT would be interesting.

I really, really, don't want to start lathing metal off my rims. Not because I fear weakness, but because I fear a total stuff-up from whoever gets the job. I know it sounds paranoid, but I have had horrendous work done by those who would have us believe they are 'professionals'......wink, wink. Had an engineering shop mill some metal from a block of aluminium once, and the finished product that was proudly returned, it looked like as I that big guy with the metal teeth from the 007 movies had gnawed at it.

Bet I dream about @#(ing tyres tonight!

[Private_collector]

Right, well, have taken two different sets of wheels & tyres to two seperate tyre shops. Same result. They cannot join them. Naturally, they did not recommend any modification to either tyres or wheels. One place spent a full half hour trying their equipment to press the tyre into place, but ultimately failed. Didn't even get close. Other shop wasn't quite so committed, and came to same conclusion, with less effort by the sounds of it.

Neither the tyres or wheels are mine until I swap for ones on the truck, so I won't be modifying either items. I will return them as soon as possible. I'm a bit pissed off at spending so much time on a project that has come to naught. More the anticipation of the finished product, than time spent.

Guess my truck keeps the non military looking tyres and black wheels!

Moving on. I got the new pinch rollers for my sign cutter today. Now verified that it is working as should be. The 'trial' version of the cutting sorfware I have, is not practical for actual use. When I try to print any design I make, it only allows me to cut a test print of the softwares choice, and not my job. Grrrrrr. That's no more than I figured, and I will be buying a full version anyway. Cutter runs goooooood though! Nice sharp corners, straight lines, and fairly speedy. I'm studying the user manual tonight. First productive thing will be to test that trial piece of stencil material, remember?

[gary_bath_jr]

Hey Tony

What brand of tire did you get? I see Wayne said he used Bridgestone and they worked, I got Firestone (Military) and they went on fine, I wonder if the brand makes a difference. Just food for thought I could be way off base.

Gary

[Private_collector]

Hi Gary,

The tyres I have were made in China. Need I say more!

One of the two tyre fitting places spent more than half an hour struggling to put one on my rim, but unfortunately failed. Now, remembering HE was the one who really made a decent effort, he was also the one who wouldn't take any money for his time.

I put a pair of these onto my gun axle, and they didn't have a problem going on, so it may be a case of the angled bead just being too much for the CMP rims to manage.

My plan now is to go back to the tyre shop that refused to accept $$$ for his time, go through his books for something which won't look out of place, and order a set of those. He will also get any future business for our daily driver tyres etc... The fellow there did say he knew people that have removed bead angles with sander/grinded, but he expressed great concern about doing so. Bearing in mind the tyres are chin-lee, I'm reluctant to grind any of the rubber off, lest I cut through to the steel bands beneath. If I do get a set of new tyres, I will keep the ones that don't fit and return the ones on truck now. THEN the tyres will be mine, and I'll be storing them for use on anything else (like my trailer or replacements for the fake gun). There is no problems using them on modern wheels, apparently.

On another subject, I put the new pinch rollers on my sign cutter on Monday or Tuesday (I forget which day), and received a link for me to download the cutter software. That has now been installed, as well as a VERY large set of logos, various designs and novelty images, and most importantly.....51,500 fonts. There is a stated issue with windows becoming unstable if the installed font library is greater than 1,000. This is unrelated to the cutting software, just a quirk of windows 7. Wednesday I spent over 4 HOURS looking through the font library for what fonts I wanted to install. Naturally, I chose every single font that relates to stencils. Some are truly unbelievable in their appearance. They look so real. One in particular recreates the look of stenciling applied in a hurry and without much attention to detail. In total, I activated approx 940-950 fonts, because I wanted to have room to download additional ones from the internet. I know several site that have huge libraries you can download one at a time, and I have already seen a few I want to have.

