Rusty Driver
Posts: 142
Joined: Sat Sep 19, 2015 6:30 am
The Mater build...
I went onto various websites last winter looking for an old IH pickup. Initially I was looking for a mid 60's 4x4, preferably V8, manual trans, 3/4 ton, and not a lot of rust. It was this last bit that kept hanging me up... there wasn't much from '63 to about the end of production, that wasn't severely infected with rust bugs. So the search widened...any IH pickup would be considered. Craigslist in MT, WY, ID, CO and UT began to be looked at.
On the Denver area CL, and a bit later on WY state CL, the same pickup, with essentially the same story showed up. It was a 1956 IH 3/4T 4x4 with some modifications, but it was intriguing. Over the ensuing 4 months or so, it developed that I could arrange financing, and then actually buy the thing.
The pictures below are from both the Denver and WY CLs. Note the lack of traditional IH 6 bolt 1T wheels, on non-traditional IH axles. They're Dodge 3/4T axles. That was what caught my eye first, and made me look further. The tailgate shot is revealing: note the crack almost all the way across. Per the PO, the tailgate came loose and bounced hard against the bumper, bending and deforming it. For the next couple years it was ignored and allowed to flex and break almost 3/4s of the way across. That was the first big repair under my ownership. A couple days' worth of blacksmith bodywork got it usable. Look over the pictures and the next installment will be in a couple days.
Mike
I'm from the top half of the bottom third...and you?