M-2-4 2574 Restoration

[McIntire]

Today is the official start of my restoration of M-2-4 2574. It's taken me six months to get settled in and ready to start this restoration. Today I pulled the incorrect BD240 and cab from the frame. I plan to pull the bed after I fill in some old drilled holes. Hopefully I can get these pictures to download to show what it looks like today.

[Stan Lazeski]

Looking good! I cannot wait to start my thread, hopefully in just a few weeks. I will be putting my truck in the shop and starting my restoration. I will be following your post closely, and will probably have a lot of questions. Stan

[McIntire]

I pulled the bed today will have pictures tomorrow. I plan to have the frame apart and sand blasted this weekend.

[McIntire]

I did some more parts removal yesterday. Here is the frame as it looks today. Has anyone ever seen frame plates like these added to thier truck? I plan to remove the rear step, transfer case and any other little thing attached to the frame today. I plan to have the frame sand blasted and on jack stands in my garage by next weekend.

[Dave Ball]

Hi Scott...

I have seen this done by Bubba on a truck that had a midship winch added for a boom.
The M-2-4 tends to snap the frame right behind the cab if treated poorly.
The M5 does the same thing at the front transfercase crossmember and is usually got that type of plate from the factory if its s dump or LWB truck My M5 has the double frame from the factory. You can usually tell this by rivets holding parts on not bolts or weld.
Your making progress looks great.
I have a suggestion for what its worth...
Start another thread that shows your progress and your notes that pertain to your resto and let everyone know that if they want to ask questions or if you have questions to do so on this thread.
That way you have an uninterupted record of your work for you and everyone else to enjoy once its done.
Otherwise it can become a rambling mess with everyone jumping in and hijacking your thread. Maybe one of the moderators can lock your thread so only you can input into it.
Any Moderators have there ears on!!! Thoughts.
Just a thought.

[McIntire]

You know I really like that Idea. That's why I started this one on the first day of restoration and abandoned my other threads. It drives me crazy looking through all the pages to find the one post with the one picture I'm looking for. I want to post as many before and after pictures as possible. I was pretty sure the frame rail plates where Bubba products Inc. I'll be taking them off tomorrow and will post new pictures. We had bad weather here today so I just did a little sand blasting in the cabinet. Here is my rear license plate holder before and after.

[McIntire]

Pretty good day today. I finished stripping down the frame. Bad news is I have a little more work than I planned on. The front spring mounts are pretty messed. The camera had a hard time focusing. Tomorrow I'll be filling all the drill holes from the side plates that were on the frame and I might even get it sandblasted.

[McIntire]

Is there a source for IHC NOS parts like there are for Jeeps and Dodges? I will need to replace all of my spring shackle pins. I sure would like to get some NOS IHC verses having a machine shop make some. Next will be the wheel cylinders and master cylinder. If none are available out there I'll be going with White Post Restorations for thier wheel cylinder and master cylinder rebuild.

[Stan Lazeski]

A friend of mine just ordered a new master cylinder for his KB from NAPA, it was pricey but they still could get one. I have not compared it side by side for the M2, or checked the part number but it sure looks like they used the same ones. As far as wheel cylinders, I think my friend said his KB used the same wheel cylinders as 40's era Ford trucks, and they could be had from Ford restoration suppliers. Stan

[jzimm]

It never hurts to check with places that were IH dealers back in the 50's and before. On of the local tractor dealers also sold IH trucks up until the 60's. This summer I asked about any NOS truck parts they might still have in the back and I was allowed to look through several shelves of old parts. I found some GD engine parts and maybe a starter that might work for an M2. Bottom line is it never hurts to ask.

One other note......they never put these parts into the computer inventory for some reason, probably because they no longer deal in Navistar/IH.