IH Parts Americas 1-Ton Travelall

So the story goes......I've had this 1970 1200d 4x4 Travelall for about 8 years or more sitting out in a field at my parents house. I got it on a trade from Chad for a Scout II that I had at the time. I've always wanted to build this Travelall up with some one ton axles and finally the time had come. We had some suspension parts that were needing to be tried out so I finally had a good enough reason to pull the rig out of the field and get it cleaned up.

I needed it to be ready in time for the annual Binder Bee meet in the first week of July in brooks, oregon. Being the first of May I figured I had plenty of time to pull this off. After all I had been hoarding some parts for it for a few years now(nv4500 trans, mated NP205 transfer case, a Dana 60 front axle and GM 14bolt for the rear) so I didn't have to worry about chasing the main components down and the 392 ran really good especially for something that has just sat dormant for so long.



Aside from some surface rust the Travelall was otherwise 99% rust free. Even the original paint with some polishing had some luster left in it.



For some odd reason the Travelall was outfitted with a pickup rear bumper which looked hideous.



The spare tire was mounted under the rear of the vehicle which was odd as most Travelall's had their spares inside the passenger rear cargo area.



The exhaust was swiss cheese. Air shocks and a factory swaybar complimented the rear suspension.



The interior was in need of being freshened up. The carpet was showing its age and the original front buckets were replaced with some more modern seats.



The dash still looked real good. The royal blue interior was definitely a fancy upgrade for the 1970 Travelall.



The original headliner was badly sagging but still intact.



The back seat was decent. Just some misc junk to remove.



The engine compartment was still mostly original with just some cob webs to clean up.



The original hood insulation was still all there which really helps with noise control.



With the cob webs were some mud dauber nests that needed to be removed.

After a thorough pressure washing of the Travelall's under carriage and engine compartment the aftermarket front seats were removed.



The back seat was removed as well in preparation for removal of the carpeting.



The rear cargo area still had the original rear rubber mat.



Remarkably the mat was still in real good condition.



What I love about our west coast rigs is the lack of rust and good clean floors. This one was no different.



Just some mild surface rust was found on both left and right side of the front floor area.





A mount for the aftermarket seat was welded to the floor which I removed.



The factory front seat mounts were reinstalled.



As well as the original front seats so that the Travelall could still be driven in and out of the shop.

Under the rear floormat the surface rust was a little worse.



With the worst rust spot being found near the rear of the cargo floor.



After a thorough washing and rust preventative treatment applied the rear floor was good to go(for now).



The Travelall was brought into the shop so that the harder work could begin. I had already prepared a GM 14bolt differential with new 4.56 gears, an eaton posi and all new brakes. If you're curious why I went with a GM axle instead of keeping the original Dana 60 or going with a Dana 70(which I also had) was due to parts availability. Lets face it but GM brake and axle parts are much more common(and cheaper).



With the rear tires removed we could take a better look at things.





Starting with penetrating oil every nut and bolt was soaked down.



The rear suspension was typical for this type of rig. Heavy leafsprings, swaybar all on factory lift blocks.



The Travelall had the usual divorced new process transfer case that was in dire need of being re-freshened.



A t98 four speed looked the same as the transfer case.



The original front Dana 44 axle had the factory optioned tierod skid plate.

First to go was that hideous truck bumper. It was a lot of torching and grinding but once off I was glad it was done.



Before the tear down of the rear axle and suspension I noted down some measurements so that I could get a jump on setting up the pinion angle on the new 14bolt.



The rear axle was removed next. Our welding table with wheels made the job a lot easier.



Next up was removal of the leaf springs.



A hole was needed to be drilled in order to have a way to fully remove the rear shackle bolt.



With the springs out the new springs could be compared along side the old.





Since most everything at this point had been removed I thought I would take the time to put a fresh coat of paint on the frame and undercoat the entire underside of the body.





The new springs were hung.



And with that the new GM axle could be brought in and installed.

I did a quick check on how much lift the rear of the Travelall got with the new rear springs.



Back up in the air it was time to install some shock mounts. Since the stock style ubolts and plates were replaced with CPT that also meant the shocks mounts would need to be added.





