Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

I have a second bracket on the Organ Donor that goes on driver side. Looks to be original, and goes on the inner side of chassis behind the steering box bracket.

It's definitely original Tony, but for some reason it wasn't always fitted. It seems to have been omitted from many early production Fords, including several of my own 1942 trucks. There's no question of them having been removed subsequently, as the chassis bolts are too short to allow fitment in the first place. However in every case the main RH bracket is drilled to accommodate the second bracket, which leads me to wonder if it was a design change, followed by a delay in supply of the new part.

Interestingly it's present on my two FGT chassis, which would also have been 1942 production. This leads me to wonder if it was initially designed for winch trucks, ie. to brace the bumper against sideways displacement caused by cable force through the front rollers. Perhaps this was found to be a problem when winching sideways.

I happen to have a particular interest in bumper brackets, stemming from an incident 40 years ago in my first blitz. I'm sure Keith will recall the altercation with a tree that left the bumper bar rubbing on the RH tyre during turns. This was the result of an incomplete RH bumper assy - one of the many parts missing off this blitz when it was rushed into service!