1956 International Restoration 120 Series: the beautification process begins

The large body panels and shell were not sandblasted - due to the damage that can happen, so I carefully stripped the original paint form the areas needing repairs to start.

The top of the cab had a large dent that was never properly repaired, just filled.

Of course it's double-walled on the inside, which explains the lack of effort in the original  repair

Passenger lower door will have new metal spliced in - 

Let the SPARKS fly!

Under the cab the transfer case was still packed with a cement-like mud substance - which took nearly an hour to remove :(  Below you can see the area the sand- blaster couldn't penetrate.

International Harvester 122 series restoration

Summer in beautiful Saskatoon is a time for outdoor fun, hanging with the kids, festivals of every sort and of course, time to enjoy the cars that can only be enjoyed in the summer-time!

But, even with all the fun-in-the-sun, it's not like work in the E-tek Rod Shop grinds to a halt. I've been plugging away at tearing down the International Harvester, the Comet Caliente and even managed to get the 240Z off the rotisserie and continued tweaking on the 1968 Camaro.

Of course with all that extra activity, something has to take a back seat - right? Of course - and what has suffered is my blog postings! Who wants to spend time on the computer with all of that other stuff to do?! So, my apologies for getting so far behind in the posting of my work, but let's catch everyone up here:

After removing most of the body, including fenders, hood, inner fenders, running boards and the rear fenders and tailgate, it was time to tackle the engine and tranny....



....which you'd think would be fairly straightforward....but in a 1956 IH 4x4....it was not to be so....

The front mounts, no problem:

But the rear mounts - under the bell-housing of sorts - where a bear to remove...

Largely due to the way the trans mounts in the cab,

 including a toe-pan and several cross members being in the way- 

The 3-speed gear box was separated from the bell-housing....

Then - with a ton of pulling, prising, yanking and hammerin'..... finally.... out she came!

Then I hooked up the Pullz-all to the tranny and yanked it in the opposite direction, setting it on its own trolley to be pulled apart and inspected later:

The 4-wheel drive linkage attaches to the levers you see here (now flipped upside down):

The right tool for the job (steering arm nut) -

And here she is - the 227 Torque monster straight - 6. First produced by American Motors, they also sold their straight-sixes to International Harvester for powering International's "Light Line" of trucks, as well as their Scouts and Travellalls.

But before I can tear into the engine, the body - including the cab, what's left of the box, the fenders and inners, tailgate as well as the frame and suspension components, will have to be sent off to the sandblaster. And I can't wait to see them back - as clean as the day they left the foundry! And so everything was loaded up and the entire mess was loaded onto a flatdeck  hauler from AstroTowing.

Via www.E-tekRestorations.googlepages.com !

International Harvester - Cab tear down

Taking all the bits and pieces off the cab can take as long as disassembling the rest of the truck!

Wiper mounts:

Steering column:

Glove box assembly:

Once I get the cab and box undone, the box floor will be the first major repair:

Stay tuned!

International Harvester TEARDOWN!

With most of the 100+ fasteners removed, the front clips begins to come away from the cab....

                         Little by little - with a lot of muscle and finesse (if I do say so myself - lol!)....

It comes away!

The GM Stovebolt-like straight-6 is easily accessible now.

But the engine's tear down will wait for another day, 

 the rest of today was spent tearing down the front clip. 

Using heat from the Oxy-Acetylene set-up, along with a variety of impact-tools, including the impact driver and impact wrench, the bits gave way, one by one.....

 Until I was physically exhausted - and the truck was lying - in pieces.  I win again.  ;)

Below  the grille insert on the bench, ready for final dis-assembly....

 Other than a few bent bits and some dings in the fenders, the metal is in damn good shape - for a  all 60 year old truck that sat beside a beach all its life. Next week I'll finish disassembling the cab and box and it'll all be ready to go to the sandblasters.

The front panel has a baffle attached that re-directs air to the rad. It'll come off to be prepped and be painted separately. I imagine it will look great black against the baby-blue truck.

Stay tuned for more teardown!