I forget what that shock mount is from but we happened to have it and it fit nicely inside the frame rail.



As usual Bilstein 5150 shocks were installed as well as a set of CPT bumpstops.





The CPT bumpstops were an easy install. One hole drilled in each stock steel bumpstop and they bolted right in with a set of our bolt on mounting plates.



Last a CPT swaybar kit was installed.





Like the bumpstops only a couple holes were needed to be drilled and some tabs welded onto the Ubolt plates for the swaybar to be installed.

One thing that I didn't want to deal with on this Travelall was the duel fuel tanks with each one needing to be filled on either side. Lets face it when you're in a crowded gas station and you're towing a trailer and you have to pull forward turn around and start the fueling process all over again its no easy feat. So both stock fuel tanks were removed for in favor of one huge tank mounted in the rear of the Travelall. For years I had been saving this supposed blazer military fuel tank which I believe was around 40 plus gallons. A simple strap and I was able to mock it up under the Travelall to take a look and see how it was going to fit.



Surprisingly with just a few modifications mounting the tank wasn't going to be that hard. First I welded on a mount to the front of the tank.





The way the tank had this extra upper support fit right up under the body made things simpler than I thought they would be.



I left the tank at that for now as I needed to order in a hitch and install it before finishing up the back side of the tank.



I had the whole front Dana 60 axle torn down before I realized that I didn't take any pictures of it. All parts were thoroughly cleaned and painted before being reinstalled.



Being a east coast axle it was pretty rusty and took a lot of work to make it look this good.





All assembled it was real nice having a solid and sturdy Dana 60 front axle underneath the Travelall with huge modern disc brakes.

With the Travelall turn around and back on the lift it was time to tackle the front axle and suspension.



It didn't take long to have the front axle assembly removed.





With the old springs out and set next to the new springs you can see how much more arch the new springs have plus how they are much longer.



The rivets that hold in the shackle hangers were ground down and removed so that they could be repositioned farther back on the frame.



The front spring hanger was modified as well.



New spring hangers were fabricated that were designed to be bolted in place of where the original ones were.



And bolted into place.



The shackle hangers were cleaned up and new busings installed.



With the shackle hangers bolted in the new CPT shackles and springs were installed.





With the leafsprings installed we were ready to install the front axle.

CPT heavy duty 5/8" ubolts were installed along with some of our heavy duty Ubolt plates.





An off-the-shelf drop draglink was modified and installed along with some custom made brake lines, CPT bumpstops and Bilstein shocks.



I wanted a good all terrain tire with good street manners yet could hold their own offroad so I went with a set of near 35" tall goodyear duratracs on 17" steel wheels.



Back on the ground I could finally see what the Travelall was going to look like with its new lift and tires.





With the suspension and axles dealt with the next chore was the transmission and transfer case. As with the axles it was out with the old and in with the new.





With the clutch replaced and new rear engine mounts installed the nv4500 was slid into place. Like others I too was on a budget with this project and opted for going with a used transmission which I now wish I had paid the extra expense for a rebuilt one instead.



Instead of going with an IH divorced transfer case I opted to go with a mated transfer case. The particular transmission that I was using came out of a dodge 4x4 diesel pickup and was only used for a couple of years with the NP205 transfer case.



Since I had the transmission/transfer case combo for some time I forgot I had loaned out the adapter part of it. So while waiting to get it back I moved onto some other taks.

Another one of our CPT swaybars was installed in the front.



Hardest part on the install was welding on a pair of tabs for the links to mount to.



As well as a set of stan's headers.



The trailer hitch came in so that got promptly installed.



With the hitch installed the fuel tank modifications were completed. The rear most section of the tank had to be cut off as it was interfering with the hitch. Mounts were welded to each side of the tank and a simple filler neck was installed.



With it freshly coated inside and out fuel lines and such were installed in preparation for its install.



Next up was building the exhaust system.



Flex connectors were used on each side.



To a x-pipe.





And then ran out back to a pair of dynomax mufflers.



With the exhaust built it was removed for welding.



