A little light entertainment: 1939 Ford 1 ton Utility restoration

[jack neville]

After completing the bulk of the cab I gave it a coat of Fishoil and let it dry out for a month. Then a coat of red oxide primer. The timber framework was primed and glued and screwed and fitted to the rear of the cab. I stripped the side panels and patched the bottom rusty sections using the spot welder. These panels were then welded back in place and the rear ends nailed to the timber work. Once the side panels are in place the inside cover panels at the top of the sides are then welded together over the timber. This means that you need a spray bottle to stop the timber catching fire as you weld it. I know it sounds weird, welding sheet metal over timber. As I said earlier, these roadster cabs are a unique Australian pattern and appear to be a blend of the modern (40's modern) sheet metal work with the old coach building skills, even though the cabs were built in the Geelong Ford factory during the early war years. The weirdest bit is yet to come.

[jack neville]

The rear panel fits around the timber frame and is nailed across the top and across the bottom. The sides are attached to the frame by sliding up over a 25mm strip of metal that is nailed along the side timbers. To make this panel, the top section is prefolded over wit a 20mm edge. The bottom areas are similarly folded over to fit the bottom timbers. A 12mm edge is folded over on the curved sides. Once the side strip is nailed in place the whole panel is simply slipped up from the bottom, with the sides engaging the metal strip and locking the sides into place. The fact that the top edge is already folded over means it gets really tight when almost all the way in place. I greased the sides to assist in putting the panel into place. There are not too many of these vehicles that have been restored and I wonder has anyone had to make and fit a rear panel like this since the early1940's when these vehicles were last produced. And I wonder why the hell did they not just screw the bloody thing on. Oh and once in place and the top and bottom nails are put in, guess what. You weld the top corners to the side panels!!!! Then you lead wipe the corner joins for a nice finish!!!

[gordon]

I'd think Henry would be having Kittens at the man hours and processes for that

[Ian Mastin]

G'day Jack,

Looking great mate keep up the great work ? are you going to try your hand at lead filling and wipeing.



Cheers
Ian

[jack neville]

Thanks ian,

A thin wipe of body filler will do the job just fine. Carefully welded and ground down there is hardly need for any lead in these areas anyway. These cabs really are an unnecessarily complicated piece of work. No doubt if they were produced in greater numbers they would have been designed to be produced far more efficiently. It may also be a reflection on the Australian automotive industry at the time.

[jack neville]

Back panel finally installed and welded up.

[jack neville]

One of the weaknesses of these cabs is the square shape of the rear section. No doubt years of neglect in the open air weakens the timber and screws but the design itself is flawed. There is no strength in the B pillar so every time you shut the door you are weakening the rear section. I have seen some interesting re-enforcing and bracing of these cabs but I designed mine to be a little more discreet. On top of the rear panel is a timber strip for fixing the canvas canopy to (tacked on). I welded up a 30mm x 5mm steel strip to place under the wood and made my timber strip 5mm thinner. This strengthens the corners without being obvious. A wipe of mastic helps hide the steel. Once painted and with canvas in place it is not apparent.

[jack neville]

Las tthing to do on the cab is to put some filler to cover the rust repairs on the side panels. While the filler was drying I worked on the bonnet. I had three bonnets, none of which were perfect. One had a good main panel but the under side bracing was rusted out. The other had good bracing and badly dented main panel. The last was really rusted but it had the only good catch. So like the two cabs making one good one, it took three bonnets to get one. Strip and sandblasted it was just a matter of welding back the bracing. The bracing comes in three pieces just to make life difficult

[jack neville]

After alot of work the cab is finally back together and I mounted it back on the chassis today. Added the dash panel and windscreen wind out. Chassis is now largely complete to a rolling stage.

[jack neville]

I will concentrate on completing the front sheet metal and finishing the front half of the vehicle so next will be the guards and doors. Once that is done this is what I have to tackle.

[jack neville]

A few more.

[Keith Webb]

Looks challenging but at least you have that much of it. Really enjoying the updates!

[jack neville]

This rear body is from a civvy model and has had a side spare wheel mount added, which is a home made job. The spare on a 39 was mounted under the chassis. The front of the Aussie roadster utes had a modification to the rear body to fit the squared off cabin. You can see in the photo below that the civvy body had the curved contour to follow the rounded civvy cab. I will have to cut this back. This body is missing the rear panel and typical of Australian farmers repairs has been fitted with a heavy piece of wood and over engineered heavy steel to reinforce the corners at the rear. This is typical of vehicles with timber framework that can not survive the elements and abuse and start to loosen up and fall to bits. There is virtually nothing left of the timber work in this body and not too many clues as to what is should be like. Studying the remaining bolts can give a few clues as to thickness of timber and layout. This body also has an inner lining that the army models did not have. It looks a little amatuerish so may have been a after factory addition I think.

