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Jacques Reed 01-05-13 08:04

Ford CMP "Blitz" miscellany
 
5 Attachment(s)
I have attached drawings here of an original Ford CMP tailpipe bracket, the one that attaches to the left rear fuel tank bracket. These are hardly ever seen on these vehicles as they are usually long wasted away or badly bent and removed and tossed away.

Thanks to Tony Wheeler who kindly lent me his I was able to clean it up, straighten it, and lift the dimensions from it. It is posted here for anyone to use. The photos before and after show what it looks like. I wondered about the stiffener at first, whether it was "factory" but in view of the spot welds discovered during its clean up I am 99% certain it was original and not a retro fit. The pipe in the clamp is new 1-5/8" diameter pipe.

I was going to call this thread "Finishing off my F15A" but our family's life was turned upside down two weeks ago.

Our son-in-law broke his neck in a horse riding accident and the prognosis is not good. Our daughter and he are expecting their first child in Sept, our first grandchild, so we are spending all our time between home, the Austin Hospital and their property at Kilmore two hours away from where we live.

Vehicle restoration is on the back burner for now and the foreseeable future but I wanted to at least finish off this drawing and post it here as Tony was kind enough to lend the original to me two months ago. Thanks again mate.

Cheers

Ganmain Tony 01-05-13 08:28

Jacques
 
Very sorry to hear your news Jacques..

Very generous of you to post this info. Originals of this type are nigh on impossible to find.

Hope to see your truck some day.

lynx42 01-05-13 09:54

Jacques, we are very sorry to hear about your son-in-law. We all hope that he make a good recovery. Good luck with your new grandchild too.

regards Rick and Jill.

cliff 01-05-13 09:56

so sorry to hear the bad news Jacques Reed. Just goes to show how quickly life can change after an accident. I wish your Daughter and Son in Law the best for the future.

hrpearce 01-05-13 10:34

Jacques, your family are in our prayers at the Pearce house.

Jacques Reed 01-05-13 22:39

Son-in-law's accident
 
Good Day,

To Tony, Rick and Jill, Cliff, Robert and all others who have offered their kind words of support Sue and I thank you for your thoughts and will pass them on to Emily our daughter, and Ricky our son-in-law.

For those that follow Aussie Rules football, Ricky is the older brother of Jordan Bannister who is a current AFL umpire and the first former AFL player to become an umpire. He played for a few seasons with Carlton before making the change.

Jordan wrote an article about Ricky in the Melbourne Sun newspaper this past Monday 29th in the Sports Confidential section. It may be readable on line.

I will try to continue this thread with restoration info when I get the chance.
I have a folder full of drawings so will pull them out and see what I can post which may be of benefit to others restoring the Ford CMP's such as the dimensions of the .303 rifle butt holder. This wooden item is usually rotted away on most vehicles.

Thank you all again for all your support.

Cheers,

Jacques

Ryan 02-05-13 11:47

All the best to ricky and the gang Jacques. All hope to his prognosis getting better.

Jacques Reed 03-05-13 03:31

Thanks for your thoughts
 
Hi Ryan,

Thanks for your kind thoughts.

I never met you but I think I may have visited your place two years ago to see a CJ-2A Jeep you had for sale which your wife kindly showed me. Hope I have the right person?

Just another project to be put on hold for the time being. A 1946 CJ-2A was dad's first car after the war and the first vehicle I ever drove (at 12 years of age)

Lot of sentimental ties to that type of vehicle so maybe somewhere in the future I will restore one. Probably have to be a US import job though, not a lot in Aus.

Wife also "suggests" I finish the Ford "Blitz" first which is not such a bad thing. Eventually I'll get there.

Cheers,

Tim Lovelock 03-05-13 04:35

Dear Jacques,

I'm very sorry to hear of your son-in-laws accident. Remain positive medicine has come a long way in our short life times, as a paramedic for 18 years I know of no other place in Victoria which could offer better care to your son-in-law.
All the best, reading the posts above it is nice to know there is a fraternity of others that can offer support in this time, cheers.
Tim

Jacques Reed 03-05-13 08:07

Thanks for your thoughts
 
Hi Tim,

Thanks for your kind thoughts and words of encouragement. We are remaining as positive as we can be. We hear lots of stories from people who knew someone in similar situations and remarkable improvements in their mobility have occurred with time.

