1970 1200 Pickup Build-Resto-Mod

[MrCypress]

Long time listener, first time calling in...
My very good buddy Randy bought his first IH when we were in high school right we started driving. I think it was a 3/4 ton '68 pickup. I had a hand-me-down '75 Plymouth Valiant with a 225cuin slant six that we worked on a little. That was the first in a long line of International project trucks for him but I'm just now getting to my first. My son Matt is getting close to driving age and we've been talking about fixing up an old pickup for some time. Eventually he'd drive it to get around.
I found our project truck. I'm towing it back home this weekend. From what I know it is a 1970, 1200, 4x2 and has a 345. Looks like an automatic and may even have AC. Owner tells me the brakes are a problem and it was last running 3 years ago when his father stopped driving it due to the brakes. It's sat since then under cover near the barn in Kansas. Has 55kmi on it which is a lot less than my '07 Dodge 1500. I only have a few pictures and bits of information. Long term goal is to get this truck running well, reliable, safe and eventually looking nice.

My plan is to get it home, do a nice tune up and inspection. Replace most fluids, hoses, ignition wires, etc. I'll pre-oil it and try to get her running again. After that we'll see what the issue with the brakes are and sort that out.
Question #1 - Owner recently told he he misplaced the ignition key. I already knew I'd be pulling/pushing it onto a trailer but now it's in park. Do I have to take the steering column apart or hotwire the thing to get it into neutral? I guess the switch is in the dash actually. I don't live nearby the thing so I want to be prepared with tools/knowledge to get it home several hours away. Please advise.

Question #2 - I have a good idea of how to start the project. I've got a line setting ticket coming, I know the manuals I want to buy. Things like "pre-oil" are unique. What other key pieces of info should I be aware of up front? Thanks.

 

[Jeff Jamison]

That year does not have locking steering,or shifter.Can just put it in neutral and steer it.

 

[MrCypress]

That would be great news. Thanks.

 

[MrCypress]

Question 3 - In terms of "resto-mod" what would you say are the higher priority things that ought to upgrade on this year and model? This is versus just getting cleaned up and put back on.

 

[Bo185]

What do you want mod wise? 4x4? Motor swap?

The biggest issue is brakes. Some of the parts are hard to find and expensive. Might be easier to get disc swapping to 4x4 for example. Although I guess someone makes disc kits for the I beam fronts now?

I would get it running and check condition of motor. Then I would do brakes. Once its running and driving then fix the spring bushings and steering parts etc as needed. Do shocks etc. Also I would look at doing TBI fuel injection. And if its going to be a daily driver I would look at a trans swap to say a 700R4. The adapter is expensive but the OD will make it way more fun to drive on hwy and freeways.

 

[MrCypress]

I don't have enough money to make it a complete restoration, or to soup it up into a mega mudder. When I say mod I was thinking some of the simple upgrades to make the thing more reliable. Brakes, ignition system, suspension. I have thought about a small lift for appearance sake.
I want to get the thing running well first. Then consider some more interesting mods like motors and drive train upgrades.

 

[Bo185]

I don't have enough money to make it a complete restoration, or to soup it up into a mega mudder. When I say mod I was thinking some of the simple upgrades to make the thing more reliable. Brakes, ignition system, suspension. I have thought about a small lift for appearance sake.
I want to get the thing running well first. Then consider some more interesting mods like motors and drive train upgrades.

If you need brakes and want 4x4 at some point. I would find a disc brake 8 lug GM axle and swap it in. Either the 8lug 10 bolt or Dana 44. It will bolt in and you will gain disc brakes easily that are CHEAP to fix and get at any parts house instock.
Then worry about adding the transfercase and such later. This way you can drive it.

Other than that standard tune up and clean.

 

[MrCypress]

Got here yesterday and this truck looks to be in very good shape. Been sitting 4 years due to bad brakes I'm told. Looks like it had been tuned up recently, new air filter, wires, radiator is full, oil on dip stick looks new, power steering is full. Today I'm going to clean it up and try to drain out the gas, and put on the trailer.

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[DT466]

Congratulations on your new purchase! Your truck is in really nice shape.

Dean

 

[Bo185]

Looks like it lacks power brakes. Easy to run a hydroboost setup on it using junkyard parts.

 

[MrCypress]

It does not have power breaks. You're right. I'll put that on my list.


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[Dave Nuenke]

I would recommend getting it into your shop, on jack stands and take the front brakes apart and see what the situation is. As long as the drums are ok, the rest of the parts aren't that bad. Wheel cylinders can be rebuilt, and if necessary shoes can be relined. I haven't done much with the 2wds so 8 can't tell you much about shoe availability, but take some time with a pats book and you might be surprised. As for the back, parts for those are no problem, it all crosses with Ford stuff, even the drums. The only issue on the drums is that you might have to enlarge the center hole slightly. I had to but I know others who did not, I think it has to do with the make of the drum. Your hugs are centered and retained by the lugs on a D60, so if you are careful you could probably do the enlargement with a die grinder. I used a lathe because I had one available, a machine shop should also be able to do the work for you for very little.

Dave

 

[MrCypress]

Today son and I pulled the spark plugs and added a few Ounces of Marvel Mystery Oil to each cylinder. All the plugs looks nice.

I also drilled two small holes in the bed in the front two corners to allow it to drain better. They're probably too small at 5/16 but it's a start. Was full of muck and slowly evaporating old water.

Going to rig up that pre-oil setup and get ready for that. Also want to drain the fuel tank and lines and get some fresh gas in there.

Do the window roll down all the way? Or do I have a jam in there. It's a little tough so we'll open up for door panel to check it anyway.

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[MrCypress]

We got into the door today and lubed up the window mechanism. Also got into the distributor which looked fine. The manual choke cable is jammed so I'm going to take that apart soon and see what's up with that.

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[Randall Barringer]

Yes, the windows should roll down all the way.

 

[MrCypress]

We got it to work. Broke some of the edges of the clip-in liner. Decided to bring that home so we could peel off the vinyl and cut a new core for it. Where's a good place to get a suitable replacement for it? It's something between cardboard and thin thin plywood.

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[kevingweq]

This outfit has waterproof board ,http://www.perfectfit.com/15347/154532/Chipboard-Car-Panelboard/Kraft-Tan-Waterproof-Panelboard.html

 

[Gary Billings]

We got it to work. Broke some of the edges of the clip-in liner. Decided to bring that home so we could peel off the vinyl and cut a new core for it. Where's a good place to get a suitable replacement for it? It's something between cardboard and thin thin plywood.

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Hobby Lobby sells that material. I used it when I redid the door panels in my Red Carpet Special and it worked great.

-Gary

 

[MrCypress]

Hey guys we did the oiling procedure and the engine turns over nicely and is oiled. We put in fresh oil 10w30 and a filter and added eight new spark plugs gapped to .035.

Fixed the choke cable with penetrating oil. Thanks for that easy fix.

Siphoned out the remaining gas in the tank and added 4gallons. Treated with an ethanol treatment.

While turning over discovered that no fuel is getting to the carburetor. Ran out of time and will have to look at that in a few days. Is it the pump or something else like a blockage?

The 8th spark plug threads are a little wonky and I'm having trouble getting the plug back in. Any easy suggestions before I ruin this head?




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[Randall Barringer]

As an old friend Eric Johnson used to say, "it's all about angle of insertion"
Now wait for some good advice.