I'm in the process of modifying the various settings on the cutter, for best results. Too much pressure from the cutting head and the vinyl gets ripped. Too little pressure and the blade doesn't go through the vinyl sufficiently for signage to come away cleanly. Once I get adjustments right, that can be stored on the cutter as one of four 'profiles'. I will then make further adjustments to test the stencilling material David sent me. That can be saved as another profile.

Have been playing around with the cutter software in past couple of days, and I am rather impressed with the capabilities. I bought Vinyl Master software, which is not as cheap as some others, but you get what you pay for, so I bought best I could afford. I think Vinyl Master is a very good product, and easy to use once the basics have been understood. Once I have found a suitable (read as cheap) flatbed scanner, I can tidy up and reproduce that artwork as logos etc.. Should be fun.

[Bob Carriere]

I know it has been covered before on MLU but no arm in repeating.

Our experience at the barn has been positive.

First the wheel inside portion has to be very clean by sand blasting and painted with a shinny oil based paint.... we use black POR 15.

We bought half a 5 gal. bucket of lubricating snoot..... it is a lubricant used by large truck tire shop which we lather one with rubber glove.

We have built a home made device to press on the tire on the bottom half of the rim. I should do a new series of pictures on how we use it...... we do have 4 tires to install over the next few weeks.

My device is basically a steeltube cross that bolts under the bottom half and presses the bottom bead over the rim..... just far enough to install the tube and flap and then press down the top half of the tire. The top half of the rim fits easily and using the two long studs start pulling the rims sections together. we use a small amount of air to insure the flap/tube do not pinch themselves.

The first design use regular 5/8 threaded bars but the thread got worn very easily. Replaced with ore expensive grade 8 threaded bar and "never sieze" grease on the thread. Even using the impact wrench works fine.

On the HUP 16" rims the walls of the rim are parallel and not tapered like a CMP rim and tires almost just drop on.

I have seen others shaving the bead down to the steel cable beads but I shudder at the long term results.

There has not been one 16 tire that we could not install

Removal is done with a chain saw and a angle grinder...... very carefully and no damage to the rims. The run flats tire casing do leave a generous amount of black rubber chips on the ground.

Persist and don't give up yet.

Maybe I can try doing a sketch/cross section of the tool we built so any one can replicate the process.

On the manufacturers difference..... we never measured the inside bead to bead but I can tell you that between Good Year....Firestone and Mohawk 9x16 tires that once installed we found a height diferences of over 1 1/2 inch. So the caution in the CMP manuals to match tire diameter is a real issue.

Cheers

[Private_collector]

Hi Bob,

I for one, would like to learn your techniques.

Regardless of my recent tyre fitting failures, all is well with the world, at least for 5 weeks. Our Son arrived home today. He has bigger muscles each time I see him. Wish we got to see him more, but 5 weeks over Christmas will do just fine.

[Private_collector]

I was dismantling a surplus Ford cab yesterday, and found something curious. I'm far from experienced with these vehicles overall, but I have pulled apart 4 or 5 cabs at least. When removing the frame that holds the two window apertures, I found that there is a shaped solid steel block that slides up into each side of the window panel frame, and allows additional strength to the three attachment bolts that hold the panel to cab frame. I had my hands full yesterday, but will photograph the part/s I'm talking and post them if anyone is interested.

You will note I mention three bolts holding window frame to cab. Normally one of these bolts has shared duty of being one of the door hinge bolt locations, but not in this case. This cab is the one that takes the canvas covered doors, and there are NO hinges at all. The window frame isn't even one of the parts I was wanting to use. My motivation yesterday was to get the lower rear cab panel off for thorough inspection followed by sandblasting. Unfortunately (and I seem to be including that word in many posts!), that rear panel is in worse shape than I thought. I knew the steel sheeting was badly dented and has perforation corrosion in a number of places behind the lower angle iron section. I knew I wanted whomever gets the job of replacing the sheeting to avoid disturbing the door latching brackets. What I certainly did NOT know, is that the bottom piece of angle is so badly corroded that it has disappeared entirely in one area. Also, two of the diagonal bracing straps are rotten at bottom where they join the angle iron. Repairing the angle iron frame will be a big job. I do have a spare bit for that, but don't have any spares of the diagonal bracing straps. I feel another four-part trilogy coming on!

