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Advice I got third hand from an outboard motor mechanic: on aluminum fittings that are siezed with corrosion, use . .wait for it . . . . . . . . . insect spray!! I have tried it and it works. Dunno which brands work best, but I have used cheapies in spray cans and whoa! the aluminum lets go and the bits come apart without further damage. I have used it mainly on steel studs/bolts in alloy housings. Re-assemble dry. Lets know how it goes. Sam, downunder.

Hi John, Many of these tools are ones I associate with the Heavy Wrecker trucks. But, apparently, the likes of the ground anchors and lanterns were on the 969 as well. Hmm, I still have lots to learn. You can occasionally pick up a period set of bolt cutters through ebay. There are different sizes that show up. Hmmm, I need to talk to you about welding tools and ground anchors! I'll catch you when you are able. Sam.

Goodness John, You have been busy. Looks like your usual high standard of work. Thanks for the info and pictures. Sam.

Hi all, If the public like BIG, then play with a couple of 20' shipping containers. Big, strong and light. Eg, two WLF lift a GMC and a third wrecker winch/drag a container in under it and put the GMC down on the container. Then, if available equipment allows, put a jeep in the GMC. Eg, stand a 20' container on its' end. Eg, play with a couple of container decks (a container floor only, dunno what they are called.), a bridge across two containers? I don't know your facilities and resources available, so adapt/modify ideas to suit. I want to see pictures!! Have a nice day. Sam, downunder.

Hi Mullvane, Welcome to the Diamond T club. The tie downs I have never seen on another 969. I look forward to progress pictures. I have re built an open cab and am repairing the wrecker body at the moment. Good luck. Sam, down under.

Again, thanks for the pictures. Sam.

Hi all, Good to see a 969 towing a trailer. Hardly ever see pics of that. I eventually want to tow a 8 ton 6 wheel trailer, a British Commonwealth design, used in WW2 with my 969. When I can find a repairable and affordable one. Would love to have an 8 ton US made trailer, but doubt any exist down-under. You said that you hardly knew the trailer was there, implying it was very well suited and behaved. What sort of gross weight would the trailer have been? And what speeds did you travel at? And thanks for the pictures. Had to wipe my chin!!! Have a nice day. Sam.

Yes, I got the same impression! Like flies buzzing around a honey pot blissfully unaware of the peril that awaits the next wrong step :embarrassed: . How can you test for spacial awareness?!? Sam.

Wow, close call, John. Fortunate that it happened at idle/stationary rather than at revs and speed and under load! Sam.

Thanks for the pics Andy, Good to see the Heavy Wreckers flexing their muscles and kicking up a bit of dust.:laugh: I'm green (with envy). Sam, downunder.

Hi all, I am building a Diamond T 969 which I plan to rally for decades. For the type of person I am, feeding that beast at 3-4mpg is prohibitive. I really feel the cash-out-of-pocket each week but am more comfortable with bigger investments. Also I am very much a do it myself man. So, the 969 will be getting a Cummins 6bt which I hope will return at least 10mpg. The whole conversion should cost around AU$3000-3500 (app.USD3000). As I hope to do many thousands of kms, I expect to be well ahead financially before real long. I also have a Kenworth M1A1 that will eventually get a Cummins (thanks for the inspiration, Mike!), as the current Leyland 600 is almost undriveable due to low power and revs. It suits me. Everyone is different. Have a nice day. Sam.

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.

As an addendum, I checked my M1A1 manual and I can see that the rear diff is around the other way. That would mean that the pinion gear would at the rear of the housing on the rear diff, but at the front of the housing on the forward diff. I just learned something!!! And the slight angle in the drive shaft can be seen and makes sense. Have a nice day. Sam.

