Projects Hot Rod Heavy Hauler: 1948 Diamond T

Shifty, I was just thinking that I'd ought to make a rail for the front of the box too. Too bad I didn't think of that when I was having those slices of 2" cut for mounting pads thought! Inititally I was going to drop the side ones down to follow the line of the tailgate, but I decided it'd look like a small fire truck if I did that. I'm going to make some "bullets" to weld to the ends of the rails to finish them.

Right now I'm sort of looking for some bumpers for it. I'd intitally thought 37 or 38 Buick or Caddy, but now I'm thinking I might make some from stainless, since making the rails was so much fun. Cord bumpers were three bars, with a solid center, that would look cool, and keep the ACD style that the truck has, particularly with the Auburn rear fenders.

 

Since the local service trucks are in love with rear bumpers that hold air, I'll vote for a teardrop or wing profiled air tank mounted kinda like a 32 ford gas tank.

Damn I love that truck, so just gonna keep throwing out crappy ideas and hope one sticks

 

I DO have a pair of bags I've been kickin the idea around of using, leaving only the main leaf on the rear springs... I can't picture what you're thinking of, mainly because I can't get the idea of a rolled pan behind a thin chrome bumper of some kind out of my head. Got a photo or sketch of what you're thinking?

 

I fired up the woodstove in the shop this morning, and when the chill was off, went out and worked on the Diamond T. I finished making the flanges to mount the inner box skins, and welded them to the box framework. When that was done, I cut the aluminum diamond plate inner panels, and mounted them. Looks great, I think.

I'd gotten a sheet of Cepele marine plywood, 3/4" thick to make the bed floor, and trimmed it to fit. Turns out, the box is about 1/4" out of square, which makes the plywood not fit the front of the bed quite right, but I think I can just spring it with the port-o-power once I get the front of the box mounted to the frame. No big deal.

I think I'll get some epoxy resin, roll a couple coats on both sides of the the plywood, and the edges, to encapsulate it and keep it from deteriorating in the elements. The grain is beautiful, and will look nice with the stainless rub strips I'm getting for the floor.

Looks pretty nice, no? The diamond plate is so reflective, it makes a pattern of light on the bed floor, and will be almost blinding in sunlight.

 

your diamond t defines an old truck
i like what your doing with the bed
a lot of guys would have thrown on a flatbed and been done
nice work, nice truck

 

Looking great, Brian!

 

Thanks. It had a flatbed on it originally, which I threw away (well, I sold it for 200 bucks). I have never liked a pickup with a flatbed instead of a box, a little to redneck for my taste.

Brian

 

I think I'll get some epoxy resin, roll a couple coats on both sides of the the plywood, and the edges, to encapsulate it and keep it from deteriorating in the elements. The grain is beautiful, and will look nice with the stainless rub strips I'm getting for the floor.

Looks pretty nice, no?

Brian;
looks pretty yes!
Be carefull what epoxy you use. They don't doo well in sunlight.
Consider spar varnish. That can be touched up and epoxy can't.
Bill.

 

Yes, that's the plan. I'm into boats too, and am familiar with WEST systems stuff, just want to do the job right. The trick is to varnish over the epoxy, as the resin has no UV protection. Epoxy, sand, epoxy, sand, then several coats of varnish. I've had good luck wheeling varnish, it'll look like the finish on a piano. It'll also make the underside look pretty cool, all that ribbon grain underneath won't need more than a couple coats of varnish over the epoxy and should look nice against the red painted chassis.

 

Can't see anything I'd change, Bryan.....Merry New Year

 

Made the pan below the tailgate today for the truck, with the help of my buddy Johns brake. Boy, is that a handy tool! I thought I'd be able to roll the 18ga over the edge of the bench, but NO WAY. I made a bunch of little bitty bends to roll the curve, it'll take a little metal work to finish, but turned out very, very well.

Off now to the bus depot to pick up the "new" stainless grill!

 

Any thoughts of continuing the grab rail down the side of the bed and doing a 90 back to the fender?

 

I thought of that, but decided it'd look like a little fire engine, or plumbers truck. Not sure where that idea came from, but that's what it would have looked like to me. I'm going to plug the ends of the grab rail with stainless bullets to finish it.