The main cab frame section seems to look OK, although I have no doubt all of the >65 bolts holding floor to frame will be reluctant to come away without some form or physical protest. This protest usually takes the form of bolt snapping, and for whatever reason, those bolts are commonly the ones that are very hardest to get to, for removing the caged nut!

With Bryce currently home, I'm only putting in token effort on truck, and that is timed for when Bryce is in town at the gym or catching up with old friends. All other times, spending time with him is most important thing. Bryce has said he will be happy to help me get the crank shaft into the flathead engine while he is here, and that will get done when he has free time.

One of the indoor jobs I have been working on, is to compile a list of stencil fonts and print them as a visual reference for selection in the future. I wanted something more than just a boring piece of board or card with some vinyl stuck to it....

so I bought a thin sheet of perspex and stuck as many as would fit. Stencil fonts were stuck onto one side, and the rear side sprayed in my truck green. If you REALLY wanted to be tricky, the stencils could have been cut in mirror image and applied to the side that would get sprayed later, giving a very nice effect. I didn't dare try that, because I wasn't sure how the paint would stick, and didntr wish to see the paint react with the vinyl material. Krylon is one of the better spray packs to use, because it actually melts into the perspex (or other plastic/s) and fuses together. I don't have any Krylon yet. Another good effect would have been to apply stencils, spray entire steet (same side), then VERY CAREFULLY remove all the vinyl lettering etc.. This gives freedom to then spray further color onto the perspex, and when viewed from the other side, it looks absolutely faultless. Once again, that wasn't something I wanted to do at this time, but have made many high quality signs for business and advertising, when I played around with vinyl signage in early 1990s. Go a step further, using a translucent set of spray colors, and you have yourself a simle to make light-box sign.

In future there will be more perspex sheets, to demonstrate some of the different effects that can be had. The RAEME logo and Winston Churchill portrait were cut from gloss white vinyl, and then the applicable white was applied onto flat black vinyl. The RAEME example shows white background retained, and logo becomes inverse. This is what you would want to do, if using the vinyl as a stencil mask. Obviously the background color would be applied (and let dry for 24hrs, or more) to the vehicle surface prior. Mr Churchills' portrait shares same Weeding of the white vinyl, but in this case the portrait lost it's impact entirely if the white 'positive' areas of vinyl would have been used instead. I printed two scenarios for Mr C. One as white image, with the only detail being the smaller areas of white only, and the second scenario as shown. When cut and displayed in the positive, where the subject would have been white on background of whatever..., my Wife didn't recognise who the subject was! When done the second way, he was immediately known. Funny how color can determine how we see something. E.g: Dazzle camo of ships. The second photo above, isn't very clear in subject, but if you look closely, you can see a small Invasion Star on left, without background color, and the other piece is one of my 9th Division identification signs. This one DOES have the flat black background. In this form, its a bit of micky mouse. I would expect all restorers would prefer to spray the black square onto the vehicle surface, then apply a stencil weeded vinyl mask over that, for spraying of the second color through. The stencil would then be removed entirely, leaving only two painted colors on the vehicle. No plastic retained at all!

This is my next night time project, to copy severar types of WWII minefield signs. In coming days I will work on assessing the portion of stencil Board that was kindly sent for evaluation. There is absolutely no doubt that that board will make excellent single use stencils, but I want to attempt turning this material into Oilboard stock, so it can be used over and over again. Im still comparing techniques that will give best result, but it is looking likely I will be applying a form of linseed oil to the board, in anywhere from one to three coats. Once fully 'blotted and dried' I think there is a reasonable chance of making oilboard stencils which are far cheaper that purchasing commercially available stock.

