New to me Diamond T M3

[Darth_Kitten]

Hi Guys,
Excited to be part of the forum. Thanks Steve!
Just purchased this and I'm waiting to get it home to start digging into it. At the moment I've not been able to locate a serial number or ordinance number. It runs and drives, so that's a start. I most likely will tear it down to the frame and start from there. I've already been in touch with several of you on the halftrack Facebook page, and have already received tons of great info. This is not my first foray into MVs as I've done a frame off on a slat grill and I had a WC-55 as well.
I'm sure I'll have lots of questions, and will need to buy lots of parts from the vendors.
Mark

[Darth_Kitten]

I wonder if anyone could comment on the rear idler support arm. It appears that it's a shorter M2 support arm, and the original M3 arm was torched off the rear frame brace. Has anyone seen this before?
Mark

[HenryVIII]

Welcome Mark,
Looks like you have a nice starting point. The serial number should be stamped on the frame above the front axle behind the drivers side tire. It has the long frame so it is most likely an M3. It looks to me like the idler support arm is correct for a M3. also the pintle spacers beside the pintle spring look correct and uncut. My guess would be that someone replaced the rear frame cross piece with one from a M2 and did not remove the remains of the idler arm supports.

Henry

[spec4don]

The serial number should be stamped on the frame above the front axle behind the drivers side tire. It has the long frame so it is most likely an M3. It looks to me like the idler support arm is correct for a M3. also the pintle spacers beside the pintle spring look correct and uncut. My guess would be that someone replaced the rear frame cross piece with one from a M2 and did not remove the remains of the idler arm supports.

Henry

Henry and Mark we had quite the discussion about this on mine. I suspect that you might have an early M-3 most likely a Diamond T. I would bet your idler support arms were probably modified at some point to the side mount. Take a look at the picture of my frame. Mine is 1942 Diamond T. When you find the S/N then we'll know. The S/N should be on the left frame rail, if it is a Diamond T the S/N will be stamped very shallow. If it is a Diamond T the S/N should start out with M3 XXXX. The later M-3's had the side mount. I suspect they did this because if you have armor it would be a major pain to take the support bracket off the replace or repair the idler arm.


Don G.

[Darth_Kitten]

Hi Don,
Thanks for the feedback. We were unable to locate the S/N on the frame, but did not spend much time looking for it.
There isn't a tremendous amount of paint or dirt on the frame, but if the S/N was was stamped shallow like you suspect, then we wouldn't have been able to see it.
Once I get it home Monday, I'll do a little bit of scrubbing to see what pops up! I'll let everyone know what I find!
Mark

[Monkeypirate]

Looks like a great project! I am amazed at the amount of variations in a vehicle that they made so few of. Guess that comes from the fact that so many company's had hands in making them in order to get the numbers they did out in such a short time. Good luck with the build!

[spec4don]

Just an FYI don't pull those pieces off as they need to be there to make the rear armor Z channel fit in the correct position.

Don G.
 

[Darth_Kitten]

I figured that just might be the case Don by looking at restoration photos. I'll leave them be!

Just an FYI don't pull those pieces off as they need to be there to make the rear armor Z channel fit in the correct position.

Don G.

[yd328]

Your M3 looks like a nice project. There is a lot of good help and info here. Looking forward to the restore.

Gary

[steve-0]

thanks for posting.
is that you pouring the gas in?

[Darth_Kitten]

Hi Steve-O, no that was the previous owner getting it started.
I got the track home today and fit it into the garage. 1/4 inch to spare!
I'm searching for the S/N, and no luck. Looking on the drivers side of the frame right behind the front wheel. Right between the shock and rear mounting point of the leaf springs. No evidence of the S/N at all. The frame is slightly pitted, but not to the point where I think it would have obliterated the S/N. Looked on front bumper and bogie cluster for hood number. No dice there either.
I'll do another search tomorrow in the light, but I'm not very optimistic of finding a number of any sort at this point.
It does have 3/4 inch slotted screws oriented in a vertical manner. Does that confirm it's a Diamond T?
Mark

thanks for posting.
is that you pouring the gas in?

[Darth_Kitten]

OK, sprayed a little bit of oil on frame, and some light sanding, and I thought I saw a horizontal line. A little bit more sanding and some carb cleaner revealed the slightest hint of OD still in the crevices of the stamped numbers
M32921. It's incredibly faint, but clear enough to confirm those are the numbers.
Rich Schafer thought that it might have been an M3A1, but I don't see extra holes where the pulpit would have mounted to the windshield, so perhaps this stayed an M3 its whole life?
I can't wait to get some time to start working on it. It's going to need a lot of work!
Mark

[spec4don]

Glad you found your S/N Thought she might be a Diamond T  Mine stayed an M3 her whole like Still had the Data plate  as an M3.

Don G.

[col.halftrack]

 Cant quite see the whole number in the photo but if the number has no dash between the model (M3) and the serial number (2xxx) it is a Diamond T. Autocar seperated the model and serial number with a dash.
 Congrats on getting her home.
 Kevin

[Dinadin]

Hi Mark, this is Rich.  I figured you had a M3A1 based on the bulkhead behind the co-driver.