Columbus..the 1957 IH 4x4..

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Another small job outta the way...had to come up with something to hold the steering column in the firewall..found the boregson firewall swivel.....and of course the IH oddball steering column is 2-1/8"..
they only have 3 sizes.17/8",2",2-1/4"...i started to just get the 2" swivel and bore it out but they were 6 months backordered..so I went with the 2-1/4" swivel pn909005....had to make a bushing to make up the difference...I think its gonna work pretty good...

That swivel looks to be a neat idea. The bushing is nice work and looks slick.

[mongocanfly]

thanks Dale!

[8man]

Creative solution.

[mongocanfly]

thanks 8man!...i thought about just making a piece similar to what i bought...but being crunched for time i had to take the easy way out...its a pretty simple piece..and looking back i should have went ahead and just made one
what i like about it is it swivels, so no matter what angle the column is to the firewall ,it will fit

[mongocanfly]

A little more done..the cowl vents were in fairly good shape...on most of these trucks this is a very bad spot for rusting out...I did have to patch the vent box on the drivers side but pass side was flawless..took the vent flaps apart to replace the rubber seals...one was in decent shape the other was deteriorated...I took one to work and checked the durometer...it showed to be about 20...so I ordered some 20d rubber sheet from McMasterCarr ...cut out the new rubber flappers..the old flappers were stapled together..must have been some more staple gun to go thru 2 sheets of metal... I opted to just use pop rivets...sandblasted and painted the flappers...I think these'll be ok

[Scott2]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

A little more done..the cowl vents were in fairly good shape...on most of these trucks this is a very bad spot for rusting out...I did have to patch the vent box on the drivers side but pass side was flawless..took the vent flaps apart to replace the rubber seals...one was in decent shape the other was deteriorated...I took one to work and checked the durometer...it showed to be about 20...so I ordered some 20d rubber sheet from McMasterCarr ...cut out the new rubber flappers..the old flappers were stapled together..must have been some more staple gun to go thru 2 sheets of metal... I opted to just use pop rivets...sandblasted and painted the flappers...I think these'll be ok

Very nice work as always!

[Dads79GMC]

Looking great!

[mongocanfly]

Thanks Scott and Mike!......

[Ol Blue K20]

Looks great! The rivets were a great idea

[mongocanfly]

Thanks Dale....

[mongocanfly]

worked on the rear gears today...I started working on these right after I finished the front diff about a month ago...I messed up one of the carrier bearings by leaving it on the bearing heater to long and it overheated...ive had a replacement ordered for over a month..it finally came in last week..ive been messing with the setup for a few days..the shim packs I got come in increments of .005...I really needed some .002-,003 size shims for the pinion..but this is as good as I can get it with what ive got..so im going with this and see how it does..
1st pic is drive side
2nd pic is coast side

[mongocanfly]

Got started on the gas tank mods...the old tank only had a suction line and sending unit..
Going with a floatless sending unit from tanksinc,new pickup tube,and a tank vent with rollover protection ....I needed a suction and return line and wanted to add a tank vent as well...I used a tank plate for suck and return..welded that in and used the old suction line for the vent..I cut the old sender lock ring off the tank as it wasn't needed and was in the way of the new sender...
Next step will be to clean the tank and apply the tank sealer I got from Bill Hirch ...

And yeah Vic...I can hear something moving inside the sender when I flip it over..

[mongocanfly]

Gonna have to redo my rear gear setup...when I swapped the setup bearings for the run bearings, it screwed my pattern up..pattern shows the pinion being to deep now...so I needed to take a shim off the pinion...which resulted in pulling the bearing,which resulted in ruining the new bearing,which resulted in having to order another bearing ....
sighhhhhh....it never ends...

[8man]

Nice work on the gas tank.

[Ol Blue K20]

That's a nice looking set set up on the gas tank. Sucks on the diff. 2 steps forward and one step back....

[mongocanfly]

thanks Robert ,Dale....I would never have believed that the gas tank would be thick enough to weld on....they made it outta some heavy metal

[mongocanfly]

Some time back I found a guy that restores dash panels...after I modified the dash from lights to gauges,I wanted the new gauges to look factory..he said he could do it so I sent it off..he refaced the gauges, rebuilt the speedo, reprinted all the wording...I thought it turned out nice....I do have a few issues to work out though....the gauge needles were all supposed to be orange,,,the high beam indicator is blocked by the new gauge faces....and for some reason the fuel gauge shows nearly a half tank...I've sent off a email to him so I'm waiting on a responce...other than those issues I'm happy....but I'm sure we'll get it worked out...
Some before and after pics

[72 tigger]

Gauges look great 👍

[Ol Blue K20]

It does look good. Orange needles would look better though.

[jjzepplin]

That does look good! It has 4 miles on it already? Have you been test driving your gauges?

[mongocanfly]

Thanks tigger,Dale, jj....that's the way way it came back.....4 miles and half tank of gas...definatly need the orange needles

[mongocanfly]

After I got the dash back,I discussed the issues I had with the restorer..so I sent it back and they fixed it like I wanted...couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out...the orange needles really made it look 100% better

[8man]

Attention to detail makes the difference. Wish I had it. You certainly do!

[Scott2]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

After I got the dash back,I discussed the issues the the restorer..I sent it back and they fixed it like I wanted...couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out...the orange needles really made it look 100% better

That looks really good - nice call on the orange.

[mongocanfly]

thanks Robert and Scott..!!!