Hi all, Just found this thread. It is of interest to me as I wish to speed up a Diamond T 969 to 50mph when it is finished. Due to the relationship between the 980 and 969, I wish to add some comment. Diamond-T-Steve, are you sure the 980 diffs are a double reduction worm drive unit? Worm drives have tremendous reduction (eg. 25+:1) compared to conventional gears and it would also be impossible to tow as a 'worm wheel' will not drive a 'worm' at all (theoretically). My Diamond T (and a Federal 606 tank transporter) has 8.43?:1 double reduction Timken diffs, consisting of a crown wheel/pinion in the top section and a 'bull'gear/pinion in the lower section. My M1A1 is the same design Timken and is 8.27:1. Also, why would the rear-most diff be reversed? They both need to turn in the same direction. Am I missing something? The top section, I have been told, is not that well lubricated and is prone to bearing failure at higher rpms. This is quite believable after seeing the design of the top section of the diff innards. The best answer I came up with is a combination of slightly higher rpm and much larger tyres. I could have replacement bull/pinion gears made at around $1000 each x 2 per diff x 3 diffs :blush:. Fortunately, the 969 almost looks as if it was designed for 11/12.00 tyres but ended up with 9.00's, which I expect will make for easy experimentation when the time comes. Also, I know of two repowered M1A1's that were said to do 100kmph. No accompanying comments about unsuitable drivability. But words are cheap. Does anyone actually know of later model diff gears of higher ratio that will go into 980/969/M1A1/606/etc trucks? BTW, I am looking for 969 and M1A1 hardware bits and pieces, eg gas tanks/wrecker crane accessories/suchlike. Email to schosa@optusnet.com.au Have a nice day. Sam.

. . . continued. When the armature throws in, it moves about an inch before the Trip lever is bumped by a ring mounted behind the commutator, lifting it slightly and dis-engaging it from the Trip Arm. This allows the Bridge to tip a bit and close the Secondary Contacts and so putting full power to the already engaged pinion. And the engine turns over!:laugh: Isn't that cool? Very different way of doing things to what I am used to. It is now working perfectly. Thanks gents, especially Grasshopper, who hit the nail on the head! Have a nice day. Sam - down-under.

. . . . continued. When the solenoid gets power, it pulls in the bridge which closes the Primary Contact and also puts power to the Intermediate Terminal. The Secondary Contacts remain open. This is the first 'stage'. The Intermediate Terminal powers the low-power circuit that Grasshopper described, pulling the pinion in and spinning it to engage the flywheel. The Trip Arm catches on the Trip Lever, preventing the Bridge from tipping a bit and closing the Secondary Contacts. This is where I made my mistake. The Secondary Contacts were very burnt so I built them up by brazing them, making them the same height as the Primary Contact. This made the Trip Mechanism to be of no effect and the pinion would try to pull in under full power! More to come. Sam.

WOW! WOW! WOW! THANKYOU! THANKYOU! THANKYOU! I got the starter going! But not without the info from you guys! I had done an incorrect repair on the burnt contacts, guessing it by common electrical practice. But this solenoid is not common, not in Australia anyway! Once I understood how it worked, I could see where I got it wrong, and made the needed alterations. So thanks heaps. Now for the technical stuff for those interested. The earth/power supply was one of the first things I checked. And, Grasshopper, I had never heard of a pre-engage starter. But it did explain some of the mechanism and wiring that I was unfamiliar with. So, how it works:- There is a separate circuit to engage the pinion and a separate circuit to drive the pinion. But these circuits are both actuated by the same solenoid, which has a two stage function. This picture shows the solenoid at rest. The Primary Contact (my term) that actuates the engage circiut through the Intermediate terminal (my term) is open, as is the Secondary circuit (my term) More to come. Sam.

