I would do an intro up top but who reads those any way? My plan is to build an old beater that I can daily drive. I wanted to do it cheap, but everyone keeps telling me it can't happen. I'm still hunting for a turbo diesel, but until then, this is what I have. First, after long searches and lots of crap trucks, I found an old IH that nobody wanted for $500. Pics were poor. But I drove an hour and a half South and was very pleased. The body had a lot of dents that were banged out fifteen years ago, but the panels where pretty much rot fee. A little surface rust that was painted over fifteen years ago, but still a solid truck and complete. Should be a good beater rod (I'm gonna stay away from the term rat for now). I picked up a 1988 Chevy Silverado long box for $500. Lowered but a good runner and driver. It also has some nice chrome wheel with chrome caps that should fit nice with the IH body. I'm giving away the body parts now. No pics. The plan is a chassis swap and also a pop up camper for the back end. The two trucks are damn close. The Chevy is a few inches longer wheelbase wise and a tad wider. But the IH body should fit nicely. Lowered? Pics of my cafe I finished mocking up.
Those IH trucks are cool. Saw one at show last night that was lowered and low really good. I have to say the bike is really cool nice job.
Thanks. Lots of bicycle parts in the build. I'm just cruising it this Summer and it will get torn down this Winter for Paint/Powder/Polish. I'm working on gathering parts for a RD250 build for the lady too.
welcome! "low buck" or "beater" is way safer to describe your truck as it looks to have some real potential. "rat" to me means piece of shit and unsafe!
Me likey! Have fun with it. I have a friend on here that I sold a 54 R series IH to. The truck is on a 1/2 ton chevy frame, from what I've seen it fits well but does kick up quite a bit in the rear. Pool.
That was the first thing I noticed. The IH frame is damn near flat with a small hump of the rear axle. The Chevy frame curves up right after the cab. I think I'm gonna have to cut the bed out and raise the base up about 5-6". That won't leave much of a box...but oh well.
Thats a cool truck! These IH really have some "quirky" styling that makes them stand out. You gotta think the design came out of the same styling department that did their combines and tractors! Putting this on a more "civilized" chassis should make for a great ride. Keep us posted...
Lookin good! Not sure about those seats though. I stripped the box and most of the front end off the Chevy on Friday. The IH cab looks like it's gonna sit on the frame nicely. The IH cab is actualy wider tha the frame on the Chevy. So I shouldn't have to cut it too much.We'll see how it goes. The box from the IH is about the same length as the Chevy box. I think I'm gonna have to raise the front end up an the Chevy though. It's pretty low and I don't hink the IH front end wil fit without draggin tin. I'll get pics this week when we start swapping body parts.
rebuild the brakes kingpins, spring bushings, and steering and keep it greased and you should be able to palm the wheel around corners with a plush ride
For the cost of the parts needed (and if I can even find them), it was a LOT cheaper to do the Chevy, rather than restore the IH chassis. Plus, I plan to drive this as my main vehicle. I commute by bike for most of the year. This is just a vehicle to drive when I can't pedal.
Having had a twin to that truck I'd have to vote with keeping the stock chassis and replacing the kingpins and spring bushings. The one I had was a squeak free good riding old truck that drove great. It looks like you are trying to turn a pretty easy two weekend project into a year long project from here.
"Beater" ... ???? Sorry, but lookin' at your truck pics it looks WAY better than a beater! Looks like a damn fine old ride. I'm another one that wouldn't be cutting it up. There seems to be a tendency lately to immediately jump into some sort of weird-assed chassis swap, as if it was easy as changing your underwear. Never attempted a chassis swap myself, but that sounds like a major undertaking. There are skill levels on the HAMB that far exceed anything I could remotely hope for, and I've seen some really fine chassis conversions (a recent Diamond T thread comes to mind). That being said, I'm sure a larger percentage of the efforts end up being butchered or abandoned mid-project. But that's just my 2 cents. Good luck with whatever you decide!
That truck reminds me of the old commercial cab firetrucks that were around before my time. Almost an exact front with a pumper body. Pretty cool. And that CB would break necks in my neighborhood! Very nice cafe job! -Screws
You can tell that from you computer? But really, the truck sat under a tree for five years. There is no gas tank. The brakes were left without any fluid in them that whole time. The oil pan, a connecting rod and a few pieces of a piston are in the bed of the truck. The engine is toast.
Nice Binder. We need more Binder-based projects. Would be cool if you could find an IH motor for it. NAVISTAR make any smallish straight six turbo diesels?
Before the Chevy popped up, I had found a 7.3 T.D. out of an IH that would have been all sorts of fun. The engine kit sold though. I'm moving in a month and a half and need to get a driver for now. Once I find a storage garage, Ill hunt for a new engine. I looked at the 6.3 non-turbo out of an old, but they don't seem to be a real strong engine. Some of the turbo diesel Benz engines look good. But, from my experience with BOSCH electronics, I'm not so sure I want that either. I think the right engine will pop up in time. I just scored a deal on a nice VW pickup today too!
