1968 IH C1300 2wd Restomod/Build

[budget76]

Picked up this 1968 (maybe earlier, but thats the title/vin plate anyway) IH C1300 pickup a couple weeks ago. Had it shipped from the southern border of California. Paid $2300 for the truck with quotes of $1800 to ship. $2900 later and it got to my door.

Knew basically nothing but what the ad showed and that it was parked 2yrs ago when the brother died. Was unclear if the windshield was broken or not, wound up it was. Has brand new tires on it, win there. gambled it was as solid as the pics made it look, and pretty much succeeded. Battery box, a spot up under the cowl by the glovebox, and small spots on the common cowl area behind the hood the size of a dime are all I've found so I'm happy. Anything near me would be a rot box and probably no cheaper.

plans?
-short term - get it running and driving locally. Clean up the interior, paint the underside / seal up surface rust / etc. Make it more comfortable
-long term - crown vic frontend, 6.0 LS from my escalade, leaning towards TKO/TKX trans but MAYBE go 4L80 for simplicity/cost, Ford 8.8 rear, etc. Goal is to drive this 9 months of the year till the salt goes down, comfortably.

more updates and pics later. have made some good progress, but it's going to be a slow one with house projects & a 1-yr-old at home

Going to keep a rough cost list running until it gets painful

• Truck $2300
• Shipping $2900 (quotes were $1800 but NOBODY would commit)
• Misc door parts Binder Planet $60
• Door latch & battery tray Chaz $100
• Seat $40 FB Market
• Windshield Gasket $75 car-part.com
• Windshield $550 installed
• Crown Vic Caliper $35 Advance Auto
• Crown Vic caliper soft line $15 Amazon
• Crown Vic wheel bearing $37 ebay
• Crown Vic to LS motor mounts $250 Outkast Autoworks
• Misc hardware stock up - Rivnuts, stainless machine screws, etc. $50ish Amazon
• AR5 manual Trans: $800 FB marketplace locally
• AR5 to LS adapter plate, braided feed line, -3AN adapter, AR5 slave remote bleeder $520 FABbot
• AR5 to LS clutch Slave & Clutch bolts $85 FABbot/Cyber
• Rustoleum Satin Black 5 Quarts ~$40 Amazon
• Cam/spring/retainer set 11/2023 - $341 Summit
• Delphi LS7 Lifters & trays 11/2023 - $170 LSXceleration
• Full gasket kit & Crank bolt 11/2023 - $200 Autozone
• LUK Clutch, PP, Flywheel, hardware (used, <10k miles) - $80 FB Market
• TTY head bolts, Ford Triangle to 3/4"DD steering shaft adapter, LS cam retainer plate - $65 Ebay
• Aluminum barbell, dipstick hold down, oil galley plug $10.50 Ebay (only used the barbell, dipstick didn't fit and galley plug not needed)
• 30" Stainless tilt steering column $140 Ebay. (same as Jegs, but WAY cheaper. I had both in my hands)
• Harmonic balancer install tool $10 Ebay
• Dorman smooth idler pulley $15 Amazon
• ebay header & y-pipe kit $275 did not fit. have to try to sell
• no-name water pump ebay $67
• Crown vic steering rack line adapter $65 Range Industries (wasted $20 on an ebay version too)
• Fuel tank GM adapter flange $120 Range Industries
• C10 trans crossmember $50 Ebay
• Wilwood clutch master 260-25098 Amazon $63
• 3/16" rubber p-clamps for brake lines qty20 $10 amazon
• Wilwood clutch pedal 340-13834 $75 Amazon + another for brake $100 Amazon
• 2x 25' NiCopp 3/16 brake lines w/ fittings $30 ebay
• Steering column clamps/mounts 2 styles $17+$35 Amazon
• Brake line Tee fitting $8 thestopshop Amazon
• Fluid Film Black 1gal $50
• Carter P76272M fuel pump open box $36 Amazon broken and refunded, $110 off Ebay
• Aftermarket cast exhaust manifolds ~$120 + $30ish shipping fees to return the ones I couldn't use
• various frame patch steel & cab patch steel $50
• Ford 8.8 rear + driveshaft $260
• Flex Fuel Injectors 12613412 & retainers (appear to be OEM overstock clearing) $40 Ebay
• 2x 10ft 3/8" Fuel Injection line, 2x 6AN-push 90* adapters, 84pc fuel injection hose clamp kit, $42 all Amazon
• 3/8 fuel rail to rubber adapters $10 Amazon
• cheap 8.8 LSD unit Ebay $165
• "universal" cable throttle pedal Ebay $30
• Bubble-to-double brake line adapters $10
• AR5 Short Shifter FabBot $200
• -3AN 18" line for clutch feed $12 ebay
• Ford 8.8 rebuild kit KOYO brgs $58 ebay
• Ford 8.8 crush sleeve eliminator $15 ebay
• Ford 8.8 Aluminum fancy rear diff cover $65 Amazon
• 3AN-3AN male adapters for clutch line $12 for 2 only needed 1 Amazon
• generic LS swap throttle cable $20 Amazon
• ForeverSharp Steering Wheel $130
• 6-bolt steering wheel adapter $28 Amazon
  
