For several months now I have been toying with the idea of getting a shop truck. Not the normal kind of shop truck though: instead of being used at a shop this would be the shop. While casually perusing local (and some not-so-local) classifieds I stumbled on an ad for a 1969 International Loadstar 1700 refrigerated box truck. 22k GVW, 345 V8, 5-speed T36 transmission and an Eaton 2-speed rear axle. The price seemed decent, the ad claimed a good running engine and overall decent mechanical condition with good brakes. I went and looked at the truck and it was as described. The engine fired right up after sitting for months and sounded healthy, tires were old but still had good tread and held air, and the cab wasn't completely rusted out.
A couple of weeks later a friend and I drove the 250 miles back to the truck and I bought it. We hit the road for home as quickly as possible due to the low top speed of the truck. Initially I was pretty concerned as the trip got off to a rather inauspicious start. First the 2-speed rear axle was stuck in low gear and wouldn't shift. I fiddled with the fuse and it started working again. Then leaving the gas station (after putting over 40 gallons in the tank!) the engine died while I was driving and I coasted to the shoulder. I had forgotten to turn on the electric fuel pump (wired to a switch mounted in the engine bay). After stopping to grab a bite to eat the carb repeatedly flooded, culminating in an engine drenched in gasoline and a dead battery. We let it dry out and then jump started the engine.
The next few hours of driving were fairly uneventful, and I began to gain confidence. Top speed seemed to be around 53mph, though the truck felt happier at around 47. Mountain passes (there were four on our route) were managed in 3rd high or 4th low at around 23-25mph. Most of the gauges worked, all the lights were good, I started to get the hang of the unconventional shift pattern.
Then, while pulling a large hill the engine started to intermittently sputter and cough. I barely crested the hill just as it finally cut out completely and coasted down the other side to a chain removal pullout at the bottom. As it turned out the alternator had quit charging some time ago and the battery was completely dead. We were at least an hour from the nearest town and well out of cell range, so while the battery charged up with jumper cables from my friend's Tundra we launched into diagnostic mode. After some digging around I found the field coil wire on the alternator was very loose and the pins extremely grimy. I cleaned the contacts as best I could with limited tools and fired up the engine. To my relief the ammeter promptly jumped up to around +30 amps. Once back on the road the truck ran much better than it had been; spark had likely been weak for a while.
We finally rolled into town at about 10pm without further incident, very relieved to be off the road after a long day. Fuel consumption averaged around 4.3mpg for the trip; average speed was about 38mph.
The plan for this truck is to turn it into a small, semi-mobile workshop and tool storage unit. This will be a very budget oriented build, with most components coming used from Craigslist or Marketplace. I have located a large RV style generator to provide power to run lights, some power tools, my welder and eventually a small AC unit since the original refrigeration unit has long since been removed. A couple of basic work benches with some shelving for storage will complete the interior build. The truck has the remnants of a lift gate on the back; the pump, ram and driven arm are still present, but it needs a platform and the other arms. The lift gate is still in production, so I hope to be able to find used parts to put it back together.
Overall the truck is in pretty good shape and only needs minor work. The carburetor will get rebuilt to help it stop flooding and leaking fuel everywhere, and the fuel pump will get wired into the ignition. The parking brake needs adjustment, and now there is an electrical short somewhere that blows the fuse for the 2-speed axle every time it is shifted into low gear. I will probably replace the windshield gasket as well, since the rubber has shrunk and split in old age, leaving several large gaps of almost an inch.
A couple of weeks later a friend and I drove the 250 miles back to the truck and I bought it. We hit the road for home as quickly as possible due to the low top speed of the truck. Initially I was pretty concerned as the trip got off to a rather inauspicious start. First the 2-speed rear axle was stuck in low gear and wouldn't shift. I fiddled with the fuse and it started working again. Then leaving the gas station (after putting over 40 gallons in the tank!) the engine died while I was driving and I coasted to the shoulder. I had forgotten to turn on the electric fuel pump (wired to a switch mounted in the engine bay). After stopping to grab a bite to eat the carb repeatedly flooded, culminating in an engine drenched in gasoline and a dead battery. We let it dry out and then jump started the engine.
The next few hours of driving were fairly uneventful, and I began to gain confidence. Top speed seemed to be around 53mph, though the truck felt happier at around 47. Mountain passes (there were four on our route) were managed in 3rd high or 4th low at around 23-25mph. Most of the gauges worked, all the lights were good, I started to get the hang of the unconventional shift pattern.
Then, while pulling a large hill the engine started to intermittently sputter and cough. I barely crested the hill just as it finally cut out completely and coasted down the other side to a chain removal pullout at the bottom. As it turned out the alternator had quit charging some time ago and the battery was completely dead. We were at least an hour from the nearest town and well out of cell range, so while the battery charged up with jumper cables from my friend's Tundra we launched into diagnostic mode. After some digging around I found the field coil wire on the alternator was very loose and the pins extremely grimy. I cleaned the contacts as best I could with limited tools and fired up the engine. To my relief the ammeter promptly jumped up to around +30 amps. Once back on the road the truck ran much better than it had been; spark had likely been weak for a while.
We finally rolled into town at about 10pm without further incident, very relieved to be off the road after a long day. Fuel consumption averaged around 4.3mpg for the trip; average speed was about 38mph.
The plan for this truck is to turn it into a small, semi-mobile workshop and tool storage unit. This will be a very budget oriented build, with most components coming used from Craigslist or Marketplace. I have located a large RV style generator to provide power to run lights, some power tools, my welder and eventually a small AC unit since the original refrigeration unit has long since been removed. A couple of basic work benches with some shelving for storage will complete the interior build. The truck has the remnants of a lift gate on the back; the pump, ram and driven arm are still present, but it needs a platform and the other arms. The lift gate is still in production, so I hope to be able to find used parts to put it back together.
Overall the truck is in pretty good shape and only needs minor work. The carburetor will get rebuilt to help it stop flooding and leaking fuel everywhere, and the fuel pump will get wired into the ignition. The parking brake needs adjustment, and now there is an electrical short somewhere that blows the fuse for the 2-speed axle every time it is shifted into low gear. I will probably replace the windshield gasket as well, since the rubber has shrunk and split in old age, leaving several large gaps of almost an inch.