We have been overwhelmed with the support the family has been given. From a benefit day held at their local pony club to people volunteering to look after the horses, everyone wants to pitch in.

Their good neighbor has leant me his hydraulic wood splitter and that's my weekend project to split a pile a wood that arrived on the day of the accident.
Most has been split small enough for a guy to manhandle but not small enough for a 5 month onward pregnant woman to handle. With chilly Kilmore winters approaching the stove will be burning 24/7 shortly.

We never gave the NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) much thought until two weeks ago but now we realize how important it is. These things affect the whole family and should have been in place years ago. You would see stories on television and think that can't happen to us- but it does.

Although I am not a big fan of Julia Gillard at least the NDIS will be a decent lasting legacy of her time in power should she lose the next election which looks almost certain.

Cheers,

Jacques Reed 07-05-13 01:03

Making cotter pins- Ford "crab" distributor points
 
3 Attachment(s)
As I previously mentioned, truck restoration is on hold due to our son-in-laws serious injury but in quieter moments I will add things to this thread which may be of use to fellow restorers. At this stage there is no progress to report after three weeks unfortunately but we are remaining positive.

Here is the first one:

Making small cotter pins used in Ford "crab" distributors:

I found these tiny pins almost impossible to find or else exorbitantly priced due to postage and handling. At one model engineering supply house they worked out to $5 each with the P & H.

I found a few methods on the net on how to make them by model engineers but most involved using a milling machine or a Unimat machine which I don't have.

Borrowing some ideas from them I used a mounted stone in my drill press and ground a piece of tie wire to a "D" cross section then bent it around a small jewelers screwdriver shank to the shape of a cotter pin. Probably all up it took half an hour to make them.

I used and old pipe flange mounted on the drill press table but only to prevent damage to the table if things went wrong. With care, the edge of the table could be used if it is a round table with a machined edge. As shown, I clamped the wire to the flange, set the drill speed to maximum and lightly brought the wire against the stone and rotated the table about 30 degrees with a bit of drag set on the table clamp. A few light passes is better than one heavy pass. A bit of a rub with emery on the sides to tidy it up and you cant distinguish it from an original.

Hope you find this interesting and/or useful.

Cheers,

Jacques Reed 27-05-13 02:13

Ford CMP Rifle butt socket drawing
 
4 Attachment(s)
As I mentioned previously, posted here are the plans for the wooden rifle butt socket that attaches to the floorboard behind the seats of a Ford CMP.

I was lucky enough to have one original in VG shape in order to make a pattern for the second one. Photo shows the original one. Usually these are long rotted away.

A mate of mine who is a keen woodworker made the second one one up for me many years ago.
He advised me that it was impossible to rout out the socket in one piece with the slope on the bottom, cannot rout to an acute angle, hence the use of a wedge piece. We used our best estimate of how it was done without having to destroy the original to find out.

Hope this is of some good use to fellow restorers.

For those that have followed this thread just an update that today it is 6 weeks since my son-in-law's accident. He is still in hospital and unfortunately there has been very little progress so far. We remain positive, however, as that is all we can do.

Private_collector 27-05-13 12:14

Rifle Butt Blocks
 
3 Attachment(s)
Jacques,

I had these made locally, about a year ago.
Attachment 57521 Attachment 57522 Attachment 57523
One of the chaps that volunteers at the Gympie Woodworks Museum made them for me. He got the sloping floor almost perfect. Quite remarkable, considering he did all the inside work with a chisel!

My only criticism would be that they were too good. So good that I couldn't bare to paint them, out of respect for the craftsman.

If my memory serves me correctly, I thought it was Phil W. that sent me the plans. If not, my apologies to the actual supplier. The pair that were made for me cost $50.

Jacques Reed 28-05-13 01:40

CMP truck Rifle Butt socket- replica
 
2 Attachment(s)
Hi Tony,

I must admit I agonized over painting versus oiling/varnishing mine also when I had the replica made. As the original was painted, I went with painting them both.

