Antony

It looks like a 4 ton Diamond T 968 Cargo, which raises a question, were The British Army equipped with Diamond T 968's, I know they had 980's and 969 Wreckers, but I cannot recall seeing any pictures of DT Cargo Trucks. Did The US Army have these Trucks in England, or were they delivered direct to Normandy after D Day from The US.

Tony.

Is there a reason why no price has been quoted here?

 

Is it all original as it looks in almost too good condition.

Mr. Rackham has not indicated a price he is looking for so far, it was missing the 'trail', wheels and barrel, we made the 'trail', and wheels, which were based on the hubs which were a WW2 adaption, and the barrel is from a WW2 155mm howitzer.

Thanks for the suggestions, but who is Ralph Lovell?

Tony.

The owner of The Howitzer wishes to sell it, and as it is such a unique and rare piece of equipment, I wonder if anyone can suggest where it can be advertised, I will suggest to him to try Milweb, but was wondering if there might be any outlets in The USA. I would have thought there might be some collectors over there who may be interested.

Tony.

Many thanks, I will see if I can locate one. Tony.

spotted this pic in a book recently, southampton 1943. Tiger 131 and a Diamond T with a Panther, what happened to the Panther Ausf A?

Hi Barry,

Could you let me know the details of the book from which you took the picture of the Tiger being driven through Southampton please, because my friend Ray Clark believes the driver is his father Stanley. Ray said his father had driven Tiger 131 through several towns in the country to show the general public a German Tank, possibly to raise morale, or was it to raise money? I would be interested to hear other people opinions.

Tony.

The Howitzer was not sold with The Holt Tractor at Paul Rackham's tractor sale, and is available now. Mr. Rackham's office telephone number for serious enquiries is, 01953 717176

Tony.

Yep you are spot on the Leyland DAF trucks are all COE and so the gear leaver opperation is via a very strange bar assembly to the side opperated leaver on the gearbox, more on this later too you are all jumping the gun here just sit back and be patient all the goury details will come out sooner or later you are all just going to have to wait. :cool2:

There are other things I would like to know, but I will wait and see if you post the answer before I ask the question!!

Tony.

Tony,

 

To avoid confusion, SAE 3 is smaller than SAE 2. You converted from SAE 3 to SAE 2 .

 

- MG

Yes Mike you are correct, another senior moment on my part!!!

Hi Richard,

I fitted one of these engines into a Diamond T Wrecker last year, which so far seems to be a success. I put the original DT gearbox on to it but had to change the clutch housing to the larger SAE 3 fitting which meant finding the larger flywheel, clutch, and starter motor. My question is, having retained the original SAE 2 clutch housing and gearbox, how did you adapt the gear change which I assume was remotely operated?

I had hoped to post some pictures of fitting the Cummins in to The DT, but have had problems with my computer and changed from Windows XP which was brilliant, to Windows 8 which to say the least has been a retrograde step and is crap. I have not been able to do half the functions I could do with XP, and posting pictures is one of them.

Tony.

I spoke to Howards wife Sharon today, and she said that Howard's condition has improved to the point of complaining about hospital food, so he must be getting better! I passed on everybody's best wishes, for which she asked me to thank everyone.

Tony.

Howard is very ill in Ipswich Hospital at present, we are all sending best wishes for a speedy recovery.

What was the "huge American breakdown truck" ? Any pictures ?

Sterling HCS330 according to Vanderveen

Started flying training in 1974 at Ipswich Airport sadly now covered with houses thanks to the short sightedness of Ipswich Borough Council, gained my PPL in 1976, flew several aircraft types to destinations mainly in the UK but a few trips into continental europe, and finished flying in 1996 mainly due to shortage of money. A PPL is for life, and if I had enough money and the inclination I could revalidate it.

Daryl Copeman's Federal and Roy Baker's Autocar at Long Melford Vintage Rally today.

Just to say thanks to all who replied, I still have two choices!

Tony.

