A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

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kw573
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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Tue Jan 16, 2018 1:00 pm

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the comments. That didn't initially make sense to me, thinking that the springs at each end would be on opposite sides of the balls. But they are not. Then I realized that the Pitman Arm ball pushes (or pulls) the Drag Link, which then pushes (or pulls) the steering arm ball. One ball does the pushing, the other gets pushed. Clear as mud!
In the picture below, the balls locate between the cups labeled 'D'.

Image

Another design feature is that the hole where the ball enters the Drag Link tube is elongated, with a section where the ball will fit and a section where it won't fit. See picture in previous posts. This ensures that there is more than just the spring pressure on the cups to keep the ball in the Drag Link tube.

Have a nice day.
Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.


kw573
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Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Fri Jan 19, 2018 1:52 pm

One of the problems with the bonnet repairs is the repeated removal/fitting of the centre plate. This is a two man job as the rear two bolts don't have captured nuts, it seems. And when removing them, I have dropped a couple which mostly fall behind the firewall insulation the live there happily forever! Grrrr. . . :x
So, I made these little items to put an end to those troubles. I have seen this type of thing in the commercial vehicle industry for impossible-to-fit nuts.

Image

Image

I have since also found that I can leave the centre plate in place and by leaving the front bolts loose, I can lift it up and slide the bonnet top hinge off, over the radiator for the next adjustment and leave those rear bolts in place until it is all done and can be painted.

Enjoy.
Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Sat Jan 20, 2018 11:56 am

Hi all,
Unusually, I managed to get a whole day in the workshop yesterday. Mostly, I worked on the bonnet braces. This is the worst one, drivers side, needing three rust patches. I unfolded the inner end (shown) to clean and straighten it. Originally, it seems to have been spot welded to the inner lip of the bonnet and then had a hard life with evidence of failed welds and brase (brass) repairs, and distortion. Also, the arm attaching mounts can be seen to be quite rusty.

Image


It appears that the brace was originally fitted as bare metal, so the side facing the bonnet, and the bonnet adjacent to that have never been painted. Consequently, it was heavily rusted. I removed most of the rust with a grinder and phosphoric acid treated it before painting. It is important to remove the un-reacted acid with a damp rag. Some people feel that this will immediately reintroduce the rust, but I am getting better results than other non-acid treatments. Of course, if I wanted to pay for sandblasting, it would be different.

Image


Anyway, I made the repairs. This picture is using the good brace as a pattern for the other one.

Image


I have 3 or 4 different thickness grinder stones in my workshop. There is the standard wheel for general grinding, it is about 6mm thick. Then there are the 'wafer' disks that are 1 - 1.6mm thick, and not actually made of stone, but seem to be an abrasive captured in a fiberglass or carbon fibre like structure. This makes them very safe for cutting a kerf. Then there are the 3 - 4mm stones, the ones we used to use for cutting before wafer disks were available. I have a few of these and rarely use them. But, one came into good use for cleaning up a weld.

Image


Then, to test fit it to the bonnet, which has been temporarily bolted together. Couldn't think of a better way to hold it together for test fitting prior to welding. Anyway, there was quite a mis-match with the brace not fitting inside the bonnet. Hmmmm. . . .
Much measuring and checking showed that my bonnet top is about 10mm narrower than original. How can that be? It fits fine! :? After quite a bit of fiddling around, I managed to get it to fit with about half the edge clearance of the sample bonnets I have. The gap can be seen under the upper clamps in the picture below.

Image


While I was at it, I retrieved the brace arms that have been carefully stored (on the back corner of my workbench :lol:) and found the fasteners for them.

Image


And couldn't resist a test fit. Despite some measurement not making much sense, it works and fits great.

Image


Getting the top and louvered panel correctly positioned on each other was tricky. One issue was that the bonnet catch openings tops had to be just above the catches (one on the radiator side panel, one one the cabin cowl) so that the spring action of the catch would have some pull down on them to positively hold the bonnet in place. Also, this is when you find out if the radiator and cowl are vertically parallel to each other!

Enjoy!
Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

70th Division
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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by 70th Division » Sun Jan 21, 2018 7:14 pm

Hello Sam,

Looking Great !!! Thanks for posting these interesting updates.
That hood will be like new very soon, a beautiful save, and restoration of it, for your Diamond T :D :D
Always looking forward to your informative updates !


Best Regards,

Ray
USA

kw573
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Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Thu Jan 25, 2018 3:13 pm

Hi Ray,
Thanks for the feedback, always nice to receive.

I continue the work on the rust in the mudguards. This has turned into a long and tedious job, the drivers fluted panel took an estimated 40-50 hours!!! But I'm not a fast worker and for sure there are shortcuts that I don't know about.

The drivers mudguard has had its' two double coats of colour, being "Queensland Jeep Club Green", a colour devised by club members about 25 years ago. In preparation for that, I pre-coated the hidden surfaces proir to welding the brace in place.

Image


Here clamped during welding the substitute spot welds.

Image


Earlier, I had to extend the front edge of the top panel by about 4mm. As a 4mm strip would present significant (for me) heat control issues, I cut a 13mm strip, bent it by using a panel hammer on a rubber mat . . .