[Private_collector]

The canvas door cab is disassembled. In the spirit of previous work of similar nature, it was painful. Mostly physically. I lost count of the exact number of caged nuts I bashed away (took all of them off), but it is more than ten...in total. Right about now I'm REALLY wishing I had kept note of where I purchased the replacement countersunk flat head bolts I bought for the cab of green truck. I'm confident I would have mentioned that in a post a long time ago, in a galaxy.....

May be some perforation to wheel arches, but am not sure until blasted. The rest of the frame is OK. Lower rear panel is very badly corroded in the angle piece and panel sheeting.

Also the cross bracings are affected, with two needing either repair or replacement.

One curious thing with this specific cab, is that EVERYTHING had anti-squeak pads on. Not just the nose and rear panels, but all the floor panels, along every place where they touch the cab frame. Some of the anti-squeak was thicker than others too.

I am needing to get my hands on one or two of the rear cab cross braces. If anyone has a spare one / two of these they are willing to sell, I would be very pleased to purchase, so I can continue to rebuild this rear panel.

Many thanks,

[Private_collector]

This is one of the solid steel pieces that prevents crushing of window frame when attachment bolts are tightened. I have disassembled a few cabs, but these are the only ones I've seen so far. Maybe the frame is Chev, and I have thus far worked on Ford???? The check plate floor sure suggests Ford. Maybe this is the only truly original and previously untouched cab I have disassembled??? I don't really think this is so either.

I had forgotten how heavy these damn floor panels are, but am now reacquainted. Won't have a chance to take them for blasting until mid or late next week. Trailer still has nice green wheels in it. A favorable phone call on Monday, may mean they get new tyres soon. If not, I'll mothball those for another day.

With my last bit of day, I made and attached the upper shield panel for my gun. My chunk of rope, and $20 shovel from bunnings don't look too bad, but shovel could get replaced if better fitting one surfaces. Doing the plating of rope ends to take the metal thimbles was not easy.

Next gun related task is to finish the brackets to hold sight cases and other things onto the shield. That's gonna mean a whole lot of cutting, because the templates have all been transferred to one piece of steel plate (the cheapskate in me, returns) and I have filled the entire sheet in ackward to cut shapes! Save $10 in metal, spend $20 in cutting disks.

[David Dunlop]

Tony, your gun shield project is looking awesome! Nice work!

With regards to the stiffeners you found in the Blitz windscreen frame, could these be another 'country of origin' modification implemented in Australian production, similar to the change in outline from rhomboid to rectangular found in the cowl side vent doors?

David

[Private_collector]

Hi David, that sure is a possibility. To be honest, it has me stumped. I really want to get to the bottom of WHY these things were there. They certainly are a damn good idea, and there won't be any crushing of the window frame post, that's for sure.

Wow, I didn't know that was reason for the different shaped air vents. I always thought it was a Chev VS Ford thing. Would you believe I used the vent on my truck for the first time, just a couple of days ago. It was real hot, and I thought the flow of fresh air might make things a little cooler. You know, it really didn't! I'm sorry to say I couldn't even notice a difference. Opening up the window, on the other hand, made a hell of a difference. Glad I cut my hair recently!

[Keith Webb]

The rectangular vent was a Holden production thing only, because they built the entire cab here as opposed to the Ford front shells which were all Canadian built.
I've found the cast pieces for the windscreen frames on all the Fords I have disassembled.
Best guess as to why Holden used that shape is because it was an existing die used for cowl vents on cars and trucks. They also redesigned the windscreen frame profile and used the little diecast closers which can be found on other Holden built vehicles of the era.

[Jacques Reed]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

Attachment 78271
I had forgotten how heavy these damn floor panels are, but am now reacquainted. Won't have a chance to take them for blasting until mid or late next week. .

Hi Tony,

Just looking at your rear floor plate it looks to be a F15A with the slot for the single range xfer case lever on the right side of of the fuel tank changeover valve hole.

