July 19, 2013

  • Diamond T engine seized up on me last fall, found out a valve had broken off its stem, landed on top of the piston, which instantly stopped the engine, destroying  the piston (they are aluminum, doesn't take much) and bending a rod. Knowing it needed rod and main bearings, I figured an overhaul was in order. I was able to find the parts, actually, but this engine had already been bored .40 over, which means I'd have had to go .60, and the crank turned at least once. So do you rebuild or replace? Do you try to find another original engine or do you put a Chevy V-8 in it?

    Wanting to keep the truck as original as I can, I opted to try to find an engine. Posts on the Diamond T website went unanswered. Talked to a friend of mine who said he knew of a fellow about 50 miles away that had some Diamond T's. Found that guy, he mentioned that he had been in contact with a fellow in South Dakota that was planning on putting modern running gear in his old 201 pickup. That pickup should have the same engine and trans as my 306. Got his name and number, found that he had the truck near Rapid City at a customizers shop, they had indeed removed the engine/trans, and it was the same one as mine. And yes, he would sell it, very reasonably. So Allen and I decided to make a road trip to South Dakota. We built a crate for the engine, got it in the back of his pickup and brought it home. A friend of mine that runs an auto shop did the swap for me, since I didn't have time. We did pull the head on it to see how bad the cylinders were, they were nearly perfect. We pulled the trans to replace the clutch, it looked new, so put the trans back on. After a minor adjustment to the hand brake, drove it home. Now to get started on the paint and bodywork on it. Remove the box sides, sand, prime and paint. Some minor sheet metal work on the running boards will be in order.It was a shame to see this fellow "destroy" that 201, it was a one-owner, 1947, from a dairy. It even had some of the milk cans still in the back of the truck. Ran perfectly, drove great. He wanted to "hot-rod" it, put a Chevy V-8 auto in it, different front and rear ends, disc brakes, etc. I can see doing that to a parts truck or something drug out of a junkyard, but to take a perfectly original truck like this and butcher it... it was probably worth $35k before, now it wouldn't be worth $10k... oh well, his poor judgement is my gain, I guess...