It’s January and currently about 44˚, so there isn’t much getting done outside on the trucks in an unheated garage. In the interest of keeping my motivation level up, I suppose I should recap the events of 2023, as they were pretty eventful for the Dugan IH Barn (or whatever I’m calling this assemblage of vehicles).
March 2023
December 2023
So from the top, in rough order:
- Early in the year, I looked at a couple of crusty C-Series pickups, both in New Jersey, and found them both too rusty to bother with. And way too expensive to consider seriously.
- I was then the first person to respond to a Marketplace ad for a crusty red Travelall right across the harbor, and the first to drop cash in the seller’s hand that morning. I had it towed back home and dropped in the driveway.
- After changing the plugs, oiling the cylinders, swapping out the points and condenser and rebuilding the carb, I got it running.
- I used the Vermont title loophole to get it registered in that state and got a set of plates in the mail.
- I pounded out the dent in the rear passenger’s taillight area and filled/sanded the area, as well as the driver’s flank under the Travelall badge.
- I sanded longstanding hail damage out of the roof and raingutters, treated them for rust, and skimmed with body filler. It’s all primed but will need a finish skim before final paint. I also pulled the two front fenders off and began pounding the dents out of each; they are both still a work in progress.
- I rebuilt the entire brake system, finally tracking down a specialty brake hose, and replaced both the master cylinder and clutch slave cylinder. The truck still isn’t shifting into gear, but it feels like the brakes are working.
- At IH Nationals I found a bunch of C-Series parts specific to the truck and at Super Scout Specialists I found a good pane of rear passenger glass that was exactly what I needed.
- I gutted the interior and got it ready for original bench seats, which were sourced from a Binder Planet member up in Massachussets.
- I drilled out the screws and pulled up the wooden deck in the back half of the truck. I used a needle scaler to knock surface rust off the rear undercarriage, treated it with encapsulator, and painted it with chassis black.
- I pulled out the windshield, drilled out the spot welds on the cowl, and cut out both ruined cowl vents. Then I fabricated new vents and welded new metal in, sealed it up, painted everything, and welded the cowl back into place.
- I bought a new windshield from IHPA and had a guy come to the house to install both that and the rear glass successfully.
- Found a mechanic to take on the terrifying job of replacing the passenger exhaust manifold on the Scout without snapping all the bolts off in the block.
- Painted and installed a new battery tray in the Scout.
- I designed and built a locking steel cabinet to replace the pipe cage IH installed to mount the rear seat to.
- Got the truck titled and registered legally in Maryland, with vintage plates.
Wow, writing it all out like that really helps put things into perspective.