Image


. . . until the bend was correct, then welded it on.

Image


Then used a piece of masking tape the find the correct edge before cutting it off with a wafer disk.

Image


Just a random picture showing rubbing down the flutes, an intricate and slow job. Imagine what the rubbing down of the body filler was like. Wasn't hard, just time consuming!!! :?

Image


Enjoy,
Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Thu Jan 25, 2018 6:12 pm

So, the drivers bonnet was painted . . .

Image


. . . and the catch handles painted . . .

Image


. . . and fitted.

Image


The spring wasn't the fight I thought it would be, it has enough length to clamp a small pair of vise-grips on to bend it out of the way to insert the handle easily and fit the split pin which is just visible in the picture above.
Although the paint was still quite soft in places, I couldn't resist fitting it. It is not quite right and may need a massage to get it to align with the mudguard/inner guard, we'll see. You can also see how the seam above the flutes doesn't quite align with the top tank seam on the radiator. I think that is because I gave a lot more than original clearance for the bonnet catches to pull down on their bracket before the catch reached the end of its' slot in the fluted panel. Got that?!? :roll:
This may be a mistake as it reduces the 'give' the catch has to allow for twist when off-roading. Again, we'll see.

Image


Cool, eh?

Enjoy,
Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

70th Division
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Posts: 5638
Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2009 5:29 pm
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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by 70th Division » Thu Jan 25, 2018 6:33 pm

Hello,

Looks great Sam !

Lots of hours of careful, but caring restoration work, the truck deserves your TLC on it :D

I like the tip on making an oversize repair piece to control heat issues, then cutting it back.
Great idea that we all can use during repairs on our vehicles.

Thanks for posting, and keep up your good works !

Best Regards,

Ray

kw573
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Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Fri Jan 26, 2018 11:53 am

Thanks Ray.

Here are a couple of pictures of the drivers bonnet that I missed.

This is the cutting of the edge that attaches to the fluted panel so that the bonnet catches will have plenty of hold. I now know that I probably cut 1/4" too much off. To keep the wafer disk cut straight, I used a heavier plate as a straight edge to run the face of the wheel along.

Image


And when I did get around to welding the panels together, I didn't have a clamp with a long enough reach, so I used steel box and spacer blocks to achieve the same effect.

Image


Have a nice day.
Sam.
Last edited by kw573 on Fri Jan 26, 2018 12:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Fri Jan 26, 2018 12:27 pm

Here is a more detailed description of doing a bonnet patch . . . . or two.

The bonnet is made of thinner material than the rest of the cabin, being 1mm (0.040") rather than 1.6mm (0.065"). This forced an increase in my welding skills! It is also a bit of a challenge for my small and old MIG welder.

Decide how big to make the patch and remove the rust with a wafer dick.

Image


Choose patching materiel and apply 'blue', or as I use, permanent marker . . .

Image


. . . and trace the shape onto it. There is a bit of a grey area, i.e. is the repair worth a patch or just weld up the hole?

Image


With the 1mm, I can use tin snips to cut it out. Usually, I have to then round the corners and a bit of back and forth as I grind edges to make a weldable fit, ie a bit of a space most of the way around the patch. This saves fighting with it to lay dead flat and allows full depth welding.

Image


In place ready to tack weld/check/adjust/weld/check/adjust/etc.

Image


And finish the welding which, being a panel visible from both sides, I do from both sides.

Image


To finish, both sides are ground flat and flaws in the weld then become apparent and I 'chase' them by re-welding. This can be a big or small job depending upon how well the initial weld went. It ends up that I grind off maybe 75% of the weld metal. The whole lot may have taken me 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy.
Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Wed Jan 31, 2018 11:38 am

Hi all,

While I continue to work on the bonnets, I became distracted and decided to finish the windscreen hold down catch that mounts on the bonnet center plate. I had already cut the material and done two of the bends . . . .

Image


. . . . so it was just a case of finding a suitable mandrel to hold the piece in the vice to finish the bends to form the body of the catch.

Image


Then weld in the end tab, which I forgot to allow for when cutting out this piece. The hole in it is to allow the welding of the spring pin in place. This is the spring that returns the . . . dunno what to call it . . . . pawl? . . . to the rest position.

Image


And welding the pin in place. To hold it, I clamped a short length of key steel against it.

Image


Now, ready for test fitting. The base has an extra plate that I don't know why it is there. Also, the main body and base plate were spot welded together, but I have opted to leave them just bolted together. I'll trim the edges neat before painting.

Image


To get the bracket on the windscreen frame to align, I had to tap it rearwards a bit, it moved easily, which made sense as this is how it would distort if the windscreen was repeatedly dropped.

Image


Next is some paint, polish the sloping surface of the pawl, lube and fit. The webbing was cut off a 2" ratchet strap and I melted the ends to stop fraying. To get the bolts through it, I parted the weave with a scriber, bit of a battle, but no cut fibers to fray later. It is only just wide enough, but the best I could immediately lay my hands on.
One more job almost done.

