Working away has again hindered progress on the parts stashed in my garage but it looks like by the end of the year the cab, bonnet, and o/s items will be back on the T leaving the n/s items for next year.

This is not too far off the plan. It is good that progress on the cab can be maintained while I am away. Therefore apologies but this is a short report.
The cab restoration is indeed continuing at a comfortable pace and the end is now in sight. The doors have been hung and fit very well in the cab, which, like the doors and scuttle has been shot blasted and primed. The only remaining welding on the cab concerns the A-Post finishers and the corner strips which are situated under the doors on the edge of the floor sections. Patterns have been made by a local fabricator which require slight revisions in order to fit correctly, but once the patters have been perfected they can be made en-mass. If you require these sections for a restoration get in touch with Jim Clark, who now has a number of patters for the Diamond T closed cab.

The doors were a pleasant surprise as I had a good idea that they were solid but when sand blasting you can never be sure how strong they really are. Close examination after blasting showed no significant degradation, with just one perforation on the leading edge to attend to. New skins have been fitted. A comparison between old and new door skins can be seen below.
The wooden crossmembers were shown to be in reasonable condition, so reasonable in fact that they can be re-fitted after treatment. This was a bonus as a high level or originality can be maintained.

Other progress includes the securing of a complete set of Goodyear bar treads, thanks to Roof Over Britain.

The first four pictures show the general progress on the cab, with picture four showing the repaired roof section jut after loading.

Pictures five to seven are self explanatory but it is interesting to note the solid condition of the doors. Minor repairs were needed to the lower edges, and on close examination the door skins would have probably lasted several more years but for the sake of a few extra hours there is no point in taking short cuts, especially when we have ensured that all the rot has been removed from the cab and scuttle structures.

Thanks for visiting my blog, more shortly.

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