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.

Geared up!

So one of my biggest worries is over. The distributor is driven off of the back of the generator. So there is a small gear in the generator that turns the distributor. With out this gear the distributor will not turn, so the truck cant run. That is a lot of relying on one little gear. My original New Mexico truck had 62,xxx miles on the odometer that was not hooked up for????  So this little gear is a bit worn out. The Texas truck had 26,000 on the odometer that was still connected. And the gear in the back of it was a bit better but still worn. I look for automotive parts all day, that is my job. So I all so have access to some fairly old parts books. And I came up with a complete listing on my generator. Periodically I search for part numbers that I might need down the road. And I punched in the gear again and got a hit! So I was jumping for joy everyone around me looking at me like I have lost my marbles. I retrieved my book made sure the numbers were correct and they were. American Vintage Parts on Ebay had posted the old delco remy part number. I didn't hesitate and got one. I once had contacted a company that would recreate the gear but the cost was more than I wanted to take on. No more wondering if the gear will hold up.

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.