Another C60L Restoration

[Tony Mathers]

Thanks Gentlemen at this stage I will see how it cleans up, as most of the rust came off before I put the gearbox in the molasses.

[Mike K]

Tony

I will find some more pics ...........Mike

BTW you should find a wartime MACSON lathe for your truck .. MACSON lathes were made by McPhersons in Melbourne , the large industrial hardware business

[Tony Mathers]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

Tony

I will find some more pics ...........Mike

BTW you should find a wartime MACSON lathe for your truck .. MACSON lathes were made by McPhersons in Melbourne , the large industrial hardware business

I am looking for a lathe, but couldn't remember the right brand, thanks.

I don't suppose you have pictures of machinery A, B, C, E, F etc as well do you?

Thanks and have fun...

[Mike K]

You may have these pics already ?

Seen on the RH end of the pic next to the lathe is a CAMEL BACK pedestal drill press

[Mike K]

cab 12 Ford version

[Mike K]

Not sure if these pics are of the 4 wheeled machinery trailer or the truck

The drill press is seen in pic 1 , in the foreground is a metal shaper

BTW I dont know how they managed to machine anything accurately on a lathe mounted on a flimsy floor in a truck . Lathes are extremely sensitive to any deviation in uneven floors . Mike

[Mike Cecil]

Couple of point to note:

The canvas side curtain bag looks like it is for a Ford (used pegs, not a bar) and for late pattern Australian side curtains for de-mountable '44 pattern doors. Check the depth of the bag (front to back) and see if the top closes with a set of side curtains with the longer door mounts for the steel doors. The small pocket on the front is for the driver's handbook, etc. Fords with standard cabs with steel doors did not use side curtain bags: they used wooden floor mounts and a rotating bar mounted about half way up the back panel in the centre.

As indicated in Mike's posted images, the Aust CMP Machinery trucks came in something like 20 different configurations of machinery and purpose. Each type was suffixed with a different letter, so a 'Truck, 3 ton, Machinery (Aust)' would have a letter suffix, such as 'Truck 3 ton Machinery, K, (Aust)' indicating a certain combination of tools, machinery, and benches (so, more than just the fixed machinery). So, if you are going to equip the vehicle with machinery, etc, then you'll need to choose which configuration you want to build (unless the machinery body has some obvious pointers as to what it was originally?)

The steel log book holder originally had a shaped, leather top flap closure.

The wide back seat, as Keith pointed out, is a late pattern Australian seat and common to both Ford and Chev (but 'invented' by GM-H at Woodville). More comfortable than the standard, but the term is, of course, relative!! Comfort and long distance Blitz driving are like combining 'military' and 'intelligence'!

The body was a nice find. Was it 'local', maybe Elphinstone? I think I recognise it! These were generally built at the GM-H Special Body Plant at Fisherman's Bend, Melbourne. This plant afixed a large brass plate to the lower wooden coaming on the rear, but they are mostly long gone. The bodies were migrated forward to 2-1/2 ton Studebaker US-6 6x6, then later to the 5-ton International F1 6x6 (often mistakenly called a 'Mk.5').

Nice truck. Will look good, and you are not wasting any time, that's for sure!

Mike

[Tony Mathers]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Couple of point to note:

The canvas side curtain bag looks like it is for a Ford (used pegs, not a bar) and for late pattern Australian side curtains for de-mountable '44 pattern doors. Check the depth of the bag (front to back) and see if the top closes with a set of side curtains with the longer door mounts for the steel doors. The small pocket on the front is for the driver's handbook, etc. Fords with standard cabs with steel doors did not use side curtain bags: they used wooden floor mounts and a rotating bar mounted about half way up the back panel in the centre.

Thanks for that, I was thinking of using it only as a pattern anyway, but now I know it has value to ford blitz owners, I may be able to swap it for other parts.

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

As indicated in Mike's posted images, the Aust CMP Machinery trucks came in something like 20 different configurations of machinery and purpose. Each type was suffixed with a different letter, so a 'Truck, 3 ton, Machinery (Aust)' would have a letter suffix, such as 'Truck 3 ton Machinery, K, (Aust)' indicating a certain combination of tools, machinery, and benches (so, more than just the fixed machinery). So, if you are going to equip the vehicle with machinery, etc, then you'll need to choose which configuration you want to build (unless the machinery body has some obvious pointers as to what it was originally?)

I don't suppose you have a list of Australian workshop configurations? I have the Bellona Handbook 3, which lists the English / Canadian configurations, is it the same?

I think it may be a fitters truck, because the ladder fitting was on the side. But that is a uneducated guess.
Before I replace the floor, I had better map out all the empty bolt holes, but I suspect when they replaced the floor to fit it to the Inter F1 all the heavy machinery got shuffled / replaced.

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

The steel log book holder originally had a shaped, leather top flap closure.

The photo doesn't show it to well, but the flap is still there.

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

The body was a nice find. Was it 'local', maybe Elphinstone? I think I recognise it!

A full 10 points for that answer..

