Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Private_collector]

G' Day Bob,

If there's no significant damage or cracks that need to be filled, a thorough sanding with progressively finer wet & dry sandpaper should bring a steering wheel up nicely. Note: I did need to sand to a degree that removed the ridges. Some folks may find that unacceptable. I had no problem doing that, personally. Someone with more patience than me might be able to fold the sandpaper doubled and run it through the groove to get a good finish without losing the detail, but man, you would REALLY need to want originality.

Oh, and the feline Urine? Simple, had a neighbour who seemed to be the pied piper of geriatric cats. Anti-social things they were. Give me a friendly old labrador, any day!

[Bob Carriere]

I am allowed to pull your leg as I have over a dozen cats...... and they love to snoop around the canvass Winter shelters looking for food and the only patch of dirt that is not frozen over during the Winter.

Keeps the field mice away from chewing the wiring and seat stuffing but come Spring you can really tell where they have been!!!!!!!

I need to fill a few cracks on my early cab 11 wheel but will probably shorten the restoration process by using a semi gloss POR coating.

Love to read your thread and follow your progress.

Bob C

[Private_collector]

He, he. No probs Bob!

I like cats.......but I couldn't eat a whole one.

At least everyone gets a drumstick.

[Private_collector]

The long weekend, as it turned out, afforded me no additional time to work on the CMP.
Saturday was entirely consumed between hours spent in the morning, searching for a new daily driver, and locating a blockage in a septic tank at the mother-in-laws farm, in the afternoon. Finding the block was one thing, clearing it was another story all together, but fixed it by nightfall. I will NEVER enjoy gravy again. The smell of a freshly opened septic tank is an insult to the olfactory system that will outlast religion. I can still smell it now.

Sunday was dedicated to a nice drive to the beach. Far too cold and windy to actually enjoy the beach, but at least we got to see it and bring back memories of when it was warmer.

Today, I was determined, would be 'truck day'. I got my piston/rod sets back from the engine rebuild shop on Friday, and they did a rather good job. When I did initial assembly of oil pump to pickup I managed to strip a thread. Didn't know why, at the time, but the engine shop guys tell me it was because another bolt hole which intersected the one that stripped caused mangling of the thread I damaged. Apparently it was going to happen regardless. Thank you very much, Melling manufacturing folks.

As mentioned previously, due to the extra girth of the rod big ends (literally) I had to sink the pistons from the crank case side. This was not a bad idea anyway, because the relief between cylinder and valves meant that there would be a length of ring not compressed by the installation tool. The first piston I installed went in without a problem, and just as I was thinking things would go smoothly, I hit a major problem. Imagine my surprise when I tried to put the second piston in, only to discover that the additional metal that strengthened the crank bearing bosses made it absolutely IMPOSSIBLE for the piston to be dropped in from that side. Typical! The piston would have needed to go in at a 10-15 degree angle, and that wouldn't have been good! I took a closer look, and saw that every second piston would encounter this same issue. Bloody French! In light of the above, I now had 4 pistons which had to be seperated from their rod, put in from above, pushed through until the rod pin was clear, and attach the rod from below, paying VERY close attention to checking locking clips and compressing the bottom piston ring (now out of the cylinder again) prior to sliding the piston into the cylinder properly. Quite a sod of a job, I can tell you! Got em all done by tea time though. Those pistons are quite difficult to slide up & down by hand, despite lashings of assembly grease.
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Very nearly carried on to put the crank back in, but thought better of it with light and motivation failing. Because of how the pistons & rods now sit, I will need the arms of an Indian god to keep em all out of the way of the crank, as I lower it in. I have a cunning plan for that little glimpse of hades. If my approach doesn't work, I'll wait until my Son comes home in a fortnights time. That will give me one person to mind each bank of rods, while I lower the crank into place. Sounds easy, don't it? Fingers will be scarred, tempers will be raised, words will be said.

[David Dunlop]

Tony, Tony, Tony…

How on earth do you manage to wring sooo much excitement out of working on your Blitz when the rest of us poor sods get nothing more than taking it apart and putting it back together?

David

[Private_collector]

Hi there David,

Everything in the world is exciting, if we allow it to be!

In case of my resto, I remind myself the significance of the finished product. I restore to honour my Fathers WW2 service initially, then as time went on, I decided to broaden the dedication to ALL the servicemen & servicewomen that I have had the pleasure to have known. I say known because a plaque will be attached to the truck cab, in memoriam of those veterans who have passed away. The count currently stands at 37 names. It will climb yet higher, no doubt, but the figures won't go up as fast as they have in past years. There are precious few of them left. I only have one WW2 gentleman left to my acquaintance. A fellow approaching 95 years old, who is a D Day veteran, coming ashore in a DD tank! Before that, he commanded a Churchill in Africa, under 'The Old Man', Montgomery.

Put into context, every small step I achieve is insignificant by comparison, but exciting for me. When the vehicle is finally finished, it will probably be amongst the saddest days of my life, because the last job will be to afix that brass plaque with all the names on. I have been given tentative permission from the RSL for that final task to occur on ANZAC Day, sometime between the Dawn Service completion and prior to the parade at 1000hrs. Exactly WHICH ANZAC Day that is, who can tell. In the meantime, I enjoy getting as intimate with a piece of history as any man can, and that is hugely rewarding.

Just being a part of such an esteemed group of restorers as the folks here on MLU is another aspect which I find very rewarding. There is still so very much to learn, but the few times that I have been able to assist another member, it's a great feeling to contribute to someone else, even in a small way. Lord knows I have been the recipient of that assistance so many times. When it's my turn to help, I get a real kick out of that.

I don't believe for one minute that any of us find this hobby mundane. A pain in the arse sometimes, physically and mentally stressful perhaps, but boring...nah!

How could we not be excited, right?

[hrpearce]

I'm excited Tony I just don't think my bank manager shares my enthusiasm.