rolling along!

Five years ago I stayed up all night dismantling the Texas truck. One year to the day I stayed up all nite again to finish putting the rear end together, and then decided to put it back under the truck.  I got all the tires mounted and aired up too. I need to cut down the new brake pins and really start to tighten all the chassis loose ends, grease certs, and drive line. I had a moment of panic while in the middle of putting the rear end in, I looked at the motor mounts and realized when I reinstalled them I did not mark which was right and which was left. I racked my brain for a hour or so until I remembered I had a extra hogs head(fly wheel housing) on the shelf. Crisis averted engine mounts are proper.

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More sanding!

the sanding will never end! I have been getting the rear brakes together, and just the same as the fronts I had to sand to fit. The rear shoes were not as bad as the fronts I just need to take a little off. So instead of three hours per shoe that the fronts took it took me a hour a shoe for the rears. I really wish I could have found someone local with a Ammco 8000 brake shoe grinder. I looked in to buying one but the cost out weighed the benefit. After I got the shoes mounted. I also got all of the tires mounted on the rims. Now to get the silver paint on the rims and get them fully mounted.

Slowly!

I have finally been able to get back to work on this. Between the cold, lock-down, family and work things slow down. But this week I jumped in head first and got some done. Rubber on the ground! And a great day to fix my rear axle mistake. I also took apart the steering columns and am getting them ready.  More sand blasting and painting to come. And I am ready to put more back together. This has been slow going but I will get there. I will hopefully keep this better updated this year.

NOS fender!

ATHS I can't say enough is such a great organization. They put on one heck of a truck show. I believe the final count was 1297 total trucks 25years and older at the show! I had a great time I didn't get to meet or talk to very many people. I fell down on my part and didn't keep people in the loop where I was at. But all turned out wonderful. I got to see lots of great International's a few speed six and a lot of K and KB's and a few D models. And one C model in the mid 30's. So the most spectacular thing was the swap meet. There were only three vendors selling there on Saturday morning.  I walked around and didn't see much at first. I found John Geidl  that had some IH parts laying there. As I picked up a IH box he asked me if I was looking for IH fenders. I said "no" ( thinking I would never find a new finder for a design only made for four years in the height of the depression. ) So john came around the table and pointed out a 1935 right side C model fender and another fender behind me. Okay the 1935 peaked my interest. As I turn around I see another fender laying there. As we talk about the 35 fender and I describe that the cut out on the back part was for the battery box. While I am looking over the fender behind it. It looks close to my 33. As I keep looking at it I kept trying to come up with reasons that it couldn't be my finder. I walked away trying to look at all of the pictures I had on my phone and compare bolt hole to bolt hole. After 10 minutes I decided to take the chance on the fender. I picked up my fender had one last word with John saying that if it was the correct fender I would E-mail him. I got more questions and looks hauling that fender threw the show! Lots of people stopped me asking if I identified what the fender was off of. And several people saying they almost bought the fenders. Of coarse once I get back to the car I spot the numbers under the fender. I don't know how I didn't see it earlier. My guess is not believing I had found a NOS 1933 fender for my truck. So after I loaded the fender in my wife's car that we took to Iowa. I checked the part number and then after smacking myself and a couple of pinches to make sure I wasn't dreaming. So I have found a NOS replacement fender! I am still in shock. So a special thanks goes out to John Geidl cjapham@yahoo.com Door latch repair, LLC  He still had the 1935 IH NOS fender last I saw as of  5/27/17. WOW what a week! The only phrase I can use to describe finding the fender is "It's a miracle!" Goes back to my thought that Granddaddy is helping me out some how. Now with renewed vigor I shall get back to work on the truck! More photos of the ATHS truck show to come!

