Bendigo Swap find

[Jacques Reed]

Many people in the military vehicle and Ford sidevalve V8 fraternity may agree there is not a lot of pre-war, wartime, or even 50's vehicles parts at most swap meets in Australia nowadays. From my perspective they now seem to mostly cater for the 70's Holden and other make cars based on the amount of chrome and plastic parts on display.

Occasionally, just the same, there is that one little gem that make attending and walking the kilometers all worth it.

At Bendigo I bought a clapped out Ford CMP truck instrument panel for $2. The gauges were rotted, likewise the switches, but I noticed the switch plates had a green patina on them and upon closer inspection found them to be brass. I thought all switch plates were made of steel but perhaps early wartime they were brass as were many other items including US one cent pieces which went from copper to steel in 1943 for the war effort.

The first photo shows the ignition switch plate as found beside the light switch plate after metal brite treatment. Second photo is both after an hour with the Brasso. Looks like there were remnants of black paint in the low lying areas but at this stage I won't re-enamel them.
Don't think I will use the switch plates on my round gauge panel as tempting as it is, but gee, they sure look nice!

Interestingly the Light switch plate has only 4 holes in it whereas the steel version has 6 mounting holes. The steel instrument panel also only has four mounting holes for the light switch panel.

Picked up a couple of NOS Ford sidevalve ignition conduits and a 1943 POW can so it was a worthwhile trip al in all.



Cheers,

[Keith Webb]

What a great find, particularly the smaller one. It's very hard to find one which hasn't had the centre drilled out to fit an extra switch in a truck's post military service.

You really only see these with the commercial type dash.

[Jacques Reed]

Thanks Keith,

Yes hard to find any with out extra holes after 70 years. These even have two less!

Thought the young-uns might be interested to see a steel penny from 1943 in my collection. Got it as a kid in the 60's just in circulation. Not many were around even then so you always snaffled them up.

Copper was needed more for brass production for the billions of rounds required to win the war.

Cheers,

[Mike K]

I do better at local swaps

I picked this up on Sunday. A vernier gauge 26" high .

GMH provenance ?

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Jaques - there is an extensive thread started by me about Switch Plates. Worth a read. The thread is called A Study Of Switch Plates. You can find it through the Seach Engine.

Bob

[Jacques Reed]

Thanks Bob,

Will look at the thread. Good rainy day activity in Melbourne today.

Cheers!

[Private_collector]

Jacques,

I have thesame brass switch plates on my dash panel.

Don't remember where I got them from, but it'll come back to me......in time.

They are currently green all over, but I have practiced a technique for filling-in the wording etc with black at a later stage. Will have to look to see if the extra hole has been added. I have a feeling this has occured.


Added 17:15hrs. Yep, ignition hole enlarged. I have installed a keyed ignition switch there, for better security. Not much better, mind!

[Jacques Reed]

Another item I picked up at Bendigo last month was a NOS right side ignition lead conduit with an earthing strap for a Ford Sidevalve/Flathead V8.

I assume it was for radio suppression as used on Ford military vehicles based on the number of earth straps used throughout many CMP's. By the length of it I would guess the end goes under a water pump bolt.

Just wondering why it was necessary in the first place as the bolts that hold it to the intake manifold would effectively earth it to the block anyway? Am I missing something about electricity?

Thsi is the second right side conduit I have with the identical earth strap so I assume it was not an ad-hoc modification.

[Keith Webb]

Most if not all the late production Fords I've seen here have bonding all over them, I've always thought it related to radio suppression, but as few were fitted with a radio I don't understand why such a large amount of resources should be allocated to this. The conduit is identical to many I've seen with the soldered on strap. I don't have any idea why this was necessary either.

Originally Posted by Jacques Reed

Another item I picked up at Bendigo last month was a NOS right side ignition lead conduit with an earthing strap for a Ford Sidevalve/Flathead V8.

I assume it was for radio suppression as used on Ford military vehicles based on the number of earth straps used throughout many CMP's. By the length of it I would guess the end goes under a water pump bolt.

Just wondering why it was necessary in the first place as the bolts that hold it to the intake manifold would effectively earth it to the block anyway? Am I missing something about electricity?

