1952 General Fire Truck

[haloneal]

I have a question. I'm a member of the Elkhart VFD in Texas and we have a 1952 General Fire Truck. The question I have is, is the General a Chevrolet model and where would I find a VIN number at?

[3macboys]

7 minutes ago, haloneal said:

I have a question. I'm a member of the Elkhart VFD in Texas and we have a 1952 General Fire Truck. The question I have is, is the General a Chevrolet model and where would I find a VIN number at?

Welcome - If you can post some pictures of the full truck, along with of the engine it would help in getting your answer.  The quick look that I did on General looks like the trucks were custom built but more pictures will help.

[haloneal]

I don't have pictures of the motor, but it's a big straight six cylinder. Some pictures failed to load. Maybe the ones I sent will help.

[3macboys]

My un-educated guess is they built their own chassis and it would only be speculation as to the engine without pictures - there's more than one fire apparatus person on here but these two might be able to help you out with more info and where to look - @ex98thdrill and @Mike "Hubbie" Stearns 

[rocketraider]

You may have already found this but here's what Wikipedia says about it.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Detroit_Corporation

 

That looks like a fairly stout rig. Not sure Chevrolet built engines for fire truck duty on an engine that size.

 

Hope you can find information and restore that hero back to new!

[1939_Buick]

Maybe Diamond T based.  Some but not 100% commonalty. Looks to be a heavy chassis 10-20 T?

More details of the engine would help. 

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/diamond-t-truck.html?sortBy=relevant

Edited March 17 by 1939_Buick (see edit history)

[Mike "Hubbie" Stearns]

I think it’s a diamond t chassis. As far as vin location, several places to look.

On frame above rear spring mount

front frame rails just behind the bumper

on cowl

door posts

 

post pics of engine may help ID the chassis maker. Mike

[haloneal]

Alright Guys, here is the motor on the General Fire Truck.

[haloneal]

Here is the tag on the motor.

[Mike "Hubbie" Stearns]

Diamond T for sure. Chevy and GMC didn’t use Waukesha engines. Mike

[haloneal]

Mike, would you know where I might be able to find any kind of info on this truck? It'll take me awhile, but I'm going to try to restore this truck myself.

[Mike "Hubbie" Stearns]

I’ll check with a good friend next week. I would start looking for diamond t truck and Waukesha engines. That will cover most of the truck. The pump and transfer case is probably a hale. You probably won’t find a lot on line. Mike

[haloneal]

I been online and still haven’t found a truck that looks anything like the one I’m asking about!

[Mike "Hubbie" Stearns]

This is 1 I saw on fb marketplace. Mike

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/6859627984149465/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_top_picks&referral_story_type=top_picks

[oldIHtruck]

Gents,

I beg to differ.

Diamond T NEVER used Waukesha engines in any vehicle.

Diamond T exclusively used Hercules engines.

The nose on this truck looks more like a Federal brand or a Ward- LaFrance brand.

I'm in the final steps of producing a comprehensive book on the Diamond T Motor Car Company.

It includes a 6+ hour interview with Paul Gordon who worked at Diamond T from 1926 until 1966,

ending his career as the National Sales Manager.