We come across some pretty unusual things here on BF, or maybe I should say that barn finders like T.J. come up with some pretty unusual things. A case in point is this 1949 Diamond T truck outfitted with a milk truck delivery body. Unusual? You bet! The underlying question is what to do with it next. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, this formerly at-your-door service vehicle is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $8,500.
Diamond T had a long distinguished history. It was started in 1905, merged with REO (Ransom E. Olds) Motor Company in 1967, and finally closed its doors, as Diamond REO, about ten years ago. In this case, the Diamond T chassis, front clip, and powertrain was merged with a Herman dairy delivery truck body (Herman was a St. Louis manufacturer of specialty truck bodies). The seller tells us little about his truck other than, “Very unique and rare peace (sp). Titled as a 1949. All the doors work like they should. Pretty much a complete van.” Surface rust abounds but the body shows as being sound though quite worn – no idea about the underside structure. One bright spot is the prominent grille, it’s in surprisingly nice shape.
The interior can be divided into two parts, the cab and the cargo area. The cab, as is usually the case with trucks of this era, is very austere. There is a single, dilapidated seat and a simple deteriorated, five-gauge instrument panel. Soft parts? Nope. As for the cargo area, there’s nothing evident that would lend a clue as to what this truck’s former station in life entailed. I suppose that could be an upside as it is a blank canvas for the next owner to outfit as they see fit.
The sounds of silence inhabit the engine room as the prime mover, a Hercules QX, flathead, six-cylinder affair, is in complete pieces. It’s likely a 91 HP, 236 CI pile of parts but that’s speculation on my part. Whether all of the necessary components are present, and rebuildable, will remain a mystery for now.
Old specialty trucks such as this Diamond T can be a tough sell – their next assignment can be tricky to flesh out. It could be cosmetically restored as a sales prop or taken further with an additional mechanical restore and used in some sort of motoring or delivery adventure. It is a safe bet that it’s gonna need new power, so go ahead and say it, “Put an LS in it.” Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk price. At an ask of $8,500, I’m not feeling it, how about you?
Wow this looks like it’s in great shape. I wouldn’t LS it but it would get a big block and auto. Neat truck. Here comes Howard…
I was going to say the same thing. Any mfg big block will do. Maybe even a diesel.
A hello a boys,,,and a one and a two,, :)
As if he needs goading…
Price is a lot steep, I’ll agree with the author, especially since the old girl needs a lot of work and is nowhere in running condition.
Anyone wanna put a puzzle together?
I think you’ll find very little in that pile of parts goes with that truck. Make a great rolling billboard for a catering business but that’s a steep entry price.
I swear, I’m going to start wearing an aluminum foil helmet, okay, rewind some, most know of my 201 pickup, but it had no wheels, and the search began. Remember, this was 1980, and it was all leg work. Turns out, they were an odd size, 16″ split rims. Older mobile homes came close, but not quite. I heard of a Diamond T in a yard in SC Wis., and when I got there,,,you guessed it, it was this( type) of truck. It was an old milk delivery van, and I had them cut the back off( opposite of the factory) I got all 4 wheels, AND, a VERY rare chrome center strip on the grill mine didn’t have, plus all the mechanical stuff. Cost? $200. The parts truck cost more than the pickup($100) The hood names were gone too, and those came from yet another DT, only a cabover on the other side of the state. What makes this unusual, is back then, most all milk trucks were cooled with ice, and rotted out accordingly.
Well, that was then, this is now, I schlepped that parts truck all over creation, the pickup never really needed anything finally, selling the pickup to a good friend, and threw in the parts truck. I think the truck proper can be used in a variety of places, but no sense sticking a dime into the mechanics. Here’s a case of, go ahead, drop the LS, or better yet, drop the whole magila on a newer chassis mit LS. With winter here, bound to be several candidates at the auction.
I can’t help but think of the poor guy who got up at 3am for years and trudged off to work in his tired Studebaker, and all the milkman jokes began.