Your probably going to have to run a chevy engine if you want diesel. I think the chevy a-arms will interfere with the oil cooler log on the international. The chevy 6.2 is going to get better mileage. 3 speed auto with 3:08 gears or 3:42's and an overdrive and you should get 18 city 28-30 mpg highway like mine and my dad's. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against a frame swap. that's how I got 4x4, v8 automatic on the column with tilt and powersteering in my 63 gmc...
I finished stripping the Chevy Cab today and started on the IH. After removing two rubber pads and two layers of carpet in the IH I found all sorts of rust! The floor is gonna need some patch work. I also found at least 2 ounces of mouse shit and three nests so far! Also one fresh, dead mouse. Other cool finds include a double action switch blade and a nice tobacco pipe. On a side note...I think the e-brake lever from the IH will make a great suicide shifter for my CB360 bobber! On deck for Thursday- -Cut out firewall and floor from the Chevy -Remove IH box -Soak everything in oil on the IH to begin dismantle.
nice project man.. have fun with it.. too bad you're not closer to the left coast.. i know a guy on here selling one of those for 300 that only needs a couple things to be a runner
You ought to be able to mount the foot parking brake assembly right to the left foot cowl panel. You might have to shim it out and use longer bolts to clear the cowl vent if it has one...no need to eliminate the vent. After installing the cab on the chevy frame you can drill out the spot rivets holding the mastercylinder firewall reinforcement plate from the firewall and transfer it to the IH firewall. First you need to remove the chevy master cylinder, steering column retaining strap then the column. then the foot feeds-steering column mount from under the dash. after getting all the parts out, you remove the steering column, footfeed bracket-steering column mount and brakes from the IH cab. Install the chevy steering column in the IH, on the chevy steering box as it needs to be. You may need to cut a hole in the firewall. Place the steering column in the desired angle and location. you can even offset it at a slight angle if you wish. this is how you locate your reinforcement plate location. With the steering column located and fixed in position by a friend or by straps or bungees take the chevy firewall reinforcement and bolt it to the steering column using the u-strap so it sits flush against the firewall. This is how you locate your pedals. secure it with a couple self tapper screws for now. Drill out the firewall where the 4 master cylinder studs need to penetrate. Install the footfeed bracket which has the master cylinder studs pressed into it into the firewall from the interior. Bolt on the master cylinder. snug up the 4 bolts then build a simple bracket to secure the driver's end of the footfeed bracket to lower lip of the dash face. Using the reinforcement plate like this lines everything up perfect!!! I think it is even possible to shorten the chevy column some. The column itself is collapsible and designed to slide in the mount when struck by your chest in an accident. the center shaft employs nested D shafts. I think when I did mine I tapped one shaft into the other a couple inches to make the newer column fit the older shorter dash better by bringing the entire column closer to the steering box.
Hey, Thank you very much for that information. That is going to help out loads. I really appreciate you time. I had a youth bicycle tech. class today out of town but we finished early. So I had a good six hours to work on the truck. I started by pulling the doors, rockers, windshield and roof off the Chevy. Another small grocery bag of mice nests and shit. Plus a live mouse! The damn Chevy had more mouse remains than the IH. The victim as it sat- Hmmm...maybe I should just put the seats back it and have a flatbed convertible. Has some help from my buddy lifting the cab off. The rusty IH floor- Rocker panels hacked out and completly packed full of mouse nests and acorns- Brought my friend home, picked up my torch and went back to work cutting the bolts out on the bed. I had to call up three more people to help move the box over! We put the box on top of the Chevy to see how tings would go...and they went as planned. WAY to high..but promising. Looks like stock. And what things look like underneath- It's amazing that the IH box is only a inch or so different than the Chevy box. I'm gonna have to cut the bottom of the box out to drop it down. There are also some clearance issues with the gas tank/filler and one of the CHevy braces. I still don't know where the damn IH gas tank went. Cause it aint on the truck! The IH cab floor is pretty bad, but it appears to unbolt from the cab itself. I still have to measure some stuff, but I may use part of the Chevy floor on the IH cab. Not sure at this point. On deck for tomorrow- -Finish pulling steering out of IH -Keep on soaking EVERYTHING in WD to loosen it up -follow the great advice from the post above -start pulling dash from Chevy All in all, I think I got a lot accomplished this afternoon. I can't wait to get the cab off and move the truck to a level shop with lights!!! Thanks for checking it out!
This is a PM from twogees. I just wanted to post this for others to see down the road. Not a lot of info on these trucks so every little bit helps. Thanks again man!
Crazy truck i like em too binders are cool .Neat ride I love mine you wont have a problem finding it in the parking lot !!
Wow I didn't realize there were all these binder projects out there. I have been doing binders for the last 20 years and have done 1935 c1 with a 454 tire burner, not much of a driver (too much weight on a stock axle). A 47 kb3 with a 327( nice combo but still not what I wanted). I now have a 48 kb1 shot bed stock as a new born babe and love it. If I can help in anyway drop me a line and I will do what I can from where i am. We have all sorts of parts arround and information galore. I thought I was the only one who messed with binders. I started doing them because they were cheap ,not anymore.
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