Thsi is the second right side conduit I have with the identical earth strap so I assume it was not an ad-hoc modification.

[motto]

Keith, as I understand it, radio suppression has two aims. One is to eliminate vehicle interference with on board or nearby equipment (friendly). The other is so as not to alert the enemy to the presence or movement of motorised vehicles by interfering with their equipment. They may even be listening for it.

David

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Jacques Reed

Many people in the military vehicle and Ford sidevalve V8 fraternity may agree there is not a lot of pre-war, wartime, or even 50's vehicles parts at most swap meets in Australia nowadays. From my perspective they now seem to mostly cater for the 70's Holden and other make cars based on the amount of chrome and plastic parts on display.




Cheers,

Yes Jacques . It's the case with most so called car 'swap meets' these days, not just Bendigo . The next generation of car restorers has come along, to a 20 year old , a 1960's car is a antique and you just have to watch TV shows like classic restos to see the huge following the 1960's cars have these days - and they are generally more valuable than older 1920's cars .

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by motto

Keith, as I understand it, radio suppression has two aims. One is to eliminate vehicle interference with on board or nearby equipment (friendly). The other is so as not to alert the enemy to the presence or movement of motorised vehicles by interfering with their equipment. They may even be listening for it.

David

Thanks David, that makes sense.

[motto]

On the topic of radio interference or static, I was intrigued to learn that this was exactly what the early Marconi radio signals consisted of. A Tesla coil and antenna was used to broadcast static that was interrupted with a Morse key to send the message. How stunningly simple is that?

David

[Richard Farrant]

I remember years ago when we used to suffer interference on radio and TV from unsuppressed vehicles, especially motorcycles and you could hear the gear changes as the note changed ........ usually right in the middle of what you were listening too!

[Phil Waterman]

Originally Posted by Richard Farrant

I remember years ago when we used to suffer interference on radio and TV from unsuppressed vehicles, especially motorcycles and you could hear the gear changes as the note changed ........ usually right in the middle of what you were listening too!

Hi Richard

Yup, I can remember the static on the radio and TV caused by bad ignition systems, my dad an electrical engineer and car guy would/could diagnose the car by the static signal, things like six cylinder with grounded spark lead, or V8 with loose spark lead. He also had a wonderful ear for music which is how I think he could sort out the sounds. I can remember him tuning the radio to a quiet spot on the dial to actually listen to and engine run.

Now if we can only figure out how to set our cars up to blank out cellphone signals we could end the problem of people driving and talking and/or texting instead of paying attention to the road.

Cheers and Seasons Greeting Phil

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Phil Waterman

Hi Richard

Yup, I can remember the static on the radio and TV caused by bad ignition systems, my dad an electrical engineer and car guy would/could diagnose the car by the static signal,

Good one Phil !

Know what you mean re. cellphones ......


Best wishes to you also.
regards, Richard

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by motto

On the topic of radio interference or static, I was intrigued to learn that this was exactly what the early Marconi radio signals consisted of. A Tesla coil and antenna was used to broadcast static that was interrupted with a Morse key to send the message. How stunningly simple is that?

David

Yes , they were known as spark transmitters , they used a gap ( usually two balls ) across which a spark jumped . There was a mechanism that continually interupted the current through the large primary coil , thus creating a buzzing effect , or a constant spark . The Titanic and all the early wireless gear on ships had this setup http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark-gap_transmitter

The transmitted signal was very broad and dirty , not clean , the signal radiated out on many frequencies apart from the theoretical resonant frequency of the antenna .

Before the use of valve detectors , the receivers were as deaf as a post . They used massive transmit power to get away with having to use the deaf receivers .

Some of the early modulalted transmitters ( voice ) used a weird arc system .

Mike .

[bill m]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

I do better at local swaps

I picked this up on Sunday. A vernier gauge 26" high .

GMH provenance ?

Hello Mike,

I have seen some other older GMH tool room gauges for auction on ebay earlier this year. Nice find!
Bill.

