Columbus..the 1957 IH 4x4..

[mongocanfly]

got the mini-me IH out of "mini paint jail"...got it mostly put back together. ..turned out purty nice....a few before and afters.....

[mongocanfly]

made a new grill like the one on mine....shortened the bed....also made a rear bumper. ...its like the bumper dad made for his truck...and for nostalgia I made the bumper from a piece of the original cloumbus......

[Advanced Design]

Wow, came out nice!

[mongocanfly]

thanks Doug. ..that color is krylon cherry red...thatll be close to the color I use for Columbus. ...

[mongocanfly]

got the cab and bed back this morning from the blaster...got it all in epoxy. ...turned out purty good...the bed had to go back to remove the lizard skin from the bottom.....kudos to lizardskin for a product that sticks...they said they worked on it 6hrs to get it off....what a shame that it had the wrong primer under it....

[mongocanfly]

this seems like a rerun but I got the lizardskin back on the bed underside...this time with the correct epoxy primer....also did the inside of the cab floor...don't mind the dust..I've been sanding...

[mongocanfly]

I also forgot to show this .....
but I did away with the mid dash ash tray....I made a patch and welded it in and got filler on it now....before and after...

[Advanced Design]

The cab and bed look good! Ash tray filled out nice too. You are making quick progress Greg.

Dust....this has been working pretty good for me.

[mongocanfly]

haha...I don't know how good that would work inside the cab Doug. ....the dust blows off the lizard fairly easily but I had moved it back in the shop and didn't want to create a dust storm in my buddies shop....he's a little ocd and I'm living on the edge with my mess....but he's a cool little dude...he's ok with it for now....
I've got most of it ready for high build now I've just got to wait on some rainless days to spray it on...

[mongocanfly]

with it raining nearly every day now its hard to get anything accomplished....but did get the cab mounted on the rotisserie. ...here's a look at a nearly unbelievable, nearly rustfree 60yr old floorpan.. ....gonna clean it up and put the lizard skin on it...

[mongocanfly]

I knew before when I fixed the cab corner that there was a spot next to it on the floorpan that had rusted thru...i couldn't get to it to fix it before but on the rotisserie it will be a simple fix...

[67ChevyRedneck]

I'm a little tired of the rain myself... trying to finish up the siding job on my house... but then I always tell myself... we could be in a drought... again... 2016 was so bad I think I mowed my yard once from June to September. It literally never rained.

[mongocanfly]

yeah it seems like one extreme or the other...it either rains all the time or its dry and hot...
looks like your down to the short rows on the siding job....I bet that's fun in this 90+heat with all the humidity...

[Advanced Design]

Amazingly clean floor pan! We haven’t had rain in 2 or 3 weeks and the crops are thirsty. Lawn is turning brown.

[mongocanfly]

yeah Doug....that floorpan underside looks almost as good as new....what was odd was the floorboard inside was pitted very badly...the lizardskin on the inside covered most of the pitting.....
I also was thinking of trying to save the headliner since it was original but after looking it over closely it was beyond trying to save .....so I pulled it out....now im trying to decide what to do for a headliner...I was considering fabric to match the seat but my buddy says I need to spray it with lizardskin and then paint it.....so I gotta decide what to do....im afraid the painted lizard for a headliner will look to much like a blown ceiling in a house

[mongocanfly]

with all this rain we've been getting its hard to do anything but work inside...and the humidity inside is unreal....2 min work and im soaking wet...been cleaning undercarriage parts and pieces for painting....fabbed some new lower shock mounts for the front axle....then welded em up...

[mongocanfly]

also acquired a pile of new parts....got the truck harness in from American autowire...went with the highway 15 series...got new set of shocks and steering stabilizer....still waiting on the new axle u-bolts to come in....also got all new brake parts and a new hydroboost. ..also went ahead and got new tierod ends and drag links...and a rebuilt steering box...so the steering and stopping should be in good shape once its all together and working

[rgunlock]

You've got a great build going here Greg! And building it for your dad is an amazing gesture. Sucks about the primer fiasco, but looks like that's all behind now and a lot of forward progress since. I'll be following this one.

PS. I appreciate all the advise I've gotten from you on the general forum for 73-87. A lot of us doing a lot of this for the first time and it sure helps to have folks to bounce our questions off of.

[mongocanfly]

thanks Rick. ....I'm still plugging along...just a lot of small, stuff that's not worth pictures...been working on all the frame and running gear stuff...bout got that part done....

[mongocanfly]

ran into a issue while mocking up my power steering...the IH frame is a good bit wider than the chevy frame was and if I put the power steering box outside the frame the tire will hit the steering linkage when turning to the right...its been suggested that I try crossover steering...anybody have any input on this?....maybe a different idea....the IH box mounted inside the frame rail

[Advanced Design]

What about a custom steering rack? http://www.unisteer.com

[mongocanfly]

that's interesting Doug ....but all I see is for 2wds...and pricey
im waiting on a reply from ORD...maybe a 70s caddy steering box will work...it mounts inside the frame rail...if itll work that may be the remedy....maybe

[Nut Case]

Mongo

Strong work, looking grand! You might have to fab the linkage that you need to stay with the 4 X 4. Just thinking outside the box?

Keep on keepin on

NC

[mongocanfly]

well while I wait on a steering solution I hauled the chassis back to my buddies shop...when I got there and had some help I set the bed on the frame and hung a fender on it to get an idea what the beds gonna look like....

[jjzepplin]

That looks very stout. You do nice work.