Any love for the International Harvester Travelall?

Slippery said:

Looks like he put a lot of effort in painting that front wheel. 

I know right?

Not much that can be said from that pic, but I like them. 

Added more pics just now. 

In reply to Cooter :

You’re right. It’s a “100” (not a “1010” like I originally posted). 1974 model with Nov 1973 build date. 

With the exception of the aforementioned rust, they are tanks.  The auto was a 727 Mopar that is super reliable.  The 304 and 345 V8s were bulletproof and built more like a tractor engine.  The big travelall (I'm pretty sure) got a Dana 60 in the back and a 44 up front, so plenty of heavy-duty-ness to go around.

If it is 4x4, it will likely have an Dana 20 or Spicer 300, both bulletproof with good low ratios.  We had a 78 Scout 2 Ralleye.  Even with cheap retread whitewall all-seasons, it really would go almost anywhere.  We called it the Flintstones truck because if you lifted the floor mats you could put your legs through the floor.  Dad went to put on his seatbelt one day and the whole thing pulled out of the floor.  I remember the look on his face just sitting there holding a seat belt mechanism with a piece of rusty floor bolted to it.  He cut a 3' section of a stop sign post and put it under the floor and rebolted the seat belt through that.  I remember we rolled that thing on its side one day up in the mountain.  Aside from a wee crack in the side glass, it was fine.

I had a 65 Scout 80 for a while.  I cut a tree out of it and pulled what was left of it out of the mud.  It was a complete waste.  I pulled the lifter cover off the side to re-oil the cam and found it full of acorns and chewed up insulation.  I just put it back together as is and had dad drag it around the field while I squeezed a ball from a marine cas can sitting beside me hooked up to the carb.  The thing actually fired and tried to run.  Traded it for a .40 cal Glock.  :)

Long story short, do it.  They are bigger jeeps.  Top quality parts from the old-school big-three parts bins.

Mine was better up top but had rust around back wheels, was absolutely loaded with 345, all the options, mint green with woodgrain, locking rear diff, 2wd.  I bought it for 900 and sold it for 1500.  

In reply to Curtis :

Photos of it were posted on the first page.  It's a 2wd.  

I bought a '65 IH pickup in Colorado in '81 so I didn't have to drive my RX7 in the snow.  I ended up towing my RX7 to Pensacola, Fl with the cornbinder.  It had a 6-cylinder engine, a 4-speed with granny 1st, and a 5.38 final drive.  I couldn't take off in 1st without whacking my head on the rear window.  I got married in '83 and sold it to a church down the street (Atlanta area).  My wife thought I was taking advantage of them, but when we visited friends in the area several year later, they were still driving it!

They will run and drive without a carburetor.  Unfortunately they will also catch on fire when they backfire out of the intake manifold without said carb.  Ask me how I know...

Interesting enough that trailer that towed the international to Jacksonville now resides there with Stampie and the white express van is getting dissected by Andy Neuman for his rx7 swap.  Sometimes I forget what my truck looked like without a cap.  

I can’t speak about the 304 but the 345 punches way over its weight.  Unless you’re going hog wild with turbos and such I wouldn’t even bother swapping an LS.  All you need is a GM based TBI on the original IH.  And if you need more grunt still, an IH 392 drops right in bolt for bolt I’m told.  That’s a real dump truck motor.  A local logger lugged a Cat D6 for years behind a 392.  A D6 is not a monster but she’s not a toy either.

Could swap a Powerstroke 7.3 in to keep it all IH. 

That’s a lot of weight though.

My grandfather  bought a pimped out 70 model the week I was born with the intention of driving it 16 years and giving it to me.  He made it 9 before a fifth of Henry McKinna (WWII did some bad things to a lot of good men) helped him drive it 50 miles an hour into a parked backhoe. Put a 16" V in the front but he drove it home 13 miles with a busted rad.  He got 27 stitches and a Hell of a headache.  Sat in a barn with me longing to fix it until it was given to a farm hand down on his luck for scrap.  Please buy it, do it for me.

Seems a no brainer to me. Big box sled on wheels, double bonus that you won't see one everyday.

My dad had a green with wood grain 2wd travelall as a tow rig when I was a kid. Even back in the 80's when gas was 1.25 A gallon it was deemed too thirsty for regular use. 

I thought it was the ugliest thing he had ever brought home but these days I find them appealing in a quaint, but maybe even handsome sort of way. A nice change of pace from the more common suburbans. 

So, I finally got to check out the car in person. Lots of rust held together with hopes and dreams (and Carhartt overalls worn non-ironically while nursing $9 cappuccinos in one’s tender, uncalloused hands). And the owner won’t take a dollar less than $3800.

Walk away.  

Yeah walk away. There isnt a lot of rust, but the rust that is there is in some really bad places. There are a lot of downsides to old trucks, and if you dont absolutely love it then you are going to hate it. $4000 will buy something modern with life left in it. Since it sounds like you want a truck for truck stuff and not another project i would go down the modern route.

$4k will even buy a pretty nice Travelall tha doesn't have the issues this one does.

I sold mine for 7k, ran and drove wonderfully, and even took it on some long trips. Had almost no rust even. 

gearheadmb said:

Yeah walk away. There isnt a lot of rust, but the rust that is there is in some really bad places.

The whole frame is brown and crumbly from the front wheels back. Doesn't seem safe to me. It's a cool truck ... and the first one I've come across that my wife actually liked as well. But it's too big of a project for me to take on.

Sounds like a good example of why one needs to check cars out in person and not rely on photographs - it didn't look bad at all in the pictures.

pimpm3 said:

They will run and drive without a carburetor.  Unfortunately they will also catch on fire when they backfire out of the intake manifold without said carb.  Ask me how I know...

 

 

Sorry Brooks but that looks better than the Wagoneer you penned.  There.  I said it.