I am planning to take the Glorifier to the next "Back to the Track" event in mid 2020. The plan is to travel to Alice Springs via the Simpson Desert and return from Darwin via the Gulf and Channel country. It'll be a 4 or 5 month trip. I'm getting excited already!!!

Have a nice day.
Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Wed Jan 31, 2018 12:05 pm

Another little job was the fuel tank filler extension. I had one that I had bought at a swap and it was a tight fit in the filler tube. Turned out that the pressed lugs that slide in the runners were too high, making the extension tight to extend and return. I had to grind the tops of them to make a suitable fit. Makes me wonder if different manufacturers had slightly different tolerances. Anyway, I could now use the chain for the cap. These little items are not always available, but I see them on epay for USD7 each, almost USD15 by the time I get one home!! Those little clips on the ends are sturdy little suckers, they take some getting unlocked!

Image


Getting the clip in the extension fitted was a wrestle . . .

Image


. . . but it is all good now.

Image


One more job done.

By the way, I am on the casual hunt for the correct filler cap for my Kenworth Heavy Wrecker. These are made of cast Aluminium, with very distinct radial lines cast in the top of it. Do you have one laying around and never knew what it was?

Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Thu Feb 01, 2018 12:15 pm

Another patch in the passenger side fluted panel was where the suppression clip mounts. The clip is to electrically connect the bonnet to the inner mudguard when closed. First decided how much to remove.

Image


Then used my trusty wafer disk to remove the rusted section.

Image


I was going to cut to the flute, but then realized I didn't need to, and that was a complication I could avoid.The white chalk line shows where I first intended to cut.

Image


Traced and cut the patch . . .

Image


. . . and test fitted, adjusted/test/adjust to a good fit for welding.

Image


Tack welded into place before welding and grinding to the needed finish. The rusted end of the flute adjacent the patch was filled with MIG weld and ground back to shape. Didn't know how that would work, but it went well. I used a small grinder wheel on the die grinder to do the inside curve.

Image


I spent a lot of time on the passenger bonnet yesterday. What a mess! The whole top-of-flutes repair has been troublesome. I cut the rusty top strip off at the rebate, as opposed to the tops of the flutes like I did on the drivers side. That was not a good decision as there was more rust there than I realized and I was constantly blowing holes in it. This is both bad and good, bad because it causes more work, good because it finds more thin steel. And welding then grinding along the rebate was difficult to get in the right position and to look neat. It doesn't. It's not straight. Groan . . . :( Then after test fitting the top and fluted panel, bolted together in the correct position, or so I thought, I set up for spot welding and made a start. Well about 1/2 way through I was having great difficulty getting the two panels to close up properly to weld. Closer inspection showed that, somehow, the panels had moved on each other despite being bolted together. This caused the top edge to ride up on the rebate. GRRRRRRRR. . . . . :x :? But it was too late as the 5 welds already done would be very difficult to remove without making a big mess. So now I am on a grind/sand/fill/sand/ etc to at least get it looking a bit reasonable. We'll see.

Have a nice day.

Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Thu Feb 01, 2018 3:33 pm

Another issue I found was the amount of rust under the passenger bonnet rear locking handle bracket. The other 3 were not so bad as to demand my attention, but this one was causing quite some distortion on the outside of the panel and had 3 small rust holes under it. The issue with removing it is the rivets, which are very hard to get here in Australia. They are slightly rounded head tubular (or semi-tubular) which I would need to re-use. So I attacked it.

Image


I managed to press the first one out using a needle gun needle, very strong, in the arbor press.

Image


But the other three wouldn't play ball and I reluctantly ground the set off them and gently hammered them out. This rivet work always requires a suitable and very solid backing to hit against. I used a socket on a 20mm plate of steel under the rivets to hit them out.

Image


After that, I could weld the rust and straighten the rust-swelled distortion, some of which was under the brace. So I used a curved cold chisel. This tool occasionally comes in very handy. I have no idea of its' original purpose.

Image


When that was done, I was able to set the first rivet with a ball pein hammer, as it had not been shortened by grinding. For the others, I counter sunk the hole about 1.5mm and set the shortened rivets into that. Not pretty, but it'll work.



Here is a random picture that I forgot to post, drilling to repair the spot welds on the rearmost brace.

Image


Enjoy.

Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

70th Division
G-Lieutenant General
G-Lieutenant General
Posts: 5638
Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2009 5:29 pm
Location:

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by 70th Division » Thu Feb 01, 2018 7:26 pm

Hello,

Your work is looking great Sam !!
I appreciate your updates, and progress !!

Best Regards,

Ray

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Fri Feb 02, 2018 1:16 am

Thanks Ray. At the moment I am putting a good amount of detail in the rebuild, because I can. :wink:

Finished painting all the parts for this, so a day for the paint to harden slightly (very slightly!), and time to fit it, . . .

Image


. . . and test it. The windscreen bracket is a bit tight to get under the pawl, but that is OK, it won't rattle!

Image


Also, the bolts for these were painted, so I could fit the drivers side one.

Image


It is meant to engage with a single copper plate on the inner mudguard to make electrical contact. I thought it was funny that the copper plates had olive drab on them!

Image


Due to cool damp weather, I didn't manage any painting today.

Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.


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