kw573 Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Hello John, I was feeling a bit neglectful at not having posted for a long while. But looks like I'm not the only one who has been otherwise occupied. First it was work, then no money, so I started on the tray rust, now it is long work hours until December. But I haven't even got to post the pics I have on progress. Hows the M1 and 969 going? Sam, down-under. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 Sam; The 969 has been on the backburner since the Spring as I had promised my son to get the Ward in reliable operational status, which has been done. The record heat this summer has brought everything to a halt. I am going to jump back into the 969 project and finish it and with good discipline, I won't touch the Ward until I am done with the 969. However, I have been collecting assorted bits for the Ward, the right towbar, NOS tow cable, NOS Speedometer, the correct temp gauge, ROSS horn button and assorted seals. Most items were acquired with the help of members of this board. With that said, my sons football season has started with practice 5 nights a week, son that will take up my time thru November. I was wondering what had happened to you since you had not posted in awhile. Nice thread on the G503 on your "play date" with your Kenworth, very impressive. John Gott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw573 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Hi John, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours. I have sort of made a re-start on the 969. Attacked the front diff re-assembly yesterday, and hope to continue for the next week or so, energy permitting. Pic of driving pinion cup home. 2012 is looking like a much quieter year and so hope to get a lot more done on the 969. Wow!, some of the parts you mention are quite unobtainable here. You may have noticed that I use a 1960's Aussie tow bar on my M1A1. A generous member on another site sent me some detailed pics of his original towbar with a view to my building a repro. But that will have to wait until the 969 is finished. If you come across M1A1 stuff, please keep me in mind. Have a nice day. Sam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 Sam; I have been very fortunate with members of this board and the G503 helping me out on parts. The tow bar weighs 200lbs. Once I put it on the boom, I think it will stay there. I have sourced the correct work lights for the WLF, and I am in the process of restoring them as I was already working on the work lights for my Diamond T. I came across a few air brake diaphrams, so if you need the front ones let me know. Now if I can just get me neighbor to move his 1917 Model T out of my shop, I can get back to working on my Diamond T. Happy New Year. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw573 Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Hi John, Yes, the tow bar is very heavy. The later bar I have fits on the boom, but is a real chore to get in off/on. I park the KW beside a retaining wall in my yard and slew the boom around and put the end on the ground. Much easier but still an effort. I hope that I can also continue to get help finding 969/M1A1 gear through these forums. There is VERY little stuff down-under. Sam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Long overdue update; Well we brought the Diamond T "home" 2 weeks ago from the metal shop where it had been "sleeping" for the past year. The project went on the back burner as other priorites had to be tended to. First order of business was doing a walk around and sorting out where I had left off, and making a list of the 100's of "small" jobs to do. -I found that some of my paint work had "failed", as I did not mix the paint correctly before spraying and it was starting to peel on the fenders and tailgate. So I sanded the probelm areas down, resprayed and all is well. -Crawling under the truck with a light revealed some areas that were missed when spraying the bed, so that was tended to. -The battery box was fitted to the new frame cross members along with installing the new battery hold down tray. -The fuel tank was installed along with both running boards -The front winch driveshaft was installed - The front bumper and tow hooks were installed - The headlight buckets, light guards, blackout marker and black out head light were installed. - Some oil leaks were tended to. - The exhaust pipe and NOS muffler were installed -The engine fired right up (major milestone), and she has a little "bark" to her, I was surprised, as the exhaust note in the WLF is quieter, and I expected the same on the Diamond T. - I am sorting out a vibratrion in the short driveshaft between the tranny and transfer case. The tranny is fine, but I am puzzled, because I installed new U joints, so I have to take the shaft out and have a look. The 2 U joints are aligned correctly. The problem does not exist when the driveshaft is disconected, hmmmm. The tranny and and transfer case are NOS units. Pictures to follow soon John G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted May 19, 2012 Author Share Posted May 19, 2012 Here are the pictures I promised back in April. Work has now progressed to the firewall (cowl). I should have my gauges back next month from the company that is refurbishing them. I want to assemble everything on the dash before I reinstall it on the chassis .The CO-2 was test fit into the bracket, just got to replace the hose and repaint it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted May 19, 2012 Author Share Posted May 19, 2012 I am making a new firewall pad from scratch. As anyone who owns one of these trucks can attest to, an excessive amount of heat enters the driver's compartment. I have attached a heat shield to the exhaust pipe, heat shielding to the toe board and heat shielding that wil be sandwiched between the cardboard and cowl. In the previoue post you can see the test fit of the cardboard on one shot of the firewall/ pictures to follow on that. For now pictures of the completed bed area and front end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted May 19, 2012 Author Share Posted May 19, 2012 I got the drive line vibration sorted out, I had a needle bearing in a u joint that had moved when I put the cap back on during installation. Very smooth now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw573 Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Hi John, That looks soooo nice. If mine looks anywhere near as good as yours, I'll be very pleased. I also have places