another West Australian ACCO 6x6 F1 GS

[johnp]

Mike thanks once again,we havent as yet found the DiamondTs chassis no(not that we have looked hard yet) does anyone know of the exact pos' of the 42 yr stamping,i ask because of the 1960s Diamonds we have here they can be in different spots plus they are a fairly light stamping and can be bloody hard to find even with all the paint and associated crud wire brushed etc off,they definately didnt seem to whack the punches too hard back then.
John

[johnp]

Mike,i will take any plates or other markings with a grain of salt from now on and not as the gospel truth,seeing as they may have been applied just for "effect" except for maybe the ones like Diana mentions which may have been re-issued.
John

[johnp]

Can anyone explain why all the inters had 'bulging' doors,i thought when i first saw them years ago they had been poorly repaired somewhere but then noticed they all look the same, i think civilian ACCOs have all flat panels including the doors as i have owned an early six wheel tipper and a later eight wheel tipper with the step down door and cant remember the bulge so assume this was just an Army thing.
I still have yet to get truck home so have not really investigated the innards of doors properly to see if there is indeed a need for the extra room that may arise internally .
John

[dkg001]

Don't know why they are bulging, but the civilian doors are the same, The later model with the door step is flatter, I would guess to maintain the profile as it is a longer door.

[Chazza]

Most "flat" panels have a very slight curve in them, so that the panel can hold its shape. A completely flat door-skin, for example, would flex every time the door is shut and quite possibly bend permanently, if someone leaned on it.

Making the slight curve, whether it be a compound curve or a radius, is one of the hardest things to do accurately when making new ones,

Cheers Charlie

[johnp]

dkg100,Chazza,thanks,"most" doors especially late model cars etc have side intrusion bars fitted and older stuff sometimes had a channel or similar welded at the ends on to "frame",inner skin, and then glued with some form of adhesive ,others had none but may have been a thicker steel etc,i just wondered why IH engineers/designers  or army research and development guys went down the "harder' to achieve compound curve track.
Harder for the backyard builder/restorer to re-create anyway,as factories could stamp whatever shape they liked,i just thought that for the stubbiness ,heightwise etc, of inter doors,flat would have been more than sufficient,may be just one of those things we never will know the real reason for,anyway thanks guys.
John

[Mick]

Hi John,

I think you'll find the Series III came onto the scene later than 72 , more like 77 /78.  They were practically new when I joined the army.  In relation to the green and white plates, Diana refers to a F5 wrecker - they remained in service long after the F1 as the Mog light wrecker variant was delivered much later in the Unimog upgrade program.

I reckon the last F1 I saw other than a odd workshop truck would have been 1985. Of course , in some Southern Army reserve units there might have been a few floating around.

I hope you enjoy her when you get her and I look forward to your updates.

Cheers,

Mick

[johnp]

Gday mick,We hope to get back and fit all the bits and pieces this weekend Sun 25th june,if all goes well she may even come home same day if not ,well we,ll wait and see.
I have my sons semi professional movie camera and mic set up so we want to get some decent footage of the work and possible transport without really annoying wind noise or the Go pro fisheye lense effect,there doesnt seem to be much on inters on You Tube or any where else just some real short walk arounds and drives ,nothing in depth at all really,something we aim to correct hopefully,or we could just fail miserably as we havn't done anything like this before.
If all fails we should still have some decent still pics anyway.
Humber fv1601 ex Australian army will cop similar treatment as well,but will have to wait a while for any road tests as it is not really driveable yet(fairly complicated  old vehicle).
My sons projects will be done as well but we are both working at our own paces so some may still be a fair way off.
Re-build will be photographed and videoed on the f1 as my son and i quite enjoy watching all sorts of military (and other) vehicle rebuilds,both major refurbishments and "full blown'' resto's so we thought we would give it a go.
We all have to work within our $ budgets and skill sets/limits so i do the best i can with what ive got so not necessarily  a complete rebuild on every component as if parts are still serviceable as is except for may be a new seal or a bearing etc here and there they will be cleaned painted and refitted,i like to test drive the complete vehicle ,see what does or doesnt work and go from there after just doing some basic maintenance etc such as getting some sort of brakes happening,changing oils as or/ if needed,cleaning carby, fuel system,checking steering ,radiator/water pump leaks that may  need a patch just to achieve a testdrive.

