A quick look back at the IHC in the bush, where it sat for 40 years....

Back to E-TEK's webpage HERE

Check out my YT Channel HERE! 

Painting the last few pieces....1956 International Harvester

Finally got the wet-sanding and polishing completed on the body, then found we had these last few items to paint. That's always the way.... 

First job is  to cover everything in the shop!

Once the parts were completely prepped and the area was all masked off eith plastic, the items were suspended and sprayed: three coats color three coats clear.

Now we can reassemble the entire project and - if we have to - come back and touch anything up we may need to at the end. 

The wheels have all been  sandblasted and painted, the glass has been ordered and is on its way and the engine and transmission have been completely rebuilt and should be delivered shortly. Stay tuned for the big finish!

                             Back to E-TEK's webpage HERE

 Check out my YT Channel HERE! 

Closing in on 400 hours....

400 hours seems like a lot!

That's 10 work weeks. But if you say 2 and a half months, it doesn't seem that long. Thing is, restoring a vehicle is almost ALL labour. While a body shop would charge $100.00 per hour, which would be $40,000.00 to date, I charge half of that. Restoring vehicles and paying retail is cost prohibitive for most people, not to mention having way more into most vehicles than they can ever be worth when sold or insured. I'm happy to help though as I love my side job, love restoring great vehicles and always appreciate a great reason for restoring something for someone.

On the '56 International 4-by, the filler work is coming along. The box was by far the worst of it, but it now has a new floor, is reinforced to way more than factory standards, is completely rust free and getting straighter by the hour, as is the cab.

Filler work on right door. The side had entire bottom portion replaced with new metal -

Filler work on box - a minimum of fill was required due to so much work in metal finishing.

Back to E-TEK's webpage HERE

 Check out my YT Channel HERE! 

1956 International Harvester 4x4 - is DONE and DELIVERED

After 3 long years, the 1956 IHC 4x4 is finally done! Owners came and picked it up and was thrilled!! This is a VERY rare truck that you can't just open a catalogue and to order parts. As show in the many previous posts, I either fabricated or scrounged to find many of the parts needed to finish it.

***************************************************

Below - on the 4-post lift in the E-tek shop, 

which about the 4th location for it during it's time at #E-tekRestorations. Tow-hooks where installed on by the original owner and they needed to remain to help tell the story.

The cantilevered hood is rare, unique - and a complete pain in the ass! One has to open one side or the other to work on the right or left side of the engine, but neither leaves enough room to work. Luckily you can also lift of the entire hood, but it takes 2 -3 guys and a lot of care to remove it without damaging the edges!

From the side it's a handsome vehicle - especially in 4x4 spec. The wheels use "split rims" all around and so many people are so scared to work on them, one has to hunt for a wheel shop that will do it.

The bed was removed and a new one - trimmed down from another model - was welded into place. The entire inside of the box was smoothed over many months and finally sprayed with box liner and then painted body color. The hog tie downs are farm-spec add ons the owner didn't want to part with.

For a basic, no-spec farm truck, the IHC has a great dash. This model has the uprated heater blower and defroster, 4 wheel-drive transfer case controls and vacuum operated wipers. A suicide knob was added to help with city maneuverability.

ANd here it is, loaded up and leaving the E-tek shop, en-route back to its owners at Regina Beach Campground. A full run-through will be needed next spring to ensure the drive train and engine are all working as they should. Fun times ahead!

  

Back to E-TEK's webpage HERE

Check out my YT Channel HERE! 

Detailed partial rocker panel replacement

The guy who did the autoglass on the '69 Camaro build asked me to repair some rust on his 1999 GMC Trailblazer and as he also does the glass in my projects, I thought I'd be a good car buddy and do it for him over the long weekend...

Didn't look too bad to start with....

But like the Foreigner song,  Three dressed up as a nine - the closet you got...the worser she looked!

 I noticed the door was out of alignment to the dog leg and rocker - so I took photo of that to see if we couldn't get that better off in the end as well - 

 Using the new piece as a partial template, I measured and cut a section so as to use it to  mark it out on the vehicle

So out came the cutting tools and safety gear

With the replacement rocker measured thrice and marked - 

I first cut the rocker - a bit bigger than needed - because its always easier to trim is down than having to add pieces later

 On the vehicle, I did the opposite, by cutting out the minimum amount -  to see what was behind the rust.  What's that in behind the rust? Why it's a snoot-full of dirt of course!

 Packed full of moisture-holding dirt, which gets in through gaps and drain holes, rusting out the rocker from the inside -

Yikes!!

Once the outer skin was off, I could see that the inner rocker was also rusted through, 

so with a masking tape line as a guide, off it went as well.

 The portion of the new rocker that I wouldn't use was used to replace the inner portion. All I needed to do was reshape it to become the inner panel, using the brake and some hammer-shaping on the anvil.

 Fitting and shaping in 2 pieces took over an hour

Which included mock up, reshaping and cutting to a precise fit..

Once it was the exact right shape and dimension, I soaked any remaining surface rust with POR's MetalReady and left to work overnight. This solution turns iron oxide (rust) to iron oxite, which is an inter substance. It also helps make metal more conductive for welding by depositing Zinc Phosphate.

 The next day, with everything prepared properly and dried,  welding the inner panel ensued. But before welding, I hung a welding blanket across the door opening to protect the interior from weld splatter - or worse!

Here the inner is welded solid, using a back and forth spot-weld pattern so as not to overheat it, which can lead to warping, burn through and fire hazard.

 With the inner welded on, I  trimmed and fit the outer panel so as to ensure it would fit over the finished the inner

 Then, plug-weld holes where drilled in the new outer panel,

 so as to attach it at the bottom, to the new inner panel

Prior to welding on the outer panel, I coated the new inner panel - as well as the original surrounding metal - with POR15, for maximum rust protection

 Both back and front

Then, the outer panel was welded in, little by little, ensuring it would line up with the body and door

 The lower connecting edge of the wheel-well also needed attention, taking me 3 tries to get right!

 With everything set and welded, the welds were ground down and the entire panel cleaned up, ready for a skim coat of filler

A skif a filler was next to finish it off -

Tomorrow I'll do a final sand of the filer, then put some more POR-15 on it as well as on the bottom of the rockers so they can either stay black, or can be painted at a later date.

So, a total of 8 hours, over 3 days, and the rotted out rocker was repaired in and out. This repair will last the life of the vehicle - and likely longer, since I made a point to shape the wheel-well connection so as to allow water and dirt to drain out more easily. It's not often I spend my time on 'later model' rust repairs, but once in a while I don't mind helping another car-guy out. It's one of the many things that makes our hobby so much fun!

Back to E-TEK's webpage HERE

Check out my YT Channel HERE!