 

I see your point. They were on all the post war wrecker bodies. We had a '48 Chevy twin boom at the GM dealership I worked at in 1968. Guess I'm still living in the past century.

 

Looks great. That pan really makes the rear of the truck.

 

Don't know what I was thinking. I started another thread rather adding to this build thread, to show the right side of the box wrapped up. Just to keep this thread going, here's the right side of the box roughed in. Fender trimmed, running board lengthened, side panels made. I like.

 

Cool truck

 

OK. So, today I made brackets to support the new running boards, made patch panels for the rusty filler panels between the cab and running boards, widened the boards at the front where they meet the front fenders, and started to figure out how to align and bolt stuff together permanantly. I bought a rivet tool that inserts threaded bungs, so I'll set these in the cowl and cab to bolt the fenders to. It's sort of frustrating how long all this takes, I'm glad I'm not paying somebody by the hour to align all this sheet metal...

 

Inspired by the Diamond T post just a little bit ago (and not wanting to hijack that thread) here's what's happening with my 201:

Nothing. I chopped the top on my '59 T'Bird instead.

Well, OK, that's not quite true. I have made progress on the truck. Today I the front suspension back togother with the new lower ball joints. That was a project. In order to use the 3/4 ton ball joints in the G20 van lower control arms, I had to cut out the original ball joint mount, and weld in a bung of some DOM tubing which was the correct ID to accept the huge 3/4 ton pieces. Almost. Had to hone them to be able to press the joints in, but I got 'em.

Also just now ordered a pair of 47-53 Chev pickup front bumpers and some stainless bed strips from "Chevs of the 40's", and a way cool 6 gauge set of SW black face "winged" gauges from "Speedway". These will go in the cool stainless dash panel I made, and am gona put an engine turned finish on.

I bought an '06 Chev LS 6 liter and 4L60E to replace the 350TBI/4L60E, so I'm excited about that. I can lose the van steering column and use the DT's original column and wheel, as my buddy here is going to help me weed out the engine harness for the 6.0, disable the VATS and other stuff, so I can use dash mounted old style switch gear. I'll have the engine/trans later this week and can get the mounts done and fitted.

I also got and slightly modifed a really nice seat from my salvage yard buddy, pleated, taupe color, very comfy, and have it fitted in the cab.

Brian

 

It's like Christmas here! Well, I could do without the new snow, but, the presents part I love! Have the "new" LS 6.0 and 4L60E in the back of the truck to unload, along with the fuel tank, fuel pump and related bits. My buddy John gave me a pair of cast aluminum LS engine mounts, with the insulators left over from one of his projects, and the SW "Wing" gauges arrived yesterday. I bought bumpers and stainless bed strips from "Chev's of the 40's", they should be here today. If spending money is making progress, I'm going great!

Now I have to get out and unload the engine/trans and get busy.

 

HA! Two trips back my buddys salvage yard, and an afternoon of advanced shoehorn work has the "new" 6.0 LS1 nestled in the engine bay of the Diamond T like a big egg in a very small basket!

I didn't want to cut the frame, but even with the block hugger style GTO headers, I had to trim a little off the upper lip. Not to worry, it's over the crossmember. I also had to trim a little notch in the original front crossmember (whose only job now is to hold the aluminum radiator) to clear the A/C compressors idler pully. It looks nice, I think.

My friend Ron is going to help me weed out the engine harness, lose the VATS, EGR and other stuff, so I'm very happy to report the awful looking '93 Chev van steering column is going to go bye-by. I'm happy to report also that I got a flex plate which mates up with the torque converter, so that problem is also solved.

Here are some photos of the afternoons activities...

 

Brian, That is sure a update to the powertrain for this truck. Not a GM guy but it sure fits in there nice. Looking forward to continuing updates.

 

I've seen a number of frames trimmed like that for exhaust clearance. I always wonder if boxing that part of the frame would return some of the strength.