John

[Chazza]

...Chazza,thanks,...i just wondered why IH engineers/designers  or army research and development guys went down the "harder' to achieve compound curve track.
Harder for the backyard builder/restorer to re-create anyway,as factories could stamp whatever shape they liked,i just thought that for the stubbiness ,heightwise etc, of inter doors,flat would have been more than sufficient,may be just one of those things we never will know the real reason for,anyway thanks guys.
John

Yes, hard to recreate by hand is what I meant. If you need help making one, let me know and I will finish my English wheel and have a go at it.

I think the door skin is too big to leave it flat, for the reasons stated in my previous post. You may be familiar with the term "oil canning" i.e. that is when a panel pops in and out at the slightest touch. This can happen to flat panels very easily and if ignored can result in paint cracking and metal-fatigue. If a crown is put in a panel - even a very small one - oil-canning will not occur and the resistance of the panel to being permanently deformed by slight contact, is greatly reduced.

There is great advantage in curved panels,

Cheers Charlie

[johnp]

Charlie, thanks for the offer,if door actually  does need it i will get in touch with you.
due to some urgent work needed on my shed roof,it looks like next Sunday will be the only chance i can get back to re-fit all the bits and pieces.   john

[johnp]

Sun 9th we got carbies refitted along with new clutch master and slave cyls and rekitted brake master cyls all bled up ok and running reas well tho leads and plugs will be changed.
Radiator seems fine had it running for quite some time and temp gauge did not climb past normal,air builds up alright, gears all there but we ran out of time as we have to change both steer tyres as they look pretty crook and no headlights working but otherwise by next trip up we are hopeful of driving it a bit further than the couple of hundred metres on this run.
Hi /low range is stuck somewhere on linkage prob just from sitting around so will free that up although it is in Hi at moment i dont want to possibly get it stuck in or out of low and not be able to move it at all.
Will get my son to post some pics next weekend and we have some video footage of process thus far,and will get more as we go for a poss' Youtube post later on.
     does any one know the reccomended spark plugs for 283 motor  because i will bet when i go to repco/Autobarn etc they will prob have no  old listings for these.
John

[Ravvin]

Hi, Repco definitely do them.
The original plugs were Bosch W95T6. The modern replacement is the NGK BP4 or the Champion J12YC, I got the NGK ones.
The plug gap should be .028 -.032" or .718 - .832mm.
If you have the air cleaner off for any reason, the valve clearance should be between 0.024" and 0.026" when hot, and preferably while running, but not critical. I found it makes a huge difference and really doesn't take long to do. With the plugs out, put it in 5th gear with the transfer case in neutral and have someone turn the drive shaft while you feel for top dead centre of piston 1 with a long cable tie of something similar. Adjust the valve gap and work through the firing order to do the others.
You can get the original tappet cover gasket from any Iveco dealer, as well as the side cover gasket, if yours leak.
The part numbers are 164421R1 for the tappet cover gasket and 369982R1.
 
Greg.

[johnp]

Hi Greg thanks for that, i will need to do the tappets as they are a bit noisy but its better their loose at the moment than tight as they will help burn a valve otherwise.
I will check around for who has the plugs by phone first.
Its good having guys like you on here who have just done what were about to do,will save us scratching around for info,i have read all your posts and glad to see it is all coming together well for you.
  John
.

[Chazza]

.. no headlights working but otherwise by next trip up we are hopeful of driving it a bit further than the couple of hundred metres on this run.
...

Good to hear that all is going well John! Is the truck near me? If so I can lend a hand if you need one.

Regarding the headlights, check that the blackout switch isn't on,

Cheers Charlie

[johnp]

Hi Charlie,no truck is near Merriden but thanks for the offer.
I did set switch to normal lighting position but we just ran out of time to do any in depth fault finding,will take circuit tester etc back up and clean /check all connections etc and see if we can trace the fault back.
All in all most stuff seems serviceable enough considering it has been sitting for approx 7 years or so untouched (much better than something sitting for 30+yrs tho) 2 or 3 tyres are useable but will have to find some "better" ones as we progress.
John