blastermike

Tim from what i know and was told from Roland Smith in california who has a lot of the early white factory Literature, White didnt date most of their earlier chassis’s and also never kept records of early chassis nos but did keep records of the number of trucks sold, thats why it can be a bit hard to date them, i have 3 and the remains of another 3, some have casting dates on the cylinder blocks, another way to date the very early ones is they are r/hand drive and around 1912/13 they went to left hand drive, also 3 ton and up were chaindrive up to around 1918/19, then went to a beveldrive type diff, its the same deal with the brass radiators being replaced with cast iron type at the same time, out of the 6 ive got i can positively date 2 of them, sorry i cant help any more cheers mike

AL heres your chance, that chassis can be repaired, and having a diff too is a bonus with stuff like this mike

Had this front axle given to me recently, could be from the ww1 era but more than likely could date post war too, im fairly sure its off a caledon truck aound 1 1/2 to 2 ton size? has a cross symbol on the greasecaps, theres some more remains on the farm it came off that possibly are from the same truck? planning on checking it out this summer, hope this is of some interest?? mike

Thanks jpsmit, that looks to be a very original and the best part complete ! packard truck i have found the photo that i first saw on the facebook site, the chassis i have was made into a trailer and was used to cart fencing material etc around on the high country station which has a fairly dry climate, it was the big rear hubs and 2 piece bumper that i noticed was packard features.

Thought this may be of interest, last year i saw an old trailer on a facebook site which was on a farm in the south island nz, turns out it is an early Packard chassis model D which were only made for one year 1915 to 1916, i have now found the original engine that came out of this chassis and are in the process of hopefully purchasing it, i have a lot of spare parts for this truck with the exception of the 3 speed gearbox, model D were a 3 speed and model E were a 4 speed, im hoping to find the correct 3 speed gearbox. The chassis is in very good shape, the wooden wheels though are not, mike

Hi andrew, thats a good start, looks like youve got all the important mechanical pieces, and a few spares to boot, is there a second chassis? or just the rear section in the picture on the lowloader, look forward to seeing more, good on ya for collecting it up and doing something with it all cheers mike

Hi rick thanks for the info, my albion also has the two piece riveted front axle and square shaped rear axle, not sure if this is correct, but the other 5 rearends and axles i have are all 4 ton ones, mike

Hi just wondering how your project is coming along? any chance of an update? Thanks mike

Those rear c shaped spring hangers look like the ones found on early whites

Hi andy, yes ive seen that, its a great thing being able to press those square fins, and yes i do have lots of patience, I spent almost 5 hrs straightening the fins with a pair of longnose pliers on my Leyland rad, very tedious but rewarding to have the rad looking as it should, it will be good to see the end result of your stamping, these radiators of this period are usally a major part of any restoration, ive managed to use the toptank and sides of the rad i found a few yrs back but i then had to have the bottom tank recast.

Hi guys another update, being a while but im plodding along with the A10 got the transaxle in the chassis and front axle and steering, firewall, and finally through phil in aus ive got a replacement crankcase and sump for my broken engine, plus a usable radiator core, so its looking very positive, looking forward to fitting the rear axle and wheels in a few weeks time, Merry xmas and cheers Mike

Hi all just an update, finally got my engine from an arizona liberty owner for my 2nd chassis, engine is a aeries two continental and is fairly complete many thanks to william in virginia for making this happen and chuck in arizona too, williams also supplying me with a missing m3 carb and a spare radiator he has, i had put a deposit down on this engine around feb this year then with covid and other issues it has only recently moved the first step before coming back down here, still progress forward, ive also almost got the repairs done on the chassis, added some pics below mike

Hi Al, im enjoying following your thread and seeing the articles you have and leads your getting, the picture of the diff is not unlike the packard one which has a massive stabilising bar coming forward to attach to a crossmember or round tube? Hope you find some riker parts, keep at it mate cheers mike