I am not positive but I believe it is made from Blackbutt which is quite appropriate in view of its use.
My mate who made it for me comes from northern NSW where it is common.

The attached shows the replica and the unpainted underside. It is a lovely grain and a pity to hide it but I did! Yours look great Au-natural too!

Cheers

Private_collector 28-05-13 10:00

Those do look nice too!

I had wondered if the base inside bottoms could be routed if one end was raised up to match the degree of slope. Then it dawned on me that the sides would no longer be exactly vertical, and the routing would not work. What would work is if the base was crafted as a seperate piece, then positioned with small panel nails. There are a couple of ways this can be done. Either make the bottom exactly sized to fit inside dimensions and nail across, or make to have the raised base with a lower outer section so that you turn the whole thing over and nail vertically. Doing it the second way would allow the base to be slightly oversized in width, and then lightly sanded back to correct profile.

I have a couple of the metal alternatives to the wood blocks. They are highly corroded, but will make good patterns, should the need arise in future. They are two different sizes. One is considerably larger than required for a SMLE. A number of months ago I had the fortune to have a brief play with a BREN, and it struck me that the larger metal block would have been roughly the size of the BREN butt. The truck I cut these off had a 'gallows' bracket still attached (which I also kept), and the piece I was particularly wanting, a 'sunshine roof'. Could that part be for a BREN, I wonder.

Jacques Reed 20-11-13 00:19

Ford Flathead engine studs
 
1 Attachment(s)
In a very early post I mentioned how my Ford Sidevalve V8 had a problem with Chinese made studs purchased from a well-known American supplier stripping. These studs barely extended to the top of the nuts so there was not full thread engagement with the nuts hence the stripping.

In fairness, they were the correct length and I noted many of the original studs barely reached the top of the nuts. Maybe just better grade steel in those days?

My engine builder wound up using later 8BA head bolts, which did the job, but just did not look right on a wartime engine. I've read pages of info, pro and con, of studs vs bolts and good arguments can be made for either but I just like the looks of studs and nuts on those earlier engines.

I have just obtained at the Bendigo Swap a set of studs which are slightly longer and therefore the threads on the studs go all the way through, and slightly above, the top of the nut. This should ensure no stripping.

I had teed up with Michael Davidson of Flathead Fever, a well known Ford Flathead racer and parts supplier to bring them over from Adelaide to Bendigo. I try now to see first before buying whenever I can. He has them made in Adelaide so it also helps keep the local economy going.

There are two sizes 2.50" and 3.125" and they come with all nuts and ground washers. They are actually meant for 8BA's with alloy heads but should work a treat on my C69A block.

If you have the original cast iron oil filter bracket on the head then you need 3 more studs 3.50" long. Surprisingly the Chinese made ones did not strip as they went well above the top of the nuts on the bracket so they are still being used.

I asked him what stud thread sealer does he use in the block and surprising he said the best sealer is Holden (GM) stud sealer. He's built dozens of racing motors and never had a problem he says. Sounds like good advice to me!

Cheers,

Jacques Reed 30-12-13 01:12

A slight diversion from the Ford Blitz
 
1 Attachment(s)
I've been a bit quiet here lately, but thought this may be of interest even though it is not technically CMP vehicle stuff, but it sure will come in handy for vehicle restoration work. Believe I posted some info previously in MLU on the "New Shop Equipment" thread.

I finally have my 1940's Australian made Qualos lathe up and running. There is a bit of a military connection as the company was set up in WW2 and many of them were delivered to the RAAF.

Backtracking a bit, I was offered it in May from a friend of ours, but due to a serious family issue did not pick it up until the 1st Sept.

Despite the temptation to do a total strip and restoration I fought the urge and just settled for a good tidy up, headstock flush and clean, and compromised by repainting just the legs and chip tray.

On the 23rd of Dec I finally had it reassembled on its legs and the rewiring completed. (nice Christmas present too!) It can be run both directions using the original 3 phase, 3 pole, double-throw switch. Motor is single-phase, capacitor start, but same HP as original.

I already have few projects in mind for it for the Blitz.

Here's wishing everyone on MLU a Happy, Safe and Prosperous New Year.