If you are putting it on a chassis with a dual range xfer case you would need a cutout on the plate for the dual range lever on the left side of the fuel tank changeover valve hole (see attached)

I searched for years to find the correct unmolested F15A rear plate so it would be a shame to cut yours if it is not correct for your truck. Plenty of the rear plates around with the hole for the dual range xfer case though. Sorry though I sold the ones in the picture otherwise you could have it.

A Merry Xmas and a Happy New year to you and your family and look forward to the continuing interesting posts.


Cheers,

[Private_collector]

Thanks, Jacques. I hear you, regarding the floorplates. Wasn't aware of any differences, and still wouldn't be if you had not mentioned it. Unfortunately the rear plate has had two nasty big brackets welded on, which I assume is not original. I'm sure I can massage them off, if need be. I tackled a job today that I have been dreading. I thoruoghly cleaned out the workshop, to the extent that there is now clear floor everywhere, propper storage space for the gun shield, permanent location for my hydraulic press (which I bought around 9mths ago), and most importantly.....I can now contemplate rolling the chassis outside for a good blowing down with the air hose and soft brush. Spring cleaning came late this year, and I may not have even done it today, except that I had a gentleman passing by who spotted the daily driver CMP and asked if he could have a look. He was with his Son (I think it was his Son) and they were heading into town. They knew straight away that it was a 13 cab type, and as it was obvious they were 'in the know', I was pleased to speak with them and show them around. The workshop was in a disgusting state, and I was genuinely embarrassed I had let it go so badly. After they left, I thought RIGHT, that's enough of this! Spent all day, but got it all spic & span again. Not taken any photpgraphy. I finished after 1900hrs. Unsure yet if Bryce wants to go to the beach tomorrow, but if he doesn't want to go out, we will line up the grey truck, extend the front winch cable, and pull the restoration chassis out into the sunshine for the first time EVER since it was assembled. Bloody mud wasps have had high jinx building their ghastly little homes, but I think I have now removed all of them.

I hope all you chaps have had enjoyable Christmases. Here, as with last year, we didn't get snow. This has been the case for some years now. In fact, probably been snow free since the last ice-age, 10,000yrs or more ago. In place of snow, we got 35 degree (Celsius) heat. I would have preferred snow, really.

At my age, Christmas doesn't really involve much in the way of gifts.....apparently! Mrs B and I did exchange gifts x1 each, that we had colluded on. We both got new watches. Bryce got a wifi device from us. There is no internet available on his base, so we thought this may be of benefit to him, and also we might get the occasional email or two. He also received a good quality torque wrench, which I had engraved with his name, rank, and service number. More about engraving in a moment. Bryce bought me a VERY special gift which I will always cherish.

This is my Christmas present from Bryce, a bottle of Port (well I think it is port!) that commemorates "100 years of RAEME". Although this isn't exactly the case, I think we all understand it refers to all the names that the Australian Army have called their Engineers in last century. RAEME, by that name, only came into being after WWII. Hopefully you can read the writing on the bottle. It explains this better than I. I have no intention of opening the bottle, unless a very specific circumstance arises. I pray that event does not occur, and the bottle will remain untouched!

The grey truck didn't have a bad Christmas either. I have bought it a complete set of corner lights and a new pair of side mirrors. I'll put those on when I get a chance, with mirrors the more urgent need. One of the old ones is deteriorating rather badly, thanks to the Queensland sun. The plastic is starting to crumble on drivers side, and I fear the glass may fall out if it progresses much further.

The local company I used to do the engraving on Bryces torque wrench (laser etching, actually) are able to work from a range of suitable formats, and it got me thinking about doing a test to reproduce the generally illusive CMP shift pattern plates etc.. If anyone has either a good quality photo of any shift plates OR a black and white scan/image of such plates, I would be very interested to see them. I will then go about seeing what can be done to make an acceptable replication onto aluminium.

On another topic. Does anyone have first hand experience with installing the Ford flathead engine and gearbox WITHOUT removing the cab????? I would very much like to get my cab back onto the chassis without further delay. The only thing preventing me is of course the unfinished engine rebuild. If it can be put in carefully, with success, it will get me some more workshop space that I intend to use for my sewing machine. It is currently in the other shed, and in the way there! No doubt the nose panel would need to come back off, but that's quite acceptable and not a real big job. If the cab was back on, I can also start installing wiring etc... Any thoughts, folks?

