1973 IH Travelall - Family Cruiser, Big project....

Well all good build threads start before you even own it right? I have finally settled the internal debate between something stupid and fast or old and slow. Old and slow wins out.

FB Marketplace is new to me, I have not really used it before. But my browsing got the better of me and I found the next project. A 1973 IH Travelall, IH's answer to the suburban. They are kinda rare, and kinda funky, perfect! 17' long and 6.5' wide, a low revving, low power 392, and bench seats. 

This one is a project that the PO has lost time for, his family has gotten the drag racing bug, and hes letting it go. It's got some goodies, on air ride, all sanded to bare metal on the exterior, all original otherwise, but man is it going to be a huge project. Its coming to my garage Thursday. Only one issue, my garage is full.....

Without further ado. Teaser pics.

Needs Shocks still.

Now for the rust, it was a socal car, but there is a little tiny bit.

Rear wheel arch 

and above the back door.

There are literal piles of parts that come with it..... All tagged, hopefully I can figure it out! Everything should be there except a windshield.

Dash, door cards, trim

Glass, new wipers and seals.

Cabinet o goodies. 

Now that there is a deadline I had better make some room in the garage.....My city allows 200sq ft shed wo/ a permit, as long as its not on a foundation or attached to a building. 16x12 works perfect for sheet good and is 192 sq ft. A quick call to my lumber supplier and a assemble yourself a shed kit arrived. I told them I wanted self assembling.... That didn't happen.

End of evening #1 and I had the floor together.

Stuck waterproofing membrane to the bottom of the floor sheeting. Figured it couldn't hurt.

And done.

Frame and sheet one back wall. Get it stood about halfway up when you realize a 16' wall is stupidly heavy for one person fully sheeted!

Go on long weekend and remodel childs room for a week and get ZERO done on shed. Crap its coming up quick now. Frame front wall, only put one sheet on this time! Floppier, but much better to lift. One 6' frnech door left over from a work project, and a window.

Got about 4 hours in on Saturday.... All walls sheeted, 1/3 of the roof joists up. Did 3/4 CDX for a future climbing wall on one side. T111 on the rest. 8' walls in the back 10' in the front. Stupid me shouldn't have ordered 10' t111, do a joint, that stuff turns out to be $$$$$$

And that brings us current! I have a lot to get done in a couple days..... Still need to pick up the roof metal and sheeting, install window and door, and roof.... Plus clean out garage bay and buy wheel dollies. Wish me luck!

Allow me to be the first to recommend that you clear coat it instead of painting.  That thing is glorious.

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

That was my first Inkling, wife said no. She puts up with my projects, I take some input from her..... I'm thinking Nardo grey and white roof, all brightwork blacked out 

I love IH TravelAlls, it is still in my list of some-day projects.  One was featured prominently in a story I read as a kid and I've been obsessed ever since.

Love it.  I don't recall ever seeing one or even knowing of their existence until now.  

In reply to NorseDave :

Exactly! They are a bit of a odd duck. Not too many made, but not really rare. Kind of a funky look. Competitor to the Suburban at the time.

In reply to dclafleur :

Thats awesome! I have always liked IH stuff, this one looks to be a great start! Although I have not actually laid eyes on it.... Which is kind of frightening. 

Any I didn't build a big enough garage :smackshead: With the boat in the garage I have ~24" side to side to fit the car, and ~18" lengthwise. Body work should be entertaining. Oh should I mention I have ZERO body work experience? Wheel dollies are on the need before delivery list....

I'll be the first to say don't leave it bare, it deserves a decent paint job.  If the chrome parts are decent, I wouldn't paint them black either...

You're lucky to find one from southern California.  Travelalls were terrible for rust issues in most other parts of the country

NorseDave said:

Love it.  I don't recall ever seeing one or even knowing of their existence until now.  

IH built Travelalls from 1953 through 1975.  They weren't terribly common but I remember seeing them on a regular basis.

stuart in mn said:

I'll be the first to say don't leave it bare, it deserves a decent paint job.  If the chrome parts are decent, I wouldn't paint them black either...

You're lucky to find one from southern California.  Travelalls were terrible for rust issues in most other parts of the country

Well let me show you this, that's the spare tire well, apparently one of the worst spots for rust on these....

Chrome looks ok, not great, but ok. But it surrounded the woodgrain on the original ones. I just dont see chrome showing up well on light ish gray. I was thinking it might look good as a black ring more of less.

Original woodgrain and trim

I'm so jealous of your "rust issues". That's one clean find. Clear over metal might look cool but you'll probably want to paint it for real one day. 

If it had woodgrain originally, I'd go back with that - it's cool in a 1970s way, and would be that much less you had to paint. 

However,  you may need to get a plaid leisure suit like the guy in the picture below. 

In reply to maschinenbau :

Thats what drew me to this one in particular. Its so clean..... Supposed to be a runner too, he pulled engne and resealed, just never got to the fuel system. hence my thread last week about EFI conversions :)

In reply to java230 :

Is the trim stainless steel, instead of chrome? If so, it should polish up well.

Regarding IH trucks, I somehow really liked the one on the Lassie TV show. Mostly, I really liked IH tractors, because we had 2 of them on our farm, along with several pieces of IH implements.

Our forum member Don49 used a Travelall for many years to tow his racecars. I think it was the last one I saw in running condition, and my recollection of the trim was that it was aluminum with bright anodize. Some recollections are less than accurate tho

Oh man,  I would definitely go back green with woodgrain.  I love that on those old travelalls.

In reply to keithedwards :

Not sure yet on the trim! I will find out Thursday! 

In reply to Patrick:

I thought about the green..... Maybe, in flat.... No wood! 

Shed has 7/9ths of a roof since apparently I cant count plywood.... And I ran out of underlayment. Window did go in though!

Garage bay still isn't looking great..... 

I got sent a teaser.....

Love me some IH! That looks really clean. Can’t wait to see your build 

In reply to stuart in mn :

I really like those two-tone white on pastels. 

In reply to maschinenbau :

It will have a two tone, 99% sure white roof (since no AC....)

Hear me out on this though, white roof, clear coat mixed pearl and lace the roof. Super subtle, but throwback to old school paint jobs. This think with white base and a clear pearl for contrast, no it wouldn't be easy to see, but that the idea, only someone really looking would notice.

Love lace painted roofs!

Do it!

In reply to java230 :

Really cool idea for the roof except only tall folks will ever know it. Even slammed it won't be visible to 50% of the folks on foot.

In reply to TurnerX19 :

This is true.....ill have to see how tall it really is when it arrives. Good news, I'm tall :D

Lace is awesome. 

Why no ac? A vintage air front unit, and a rear system from a suburban should be simle to put in. Hell, I've done 25+ ac installations in classic cars. Never messed with the rear air, but have seen it done. I think theres an aftermarket kit for it, but dont quoteme. 

Also, if the airbag system is already plumbed, make sure that all 4 bags are independent of one another. Some REALLY funky handling when its not.