 

Yeah, that TBI350 was like a wart on a pretty girl. It has to be about the least desireable engine I could have picked. Wait, I take that back, a 2bbl 307 would have been worse, but not much. I'm glad my wife talked me into going with the LS1, and my buddy Brad for talking me into the 6.0 rather than a 4.8 or 5.3. With 4.10's it should be pretty snappy for a big ole red truck.

I think when I pull it to blast and paint the frame I'll box in those notched sections of frame. It won't really make much difference strength wise, as they're over the front crossmember, but it won't look hacked up. The frame on this thing looks like 3/16", it's really thick, but the notches do look a little funky. And, I may have to take a little out of the bottom section as well for headpipe clearance. So much for my plan not to cut the frame...

 

Brian, it's always exciting to read your build threads- the builds are just so damn awesome!

The truck is really looking good!

 

Thanks! The only thing better than the LS would have been a Seagrave...

Oh, wait, that wouldn't have fit anyway!

Brian

 

I'm not an engineer and maybe you are.

As I picture that IFS cross member and how it is bolted to the frame, I agree that the static load won't be a problem.

But when you think about how the frame will be stressed when you nail the brakes it's different. If you took out all the bolts (I know you'd never do that) and with the truck moving forward down the road watched what happened as you applied the brakes you would see the cross member roll back under the frame.

The bolts transfer that stress into the frame. If you weaken the top of the frame enough it could behave in a similar way except the IFS won't roll under the frame alone, it would break or bend the frame over that cross member and fold the frame horns under with it.

I may be painting an extreme picture, but as I look at frames that have been trimmed in that area, which seems to be common putting V-8's into frames with that IFS, my gut says the stresses could lead to problems.

With boxing or some other added support I'm sure you're fine.

I see this as similar in some ways to the Mustang II failures you occasionally read about. Without the support the strut arm provides the stress under some driving conditions leads to a failure. In this case the stress of braking or hitting a deep pot hole or maybe a curb could eventually lead to a failure.

Feel free to ignore me, I worry too much sometimes.

 

What? Me, worry? You're totally right, I am going to box these sections in. I've already boxed the frame horn immediately behind the (original) crossmember on the left, where the steering box mounts. I was concerned about it flexing the frame, as it's kicked up pretty high above the frame rail at the rear, the mount is about 4" above the rail. That's a pretty big lever, so I gusseted the tabs and boxed the rail, tying everything together and to the crossmember. These pics don't show the boxing, nor the finished mount tabs, but they do illustrate how far above the rail the box is.

I welded the crossmember to the frame, so your experiment, while dramatic, can't happen! It was easier than drilling 8 1/2" holes in the heavy steel on my back, and made it easier to decide this thing is never gonna be "restored"!

Hope ya didn't stay up TOO late worrying about me!

 

I'm a few time zones west of you, so I was up quite late according to your clock!

Thanks for the additional pictures and explanation. Reading about your projects you seem much too smart a guy not to have this under control, but I didn't see the details and wanted to know the what and how.

This is my own steering and IFS swap using very similar stuff to what you are, but putting it on a 1-ton '54 GMC frame.



Its not a very good picture but shows the bracket/spacer I'm making to mount the IFS and steering box. Its not done and I have a lot more work to do. The frame is 7/32nds thick and the bracket is 7/16ths. The bracket is made from two layers of material cut from another identical frame and is now L-shaped with the lower part bolted to the stock frame and providing a flat surface for those six 1/2-inch holes. My plan is to flip it upside down when it comes time to drill them.

When finished the bracket will extend from the shock mount behind the IFS to the steering box and just a little further underneath in front to also mount the sway bar.

My goal was two-fold. First to duplicate the relative positions of the IFS and steering as I moved them to the GMC. Second was to add as much stiffness to the frame in the process as I could.

I'm running a 500 Cadillac in this one and expect to be trimming the frame behind the IFS on the passenger side to clear the exhaust manifold. I will be boxing the frame to make up for lost strength and accommodate more than twice the original torque.

This truck is being built to pull a trailer, not win shows, so strength and function trump looks as I work.

My project has been stalled by health issues, so watching others like yours, and worrying through the design and engineering issues, is the closest to making progress I get most days.

Please keep posting I sure am enjoying your build!

 

did you decide on wheels yet?