1956 International S-112


The place to put your L, R and S "Build Off" story.

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Post Mon Feb 16, 2015 11:52 am

Re: 1956 International S-112

Starter:

I assume that the starter is original, but I have no way of knowing. About half the time when I turn the key the starter will grind without seeming to engage. I immediately back off the key and try again. Usually the second or third attempt will engage smoothly and the engine fires almost immediately. I decided to pull the starter and see if a little lubrication would solve the problem. The starter is near the rear of the engine compartment on the passenger side. It is connected to the flywheel housing by two bolts. The lower bolt is accessible from underneath the truck if you can manage to get your arm around the exhaust. I found the upper bolt to be harder to reach. I ended up precariously balanced on an old paint can trying to reach it with a smallish crescent wrench. I didn't have enough room to get my socket wrench in. I only encountered the two bolts each with split lock washers. There was no additional brace or shim that I have read about in some starter installations.

I disassembled the starter, cleaned some crud out of the starter gear housing, and greased the starter drive mechanism. No grease on the copper winding or brushes. Reassemble was mostly straightforward except that the spring-loaded brushes must be coaxed out of the way for the motor to slide back together. The starter housing has windows at one end that allowed a finger to reach in and slip each of the four brushes out of the way.

IMG_0518.jpg
Dismantled starter


Thankfully, I had taken a picture of the starter before I removed the wires. I was able to test the reassembled starter with a battery, jumper cable, and an extra wire. Ground to starter housing, positive to positive attachment bolt, and finally the extra wire from positive to the start bolt. The starter jumped to life. I was pleased that I hadn't done any additional damage and the drive mechanism did seem do be operating more smoothly after some lubrication.

Reinstalling the starter was hard. I ended up using a rope hung over a rafter in the garage to support the starter's weight. Then my lovely assistant held the starter in place while I got the bolts back in place.

IMG_0519.jpg
Starter supported by a rope to aid installation.


The truck started immediately when I turned the key. No grinding. I was excited, but after a few more starts, the starter failed to engage again. After some more reading, I have a few more ideas: check every tooth on the flywheel ring gear, replace the old 6-volt solenoid (but with what?), check clearance between the starter gear and flywheel (but how?)
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Post Mon Feb 16, 2015 12:13 pm

Re: 1956 International S-112

The top bolt on these starters is one place where a set of crows foot wrenches really comes in handy. I've had a few of these old starters shed their teeth or do what yours is doing. They have a longer than usual shaft from the armature out to the starter drive, and I'd guess that's part of it. Or just old age. You might look at replacing it with a Delco 1107679, which is easy to find using the industry number 4149.
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Post Mon Mar 23, 2015 8:31 pm

Re: 1956 International S-112

Wiring Part 1
Over the last couple of weekends, I have been rewiring my truck using a Rebel Wire 9+3 kit. I began this project with zero experience and have found the process to be completely manageable. The instructions that come with the kit are bare-bones, but adequate. Similarly, the description of the kit provided by the website was correct, but didn't describe the kit in much detail. For example, I did not know until the kit arrived that it included a flasher so that my concerns about the serviceability of my factory-installed flasher were wasted. This is a generic kit without specific instructions for IHC wiring, so I had to do some research at times. I'll try to share the few things that I learned so that another beginner may have an easier time.

First, the six wires coming from the steering column were faded beyond recognition. I needed a continuity tester to figure out which wire needed to be connected to the steering column wires in the kit. The best description I found for sorting the wires out is here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/turn-signal-wiring-how-to.869492/

Second, the factory IHC headlight switch does not have each terminal labeled. I studied the wiring diagrams in the service manual to come up with a schematic that I could use to connect the correct wires from the kit. The instrument light terminal is partly hidden underneath the lip of the dash.
switch.jpg
A layman's diagram of the headlight switch.

Third, in this kit the brake-light switch is only active with the ignition switch in the 'run' position. This led me to spend a few hours trying to track down problems with the brake lights that didn't actually exist.

I haven't tried to wire the gauges yet. In part this is because I still haven't found a definitive answer about what needs to be done to make them work with 12 volts.
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Post Mon Mar 30, 2015 8:46 pm

Re: 1956 International S-112

New Starter

Following advice received on this forum, I purchased a re-manufactured 12 volt starter because the old one was grinding about 1/2 of the time that I turned the key. Napa was able to supply part number 44-0448, a reman Delco starter from a local warehouse. I got it out to the car and gave it a more careful look and realized that it did not include a solenoid. As the fellow at the counter was unsuccessfully using google to find the required solenoid, an old indian came in and saved the day. The semi-retired native american man had come for air filters, but took the time to install the solenoid at the counter (part # ST124SB) while telling me some of his life story. I learned that the solenoid has a tab that fits into a groove on the starter body so that it can't be installed sideways. Also, the solenoid spring comes with clips holing it in compression. The clips are for packing only and should be removed before installation. He used to have a 1952 110 pickup, but lost it through a divorce.
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Golden Jubilee
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Post Sat Apr 04, 2015 6:10 pm

Re: 1956 International S-112

I've been having a similar problem with the starter in my R. After closer inspection I realized that the bushing in the nose of the bendix were worn severely. The original bushing was only as thick as 2 sheets of notebook paper. I turned down a scrap bushing I'd saved from a previous distributor rebuild to an OD .001" over the ID of the starter gear (.610") and an ID that was .003" over the dia of the shaft (.555"). The bendix moves smoothly on the shaft and has almost no perceivable slop. I've started the truck over a dozen times since the fix and no issues so far.
'55 IH R-122- BG265 w/TBI fuel injection
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Post Wed Mar 04, 2020 9:29 pm

Re: 1956 International S-112

I've not been posting for ages, but I've continued driving and tinkering with this old truck. Now I'm at a different stage in life and the truck is up for sale in Houston. https://houston.craigslist.org/cto/d/houston-1956-classic-pickup/7085235183.html

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Post Thu Mar 05, 2020 7:29 am

Re: 1956 International S-112

HoustonJoe wrote:I've not been posting for ages, but I've continued driving and tinkering with this old truck. Now I'm at a different stage in life and the truck is up for sale in Houston. https://houston.craigslist.org/cto/d/houston-1956-classic-pickup/7085235183.html


Nice truck, did some of the 56's come with split rear windows?
56 S120 4x4,

Golden Jubilee
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Post Thu Mar 05, 2020 11:58 am

Re: 1956 International S-112

I've never seen a split window cab on a S, I'm thinking the cab has been replaced at some point. The only reason why the early Rs had split window cabs was because IH was using up the last of them from the L series before switching over to the R cabs.
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Post Fri Mar 06, 2020 6:53 am

Re: 1956 International S-112

The cabs with split rear windows ["TWINdows"??] also came with solid interior door panels instead of cardboard, and the door windows and vent wings were taller.

So a cab change is probably what happened.
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