Andrew's R120
Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 12:35 am
Well, I guess it's finally time for me to document my truck somewhere on the internet, so what better place than a forum dedicated to these great trucks. My story begins back somewhere around 2007. I was dating this girl from southern Minnesota who grew up on a farm. On my first time meeting/visiting her parents I saw an "old truck" sitting back behind the barn, sunk down to the axles in the mud, with the windows busted out, and weeds growing all around it seemingly long forgotten by anyone who cared. I began tossing around the idea of maybe it would be a project some "dumb college kid" with no real automotive knowledge could take on. A few weekends after the visit I asked her (my girlfriend at the time) if her dad would sell me the truck. She asked him and got a big fat no for an answer.
Fast forward to 2011.... Out of the blue I get a call from her (my now ex girlfriend for a couple years). She asked me if I still wanted to buy that old truck rotting behind the barn. I looked at my schedule and without hesitation told her yes and that I could come pick it up that weekend. I load up my dad's truck with some shovels, come alongs, and the 4 wheeler hoping I would be able to drag the old IH pickup out of the mud, and make the 5 hour trip to her parent's house. I get there and nobody is to be found, so I get to work digging the truck out of the dirt. After an hour or so of struggling, I come to the realization that this truck is stuck. I end up walking around the barn and see Rick (the dad) just coming out of the field in his tractor and ask if he could help me out. We hook up a chain and the truck seems to just jump out of the dirt. We get it loaded up on the trailer and I grab my cash out of my truck. I go to pay him our agreed on price, and he says don't worry about it, just get it running some day. I couldn't just take this man's truck for free, so I pulled out my money and make him take it. $100 for the truck, and $100 for helping me load it up. Yup that's right, I only paid $200 for an almost complete truck (missing some glass and the tailgate)
So here it is, all loaded up and ready to make the 5 hour trip back to my parents house
And here's a pic of the engine. The truck had been sitting for around 30 years (it was last registered in 1982). There was probably an inch of build up on the engine (mud, grease, oil, etc.)
Overall the body wasn't in terrible condition. A few dents on the hood and grille, and the front bumper was bent up from somebody hooking a chain onto it. The drivers side of the bed is 2 colored too which is weird because it's the only body panel on the truck that isn't green
I'm not sure how long my posts can be, so this is the end of post #1
Fast forward to 2011.... Out of the blue I get a call from her (my now ex girlfriend for a couple years). She asked me if I still wanted to buy that old truck rotting behind the barn. I looked at my schedule and without hesitation told her yes and that I could come pick it up that weekend. I load up my dad's truck with some shovels, come alongs, and the 4 wheeler hoping I would be able to drag the old IH pickup out of the mud, and make the 5 hour trip to her parent's house. I get there and nobody is to be found, so I get to work digging the truck out of the dirt. After an hour or so of struggling, I come to the realization that this truck is stuck. I end up walking around the barn and see Rick (the dad) just coming out of the field in his tractor and ask if he could help me out. We hook up a chain and the truck seems to just jump out of the dirt. We get it loaded up on the trailer and I grab my cash out of my truck. I go to pay him our agreed on price, and he says don't worry about it, just get it running some day. I couldn't just take this man's truck for free, so I pulled out my money and make him take it. $100 for the truck, and $100 for helping me load it up. Yup that's right, I only paid $200 for an almost complete truck (missing some glass and the tailgate)
So here it is, all loaded up and ready to make the 5 hour trip back to my parents house
And here's a pic of the engine. The truck had been sitting for around 30 years (it was last registered in 1982). There was probably an inch of build up on the engine (mud, grease, oil, etc.)
Overall the body wasn't in terrible condition. A few dents on the hood and grille, and the front bumper was bent up from somebody hooking a chain onto it. The drivers side of the bed is 2 colored too which is weird because it's the only body panel on the truck that isn't green
I'm not sure how long my posts can be, so this is the end of post #1