Hi all, I have an old Leyland 600 engine in a M1A1 Heavy Wrecker! That is how I bought it. Anyway, the rally fast approaches and the starter is playing up badly and I was hoping someone here may recognize the problem and give me a few leads on how to fix it. It all started with dying batteries which got the solenoid sticking and me diving for the nearest battery terminal to release it. I stripped the solenoid and found badly burnt contacts, so I repaired them by brazing and re-finishing the surfaces. But the contacts still stick frequently. On top of that, now the pinion will not engage. Hmmm, 2 x 630CCA new batteries plus new leads, but no improvement. Bench tested it at the auto-electricians and it seems to work fine. It spins freely and even violently under power and the pinion throws out convincingly. But the pinion still grinds on the flywheel teeth without engaging. I have rotated the flywheel by hand many times to engage new teeth, left the starter motor about 3/16" off its' seat, rotated the motor in its' mount, ground a lead-in on the brass pinion teeth, hot wired the solenoid in case of low voltage through the switches, all to no avail. But it all looks to be in good condition! Any informed ideas would be greatly appreciated. Parts for this would be scarce and very expensive, I expect. Thanks in advance. Sam - down-under.

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.

Thats OK, John. Anything to help. Yes, Richard, you are right. I did try to see the face of the washer, but am not sure whether I could see well enough. This shows the 4 ton 6x6 Diamond T diff and clearly shows all steel thrust washers. Sam.

Well, well, well. I just happen to have a M1A1 diff apart at the moment (as we do! :undecided:) Inside this assembly are the diff gears (2 side gears/4 planetary gears). Just visible through the hole, behind the side gear, is the thrust washer. It looks to be a steel material, not showing any of the colour you would expect from a brass washer. I gave it a bit of a scratch to make sure. Have a nice day. Sam.

Hi all, My two bobs worth (ISTBC):- Firstly, I believe EP and Hypoid are two different classifications. Don't know about EP, but I do know that Hypoid refers to the type of tooth design typically used for the crownwheels/pinions in diffs where the centre line on the pinion is below (or above) the centre line of the crownwheel. This always required a "diff" oil. We would use 90 grade in cars and 140 grade in trucks. I don't remember the EP rating at all in the 1970's/80's. Interestingly, The WLF/KW diffs have crownwheel/pinion centrelines co-planar (intersecting). Secondly, unless you are planning to do house relocation or regularly tow start minor European countries, I doubt that you will need the heavier oil. And as TTM noted, the manual says 90 grade above freezing temperatures. Thirdly, a worm drive is a very different animal to a hypiod or conventional gear set. I think every worm drive I've seen had a brass wormwheel. This is typical of WW2 USA made winches, however, the manual says to use the same 90 grade gear oil. Methinks the 90 grade gear oil of WW2 was very basic stuff that did the job. BUT, they also recommended regular changes too, 1000 miles and 500miles for the transfer case!!!!!!!!!:wow: Hmmm, that didn't really clarify things. I'll be using over-the-counter 90 grade gear oil. Enjoy. Sam. P.S. Once again, we have record-breaking floods in eastern Australia. I'm high and dry, thankfully.

Hey John, Thanks for the pics an sizes. Ohhhh . . . , any and every picture of that truck is gorgeous!!:laugh: Thanks, Sam.

John, As there has been some discussion previously about the 'correct' M1A1 vise and bracket, could you please post a pic or two of the vise and bracket that came with your truck? Do you believe them to be original issue? Thanks. Sam.

Hi TTM, This was February 2011. Did I get some pics? No. How slack of me. My apologies. So here are a few pics. A front view of the flat-topped radiator grille. The KW whiffle tree can also be seen. The front is non-original in that the radiator, brush guard, winch and bumper have been moved forward about 4" to fit an oversize engine. A side view of the flat-topped radiator shell. Other differences I have noticed is in the tool boxes. Here is the handle/catch arrangement for the lower side KW tool box. And the tool boxes under the crane are very different to many pics I have seen. Strangely, TM9-796 shows these KW tool boxes. Since there were many more WLFs than KWs, I would have expected that the manual would show WLF pics, but not so. John, looking at your pics of the inside of the long box and the box on top of the crane, I suspect that the inside partitions are also different between WLF and KW. Again, my apologies of not replying to you request. Happy New Year, Sam.