where the paint is mis-behaving, coming up in little lumps which I take to be rust that I missed, starting to come to life again. Strangely, this occurs mainly adjacent welds. More care required on my part in the future. I may have missed something, but your dash appears to not have a hole for the drivers wiper control valve. Is that correct? Also, what is the foot switch mounted above the dipper switch? Either way, beautiful work! Sam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 Sam; Very observent. If you look back on the earlier threads, there is a picture of the dash when I received the truck, many switches had been added. In the quest to clean up the dash, I wanted all the holes filled in, my welder filled in one to many, as you may notice, the hole for the throttle cable also got filled. They have been drilled out. The additonal switch is for the siren. There was a hole there for the switch that had been added sometime during the trucks life and the truck did have a siren mounted on the driver's fender. I have seen pictures taken in theater, where sirens were added to the bumper and also the fender. I am going to install a FEDERAL siren light on the fender and I will have to drill an additional hole in the dash for the siren light switch. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 Sam; This is what I started with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 Sam; This was the siren that was on the truck when I got it. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw573 Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 John, Yes, that all makes sense. I certainly wish that the knowledge of the truck that I have learned during rebuild was known to me before I started. The rebuild would have been a lot quicker. Interestingly, the placement of the siren foot switch is similar as for the WLF siren switch. Sam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markita2 Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 I am a hobby cardboard and designing models. Looking for drawings for Diamond 969 wrecker.Soory English but I'm using Google translator. For all the help thank you very much. Regards Mariusz kita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted September 24, 2012 Author Share Posted September 24, 2012 All; My gauge rebuilder just sent me these photos of my Diamond T instruments. A little pricey but the before and after pictures speak volumes. I was left speechless. It took me awhile to source the correct Stewart Warner gauges but it was worth the wait John G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 (edited) Well a major milestone was reached today. All the wiring was completed on the dash and the gauges were installed. I have been working on this over the course of 10 hours over several days. I reinstalled the heater that was installed by the Belgium Army, so the white knob you see is the heater control. The siren light control will go next to the left wiper control knob. When I was done and just stood back and took it all in......... The 2 lines you see hanging down to the right of the steering column support are the oil pressure gauge and viscosity meter gauge lines along with the tach and speedo lines. John G Edited December 17, 2012 by 42 chevy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asbjørn Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Good job! Amazing restoration! It's interesting that the old transmission was rebuilt in Norway, and your NOS transmission also came from Norway. Norwegian writing on the crate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted March 11, 2013 Author Share Posted March 11, 2013 It has been awhile since I updated, so since a major milestone was reached yesterday by putting the hood back on, I thought I would post some pictures. The cowl was previously refitted and all gauges are in working order. The siren light was wired up and is working. I ran the air line from the compressor to the governor along the fender and it should be snaked around the air cleaner on the passenger side of the air cleaner, so I will change that. Some air leaks were addressed (loose fittings) so know she holds air for several hours instead of minutes!! John G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 I finally got the voltage regulator sorted out, it was putting out out 9.5 volts and the amp gauge stayed pegged at 30 amps, now it is at 7.4 volts and the amp gauge returns to center after a short while after start up. I had to file the points on the current regulator and then use a volt meter attached to the batteries and turn the pin wheels that adjust the spring tension. It was a learning experience. Lots of reading was done and some members on this board were a great help. While I was sorting out the charging system, a new ticking noise was coming from the valve train. Upon closer inspection, the number 2 intake valve spring had broken in two, A new spring was sourced and in the process of putting it back to together, I discovered that all the pins that retain the springs had been put in upside down. That was a fun job working through the fender well. The valve clearances were checked and now she purrs like a kitten I have added some new shots of the engine compartment. John g Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw573 Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Hi John, It is always a delight and inspiration to see the next progression with your 969. I learn things looking at your pictures. Thanks. Have a nice day. Sam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 It has come to the point to redo the closed cab. Repair panel were source from Jim Clark at Allied Forces. So today we loaded up the cab to take to my friends shop. I am now entering the final phase of the restoration. Pictures attached show the rust. John G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 I can disregard my previous question on the cab, as I checked this forum and Tonr Graves answered my question, webbing it is. Thanks. Progress pics later today. John G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 I am attaching pictures of the cab repairs. All rusted metal is being removed and repair panels fabricated by Allied Forces (Jim Clarke) are being installed. I believe everything is self explanatory. John G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 Am I providing a link when I did the air compressor Diamond T wrecker bed air compressor John G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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