1951 International Harvester 5.7 Hemi powered - A Retrospective

Actually I like the look of the shiny headlights and mirrors, it contrasts well with the rest. I'd be inclined to leave them alone. 
Awesome project!

In reply to Chappers :

Wow, amazing work.  More please as you have time, that’s a cool looking truck. 

Mind bending linkages and a quest for refinement

So a couple weeks have passed and I've got to say I'm thoroughly enjoying the truck! 
I've been lucky with the weather though, only had one wet day which made the drive home...interesting.
I'd sealed the cracked window seals with some black Permatex silicone and coated the windshield with rainX. But it wasn't that good at clearing the windshield in the rain. 
I decided that I'd need to tackle be wipers.....

I'd already removed the vacuum wiper motor and mechanism, I wanted to use the Durango motor and keep the variable speed/intermittent wipe function. 
However the mechanism is a huge aluminum cast thing and I can't modify it easily. 
So I took a trip to the local junkyard and picked up a dodge Dakota mechanism which is a far simpler steel tubular linkage.

Here they are together for comparison

Here's the way the Durango motor is bolted on

here's how the Dakota motor is

I'd love if the Dakota motor just plugged straight in, but it wasn't to be. 

So I grafted the Durango motor to the Dakota linkage, shortened it and shortened the linkage too to match holes in the International cowl.

You'll also noticed I reversed one side so one would rotate CCW and the other CW. I wanted the old look of the wipers moving in symmetry. 

However I then spent another 2 nights hiding under the cowl laying out on the seats with something pointy on the center console prodding my lower back trying to mount the bloody thing! 
I thought I'd got it, tried it and it moved about a quarter turn and jammed up. 
Turns out the cowl was in the way of the mechanism.

So dropped it down again, removed the mounts I just made. Reevaluated things and came up with this monstrosity!

In effect moved the mechanism down away from the cowl and still allowed the spindles to fit through the holes in the cowl. 
However I couldn't keep the reversed linkage as before, as it was fouling the cowl too.
I'll live with the arms going in the same direction. 

My second iteration of mounting it went better and now I have an operational wiper motor in this old truck

I just have to find some suitable wiper arms, shorten them and I'll get an update video of them working.

In reply to eastpark :

Spoiler - I dont own the truck anymore 

another spoiler - I never did dull the mirrors 

Here's a short video update of the wipers working. 
Cheers
https://youtu.be/C0e34xj3oUg

Don't think I'll give up the day job and pursue a career in TV.
But this gives you the idea...
https://youtu.be/xDmMKYik_0M

I'll get some drive by video when I have the time this weekend.

I weighed the truck at the local recycling place the other day. 

4640lbs with me in it and bed empty. I'm 175lbs. So 4465lbs.

Durango was a rather hefty 5117lbs 

So a saving of 652lbs! 

Yesterday I was sat at the lights next to someone in a modern ram truck with a hemi, when we set off he gunned it (not sure why?) so I floored it too and I just shot past! 
I must have surprised him, an old truck just kicked his hemi truck butt, LOL

Anyway...when I'm not street racing like a teenager I've been frustrated with how slow it is to fill with fuel. 
I removed one of the wood boards in the bed and plumbed the fuel neck straight up, so it has a straight shot into the tank. And....its Just as bad.

I saw there's a check Valve just inside the full neck inside the tank, a roll over valve for safety. 
A Google search turned up lots of problems with 2005 Dodge Durangos with fuel filling problems, constantly clicking gas pumps, and fuel spitting back up?! 
These are with the stock fuel full neck set up. The root cause it turns out is that check valve. 
The only "fix" according to them and a Technical service bulletin from Chrysler is to replace the whole tank! 
Erm I'm not doing that in a hurry. 

What I'm thinking is my check valve is stuck 1/2 open. I don't think they are very well lubricated and the harsh environment it lives in with fuel washing over it probably dries out the mechanism. I'm going to try working it with something long and some wd40 and see if I can get it to operate properly.

I'm really enjoying this.

Now GRM readers that last post was December 2016. 
I ran the truck over the winter and it was awesome, snow, ice, cold, whatever! 
heated seats and a HVAC designed for a SUV in that little cab meant within minutes I was toasted! 
 

I took my son for plenty of rides and he loved it. 
Once we went to Menards for something and it was freezing, we parked up and an old feller came over and was about to ask if we were freezing our butts off in there as he remembered back in the day driving an old IH and the heater was crappy etc etc

I told him my heated seat was working fine and I set the HVAC to 72F when I left the house. Haha his face was a look of utter confusion! 
 

I did a few other upgrades when the weather turned nicer in spring 2017. 
fuel filler was moved to under the bed and I made a little flap out of some sheet metal I'd chopped out of the harvester cab. 

Made some door cards from those fake wood panels you can line your basement walls in.

Then in April 2017 I had a bit of a disaster...

The truck's stance looks really good from here based on that short back & forth garage shot. 

The use of paneling for a door card is smart, not sure if I've seen that before, but seems like a decent material for the job.  This really is impressive.

I'd been asked by a very good friend of mine for a favor, he'd been my best man at my wedding, and now I was going to do the same at his, in June 2017. 

We'd passed our driving test around the same time and both our first cars were classic minis, we broke down, wrenched on them, customized, drove to shows, drank in the pub together and talked cars until the cows came home. 

We shared a similar (presumed unattainable) dream of someday having a V8 hotrod and driving around America. Such a pipe dream for a couple of broke teenage lads from North England. 

So fast forward 15 years, I'm honored to be asked to be his best man. His wish for a bachelor party is a quiet drink in the pub. I remind him that our shared dream was driving something v8 and classic across America, and guess what, that's exactly what I've built and where I'm currently at - I'm just missing the other guy! 

There's a yearly event, The Hot Rod Power Tour thats one big traveling week long car show of cool cars and people. We could do that before your wedding then we both go back to the UK and get you to the wedding! 

Problem is he's planned a big do, and had no money left for a plane ticket and expenses, ah well I said, here's what we do, I pay for your plane ticket and everything for the week and I'll sell the truck to pay for it afterward.

id had fun building the truck and was ready to move on to something else anyway. 

So airline tickets booked, Power tour tickets paid for, he's due to arrive early June. 

Then March 23rd I'm driving to work and my check engine light comes on while on the interstate, then it's flashing at me, then it misfires while I'm slowing down on the off ramp. Nothing too serious I thought, maybe just an ignition coil crapped out again. 
I pulled the codes, misfire cylinder #3, so I change that coil, it still has a misfire, and while driving around the block the oil filler cap blows off the valve cover! 

OK not good. 

i borrow a borescope and peek inside cylinder 3.  Bit of a problem. 

now this being a 4wd, the oil pan can't be dropped at all with the engine installed. 

So engine pulled I was able to asses the damage. 

feck. 


 
 

Waiting for the next chapter in this one.  Its been a good read thus far, thanks for sharing it.