All the exhaust pieces welded up and ready for install.

The NP205 transfer case was torn down for inspection.





Everything on it looked amazingly well so it was cleaned up and reassembled with new gaskets and seals.





Next the transfer case was installed.



For those that May replicate this set up an ear on the top of the transfer case does hit the floor board and will need to be trimmed for proper clearance.



Since there was no way that I was going to hang that much weight off of the bell housing an additional transmission crossmember was fabricated.







For its basic design it works really well and is plenty strong enough.



I ended up going with this oem rubber transmission mount.



I had to build an adaper so to speak between the mount and tail housing of the transmission.



The crossmember was sleeved for easy access to the lower transmission mount studs.



The frame rail was drilled next.

The existing transfer case shifter was slightly modified and used for shifting of the newer mated NP205 transfer case.



Some of our swaybar link parts was used and put together instead of using a piece of round rod like what the factory used.



A custom fuel tank filler was put together and installed along with a charcoal canister and fuel vapor recovery chamber.





Finally after roughly 6 weeks of off and on wrenching the Travelall was ready to be pulled out of the shop for its first test drive.





With little time to celebrate I needed to get the interior dialed in so it was pulled back into the shop.







The entire interior floor was sanded.

With the remainder of the interior taped off primer was applied to all floor surfaces.





In preparation of the liner to be sprayed next all threaded holes were plugged.





Lately we have been using for spray liners a water soluble product called lizard skin. Lizard skin comes in two formulas, one for heat control and the other for noise control. We like to apply both for the utmost in noise and heat control.



For jobs like this we always call in our spray master michael.











Once applied and dry the lizard skin is mostly smooth to the touch.

For the next line of defense against heat and noise several box's of hushmat were purchased.



Hushmat is a foil backed rubber insulator that comes in smaller rectangular sheets and is applied one sheet at a time.







It took some time but getting every square inch covered was well worth it.







And for yet another line of defense against heat a layer of thermoguard was laid down the center of the Travelall's passenger area so that heat from the exhaust or engine would not soak thru on those long road trips.

Next up was the installation of the carpet kit.



The original shifter boot and door sill plates were reinstalled.





I was pretty happy with how well the aftermarket carpet kit formed to the floor.



The carpet kit also came with small pieces for the kick panel area.



I didn't like how the carpet came to an open end at the back cargo area so I used a rear mat sill plate from a Scout II to cover it up.



Since the rear rubber mat was still in good condition it was cleaned up and reused.





With the carpet done the seats were reinstalled.



With the transmission shifter and boot done and fire extinguisher in place the last few interior items were nearly complete.







All the door panels were removed and all window regulator and door latch's were lubed before being put back together.

I had the Travelall back on the lift and while there I thought I would snap a few more pictures of the completed under-carriage.







The reason I had the Travelall back on the lift was for a caster change. After a few miles of driving I could tell that the caster was too far on the positive side so the front Dana 60 was unbolted and a shim change was made.



Since I planned on using the Travelall for traveling to shows loaded with parts and/or towing a trailer I wanted to be able to have the extra load capacity so a firestone air bag helper spring kit was purchased.



The kit consists of a pair of mounting brackets, air bags and some tubing for inflating the bags.



A few hours later I had the kit all installed.



Ideally the bag should have been mounted directly center over the rear axle but with so much going on between the swaybar and bumpstop I had to mount the bags where you see them.





Because of the lift I had to flip the upper frame brackets upside down. This caused the bags to rub the bracket so some trimming was required to make it all work.



One thing I wanted was the ability to alter the pressure in the bags on the fly so an onboard air compressor pacifically for these bags was installed.



The compressor was installed in the left rear quarter panel area left vacant by the fuel tank that was once there.





A gauge and control panel was installed in a convenient location that was easily accessible.

Being end of June and just a couple weeks away from the Binder Bee I was down to some of the smaller tasks. A fuel pressure regulator was installed as well as a firewall vent for both the transmission and transfer case.



I wanted to make sure that the charging system was going to be more than I need so a mr. Amp alternator from our friends at performance distributors was installed. Although not a direct bolt in the time needed to modify the case for install was well worth it.