I'll post a couple of photos once I drag the chassis into the sunshine.

[Keith Webb]

A lot of us have done this, it is not too bad if you leave the front shell off so you can get at things easily, but if the cab is intact you'll need something like a forklift to poke it in.
It's quite doable but far easier to do with the cab completely off.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

I know it has been covered before on MLU but no arm in repeating.

Our experience at the barn has been positive.

First the wheel inside portion has to be very clean by sand blasting and painted with a shinny oil based paint.... we use black POR 15.

We bought half a 5 gal. bucket of lubricating snoot..... it is a lubricant used by large truck tire shop which we lather one with rubber glove.

We have built a home made device to press on the tire on the bottom half of the rim. I should do a new series of pictures on how we use it...... we do have 4 tires to install over the next few weeks.

My device is basically a steeltube cross that bolts under the bottom half and presses the bottom bead over the rim..... just far enough to install the tube and flap and then press down the top half of the tire. The top half of the rim fits easily and using the two long studs start pulling the rims sections together. we use a small amount of air to insure the flap/tube do not pinch themselves.

The first design use regular 5/8 threaded bars but the thread got worn very easily. Replaced with ore expensive grade 8 threaded bar and "never sieze" grease on the thread. Even using the impact wrench works fine.

On the HUP 16" rims the walls of the rim are parallel and not tapered like a CMP rim and tires almost just drop on.

I have seen others shaving the bead down to the steel cable beads but I shudder at the long term results.

There has not been one 16 tire that we could not install

Removal is done with a chain saw and a angle grinder...... very carefully and no damage to the rims. The run flats tire casing do leave a generous amount of black rubber chips on the ground.

Persist and don't give up yet.

Maybe I can try doing a sketch/cross section of the tool we built so any one can replicate the process.

On the manufacturers difference..... we never measured the inside bead to bead but I can tell you that between Good Year....Firestone and Mohawk 9x16 tires that once installed we found a height diferences of over 1 1/2 inch. So the caution in the CMP manuals to match tire diameter is a real issue.

Bob,

Please post a sketch/cross section or photo of the tool in the restoration forum so others can replicate the process.

Thanks,
Hanno

[Jacques Reed]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

On another topic. Does anyone have first hand experience with installing the Ford flathead engine and gearbox WITHOUT removing the cab????? I would very much like to get my cab back onto the chassis without further delay. The only thing preventing me is of course the unfinished engine rebuild. If it can be put in carefully, with success, it will get me some more workshop space that I intend to use for my sewing machine. It is currently in the other shed, and in the way there! No doubt the nose panel would need to come back off, but that's quite acceptable and not a real big job. If the cab was back on, I can also start installing wiring etc... Any thoughts, folks?

Hi Tony,

Here is a very old photo (pre digital) of the engine and transmission coming out of my F15A chassis. I made a strong back out of RHS and angle and attached it by 8 bolts to the valve gallery where the intake manifolds sits to spread the load out. It was easy to fabricate and if you like, I can send a drawing of it. A series of holes for the shackle lets you lift the the engine and transmission together, or just the engine, keeping it level at all times. It used a front towing shackle from the truck to get the correct throat for the RHS width so that even saved a bit of money.

No doubt you could install it the same way with the cab on if you have a engine crane available with adequate outreach and capacity and shorten the lifting chain. The shop manual shows a similar arrangement using a special block and eyebolt inserted in the valve gallery.

I agree with Keith too. Probably best to leave the cowling off to give room to maneuver even though the shop manual indicates it can be done with it on.
Based on the number of cowlings I have seen with the top front crossmember cut out and the later factory mod of that front crossmember being a bolted in type I would say the manual diagram is not 100% correct and that part of the cowling gets in the way.

Cheers,