I would agree with NOS's first reply regarding choice. I have a DT 969 with a Ford D Series/Cargo 6 cylinder turbo fitted. Its great and the previous owner who fitted it made a good job. I also have a project Autocar 8144 with the Hercules Petrol the same as in the DT originally. Now the Hercules engine in the Autocar runs and when I get time to check it over properly if its ok I will keep it in there, if its not as per NOS's comments I will go for a diesel of some sort as a longer term usable solution. I don't think there is a right answer.

 

As mentioned if you are going to sell it it maybe better to sell without an engine as the time & cost of putting one in to sell could easily out weight the extra value.

 

I know I'm going to regret saying it but how much are you looking for as it is ?

Thanks Andy,

Sending PM

Hi Antony,

I am in the process of building a 969 to use as a regular rally-er. It was an incomplete, rusty, used truck and so will never be a mint show-stopper. I will be fitting a diesel Cummins 6bt (I think) for economy mainly, but also reliability.

The economy gain I expect to see would be around 3mpg(petrol) up to 10mpg(diesel) = 300+%. Over the expected decades it will more than pay for itself.

 

So, back to your original question. I guess it depends on your expected market.

Could you offer it as a petrol OR diesel fitted?

 

BTW, I am looking for 969 wrecker and M1A1 heavy wrecker accessories.

Have a nice day.

Sam - downunder.

Hi Sam,

I do have the option of fitting both the RXC or a diesel, personally if I was buying I would go for a diesel for the same reasons as you, but I thought it would be interesting to hear other opinions. As it is I think opinion is divided so I could take your suggestion and offer a choice.

Thanks,

Tony.

Wot diamond T is it 980 or 981 or 969 £ ?

It is a 969, 980 and 981 were never built as wreckers.

I have a Diamond T Wrecker I wish to sell, currently with no engine fitted. I would like to hear a consensus of opinion with regard to the preference of a diesel or petrol engine. I could fit the Hercules RXC and keep it original, or bearing in mind the high cost of fuel put in a diesel which would produce a better fuel consumption. Which would be the more salable please?

great looking resto ,this was just a few miles from me and I didnt know anything about it until after the auction when a friend saw it being loaded on to a low loader,its amazing what is hiding away locally,did it come with a trailer as my mate thinks he remembers seeing one with it

Yes, the trailer was bought with the Tractor Unit.

Whilst at The War And Peace Show 2011, I was standing near Roy Bakers Autocar, when a man who introduced himself as Frank Kitchen told me that " there is one of these in an auction sale near London next Saturday, this is a Federal isn't it? " I pointed out that it was in fact an Autocar and rather rare in The UK, and that news of a Federal for sale was quite interesting as they are even more scarce. Frank gave me the details of the sale which we looked up on the internet that evening, and indeed there was a Federal 94X43 complete with trailer.

The following day I was talking to Gavin Copeman who mentioned that his brother Daryl was looking to buy a Federal, so I gave him the details, but he told me that he had a bit of a problem with the sale date because he was getting married that day! however, the problem was resolved by Roy Baker who offered to go the auction and try and buy it on Daryl's behalf. The brothers dad Phil went with Roy to view the vehicle during the week preceding the sale, and they were quite impressed with it, it being in quite good condition. Roy and I went down to the auction where he managed to buy it for Daryl.

Gavin and Daryl have made a first class job as can be seen from the pictures. I am sure The Federal will be at The War And Peace Revival this year, so if Frank Kitchen is there the brothers would be pleased to show him the result of his tip off.

I see there is a typo on the chart, 978 should read 968, so there is one on the list

 

If someone could post more info on surviving examples I will include it.

 

Cheers,

 

A

Re Diamond T 968, I have one to restore, it was brought into the UK from The South of France about ten years ago where it had earnt it's living as a wrecker. There had been a frame built over the body to carry the wire rope from the front winch to the rear of the vehicle, with two substantial jacks for lifting, and an A frame for towing. The original body had been replaced with a purpose built one, but I have aquired a steel body for it.

Tony.

Nice work, the finished article really looks the business, a real eye catcher.

Indeed it does.

Picture 1.

Not Diamond T, we think International K series with modified radiator grill.