[Jacques Reed]

Just got back from the Automotive Surplus second relocation sale.
Picked up a nice NOS fuel filter assembly for $10. See attached.

Not going to use the disc filter but thought I would post what a new original one looks like for general information. I bought it mainly for the clean rust-free bowl. Even my best one has a few pits in it from years of moisture.

Maybe it is not 100% kosher, but I won't paint the outside of the bowl either. It would be a sacrilage to cover over the AC decal details.

Also bought two flathead Ford head gaskets also for $30. My engine is a later C69A block with the round water pasages in the centre. Again, another trap for young players as earlier blocks had the "square" (trapezoidal) openings as shown in the comparison. I bought the "square" ones in my young, foolish restoration days- now I am not so young anymore! Hope you all find this interesting.

Cheers

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by Jacques Reed

Hope you all find this interesting.

Cheers

Sure am.

[Jacques Reed]

Another item I picked up last week at Auto Surplus was a rubber gearshift boot of unknown origin.

I knew it was not for a CMP vehicle but the shape suggested to me it might make a good alternative with a bit of modification. The offset position of the lever hole is similar to Keith's original boot. The chance of finding any original boot, let alone one in usable condition, is almost zero so this will have to do to keep out dust, etc.

As they say, "necessity is the mother of invention" so I took to it with a sharp Stanley knife removing the lower bellows as the base was just a tad too big. I then super-glued some 4 mm insertion rubber to the bottom for the mounting plate to hold it. I cut out a circle of the insertion rubber and made a doubler for the lever's hole after removing the tiny rubber tube on the original boot for the lever. This too was super-glued in place. A couple of holes made with the wad punches for the stick and reverse lockout rod completed it.

All in all, it makes a reasonable boot even if not original. It should do the job. For $7.50 it gave me an hour's fun!

Cheers,

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Jacques

The shift boot you show is definitely in line with the tradition of CMP development, use an off the shelf part instead of a special part. This using of off the shelf parts originally on CMPs I believe account for some of the variations we see in small parts.

Your shift boot meets the criteria it seals the hole around the shift lever and look proper.

Cheers Phil

[Jacques Reed]

Well after another 3 km weekend swap meet walk I found another item worth the walk. As always, lots of 60's and 70's chrome and plastic on display. Only saw one sad Flathead Ford V8 head amongst the newer clutter.

I must have examined a few hundred pick heads over the years at swaps looking for a DoD arrow on one.
Finally found this one at the Berwick Swap today.

It's a bit worn down I think but it gotta look better on my pioneer tool holder than one with "Made in China" stamped on it.

Wondering what the R before the DoD arrow signifies. Any pioneer tool experts out there able to shed some light on it?

Here's hoping all the Queensland and Northern NSW MLU Forum members have survived the recent flooding and other severe weather events OK. The reports posted here have been very interesting to say the least.

Cheers

[Euan McDonald]

I too had a nice find at yesterdays swap, found a made in Canada 1944 dated Jack with handle.

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Euan,

Nice going! Good to see it is not all chrome, plastic, and non-automotive nick knacks for some of us. Ah, heaven, rusty old stuff!!!

Bumped into Bevan Fenner too there.

Cheers,

[colin jones]

Jacques, I would say the "R" on your pick means Right Hand.
Colin.

[Jacques Reed]

Darn!
Back to the drawing board. Was looking for a left handed pick.

Cheers,

[Euan McDonald]

R^D could be for Rail Department or Rob & Dad instead of Dad & Dave!

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Euan,

"Rail Department" sounds as good as any at this stage for the marking. Always thought the broad arrow was for marking military items only but I believe it also meant any commonwealth government owned equipment.

If so, were all the state railways under commonwealth government control during WW2? It probably was so, but they would still not own the state railways.

That would account for the markings perhaps, but if not, it would be unusual for a state owned utility to mark their equipment with a commonwealth owned mark.

Over to the Australian railway enthusiasts amongst the MLU Forum.

Cheers,

[Lynn Eades]

In north Africa during WWII did the Aussies have dedicated units that built railways?
The Kiwis did as far as I know, so don't see why the Aussies wouldn't have.
Maybe thats a possibility?