Doug, how far have has karl got with the Leyland ? any chance of some pictures of the restoration to date ? ive started putting the 1924 ph 2 back together as a mechanicaly restored vehicle only, not blasting or painting any of it, ive used the sth island chassis and transfered the front half taihape ones mechanicals, got a gearbox and diff internals from steven in aus so its now a viable project look forward to seeing karls pictures and update, mike mike

Hi tim, happy birthday to tony, i bet he was chuffed to get that nameplate as a present, i too get my youngest daughter from time to time to help lift or hold things on my projects, good to share a hobby with the family i reckon, progress on the peerless is fast considering the lockdown restrictions, cheers mike

Hi i have three of these oil lamps that go on the series two liberty truck, one each side of the firewall and one with a red lense for the rear, all have USA on the top, also a lot of the castings on the chassis have USA cast onto them mike

Hi Bob, do you know where this liberty is ? or any other details ? looks mechanically complete, just needs chassis repaired or a replacement chassis, it looks to be a series 2, but has some electric lights mounted up front, thanks for posting, mike.

Hi Rick, I didn't manage to get this radiator because they decided not to sell it, but a good mate has just found another which is in far better condition apart from a small section of the left side mounting bracket having an inch or so cut off the end!! now all I am needing is a set of mag/throttle controls- bracket and levers, and also the correct handbrake lever for this Albion to be a complete project, so if anyone can help with these let me know, even recast examples would be ok, I have lots of parts for other early English makes so maybe someone here would be happy to trade for these parts? just another idea to get going forward? cheers mike

Hi Tim, is the body that you are building for the thorny J being made from a set of plans,? WD type, or have you measured up and copied it from one of the restored examples you have there in England? just wondering, on the radiator front I have three what I think are J types but they are all slightly different, the one with the cross braces I was told came of a j type chassis and this came as a spare with a complete 1923 j chassis nos 10402, third one with brass inserts of the mounting lugs is one I picked up from a collector years ago, be interesting to know for sure, thanks mike.

Doug, the last set of wheels are definatly thornycroft, I have two sets, one set still attached to the diff, the others are loose, I think they were optional wheels for the BT thornycrofts from early twenties on, both my sets came with the BT collection of Terry's, that most was gathered up from around the hawkes bay region, mike.

Sam, chassis nos is 9801804 I have decided not to take it on, if the chassis wasn't so butchered maybe it could be saved,? who knows, many thanks again for the advice, cheers mike.

Thanks Neville and Sam, yes its a decision I need to make soon as it will be scrapped otherwise, and even though it wont actually cost a lot to buy and move home, its really a matter of the economics, a few others have looked at it and walked away, the owner reckons these were the only two purchased by the nz army, so even if a few more were imported later on theres really no chance finding parts down here, and now that you mention it sam there is one axle missing from the left side of the front diff, so maybe that diff is buggered ?? i'll attach some pictures of the sad looking DT, seems a shame to see it scrapped, but doesn't look good for the DT, many thanks, cheers mike.

Hello, i'm new to the Daimond T world, but I have come across a 1942 980 here in nz which may be for sale, I have been told it came from the pacific campaign and was set up as a dumptruck when it arrived here with one other the same, it is in pretty bad shape and is only a rolling chassis with cab only, has no engine/gbox/ bonnet or rad, or L/h door, is this worth saving ? and could the missing parts be found at prices that would make shipping down here an option? I don't think many turned up down here, maybe in Australia theres parts available? appreciate any advice negative or positive, cheers mike.

hi steve, i'm watching your tank making with great interest, ive started to remake the tank for the A10, I have used the method of cutting a slice into the end of an old punch to fold the end plates and baffles, it takes a bit of time as you only fold a small amount at a time and the tighter corners end up with a bit of excess which then need to be hit with a hammer and dollie, I done the mod 24 one like this and it came out ok, are you going to use silver solder ? or soft solder ? cheers mike.

Hi Andrew, is your chassis an English truck? I have 2 American makes with mileage recorders in the front hubs, and the mid twenties albion truck I've got has a recorder halfway down the chassis like yours, driven by a cable from the rear of the gearbox, I think its albions own recorder? same idea, different maker? mike.