lmcconville2

hi adrian,

details of my dt 981

built 1943

67 bn 31

ch no 9814218

reg DOI 2403

 

i bought this vehicle from a chap in ireland last august, its hard cab and painted in the colours of harkness heavy haulage of belfast, it still has the hercules diesel engine fitted, sorry for the delay.

hi when I was a lad I grew up beside John Harkness they had tree D Ts green in colour I served my time as an auto spark and worked on them one had an open cab J Harkness stop using steam engines in 1969 locomotive called Vera he bought new in 1909 would love picture

I can keep you right with the wiring if you want simple enough, when explained Liam Belfast

Liam belfast, Daz 76 if its a AEC the alt is prob a butec from mem you need an external regulator a warnings light circuit on your alt the terminal are marked poss D- D+ main connections then you have terminal A. F. you will need a 440 regulator and a bulb holder 24v

Adrian I'm very intrested in your project, along with alot of other people keep up the good work Liam Belfast

How would I track it down in N Ireland is there equivalent HMVF.

thank you radiomike7

hi Liam here, when I was serving my time in the 70s I had occasion to work on the Diamond Ts they were used for,what they were built for heavy haulage taking loads from Belfast to Dublin, I think they had a top speed of about 25 mph and they run very hot I remember the drivers saying they had to stand on the foot plate and steer from outside the cab because the metal floor heated up that much good luck with the rebuild, the only thing could not see in your photos is because of the length of the bonnet they had like 2 metal poles with red knobs on them on each corner of the bumper for a guide to let you know were the corner of the vehicle was in proportion to other vehicle and of course someones house.

sorry never entered my head to take phots, back in the 70s you lived day by day it's one of my regrets but I'm sure someone will have a photo

my name is Liam, I'm From Belfast , a bit about myself I served my time as an Auto Electrician in the mid 70s the firm I worked for had a lot of contracts, which included A haulage firm called Harkness which specialised in heavy haulage and they had 3 Diamond T's they were an impressive bit of kit, there main contract was Harland and Wolff ship builders they also had the contract for Kilroot Power station which meant moving large turbines, the men who worked the vehicles had vast experience in heavy haulage, like theses men progressed from steam locomotives to diesel vehicles