question Diamond T 981 ground-up restoration: the right colors for a wartime Hercules DXFE?

[42 chevy]

Marco;

 

Wants up with the front springs. A noticeable difference between the front 2 springs.

 

John G

[Freeland]

Yes, there is more than an inch of difference between the two.

When we started with the restoration we already noticed the DT tilting to one side. We thought that it might have to do with the front left tyre being a bit more worn than the others, the front bumper and/or left beam being out of plump etc. But as we moved forward removing the engine, cab and other major parts it became clear this was not the case. We hoped that by putting back the ballast box it would -literally- be straightened out. But all this did not make any difference so the definite cause had to be the left spring assembly.

 

We now face two possible scenarios:

 

1) the leaves are just completely worn out due to metal fatigue. In that case we have to look for a replacement or have the leaves reproduced. The latter would be a challenge since we have no clue what the absolute stiffness and strength should be (nothing in the manuals on this).

 

2) the steel is still in good condition and with the proper heat treatment, the leaves will auto-bend in their former position while retaining their strength and stiffness. It so happens that spring steel has the characteristic that it sort of "remembers" the original shape over time. A craftsman specialised in leaf springs can bring the right shape back again. The only thing we must assume is that the front side's center of gravity is right in the middle and therefore both springs have the same stiffness....

 

So in order to assess the condition of the assembly we are now in touch with a leave spring specialist (a craft that is getting hard to find these days)

[rampant rivet]

I had my front springs on a C15 re sprung if you get my drift by a company called Jones springs of wednesbury nr Birmingham they did a great job and not too expensive.

 

RR.

[Freeland]

Thanks for the tip RR. However we will first give it a go at one of our local contacts here in The Netherlands

 

Marco

[Freeland]

Well, thanks to the hydraulic press we managed to respring all blades from the left hand spring pack. While we were at it, we overhauled both springs for the sake of it since the spaces between each blade contained lots of old grease, tar etc.

 

Time to get our hands dirty again:

 

After a good layer of primer:

 

Final result:

[Freeland]

One spring done, one more to go!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]111307[/ATTACH]

[Freeland]

Another brief update on this restoration. Much small activities "under the bonnet" have been done, spots that were difficult or overlooked had to be tackled like floor fittings, cut out rifle holders' bay etc. It appeared the driver's side door was patched up with different sorts of metal, breaking the primed and painted surface time after time. This was also the case with the outer window frame, leaving us with quite some welding. Also the bracket was missing from the top bar so that had to be sorted. But the end result is now 100% and fitting:

 

 

The inner frame just got back from the glazier and is now fitted with the proper hardened glass panels. Cable looms have been ordered and are expected to be ready at the end of June. In addition we had a WW2 decals specialist over to measure all appropriate signs and bumper markings. We also have a saddler replicate both tailgate chain covers with the right material as these were originally made from leather instead of canvas which you see on most restored DT's.

 

After a long search we managed to get our hands on the proper 1200 size bar grip tires. All in very good nick, they just need a bit of steam cleaning and tyre blackening (we were told this is not only for the looks but to preserve the tires as well):

 

 

Result would be like this:

 

The rims needed to be thoroughly cleaned and primed so we took those to the blasters, should be returning today:

 

One medior setback developed in the meantime; the radiator core started leaking from several spots so we had disassemble the lot and send it off to a specialist:

 

On the positive side this now gives us plenty of room to properly mask off the engine, preparing for the final paint job:

 

Our solid deadline is the "Rolling Steel" event on 9-12 September this year!

[Freeland]

The rims now back from the blasters, like new!:

 

 

We just finished them with a first coat of paint:

 

 

The second, final layer of paint will be applied after all has been assembled. This week all tires and rims will be professionally refitted

[Freeland]

We received the 11 rims with tires back which, in the process of refitting, got some paint scraped off so that again needs sanding.

 

Got the quotation back from the radiator specialist: Eur. 4200,- to have the core fixed :nut:! Far from realistic and not an option. With the 18th of June being our definite deadline -the professional spray painter will apply the final coat- we had to come up with a solution quickly. Luck on our side; it so happened that Wildenberg in The Netherlands had multiple NOS radiators for both DT 980 and 981 still in their crates :yay: and at 1/5th of the above quotation. So we picked a 1942 dated specimen and immediately started to work on the blackish conservative it was still covered with:

 

 

 

Spray filled and a first layer of paint later:

 

 

The radiator will be installed this week followed by the front bumper.

 

Finished the tedious job of masking all engine and drive train parts, got the leather goods back from the saddler's so the tailgate chains have been welded back on and the door closer will be fitted. We managed to get our hands on a second, wartime rifle holder and both are now in place. We also found the original mirrors (yes, the small ones) as well as the eye-catching, front roller pin collar that was missing. This DT came with a winch chain protector installed. At first we thought this was a post-war modification since many restored DT's come without them. However a deeper dive into the SNL revealed that this protector was indeed installed in the factory.

One of the battery retainers is missing, a part that proved impossible to come by -unless you buy the truck surrounding it- so our local blacksmith will reproduce one for us.

