Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Euan McDonald]

Lets play spot the gallows!

[lynx42]

Originally Posted by Euan McDonald

Lets play spot the gallows!

I think that there is more fun identifying all the other bits.

2 Lunettes for No.27 Limber,
numerous Limber draw poles,
25pdr. Limber tray,
P.O.L Holder of a Blitz
and a
Rusty limber No.27 complete with spring bumper in lower right hand corner of photo.

[Mrs Vampire]

Hi Euan I am looking at building a Limber any help with parts would be welcome
p

[Private_collector]

Originally Posted by Euan McDonald

Lets play spot the gallows!

Well looky there.

I would ask if it's for sale, but I haven't paid for the last bits yet. Don't forget to tell me how/where to send $$ via EFT. All I know how to do is paypal.

Would be hard to wrap for postage too

T.

[Private_collector]

Rusty cab 1.jpg Rusty cab 3.jpg
Took the scrap cab I got yesterday off the trailer this morning and started removing the sunshine roof frame, Bren Gun mount thingy and some other little but potentially useful parts.
Sunshine Cab 1.jpg
The roof frame is in excellent condition. It cleaned up very well, with the wire brush, and I will take it in for blasting later this week.
Bren Gun Mount 1.jpg
This bracket is not tooooooo bad, I guess. It will need the remains of both the locking bolts to be drilled out and retapped. Also, where there is two layers of steel plate laying together, the rust between em has forced them apart a little. Thats not hard to fix but takes time I don't want to waste now. Onto the parts shelves it goes for later.
second windscreen 1.jpg
This is the windscreen frame (passenger side) that I intend to use for driver side. I can't think of any reason why I couldn't turn the lower part of frame around, making the opposite side frame. I did try to drill out the bolts that hold the top and bottom sections together, and that's when I discovered that the drill bit/s I had available would have trouble going through cheese, let alone good steel. New drill set to be bought tomorrow, when i'm in town to dispose of the cab remains.

[Private_collector]

Bumper tow brackets.jpg
Got a ratty bumper bar yesterday, I wanted it for the two towing loop brackets that also secure the sprung bumper frame. That spring frame is not bad either, and will be kept. The bar itself is bent like a banana. Useless except for scrap value.
Bumper brackets 1.jpg Bumper brackets 2.jpg Bumper brackets - Ford.jpg
The bumper bar brackets are worth keeping, but I don't understand why the larger one (with Y piece) has thick metal spacers between bar and bracket. The other bracket does not. They don't look to have been butchered, and look as if they may have been there from original production?!?!?
Tyre pump assembled 1.jpg
Reassembled the tyre pump, last Saturday, for something different to do.

Advice from the engineering works has it that the chassis should be ready for me to collect tomorrow. I will want to see this for myself before I hire a trailer for return home. Unfortunately 'should' is a very loosely used word.

[Jacques Reed]

The bumper bar brackets are worth keeping, but I don't understand why the larger one (with Y piece) has thick metal spacers between bar and bracket. The other bracket does not. They don't look to have been butchered, and look as if they may have been there from original production?!?!?

Hi Tony,
Those spacers are correct according to quite a few Blitzes I have seen including mine.
Without them they bumper would be cocked off perpendicular to the frame.
Why they are there is the big question? Perhaps a design mistake on the dimensions of the Y bracket from day one fixed with a relatively inexpensive cast iron "dog bone". Maybe someone has the definitive answer out there, but they are correct and do belong there.

Brgds,

Jacques

[Keith Webb]

Yes, they belong there and I think you're right Jacques, but as to why they didn't just modify the brackets to make it fit is a mystery to me.

That bumper is a 44/45 pattern one with the spring bumper (as it's called in the publications of the time) mounted in front rather than behind the bar. It should also have small holes at the ends where the jewels (green reflectors) normally go.

Originally Posted by Jacques Reed

Hi Tony,
Those spacers are correct according to quite a few Blitzes I have seen including mine.
Without them they bumper would be cocked off perpendicular to the frame.
Why they are there is the big question? Perhaps a design mistake on the dimensions of the Y bracket from day one fixed with a relatively inexpensive cast iron "dog bone". Maybe someone has the definitive answer out there, but they are correct and do belong there.

Brgds,

Jacques

[Private_collector]

Keith, you are correct about the bumper. It does indeed have the small holes on ends. Unfortunately it is way too far gone to be repaired, and as such, it was disposed of as scrap this morning along with the Chev cab remains. Now that I think about it, I have another of the Y shaped bumper brackets where one of the forks is shorter, and other is longer by precisely the thickness of the "dog bone" spacer as Jacques termed it. That is even stranger to understand. That one suggests manufacture in a change over of design??

I have been scouring internet in search of the correct muffler body for exhaust system. Not found one as yet. Are there any suppliers in Australia?

After I placed my postings last night, I realised I had made no mention of a curious pair of parts on cab rear panel. One piece being a bracket for securing a round object vertically, which was welded on the line where roof & lower rear panel bolt together. Other part was a strip of metal welded at both ends and bulging out in a curve between the welded ends, of approximately 12" across and bulging roughly 3" out of flat. I take it that these are where a shovel was stored?! These probably wont be mounted on my vehicle. I have no intention of welding onto the now finished cab rear, and I dont think bolting it on would give as good an appearance.

Also salvaged a long folded metal strip and some matching smaller brackets that have eyelets for tying the canvas roof to.

While scavengong with me on Sunday, Andy spotted and brought to my attention a vintage prime mover turntable which was still mounted on rear of a CMP. I didnt make a serious enquiry about that on the day, mostly because of the excitement of visual sensory overload which comes of trying to scan eyes everywhere, in case you miss something. I intend to speak with the owner in coming days, and will ask about that then. I'm still notconvinced that I want to restore my vehicle as a F60T, but it would be good to keep the option open for now.

If I recall correctly, there was a member asking about locating some rifle clips. There were 2 on the scrap cab. Both different, and welded to cab instead of bolted as mine are. I will find out who that was and ask if still looking for some. The smaller of the two clips has me confused as to what it was to be used with. Could it possibly be for a No. 4 L.E.? As far as I know we Australians used either No. 1 Mk. 3* or (in limited numbers) the No. 5 Lee Enfield as the weapons of choice. As Andy pointed out to me, the Bren Gun would bo too long for it to clip there, unless barrel removed possibly. I wouldnt have thought the practice would be to remove a barrel, as requests for enemy to hold fire until barrel reinstalled would almost certainly be met with non compliance.