I also got some rare and hard to find parts from my brother Isa. With these last couple parts I could fix the rear tailgate and mount my visors.



Along with the beefier alternator a 2nd battery was installed for all the accessories.



And with the 2nd battery an isolator was installed along with a remote solenoid for the starter.





With the removal of the old hideous truck bumper I spent a few hours and put together this simple 2"x6" bumper.



After getting it back from being powdercoated it was installed.



Well nothing is ever easy. After putting a 60 mile round trip on the Travelall it was becoming evident that the engine wasn't in as good a shape as I thought. Although it ran well enough I could not keep the engine from blowing oil out the dipstick tube and no way was I going to drive to oregon while putting a fresh coat of oil on my fresh drivetrain and undercarriage. I had run into this type of problem before and after making sure the pcv system was functioning properly I threw in the towel and called in and ordered up a fresh 392. I knew it had to be done eventually but with two weeks to go before loading the family up and heading north the timing was cutting it close.



After a few hours I had the engine out and on the shop floor.



Yup! Looks like your typical 40 plus year old IH engine with 100k miles.

Since the engine was out and I had a few days to wait before the new 392 would be here I went ahead and took the time to detail the engine compartment.









After getting the engine compartment washed it was ready to be taped off and painted.









And after a fresh coat of paint. Looks much better now!







While I had easy access I went ahead and swapped out the old worn out steering joint and shaft for a borgeson style setup. These same borgeson parts ares available on our online store as a kit.

I also went ahead and installed an original am radio and uncut cover plate as I wanted to keep the dash looking as original as possible. I also tossed in a carpet dash mat to keep the dash pad protected in our California sun.



Still waiting on the new engine so I got a bunch of the engine parts ready.







What seemed like an eternity some 6 days after I had placed my order my new 392 showed up. Got to give props to my engine company who promptly got a core rebuilt and shipped to me(2 states away) in record time.



I immediately tore into the wrapping and got to work.







Working well into the evening I got the engine ready for install. At this point the engine had been in my possession for about 6 hours.



The next morning the engine was put on the hoist and the last few parts bolted on.

Chad stopped by to give me a hand in setting in the new 392.



And after a short while the 392 was in.



With no time to spare I literally jumped in getting everything installed and hooked up. It was now Wednesday, July 4th and I was leaving in 6 days.











By the afternoon the Travelall was running and camshaft broken in. After a nice break in run around the block(my around the block is about a 12 mile trip)yet another problem reared its head.



The original york a/c compressor blew up!



There was no way that I was going to pack my family in this Travelall in the middle of July without a/c so myself and Darren tore into the hvac system to see what we could do.





The original evaporator was in real good shape so it was flushed out and a new expansion valve was installed.



While I worked under the dash and on the evaporator box Darren got to work on fabricating mounts for the new modern condenser and receiver/drier. Fortunately we had just about every part we needed in stock to make the conversion work with the exception of a couple connectors.



After picking up those last couple of connectors that we needed from a local supplier Darren cut and crimped all new hoses and installed in a new modern a/c compressor using one of our CPT conversion brackets.

With the a/c all buttoned up and blowing cold it was time to deal with one last thing.



It was now July 7th and I could see the home stretch. The Travelall was still looking old and grimey as it hadn't been washed in years. There was no way that I was going to roll into oregon looking ragged so a thorough detail job was in order.



All the emblems and lights were removed with the exception of the side trim. Without knowing if the clips would break if I removed them(and not having any extra clips) I left the trim on for now.



Anytime I need one of my IH's cleaned up I always call in my good buddy Mike.



Mike put in some hard hours that day getting the Travelall all polished up.





Even my son zaed jumped in to help.







With a fresh coat of wax the rusty patina of the hood was looking good as can be expected.



I'm sure it had been many moons since this Travelall shined so bright.



With the removal of the passenger side tank it left a void where the fuel filler neck once was. A base cap off of an old IH air horn worked like a charm.



Working once again late into the evening the Travelall was ready for its next test before taking the journey up north.