Speed up a 969?

[Jeff Jensen]

Hi Sam
It sure is fun watching some one work.
That handle looks like some one took it off off grandmas fancy dish cabinet. What is to be there is a keyed lock no handle.
Jeff Jensen

[kw573]

Thanks for the comment.

So, here are all the floor and seat-base parts being painted. I used "Queensland Jeep Club Green" which is a colour picked by some MJCQ club members many years ago and is listed on the paint formulas list at most local auto paint shops. I use acrylic lacquer because of ease and familiarity. It dries before the insects land on it! At the front of the picture is the front floor section which is the transmission tunnel with checkerplate welded to each side. Beside that is the drivers seat base. I have two types of them and no idea what it's about. Perhaps a comparison photo if I get around to it.

969 floor being painted.JPG (162.5 KiB) Viewed 894 times

Here's a trick a fellow MVer taught me. To paint small parts, place them on a mesh screen. I use an old fridge condenser. Then the air blast won't disturb the parts. I don't know why it's a blurred picture.

Painting Bolts.JPG (164.5 KiB) Viewed 895 times

And these little creatures are 'T' nuts and are used to bolt the timber seat backing to their metal frames. When I say "T nut" to suppliers, most look at me strangely. One popular hardware shop that talks about low prices wanted 50 cents each for them (40 odd required per cab). A bolt specialist had them for 7.5 cents each!!! These are 1/4"UNC.

T nuts.JPG (142.5 KiB) Viewed 890 times

The cowl section of the cabin has been at a panel beaters for a while and cost me thousands of dollars. The work was fine, but just a LOT of money for what I got. And I'm running low on money. So I'm going to have a go at finishing it myself. I started on it today.
More to come. Have a nice day. Sam in Australia

[gerrykan]

The mesh screen for painting is something I will remember. Keep up the good work.

[kw573]

Hi. Did I tell you how much I love sanding body filler?

As I'm preparing the cabin for painting, there isn't much to see or report. It's summer in the southern hemisphere now, and in Queensland, that means rain and humidity. Not good for painting.

Rubbing down 1.JPG (155.76 KiB) Viewed 839 times

I use an etch primer on bare metal, then a primer/surfacer, then top coats. The 'bog' and other fillers get used when convienent. I'm glad of the low-gloss paint as I'm no panel beater!

Touch up 1.JPG (160.5 KiB) Viewed 840 times

When I blasted the handle shown earlier, I found a very small brand, shown below. It is about 3mm x 5mm and says 'Rockford', 'made in usa' and something else I can't work out. The three ridges on the top of the handle are also used on the door handles.

Handle brand.JPG (210.58 KiB) Viewed 840 times

So far, so good. Have a nice day. Sam.

[kw573]

Hello,
As it has been rainy for a while, I've been struggling with paint preparation for the cabin. However, it has a first double coat of colour on it now. Doesn't it look sweet!!! I've yet to start on the toe-board or the windscreen frame. But I've been doing bits and pieces that bolt onto the cabin. Aren't there a lot of them! The picture shows rear-vision mirror mounts, machine gun ring clamps (two of which I had to weld up as they had been cut.) and the rifle buckets top mount. The cowl vent linkage is there too, but not visible.

Identify parts.JPG (160 KiB) Viewed 807 times

The next to do is the cowl vent door. I'm planning to make a couple of them as they mostly seem to be rusted out or missing. Fortunately I have a good one to copy. The picture shows the vent door and beside it the former that I've started to make out of 10mm plate, for the top.

Cowl Vent and former.JPG (150.5 KiB) Viewed 808 times

This picture shows the lip on the vent door which I will dress down on the former soon. You can also see the sheetmetal raised section that the screen assembly is attached to.

Vent Lip.JPG (153.5 KiB) Viewed 805 times

The rain has stopped. Hooray. Have a nice day. Sam.

[appel]

hi sam

are the floor panels for sale that you pressed?
i only need the pressed pieces...

thanks nick

[kw573]

Hello nick,
I'd certainly part with a set, but would rather swap than sell. A pair of jeep shovels would certainly get my interest. Or 969/ WLF tools or equipment?

Jeff,
with regards the T handle that you said was originally a keyed lock, I have a fairly original 969 sitting in a shed that has an identical T handle on that toolbox also. So either something changed in production or, maybe, as both trucks saw Australian military service, it was a standard Oz mod in service. Having said that, we would have been much more likely to have post-fitted an english item than a USA one. What do you think?

A second handle.JPG (106.5 KiB) Viewed 757 times

Also, I have two different drivers seat base designs. Do you know anything of that?

