Columbus..the 1957 IH 4x4..

[mongocanfly]

well this is the rebirth of my dads old 1957 International A120 4x4...dad has owned this truck since 1960 or so...that's when he bought his farm and saw the need for a truck..he went to a farm auction that had 3 of these trucks up for auction...dad bid up to his limit on all 3 and didn't win any..on his way to the parking lot a guy chased him down and wanted to know if he still wanted one of the trucks...he said well yeah that's why he was bidding...turns out the guy bought 2 of them and only wanted one so he let dad have one for his bid price..when he got it home my mom laughed and said the truck looked like it came over on the boat with Columbus. ..hence the knickname that's stuck ever since..
I'm trying to pull a fast one on him and mom and get his truck up and running without them knowing anything..
I've bought a donor truck for parts ..that and his truck will make one...I hope. .so here we go..

[mongocanfly]

right now I'm disassembling the donor truck at a friends shop...I can't do it in mine for fear that I may be found out before I'm ready...when the time comes I'm going to "steal" his truck for this build..this is the donor truck..

[mongocanfly]

ready for disassembly

[mongocanfly]

how's this for the back side of the grill support and grill and inside the fender wells...this truck is unbelievably solid and practically rust free...not bad for 60yrs old...original paint still under the fenderwells

[mongocanfly]

check out the nearly rust free fender bolts...hard to believe they've been in place for 60yrs

[mongocanfly]

couple of shots of the old 6 cyl...even its not all that dirty after 60yrs

[Advanced Design]

Wow, that truck is amazingly solid. It is always cool to see one so nice. Great plan and I'll be tagging along for the rest.

[mongocanfly]

thanks Doug...the more I take apart the more amazed I am that a truck could exist for that long and have so little rust...its defiantly not what I'm used to working with

[mongocanfly]

don't know why people hook log chains on bumpers but it is what it is...time to bust out the anvil and big hammer. ..both ends seem ok..if I can't "fix" the center I may cut it out and make a winch mount while keeping the ends..

[Nut Case]

mongocanfly

GOOD ON YOU!!!!! What a way to honor your dad....

This is going to be great, I'm in


Keep on keepin on

Nut Case

[mongocanfly]

thanks...dads 83 yrs young and mom is 79...I'm trying to get this on the road so they can get some enjoyment out of it...they still go wide open. ..they do a lot of volunteer work with the Alabama Baptist disaster relief not to mention all the other stuff they donate time and money to...and they raised us kids while both worked fulltime jobs....I figure its the least I can do...and save a classic old truck in the meantime...

[Greenlee]

Cool truck!

[jjzepplin]

Holy moly! Where is the rust? What did they know then that we don't know now?

[67ChevyRedneck]

That's THE DONOR truck???

Wow, that's a clean truck. I'd have a hard time not putting that one back together and giving them that one! Keep "Columbus" as is and restore the drivetrain.

[mongocanfly]

haha....yeah I bought this for the donor but the more I look at it it may become the primary...if there ever was a poor boy "barn find" then this has to be it..dads original truck went thru a lot of changes over the years....he wrecked it when I was a kid...the steering knuckle broke and we went offroad into a huge oak tree..I was standing in the seat and dad reached over and bearhugged me to keep me from going thru the windshield...he caught the steering wheel in the ribs and broke nearly all his left side ribs...that resulted in a 1960 front clip being put in the truck..later on he stripped the ring gear in the rear and replaced the original 3/4ton axle with a 1/2ton....even later on he stripped the front axle and replaced it with a 1/2ton as well....evidently IH had very poor quality axles...the po of my donor just replaced a broke 31 spline rear axle before i bought it...on dads ,the original 6cyl gave out and he swapped in a 304....when I got old enogh to drive we replaced the unsynchronized transmission with a synchronized one...lots of unoriginal parts on his truck..I am trying to make it like it was when he first got it...his is a swb and my donor is a lwb so I'm going to keep it swb..
lots of memories coming up as I work on this...

[mongocanfly]

not much done today..worked on the bumper dents ,bends ,and twists...started out by knocking all the big stuff out on my steel welding table with a 2lb hammer...a little shop press work ,some c clamps and twisting and its getting close...I guess it pays sometime to be a packrat..one of the wheels off a old junk floor jack fit the edge radius pretty close for hammering..I would find the high and low spots by rubbing a piece of flat soapstone over it to mark it so I'd know where to beat the living daylights outta it..need to test fit to see what else needs done and then some finish work...

[mongocanfly]

a few before and after..

[67ChevyRedneck]

You're freakin' kidding me.... I've NEVER seen anyone save a bumper like that. My hat is off to you, sir!

Are they a thinner gauge or something? I tried to get one little dent out of a 67-72 painted bumper before and it wasn't happening!

[mongocanfly]

thanks...I was determined to at least try and save it...it has a unique design and replacements are as plentiful as unicorns....I went out and mic'd and it measures .110 thick so its not real heavy gauge...I'm still going to have to do a little bondo work on it but it'll be painted anyway...

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

You're freakin' kidding me.... I've NEVER seen anyone save a bumper like that. My hat is off to you, sir!

Are they a thinner gauge or something? I tried to get one little dent out of a 67-72 painted bumper before and it wasn't happening!

I was thinking the same thing! Those came out really nice. Did you use any heat?

[mongocanfly]

thanks...no heat involved...but I would have if needed...just a 2lb hammer, my grandads ol anvil, a steel table, some oak 2x4s, a wheel off a floor jack ,a hyd press, and a lot of hammering

[mongocanfly]

pulled windshield and back glass out today...hard to believe there's no rust here either..

[Mack B]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

a few before and after..

Very impressive, sir!

[mongocanfly]

thanks mack....

[tune_1]

Good to see the work that you are doing and the purpose for it. The donor does look good enough to restore for you father and then do your father's also for memories sake.
Keep the pictures and posts coming.

Dwight