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

These were generally built at the GM-H Special Body Plant at Fisherman's Bend, Melbourne. This plant afixed a large brass plate to the lower wooden coaming on the rear, but they are mostly long gone. The bodies were migrated forward to 2-1/2 ton Studebaker US-6 6x6, then later to the 5-ton International F1 6x6 (often mistakenly called a 'Mk.5').
Mike

Brass plate is long gone, but this body spent time on the blitz and the inter F1, I don't think it was on a Studebaker as the wheel well hole isn't big enough. (going by the one at Bandiana)


Thanks, all this is great information (But I need lots more) sorry if I am too greedy.

[Matt Austin]

G'day folks,

This piqued my interest...

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

...The body was a nice find. Was it 'local', maybe Elphinstone? I think I recognise it! These were generally built at the GM-H Special Body Plant at Fisherman's Bend, Melbourne. This plant afixed a large brass plate to the lower wooden coaming on the rear, but they are mostly long gone...

Mike

My International K5 has such a plate. I removed it, cleaned it up, (as it was coated in flaked white paint) and primed it in grey, for now. I don't know if they're easy to find, but it could be replicated.

Attached is a pic, which may be of some interest.

Cheers,
Matt

[Tony Mathers]

Today I went to a secret treasure trove, a wonderland of blitz heaven, armed with a machete and thick leather gloves, I hacked and slashed my way through miles and miles of blackberries until I was able to unearth several treasures.

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I needed a bumper, and I got this perfectly straight and only a little bit rustic marvel.

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I then proceeded to unearth another much needed missing piece, the last 800mm of the chassis. Unfortunately my generator let me down halfway through the job and I need to go back and finish cutting it off later.

My brother came over tonight and has offered me his generator, so I will visiting him tomorrow. Yay!

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Tony Mathers

I needed a bumper, and I got this perfectly straight and only a little bit rustic marvel.

It's times like this I remember the two complete Chev bumper assemblies I tried to save from the scrappy last year. Having slaved in 40 degree heat with a crook back to remove the rusty bolts, I dragged them up a steep hill and hid them behind a tree for collection next day with a trailer. When I got there at 8 AM the bastard had somehow sniffed them out and grabbed them with his excavator. They were already in the crush bin, along with a jeep trailer I'd asked him to put aside.

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[Tony Mathers]

Tony
That's very very sad, I hope you put sugar in his fuel tank......

[Tony Wheeler]

Unfortunately not Tony, I wanted to kill the bastard at the time but I was only on the property under the owner's suffrance, and since he hired the prick I couldn't even abuse him. I'd been pleading for months to get access but I was only allowed in 24 hours ahead of the scrappy. A lot of good parts went in the bin through lack of time to remove them from wrecks.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Tony Mathers

Thanks Gentlemen at this stage I will see how it cleans up, as most of the rust came off before I put the gearbox in the molasses.

No doubt it will clean up OK, but personally I wouldn't bother with a rusty gearbox after it's out of the vehicle. I'd rather start with one that hasn't seen water, since they're easy enough to source. Or at least replace the rusty gears, which are often just the upper ones. The cluster gear never rusts if it's fully underwater, even after decades, because the oil layer seals out all oxygen.

The main consideration of course is tooth end wear/damage through crunching the gears, which mainly effects 2nd and 3rd gears. This damage is self perpetuating, because once the rounded ends are flattened and splayed and chipped they're much harder to engage without crunching. Eventually this can lead to a tooth breaking off, or even several stripped teeth. When that happens you need a complete rebuild, as the bearings are likely to be damaged by case hardened fragments of steel floating around in the oil, and likewise the seals may be abraded. In fact there will always be loose steel floating around inside a crash gearbox, so it's worth making sure you have a magnetic drain plug. They often get lost over the years.

As Phil says you can happily run a rusty gearbox provided the bearings are replaced. One of my Ford gearboxes was so rusted out it took me two days work with a crowbar and sledgehammer to get the gears and selectors moving again. It works fine now but makes a tremendous racket because the front bearing was completely rusted solid. It's OK in the back yard but would no doubt shatter if it were run at speed on the road for any length of time.

The gearbox in my road blitz was also rusty, and I didn't even know at first, because the truck had supposedly been restored. All I did was check the oil level, never dreaming there'd be a litre of water underneath! It wasn't until I did a 200 km trip and lost reverse gear along the way that I realized there was anything untoward inside. What happened was the oil/water/rust powder emulsion whipped up inside while driving caused the oil to lose its lubricant properties, and the reverse selector fork started to bind on its shaft when pushed sideways by the gear lever. It took me a while to figure out, because it worked perfectly when pushed gently with a finger, but every time I put the lid back on it stopped working! Anyway it was easily fixed by flushing with petrol and refilling with clean oil. The bearings seem to be OK for the moment so I have no plans to change the gearbox.

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[Mike K]

This one may fit the bill ..but its in S.A.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/metal-lat...item20e5207996

[Tony Mathers]

Mike lovely photos, love the interior shots especially, I like the fact that they are named for the model, which is what I have lacked.
I already checked out the SA lathe... a bit much and a bit too far... and even though it may be the right size, I want something smaller for my truck. (I still need to carry hay, building materials and firewood, etc, so everything must be easily demountable)

Tony your photos don't turn me on just as much sorry.... but I do feel the pain.

I will first see how the gearbox likes the molasses, but maybe get a spare just in case.