Back to the vent door. Hmmm. . . another complicated design. The picture shows the setting out for the frame that holds the mesh in place. Lucky I've done a bit of sheetmetal work before. It's 1.2mm mild steel.

Sheetmatel setting out for vent door..JPG (159 KiB) Viewed 755 times

Folding it up was a bit tricky too. Here is one part way through being folded up. In the background can be seen the original and the first one I folded up.

Folding the vent door sheetmetal..JPG (169.5 KiB) Viewed 756 times

Have a nice weekend. Sam.

[Glenn]

I am, and I'm sure others are too, continuing to enjoy seeing the pictures of your work. Excellent job!

[Jeff Jensen]

Sam
My 969 has some field built handle in place also, I think removed all of them because you needed the key to open any time you wanted to get in there.
If you look in your ORD9 G509 in group 0610A you will find tumbler, w/lock, battery shield , part number G509-02-79848 or Diamond-t number DX5802.
My 12 ton diamond t G159 has 2 battery boxes and it lists the same part numbers, I have one around here some place, If i find it i will post a picture.
Jeff

[Jeff Jensen]

Sam
I dug around and found the lock, So as soon as one of my boys comes around I will post picture.
I dug into the parts manuals also, I think that door lock is the same as the tachometer lock that is the same on all WWII trucks that had them like your DT and KW, Just a little different tag on the back of it.
The part numbers are very close DX-5806-A, G509-0279849
Jeff

[kw573]

Hey Jeff,
Thanks for the reply. That certainly is hard evidence. Now I know not to get worried about those T handles. One of the short comings of my MV life is not having put a lot of money into manuals. I know that this is silly and only hampering my own efforts to get this job done. However, this is on the mend and I really do need to get a parts book or two.
Battery shield? I didn't know there was a battery under the passengers' seat. Are we talking about the same lid/door?
Sam.

[Jeff Jensen]

Sam
Now that I look at that above picture I think we are talking about 2 different doors, I was talking about the one by the right running board and the one you are looks to be under or behind the passenger seat.
I have a feeling it was a OZ mod, I can not find any thing about it in any of my manuals.
One way I look for information on these old trucks is to do a google search clicking on images. Looking at pics can be helpful.

Jeff

[kw573]

Thanks Jeff,
Now I know that the battery box (by the passenger side step) was originally locked. As for the toolbox under the passenger seat, the mystery remains.

And now some fiddly stuff I've been playing with.

Firstly, the windscreen pivot bolts are severly rusted, so I welded them with a small MIG and used a correct-size nut as a guide to grind/file the head to shape. The two pics are self-explanatary I think.

Rebuild a bolt head.JPG (144 KiB) Viewed 676 times

KIF_1054.JPG (156.5 KiB) Viewed 677 times

And just some pointers I learned while folding the lip on the cowl vent door (1.6mm). The picture shows the door firmly clamped to the former and a big lump of plate. That helps a lot. The conventional hammer left a lot of hammer marks that had to be removed later with a flapper disc on the angle grinder. However the old panel hammer beside it was much tidy-er. I wouldn't use a real good panel hammer on such heavy sheet as it would probably mark the hammer face. Also, the dolly can be seen. Its a 'Heel' dolly, but any flat dolly would do. It goes on the top of the job adjecent the hammer strokes to stop any curving of the top of the job that may want to happen. This way I get a nice tidy fold. Incidently, the more noise the hammer blows make, the less secure the job is and the poorer the result.

Folding a lip.JPG (165 KiB) Viewed 674 times

Till next time, Sam.

[kw573]

Hello all,
I've become a bit annoyed with the vent door, and have left it for the time being.
The inner windscreen frame is being repaired now. The lower cross piece and outer uprights are made from extruded brass. I have seen this a couple of times and it seems that rusted original sheetmetal ones were replaced with this stuff by the Aust. army. A close-up of its' shape is below. This shape is also used on other period vehicles, and is not machined, so is probably extruded.

Brass Windscreen extrusion.JPG (133 KiB) Viewed 638 times

However the original centre piece of rust remains. To replace it, I cut one side off (the one with the seam on it) of two lengths of 1/2" box, tacked them together back-to-back and welded a strip of 1.2mm onto each side.

Windscreen centre pillar construction.JPG (155 KiB) Viewed 640 times

Once welded, I ground, filed and flapper-disc'ed to a good finish.

Welding centre pillar.JPG (158.5 KiB) Viewed 638 times

So now, I wrestle with how to make the upper piece that includes the inner hinge fold. It needs to be a bit wider as the uprights go inside it to be bolted into place. Any ideas?
Have a nice day. Sam.

[68427vette]

Awsome WORK!! i get to work on my C2 wrecker soon,, I love to see the BIG IRON restored!!
awsome job!!