Resto Mod it into a cool 70’s style conversion van, complete with a waterbed and reclining rockers, aircraft overhead cabin lights, carpeted walls and a fancy panelled ceiling. If you see this rockin, don’t come knockin painted on the sides and back.
Definitely LS it. I have a 4.8/60e and 5.3/60e combo hangin around waiting for another one like this. Very cool truck. I wouldn’t mind this one. I would have it moving around in a few days probably.
Well, that’s a first for me. I’ve never seen a Diamond T other than a pickup or a full panel body. The milk truck idea never occurred to me but I guess anything is possible. I know that International had its Burkett bodies that were used for milk and bread trucks.
Looks plenty rusty but it doesn’t look like much has gone through. Might be a fun project. For me it would get the Hercules six with what I would guess is a Warner T-9 crashbox. I cut my driving teeth on a T-9 and have no trouble with them to this day.
That array of parts looks like an attempt to clear out the garage, in preparation for the annual swap meet. I see a couple of starters, and a 3-spd transmission, that’s out of something a lot newer than a 201. I don’t have any idea what the bell housing is out of but it’s something reminiscent of the one that housed the torque converter for the automatic transmission in a 50s-early-60s International truck…
Neat ‘peace’. But even if it -wouldn’t- cost buckets of money to get it back on the road, what the heck would you do with it? Yeah, I suppose it would garner some admiring looks at Cars N Coffee, but beyond that…daily driver? Nah, don’t think so. Is it worthy of being restored to be a museum piece?
It was a dark day when dad came home with the news that REO went belly up. Although he was skilled trades, I think he had a sense of pride in the vehicles they built. Some of the stories he’d tell about a day at the “shop” and the fellas he worked with were absolute gold. Like Dodge Main where he apprenticed it was an old wood building with lots of water can fire extinguishers to put out small flames created by the welders. I was leaving class the night the building burned to make way for the REO Town development. That was a spectacular blaze.
As for this unit, would probably make a neat custom or full restoration if you’re so inclined and have a real heart for the brand. A B-series Cummins might be overkill or maybe a 300ci Ford six will drop right in.
Actually, REO didn’t go out of business, they were bought by White Motor in 1957, with Diamond T and continued as a separate makes until 1967 when they became Diamond REO, and soldiered on until 1975.
Yes, I should have clarified that this was in 1975. Their doors closed in Lansing and the workers all went home. Dad did odd carpentry jobs and worked for a bit at Lansing Drop Forge before landing a job at Oldsmobile. He would retire in ’95 before they would cease to exist.
Might need an engine replacement as I see no crank and I double Hercules cranks are going to be an easy find.
Hilarious: the photo of the loose pieces includes seven pistons! Where did they find the extra one? I can understand having some spares like spark plugs and filters… but ONE spare piston?!
Restore it to a drive able historic truck. There was a similar one at the 2021 ATHS Harrisonburg VA National show. I have a 1949 DT 201 in my garage which was restored in 2009. Yes, Hercules parts are impossible to find!!! A 300 Ford 6 would make a good repower although to keep it original looking you can go with a MOPAR flathead 6. It has the rims there so 7.50R16 tires are available.
I don’t think it matters what engine you’re trying to fix these days, parts can pose a problem for ALL of them. However, things have improved slightly since the “pandemic.” When everything shut down, a lot of the aftermarket builders mothballed their facilities over here and contracted off-shore manufacturers to build the current stuff over “there.” About three years ago someone said, “hey, we’ve run out of parts!” “Oh, golly! We better get back into gear!” Trouble is, they laid everyone off and have encountered a lot of restaffing problems, and thus, shortages in parts. But all is not lost. There are three places that will make pistons to order; one reputable gasket maker; and an outfit that does a bang-up job reconditioning engine bearings. It’s a little slow but it’s moving forward. A lot of my work is assembling engine rebuild kits for International engines. It’s expensive but it can be done.
Actually, Hercules motors were used in military applications and industrial uses, such as forklifts used Hercules flatheads until 1999. I think parts are still around.
Wonder if the driver will give us some ice!