Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Private_collector]

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Finally got the axle/diff casings sandblasted this morning, and etch primed in PM. The wooden plates I made for the open ends worked well, with only a slight blow through on the half with pinion. It was lucky I had wrapped pinion gear & bearings in a layer of rag. No grit got through to bearings as far as I can tell. There is no evidence of grit with turning the pinion.
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Picked up the two bearing cups for the inner axle shaft to diff assembly, and the guys at the bearing shop (Gympie Bearing Service) told me some very interesting information about the quantity of chinese fake bearing parts which are getting onto the market. The story goes that China are producing counterfiet 'Timken' bearings which are in near perfect Timken copy boxes.
He told me that Timken genuine bearings have the Timken name/logo on right upper corner of the box edges and the bearing No. & barcode on left bottom of same side. He tells me that any variation of this is definately a fake! I don't know if this is 100% true, but he stated it as fact and it was agreed from the other 2 staff present in the shop. He did actually show me a box with a fake from china that Timken had given them to show to people, and the differences were obvious once told what to look for. There are visible flaws in the chinese bearings as well. Buyer beware.

The bearing cups (Timken, 33462) cost $24.00 each incidentally.

[gjamo]

Sounds a bit like Chinese bolts I have found stamped Grade 8.8 and made out of plasticene.

[Lynn Eades]

If they are marked "8.8", that is metric "CLASS 8.8", which is roughly the same tensile strength as an imperial "GRADE 5".

[Private_collector]

I had some bad news yesterday. I went to check fit of the new bearing cups & seals, and realised I did not have the diff output shaft seals I needed. The ones I had were not correct size for this truck.

Shot into town this morning and spent an agonising 45min at Gympie Bearing Service looking for a modern replacement. They did find a suitable part but it was not in stock there, and not in stock anywhere in Australia! The bearing manufacturer does not even know if there is any available in other countries to import.

To prove that things are darkest before the dawn, I received am email from Ross Prince WWII vehicle parts, in Hervey Bay, he has these available and ready for despatch. It's only 90min drive from me, so if he is available, I will head up that way tomorrow and get them. Ross has always had every other part I have asked for, and this was no different!

Brake hubs & axle shafts have been blasted this morning (only bolt end of the axles), and I etched them this afternoon. All going well, everything should be painted tomorrow afternoon.

I bought some short lengths of 100NB steel tube to make bearing/seal installer yesterday. It was a PERFECT size for inner hub bearing cup, inner hub seal and output shaft bearing cup. Now I have to remember where I saw the photo of the installer construction. I think it was in either the MB-F1 or a Ford tool book I have somewhere.

P.S: Have been checking the tracking info for the rear wheel cylinders from USA. They are now "In Transit" Yaaaay

Won't sleep tonight!

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Tony

Always following up on others progress on resto projects..... good job.

For installing various size bearings we found that making adapters out of hard wood on a wood lathe is fast, cheap, fit well and they work well with less chance of damage..... besides once used they make good kindling in the wood furnace.

Bob C

[Private_collector]

Bob,

I would rather use wood. Have been trying to think of someone I know who has a lathe. There is actually a wood work museum in town, that opens weekends for tourists. They would have a lathe I guess, as they do demonstrations of old woodworking practices. Mostly wood milling. Not sure about turning. I will try to get a hold of someone today & ask.

[Private_collector]

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Al the rear axle parts are now painted. Weather threatened to rain but I got away with it . Paint will be allowed to dry for a week before I attempt reassembly. Trust me, the temperature the workshop gets up to will bake it well in next 7 days. Local carpet shop/s will be getting a visit from me next week, cap in hand, for something soft to lay the various parts onto for fitting together.

In one of the above photos you can see two lengths of pipe up against the wall. The bargain bin of local steel shop is a great place to find handy off-cuts, and these two sizes are perfect match for two main sizes of seals etc. These pipes will form part of the bearing installation tool (once cut to lengths required). All of the tool will be metal but shouldn't present a problem because there will be no impact transferred to the cups or seals. A threaded rod will slowly wind the seals & cups into place. At least thats the way Ford did it with their tool. The larger diameter pipe will also be used to make curved cradles with which to jack the whole thing once finished. Remainder of that tube would make a nice machine tool stand too!

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I need to get this off the trailer tomorrow, because nose panel welding is finished and I can pick it up next weekend. For now, the engine/gearbox (yes, there IS a gearbox under all that dried oil & dirt) will be resting outside the workshop, until I get to attach some stub axles on and make it more mobile.

Now I must go and put further effort into removing the slight green tinge that arms/legs and face (around mask) currently have. You see, I had misplaced my disposable overalls!