FGT project

[Tony Wheeler]

Remains of this FGT were located by Keith in a scrapyard in Greta several years ago. They consist of a rough chassis sandwiched between two other blitz wrecks, and a cab frame and front shell lying nearby amidst a mountain of scrap metal.

Having bought these remains I've since managed to extricate the front shell and bring it home, and will be returning in due course to retrieve the chassis and cab frame.

Along with an F15A chassis purchased soon afterwards, plus an F60L wreck with winch, these remains form the basis of my first resto plan. Here are some pics of the FGT parts:

pic 1: Blitz sandwich! Only a well trained eye would recognize this twisted, welded, plated, cut off chassis as having once belonged to a FGT. First clue is the brake booster linkage.

pics 2 & 3: If you're game enough to crawl underneath you'll find the original winch mounts, and the definitive twin rear crossmember.

pic 4: Minimal chassis crop makes for an easy repair (unlike my latest FGT chassis) and provided the savage twist springs back when it's finally extricated, this chassis will clean up OK with a bit of work. If not, I'll transfer the relevant crossmembers etc. onto my F15A chassis.

pic 5: FGT front shell safely rescued, subsequently revealed ARN 132257 and other interesting markings....more on that later.

[Tony Wheeler]

My FGT resto plan A was superceded when a more complete FGT chassis became available from John Belfield's collection last year. It's a lot more rusty than when Keith photographed it many years ago (pic 3) but otherwise unchanged. It also appears in pic 4 taken some years later. Unfortunately the winch mountings have all been torched off, but thankfully the rear chassis hasn't been chopped and the rear fairleads are more or less intact. All in all it's a much more straightforward project than ARN 132257, so plan B came into effect!

[Mike K]

What became of the FGT 8/9 I found at Whittlesea , Terry Halls place?

The chassis was very rough , but it had a few bits on it . I think the ammo box was still on the passengers side dash .

Mike

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

What became of the FGT 8/9 I found at Whittlesea , Terry Halls place?

The chassis was very rough , but it had a few bits on it . I think the ammo box was still on the passengers side dash .

Mike

It was a No9 and the steps are on Euan's CGT9 now. ARN was 133172.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

What became of the FGT 8/9 I found at Whittlesea , Terry Halls place? Mike

Yes I've been wanting to chase this one up for a while. Do we know where it's at currently? I'd like to rescue what's left of it and reincarnate ARN 133172. There are too few FGT 9s on the planet to let the scrappies get any more!

[Mike K]

Hi

Terry might still have it in his yard ..maybe . I might have his ph. number somewhere .

The chassis was pretty stuffed , plated and broken . The body has been chopped off and only the cowl is remaining . It had a very hard life somewhere e.g., logging . Mike

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

Terry might still have it in his yard ..maybe . I might have his ph. number somewhere

Thanks Mike, that would be great if you have his number. Otherwise if you can let me know where his yard is I can go and see him.

I've seen the pics on Keith's website taken several years ago and it was pretty rough as you say. Nevertheless I'd still like to rescue what's left and transfer it onto a spare F15A chassis as my FGT 9 replica project, preserving the ARN provenance. That way I can preserve the No.8 provenance of the other 3 FGTs.

[Ryan]

Hi Tony, following your new threads with pleasure. The old photos are great. How many FGTs were made in the first place? And what's an easy givaway to an FGT chassis when the body is gone?
regards
ryan

[Tony Wheeler]

Continuing the story of my FGT projects.....no sooner had plan B come into effect than it was overtaken by plan C, when a remarkably complete FGT chassis in good condition turned up at recent clearing sale – conveniently located at Pyalong just north of Melbourne. The opportunity was too good to miss so I bought it, and upon getting it home, a light rub on the front shell identified it as ARN 55936 - next in sequence to my plan B FGT, and just like that one, a FGT 8 originally.

Perhaps they were sister FGTs in the same unit, but clearly this one has fared much better since then, as can be seen from the pics. The only damage is to the rear chassis, where the rear fairleads have been crudely torched off. Fortunately they were sitting on a pallet to be auctioned separately, so I was able to buy them too.

Within a few days of getting it home I had it running, after some initial problems, which included several sticky valves, and a nasty grinding noise while cranking over - which turned out to be coming from the oil pump. The sump in that area had been bashed in, causing it to impinge on the oil pump housing, deflecting it sufficiently to place pressure on the gears. Removal of the sump caused the noise to stop, and after removing the oil pump for inspection, I was satisfied that no permanent bending of the oil pump drive had occurred. All that was required to fix the problem was some panel beating of the sump.

Whilst the motor proved to be a good runner, the gearbox unfortunately is a write off, due to ingress of water over the years while standing. The groove in the gearshift lever which accommodates the reverse lock actuating rod seems to be a perfect channel for moisture - twice now I've found the rod rusted solid in its groove. In this case the damage had gone further – the gearbox itself had filled with water over time, and everything was rusted solid. I managed to get the gears sliding eventually, after a whole day's work with a crowbar, but the teeth are massively pitted, and the bearings make a terrible racket.

The rest of the drive train appears to be OK, except for the LH rear axle studs being sheared off, which means I'm restricted to front wheel drive for the moment.

Thus I have now accumulated 3 FGT projects, each one in better condition than the last. Perhaps if I wait a bit longer I'll come into a complete No 9 with body! Oh well, it's nice to dream.....

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

What became of the FGT 8/9 I found at Whittlesea, Terry Halls place? The chassis was very rough, but it had a few bits on it.

Having received directions from Mike I took a drive out to Terry Hall's scrapyard in Whittlesea, where to my great surprise and pleasure I discovered this FGT9 wreck had somehow managed to escape the crusher. It now rests safe and sound in my backyard awaiting some long overdue TLC.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

The chassis was very rough

You can say that again Mike!

[Tony Wheeler]

It took a bit of manouevering but finally it went through the gate to join its stablemates, safe at last after languishing for years under a pile of twisted metal in a scrapyard. In the shed are two FGT8 wrecks, with a third arriving in the next few weeks.

[Tony Wheeler]

Keith sent me this inspirational image of the future....my very own FGT9 in the driveway!

[Tony Wheeler]

From Keith's oldCMP site, some pics of this FGT taken in 2004.

Keith, you may want to update the caption: "This is a vehicle in the final stage of it's life, about to be scrapped."

Although I must admit there's not a hell of a lot to salvaged from it!