New to me, 1969 108

Purchased yesterday, seller had this, a Corvair Van, and a '77 Dodge. Couldn't look at the others after seeing this one.

The bad: Outside rockers and driver's floor are all ate up. Dents, dings, scratches. Running on 3 cylinders.

The good: Otherwise awfully solid, spare front and side doors, axles, etc., and a good spare 250.

I'm having the seller (owns a hot rod shop) refresh the motor and do the swap, and refresh the brakes. I just don't have time/space/lift to do that right now, I'd like to have this be a drive-it-around while I redo it.

I'm coming from the land of International Harvester trucks, travelalls, and scouts, so I liked the simplicity of this one. I can rewire it on a Saturday if I need to. :-)



I was maybe waffling and then I saw this inside the cargo door:



Number for the Ramada Inn in St. Petersburg. That's what I call provenance. :-)

I look forward to sharing more as the project continues.

Best,
J

You can get repair panels for most of the lower rust. They use to make alot of IH trucks & Scouts here in Ft Wayne

Savage, I forgot to mention I get an original driver's side complete rocker in the deal.

But then I did see the panels on eBay, shipping is big $! I may see if I can get them to work their way South a friend at a time. I'd been considering molding up some fiberglass ones but if there are panels ready-made, that's easy enough.

And yes, a whole lot of Binders came out of Ft Wayne!

Scott,

You're right on the money. We figured master, lines, and at the very least a check on the cylinders. Hard parts appear to be in good shape.

I'm willing to do further work over time, I just need to have something that can be safely driven around town while I work on the rest of it. I don't have 5 acres here like I did back in Carolina when I was collecting the Internationals. You can lose a lot of trucks back in the woods.

Welcome to the site, be sure to check the links pages for small parts needs

http://www.vintage-vans.com/chevy_parts_dept.html

savage wrote:........They use to make alot of IH trucks & Scouts here in Ft Wayne

And I always thought they made em in Springfield ,Ohio. hmmmmmmmmmmm.........interesting bit of trivia.

My old 67 Scout 80 with the 4 banger/3 speed was the best 4x4 I ever owned. Been hunting all year for another one actually ( 4 banger & not rotted).

NICE find on the VAN too! And DITTO on the WELCOME!

crazee,

Ft Wayne and Springfield are the twin cities of IH light line production.

I had a 4x4 4cyl 4 spd '71 and miss it terribly. Can't find solid scouts down here in FL, when I was in NC you couldn't turn down a country road without seeing one in the weeds.

Thanks to all for the welcomes. Engine seals and freeze plug work today and general clean-up. We're going to hold off on the brakes right now, they are working, and I can do that in time. Likely I'll put in all new from master to slaves.

crazee here's my old scout for you!

J

The Van has arrived!

Have started it up two days in a row, pretty easily considering it's just a straight pipe exhaust. A little backpressure and it should be running like a sewing machine. Still getting used to the three on the tree -- first one despite owning 20+ old Internationals.

1st step will be cleaning her out, then the bodywork. Have done my share of sanding, some fiberglass/carbon fiber work, but I'm not a pro body guy. We'll see how it works out. Glad to have the complete driver's side rocker from a donor van. Currently planning on Smoke Gray rustoleum to cover the van, going for an industrial stealth look on the outside. Though I do have another gallon of safety yellow, so maybe we'll jazz it up.

After that, the exhaust and electrics, just the basics. Then the customizing. :-)

Enjoy the pics!

J

that is a sexy motor

had a 1959 international 4x4 miss it to the things we should have hung on to

That's a BRILLIANT truck. Jealous of your time with it.

Yep......very clean looking engine......and a fun project. Another one gets to LIVE!!!!

Watch out speed shifting that Chevy 3 on the tree until you see how much slop is in it.
Noting more fun than climbing under her in a busy intersection and removing the tranny side plate to un-jam her after you get the shifter forks jammed between gears.

Been there/ done that - --> too many times ............"...........

Just running around the parking lot right now, but, yep, taking it slow with that shifter.

Trailer load of the last parts scheduled to arrive on Tuesday:



The rear axle's under there too.

J