[jack neville]

I was going to finish the front panels but the back body is takeing up too much shed space so I thought I would disassemble it and assess what I need to do to rebuild it.

[gordon]

I take it there is no wood frame in there?

You really need to take it apart? Looks like you could blast it and repair it as a unit. You'd need plenty of strength in the rear corner uprights either way.

[jack neville]

The previous photos show the inner panel removed. The upright brackets whilst having been protected from the weather by that panel have disconnected at the bottom obviously having vibrated away from the mounts. They will be ok once I rebuild the damaged part. The bottom timber is mostly all rotted away but there is just enough to guess the timber sizes. The timber in the upper sections is still intact enough for patterns only. Whilst the side panels are badly knocked about they may be redeemable. The biggest problem with making entire new sides is the triple ribbed section at the top. Undecided at this stage as to how I will tackle that.

[jack neville]

The guards are also pretty poor but hopefully will come up ok once I repair the inner section which has badly rusted. The inner guard rivets to the side panel which made disassemble of that part easy. The top hat strips on the floor can all be salvaged and luckily all the special top hat Ford bolts were still in place.

[jack neville]

a few more

[jack neville]

You can see the same lead wiped corners as the cab

[jack neville]

At least now it takes up less room. The front panel is is good shape and will clean up well. I still haven't worked out how to reassemble this body yet. The timber criss members bolt directly through the chassis and are not attached with U bolts. Obviously the timber work on the upper sections has to be assembled before the sheet metal goes over it but the attaching of the cross members to the sides may have to be built on the chassis as I go. There was probably a jig these bodies were built on but not having one it would seem logical that my jig will be the chassis. Just make it up as I go along I suppose. It is a challenge that is something different from all steel bodies. Fortunately my son Jake is a builder and has access to plenty of KD hardwood scraps. Seen the price of hardwood in Australia??????

[jack neville]

Originally Posted by gordon

I take it there is no wood frame in there?

You really need to take it apart? Looks like you could blast it and repair it as a unit. You'd need plenty of strength in the rear corner uprights either way.

You came in as I was posting the remaining photos Gordon. It may have looked reasonable in the photos but believe me it was pretty flimsy. It is easy to think these designs may be alright when rebuilt and driving on modern roads but the reality is these old girls would have spent a life time on dusty, heavily corrugated gravel roads in Australia and literally shaken to bits. Years of weathering does nothing for the timber.

[Bob McNeill]

Jack, seem to recall that a fellow ford man in the central west, rebuilt the body with new sides, the triple ribs cut off old unit and welded, brazed to new one and you wouldn,t pick it once painted.

[jack neville]

Gidday Bob,

That is one option I am considering. I can repair what I have but I don't know if they will come up to a satisfactory standard. I will start with the timber work and think about the sheet metal as I go. John Bellfield has a complete 39 ute which I can access to copy my missing parts, especially the missing rear panel and timber. I do have the tailgate but it is also pretty sad. With the sides I might get away with patching the rust around the wheel arch and reproducing the bottom rear corners and spot welding the repairs in.

[Tony Wheeler]

Would this be of interest Jack? Looks like a civvy body in quite good condition. After reading your thread I recognized it in the background in this Dodge photo.

[Tony Wheeler]

Rusted out civvy in Traralgon, bonnet looks to be '41 model?

[Tony Wheeler]

Some wartime pics for interest, these are 2/14 Fd. Regt. vehicles in Darwin area (Cemetery Plains review 26/10/41)

[Tony Wheeler]

These have probably appeared on MLU before.

[jack neville]

I've never seen the ambulance version. Fair bit of wind drag in that one even with the top down.

[Tony Wheeler]

Any progress lately Jack? I thought of you yesterday when I found this one in Daylesford in a similar state to yours. Interesting to see original camo and the remains of a unit sign visible.

[jack neville]

Looks salvageable Tony. Did you buy it? Progress has stalled of late but picked up again yesterday. Finally got some parts I was waiting ages on and put the firewall padding and trim in. Floor will go in this weekend. It won't make Corowa this year. I actually spent time fixing a couple of BSA airborne bicycles up to have at Corowa. (I've fallen for the local adage re Corowa- 'anyone can have a jeep or a truck but only the cool guys have bikes'). Just had to get one for Jake and I.

On the ute front, the 41 ford I was trying to sell for a mate on eBay has now returned to me for restoration. As a result I need some more side panels made for that one as well so I've sent a sample of the triple rib pressing to Colin Jones for him to study and see how successful a die can be assembled to make fresh panels. The rear bodies are quite a complex process to reassemble correctly.