Cheers,

Marc Montgomery 30-12-13 12:26

just a note on the rifle butt blocks... I used my excellency condition originals to make plans which appeared in one of the Convoy magazines..perhaps thats where Phil W got the plans?

In any case Tony may have the easy solution to create the slope by making the oval sides and interior-sloped bottom piece as two separate items, By the way , it you want to be really accurate, there should be a small 3/16 hole drilled horizontally at the low end of the slope to allow for drainage.

Originallly they should be painted, but I can easily understand the desire to have varnished wood which would stand out.

Meantime Jacques, I sincerely hope your family has some good news re you son-in-law in this new year. 2013 seems to have hit our collector community hard with the sad loss of a few members and some vintage vehicles.

Jacques Reed 30-12-13 14:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marc Montgomery (Post 189819)
j
Meantime Jacques, I sincerely hope your family has some good news re you son-in-law in this new year. 2013 seems to have hit our collector community hard with the sad loss of a few members and some vintage vehicles.

Thanks Marc for your kind words of support. It indeed has been a year of tragedy on many fronts in our MV community.

As an update: Ricky, our son-in-law, has now spent over 8 months in hospital and the rehabilitation centre.
Not a lot of progress to report and it could even be another 6 months before he could go home.

On a brighter note however his son, William, and our first grandchild who now is almost 4 months old, has given him a big morale boost and the family so much joy in an otherwise joyless year. He is an alert, happy, healthy, little fellow keeping our daughter and my wife busy. I joke that I see less of my wife now than when I was at sea! Still, supporting the family in time of need is what life is all about.

I thank everyone here for their kind words of support during this past trying year for our families.

Cheers,

Jacques

Jacques Reed 17-07-14 07:29

CMP Metal rifle butt socket and extended rifle holder
 
1 Attachment(s)
Quote:

Originally Posted by Private_collector (Post 180511)
I have a couple of the metal alternatives to the wood blocks. They are highly corroded, but will make good patterns, should the need arise in future. They are two different sizes. One is considerably larger than required for a SMLE. A number of months ago I had the fortune to have a brief play with a BREN, and it struck me that the larger metal block would have been roughly the size of the BREN butt. The truck I cut these off had a 'gallows' bracket still attached (which I also kept), and the piece I was particularly wanting, a 'sunshine roof'. Could that part be for a BREN, I wonder.

I have been sorting through some of my bits and pieces and rediscovered these two items.
Just wondering if they were for a Bren or LAAMG as the vehicle I removed them from had the LAAMG gallows bracket on the side of the cabin. They were both behind the passenger side seat while the driver's side had a regular wooden butt socket and standard .303 rifle holder behind it.

The metal butt holder had the remains of split rivets in the 16 holes which held what looked like thick felt to protect the rifle butt. Size is 170mm long x 70mm wide x 62mm deep.

I cleaned up the steel butt socket mainly as a pattern. The steel was quite wasted with a few holes in it. Looks better in the picture than in real life. Bit like E-dating sites!

Any info from Blitz armaments experts will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Keith Webb 17-07-14 09:09

Butt holder
 
That's a standard Australian one as found on Fords - the FGT has 6 of them.

Jacques Reed 18-07-14 00:23

Ford CMP extended rifle holder
 
1 Attachment(s)
Thanks Keith,

So it is just another later/earlier version of the shorter one pictured below?

Without a .303 rifle to check it out, and based on the smaller sized clip at the top of the extended holder, did the short one hold it by the stock and the extended one hold it by the barrel?

Over the years I have seen only the shorter ones on Blitzes where the holders still existed.

Cheers,

Keith Webb 18-07-14 10:30

Bases
 
Hi Jacques

I was referring to the bases rather than the barrel clips, interestingly the FGT has a double clip on the front one with a base on the inner wheel arch. The upper bracket mounted above the windscreen has two clips for different weapons.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jacques Reed (Post 197828)
Thanks Keith,

So it is just another later/earlier version of the shorter one pictured below?

Without a .303 rifle to check it out, and based on the smaller sized clip at the top of the extended holder, did the short one hold it by the stock and the extended one hold it by the barrel?

