Zaire Diamond "T"...

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

AS I mentioned in another posting a gent by the name of Bryan contacted me about manuals and the truck is a great candidate for restoration.

Here is an excerpt from our correspondence regarding the engine..

Well as far as the engine goes there a tale to be told.. I presume it
had a Hercules 8.6 litre petrol, I have not looked under the hood/
'bonnet as we call it' but I believe it was fitted with a diesel in later
years from a dozer that had fallen off the side of the Escarpment some
where in Zaire/Congo in central Africa. the Dozer fell down the bank
during road construction and was left. The owner fancying diesel for its
availability and reliability in Africa, so he connected the dozer to the
7.5 ton winch in the front of the truck and hauled it up the escarpment
back onto solid ground and fitted that engine to the Truck...
Unfortunately!! but quite a story.. this is another thing that is hackling me in
the back of my mind.. I don't know what type of adaption plates or
clutch is in the Truck.. and the sheer magnitude of the bell housing scares
me a little,, but is also intrigued.

After spending the past few evenings searching the web, I think it was
produced between 1941 and 1943 it had the Hercules gas/ petrol engine
as we call it. It has the winch in front. Long wheel base, well longer
than the wrecker and the 980. It was an open cab but was fitted with a
closed cab in later years. it has 6x6 drive.. and a spindly little prop
shaft. I am not sure of the transmission as to whether it was the one
with the over drive on each gear or just had high or low etc. I am not
to sure of the different gear boxes/transmission types or how to
identify it from the levers bell housing etc.. Also concerned about the
brakes did not get to check the exhaust manifold/muffler manifold. is there
air assistance or just hydraulic..


There is lots more but hopefully Bryan will join our MLU family and become our African CMP junkie..

[Tony Smith]

Originally posted by Alex Blair
Here is an excerpt from our correspondence regarding the engine..

Unfortunately!! but quite a story.. this is another thing that is hackling me in
the back of my mind.. I don't know what type of adaption plates or
clutch is in the Truck.. and the sheer magnitude of the bell housing scares
me a little,, but is also intrigued.

There is lots more but hopefully Bryan will join our MLU family and become our African CMP junkie..

Alex, can you pass on to Bryan that once you start getting into larger sized trucks, US heavy truck Manufacturers start to move away from specific brand bellhousing patterns and use "SAE number" bellhousings. There is probably no adaptor fitted to install the diesel in place of the petrol motor. SAE 1, 2, or 3 are the most common truck patterns.

I will send a word doc to you Alex with the SAE patterns.

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally posted by Tony Smith
Alex, can you pass on to Bryan that once you start getting into larger sized trucks, US heavy truck Manufacturers start to move away from specific brand bellhousing patterns and use "SAE number" bellhousings. There is probably no adaptor fitted to install the diesel in place of the petrol motor. SAE 1, 2, or 3 are the most common truck patterns.

I will send a word doc to you Alex with the SAE patterns.

Thanks for the info Tony..I linked our postings on the forum and sent it to Bryan and invited him to join us here at the MLU forum..we don't have many African members..associates...posters..or what ever we are..
Apparantly the "T" was driven down from North Africa after the war and ended up in the Congo...but then the Brits were in the Congo and we had troops in the Congo in '60...when they won their indepenndence..and civil war broke out ..we ended flying our old dollar nineteens in and evacuating all kinds of refugees out of Elizabethville..I joined the RCAF in '63 and there were lots of the guys that has been involved in the lift..some hair raising stories were told in the mess over a flagon or two..
But those stories are for another time..I hope that Bill Mullholland gets involved with this posting...He is Mr.Diamond "T"..and owns two of them..