Sorting out bolts and wheels

I have been sorting more bolts for the wheels. I wanted to find new bolts for the wheels but nobody I found could come up with full shank grade eight bolt for a decent price. So went out and took every wheel bolt off of the Texas truck. I came up with just enough to get by. Some of the old bolts were too rusted to save a couple broke taking them off. The next issue I have is the Texas truck had two good rear rims but they are wider then the rims I have for the rest of the truck. So know I have another set of rims at my grandfathers to look at if they are the same as the ones off the Texas truck I will probable use them, they are all off Internationals just a few years apart. Why the search for rims I have a few holes in the originals and some integrity issues.  I really wanted to keep the original rims, but time, money, effort and safety are big influences. Especially safety I don't want a rim and wheel to come apart. I will probably look to restoring the original wheels at a later time. So for now I will look to use the wider rims on the rear duels and the original rims on the front.  I wanted to get the rims sandblasted last year but I never got the chance. So hopefully here soon I can get that done.

older pictures

 These are a few of the older pictures I came across of the well drill before it came down. And a few of the truck before we loaded it. 

The beginning!

Hi I am Kevin I am restoring my wife's Granddaddy's 1933 International B-3 this blog was created for two reasons. First for family and friends to follow my progress and second to tell the history and future of this truck. For me it all started in September of 2010. My Wife, Son and I went to New Mexico to visit her Great granddaddy. As I met this man(granddaddy) for only the second time to me he was the perfect picture of the south west. He had rough leathery skin browned by years of working in the sun, a unstoppable need for the outdoors this man almost 90 years old. He looked at me and asked if i could drive a stick? And I not knowing what was next reluctantly said "Yes Sir". Not even two seconds later this man (Granddaddy) was out of his chair and walker in hand was out the door!. I left standing there in a stupor for a second my wife looks at me and says "He is going to leave with out you!". So out the door I went not knowing what was next. He put his walker in the back of a truck and tells me to get in. Seconds later I was on the ride of my life(and praying for it at the same time!) Granddaddy explained what we were doing. He told me(while driving 50  miles and hour across the New Mexico desert!) that a truck and generator needed to be brought up from a well pump in a lower field about four miles away. On our way there he said "I have something to show you." Just then it came in to sight a tall wooden structure next to wind mill as we got closer I realized that attached to this wooden structure was a old truck! I have always liked older cars and trucks. Then what came next I couldn't believe. He said that the large wooden structure was a well drill " The old turn and chunk style." He preceded to tell me that his father and uncle were running the well drill in 1944 when the bit head got stuck about 100 feet down, they worked and worked for days trying to free the well drill. After two blown motors and 15 feet of kinked well casing they decided to give up! Then I started to ask why was the truck still there? Why didn't they just pull the truck out? Then he told me that they didn't have a way to lift and support the drill to get the truck out. So then I asked so the truck ran?. And he said "yes!" that his dad had him go and start the truck and keeping running for months after. He told me that after the battery died he quit trying to start the truck. At this point my hart is pounding I look around this awesome piece of machinery, not just that! history! and it looked all there and in good shape. It was a Old International late 20's early 30's I thought to my self. I wanted to ask him if I could buy it right there! But I knew I would be turned down he seemed very attached to this memory, this truck. So all I could get out was that that would be a great truck to restore! and he said "yep a lot of work!" And I said "yes but for some one like me I find that fun." As we continued all I could think about was that truck! He told me how he would like to see some one fix it up one day. A few Years later in I got up the nerve to ask him if I could buy it and he told me that he was not quite ready to sell that truck and it would be a lot of work to get the drill out from under it but next time I came down we would talk about it. The next year was tough Granddaddy was in bad health. I had talked to my wife's grandmother about the truck before and that I would love to restore it. She told me that he was not ready to part with things quite yet but she would remember me when that time came. In April of  2014 Granddaddy passed away. After the funeral my wife's grandmother(Grandmama) called me to see if I was still wanted the truck." Absolutely" I said. So on June 1st of 2014 my father and me headed to New Mexico with a trailer! I wish I  could have talked to Granddaddy more the man was a wealth of knowledge and history he grew up in the great depression where you did not get rid of any thing you couldn't use for something and life was as Chris LeDoux said Simple as Dirt! That is all this man did for his whole life was farm and I want to honor this man, this time, this way of life.