We still have about 25 odd jobs to wrap up though, some of them time-consumers, but we are now convinced we will meet the deadline. Further ongoing work is sanding+priming all blank nuts,bolts, rivets etc. that replaced the perished ones (an absolute necessity when dealing with modern galvanized hardware or the paint work will chip very easily).

We decided to have the wheels, floor plates and ring mount spray painted separately.

 

After the 18th we still have to do the:

 

• re-looming, fitting and installing the air lines
  
• electrics. Allied Forces will is reproducing the three cable looms for us. This week I finally found a fuel pressure gauge which we were still missing
  
• webbing and upholstery. We have the original side curtains -a must-have here in The Netherlands- but these are close to being fully perished so they need replacing. Also we do not have any of the original seats, another challenge.
  
• decals and lettering. We already decided on the division, unit etc. and we will keep lettering to the basics, so no carnival-look
  

 

I will try to post some further pics on the described details above if appropriate and keep you updated!

[covjohn]

fantastic thread, thank you for sharing.

[Freeland]

Since the last time I posted, again quite some work has been done. Here is the truck prior to the final paint job (sorry for the bad lighting):

 

 

You can find a time-lapsed recording of the painting here: [video=youtube;RPho_69p-KI]

 

The result after some 48-hr drying:

 

The fun part begins, rebuilding the Diamond! Of course, when being perfectionist some parts will just have to be redone :-) At least we are experienced in masking off now:

 

Currently finishing rebuilding and re-looming the fuel lines:

 

We finally have all original clocks for the truck, ready to be painted:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]117250[/ATTACH]

 

Tonight the upholstery specialist will come over, the decal-guy has been planned for and after the fuel lines are in place the air lines will be next. We decided to keep the truck in the paint booth for finishing up and when all lines + electrics are done, the wheels will be re-attached. This way we will have easier access to the underside (and the largest bridge here is just short of 5 tonnes to lift the lot )

[John Comber]

Superb work chaps , love the spraying time lapse video , at that speed you will always keep a wet edge spraying !

[Freeland]

Thank you John! I would like to update more often but we now need all our time finishing the Diamond. Below are pictures from about 2 weeks ago when applying all decals; an accurate job that started 9 AM and lasted until 2 AM the next day:

 

 

 

The canvas looks a bit floppy from the pics now but it still needs to be drenched with water and then dried in place to settle perfectly. All air lines are now functioning properly (getting the original US gauge sizes and fittings was a challenge) We expect the redone seats back this week as well as some rubber lines for the fuel system. New canvas doors and winch cover expected to be in at the end of this month. Decals for the engine parts are complete but will be applied at the very end. The same goes for the data plates.

Currently, we are working on the electrics (looms, harnesses, voltage conversions etc.), canvas and last but not least the ring mount. The latter seems a good challenge, presumably having the necessary parts but this remains unclear until we have the truck out of the spray cabin where we actually construct the lot.

 

Keep you posted!

[draganm]

We received the 11 rims with tires back which, in the process of refitting, got some paint scraped off so that again needs sanding.

was it difficult to find a tire shop to deal with the split rims?

 

Also , the decal on the back " max speed 20 mph" , surely the truck can go faster than that?

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]117909[/ATTACH]

thanks

[42 chevy]

The maximum rated speed for this truck is 23 mph.

 

John G

[greyhound32122]

i spoke with a friend of mine who drove a hard cab 980 from 1956 to 1962 in the british army towing centurions on 50 ton dyson trailers and he told me you could get 26 mph with a Hercules but they were obviously not comfortable doing that.

 

average mileage per day was 20 - 35 miles due to small roads and loads of obstacles so the rolls powered T's rarely benefited from their larger rev range. from what 3 ex military diamond drivers have told me the Hercules had a large support from drivers due to it's better low end grunt and a nicer exhaust note.

[Freeland]

was it difficult to find a tire shop to deal with the split rims?

 

thanks

 

Well, we quite boldly just brought them to the local Profile Tyrecenter (the one that also serves trucks) and one of the older mechanics was happy to accept the challenge...outside the regular opening hours

[draganm]

thanks guys, 23mph max (or even 36) is pretty surprising. Minimum speed on a freeway here is 55 and I think even state/local highways you wouldn't get away with 23. I guess it means this truck will be trailered to all shows?

 

Well, we quite boldly just brought them to the local Profile Tyrecenter (the one that also serves trucks) and one of the older mechanics was happy to accept the challenge...outside the regular opening hours

Brave, or maybe at some point as you get older you just don't care :-)

[Freeland]

I guess it means this truck will be trailered to all shows?

 

Well, for the maiden show in September we will be driving all the way, sort of an extended test drive. With current TomTom's one can actually set the max. speed to a destination and it will calculate the preferred route accordingly. For this show it means a 4 hr drive where it would normally take a car 1.5hrs.. But we will return from that show probably trailered and continue to do so until we run into an M9 Rogers trailer, preferably with a Sherman still on it. That has always been the desired configuration when starting this restoration.

 

Last sunday we got the Diamond on its feet and running, did a few test meters in the court yard. Still there is about 30% of the electrics to do as well as many details, fittings etc. But it looks promising! :-)

 

[Smithy]

Very nice indeed. Should imagine it is a very pleasing moment to get it moving out again.