Over the years I have seen only the shorter ones on Blitzes where the holders still existed.

Cheers,


Jacques Reed 31-05-15 00:51

Making an engine decal copy on an inkjet printer
 
1 Attachment(s)
After I got a couple of the stick on decals for the PCV system air cleaner I mentioned in the parts section I noted the extra thickness of them so I thought I would try to convert them to a thinner waterslide type by using my scanner and inkjet printer. After a few trial and errors I had reasonable success.

Lessons learnt:

Cut decal paper to 4 x 6 photo size and feed via the rear tray or dedicated photo feed. Saves wasting valuable large sheets of decal paper.

After scanning the original decal, use 4 x 6 photo paper similar to the decal paper to practice settings, colour adjustment, scaling etc. instead of wasting your valuable decal paper. When you are happy with everything you can print on decal paper.

Use white decal paper and not clear paper. The ink density is not high enough in an inklet printer to show on the black background of the PCV air filter. (scratch one clear sheet of decal paper). Carefully outline edges with a black waterproof marker then cut close to outline to hide any white.

Most important as stated on most websites on decal making is spray it with Krylon Crystal Clear or similar to seal the surface before using it. I let ink dry a day before spraying just to be sure. Otherwise the water soluble inkjet ink will run when you place it in water and you will have a mini sixties psychedelic poster!

If you have a laserjet printer then the above may not apply, but for those who do not, this is a good alternative.

The results are below. Original NOS on right, new waterslide decal on left.

PS: Supplier never answered my query regarding making other decals. Should have given him 1 out of 5 for communications on Ebay but I didn't. Just too nice a guy.

Cheers

Private_collector 01-06-15 13:56

Cool! That looks really good. I didn't even know you could get such a product to print on. Well done.

Also, is Krylon still available? I remember that stuff from years back. I used it for adding color detail or shading to computer cut signage. I dabbled in computer cut signs when I was in my 20s. Wish I still had the cutter. The Krylon I knew of would virtually weld itself to the sign vinyl, and couldn't be scratched off. Is that the same product you use? I gather it makes the decal colorfast by doing the same thing?

Jacques Reed 01-06-15 23:55

Krylon availability
 
Hi Tony,

Thanks, they came up better than the picture shows due to slight out of focus of the picture. The decal repro of the repro was as sharp as the original.

I got the Krylon spray at Spotlight, in the arts and crafts section, same shop I got my cotton webbing for the floorboards. (It pays to wander off when the wife wants to browse through a haberdashery shop. Amazing what you find!)

Cheers,

Private_collector 02-06-15 01:50

Point taken, Jacques. I will be taking Mother to lincraft tomorrow to buy some wool (for her not me), so will take a good look around. I misunderstood when she said she wanted some 'course yarns', and, well, got a couple said before she stopped me.

Be careful with Krylon, if it's the same stuff it has carcinogens in it.

Jacques Reed 15-04-16 23:45

Logbook Holder- Cover flap
 
2 Attachment(s)
With winter approaching here in Oz time to think about ticking off those pesky little restoration jobs that can be done in the comfort of the house and not in the shed on a cold Melbourne day.

First up is the log book holder cover flap.
Can anyone confirm what material was used on the cover? Was it canvas, or leather, or even vinyl perhaps?

Also the shape of it would be helpful such as square or rounded corners.

Hopefully the press snaps won't be too hard to match up.

Amazing what you find in unexpected places. Last year while cleaning out my late Father-in-Law's garden shed I found a vegemite jar containing some copper rivets as shown in the photo. Cut to the right length, they will be identical to those used to secure the flap to the back of the holder.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give me on this.

Cheers,

Jason Linders 16-04-16 02:31

Hi Jacques Reed,
I will have a look at mine today and let you know and the thickness ,
but im sure its leather

if you need anymore info let me know

Thanks
Jason

Jacques Reed 16-04-16 03:35

Logbook holder cover flap
 
Hi Jason,

Many thanks for that info. Will be glad to know its thickness and shape at the front.

Thought with the looseness in the existing rivets it might be leather, or maybe canvas doubled over to make it thicker where it is riveted to the back.

Cheers,

Jacques


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