  
• SOLD: Bendix Hydrovac brake booster, lines, hdw etc. $100+ Binder Planet
• SOLD 11/23: Holley carb & carb kit. $47+ after shipping
• SOLD: 11/23: 266, trans, driveshaft etc. $100+
• SOLD: 6/24: escalade cluster $95+
• SOLD: 6/24: OEM NOS taillights $150-50paid=$100+
• SOLD: 6/24: GMT800 headers and y-pipe that didn't fit $120+

 

[budget76]

alright, some updates

my first look. Truck is non-running and had no brakes. Wife was out so I had the baby in the stroller, was able to lend a hand but not as much as I planned. Driver was a great guy, used the blazer to very carefully back the truck down off the truck. Then we used my Yukon to carefully roll it backwards down my downhill driveway and chocked it halfway down for me to deal with later. Wanted to get him on his way

some misc pics of condition. not perfectly straight but solid. Sand all over, interior gross from rodents taking over when it sat for ~2 years

/attachments/1689731660453-png.719455/?hash=247abcc491edd5a8d1146116184c74c0

 

[budget76]

it got a bunch of power washing, then parked for a week or two.

cowl rust is common these. its there on this one, but not really bad at all. roughly nickel sized on either side and solid metal nearby. Also has rust above the glovebox area on the inner side I'll have to patch, I think that's actually the worst spot on the truck.
"bad" spots

Roof has taken some hits in its life but is solid. only surface rust. rain rails were filled with plumbers putty or some shit like that, I chiseled it all out and all the rails are solid. Need to clean them up a little more then they'll get a good coat of Rustoleum to seal them up

Bed is solid, not a spot of rust

 

[budget76]

now some actual progress. I've worked on a dozen misc Northeast cars, and damn is it nice to NOT be fighting the rust. Man is it actually enjoyable, no wonder you west coast guys have so many cool old projects

passenger door lower hinge failed, common issue on these apparently. Pin sheared off. So I pulled the door, pulled the hinge, drilled it out for a random hardened pin I had kicking around, welded a nut on the pin as a stop, cut it to length, painted, and done. Forgot to snap a pic of the hinge before reinstall. Door is still off for access, hosed out the sand while it's off and easy to move around/drain

tailgate had no straps or cables so it just swung down and hit the hitch. Cobbled together some hardware to make some $14 universal 22" long cables fit. they'll be great, but I will revisit the securing hardware at some point. 22" cables worked great though, 22.5" would have been perfect but I couldn't find those cheap. no more smashing on the hitch at least

i think the tailgate itself is tweaked slightly, latch only hits on one side. the lower bolts are soaking in PB to see if I can adjust the gap out or if I need to figure out how to try to twist the gate itself slightly

 

[budget76]

got a good deal on a Crown Vic frontend locally. $300, with rollers, struts and some other parts look new, 1 new caliper, etc. Seller was awesome, not only did he have it hanging from a hoist ready to drop in the trailer, but he also power washed it before I showed up.

and a slight backtrack to the roof comment. in progress chiseling teh shit out, and after a quick nylon wheel brush in the drill

more to come, time for bed tonight. gas tank comes out next

 

[mjlogan88]

Dig it. 304 I'm assuming? I put a lot of miles on a '69 pickup and '70 travelall. If it has the factory 2 barrel holley keep it and give it a good rebuild, they run great with them. At least until you do your engine swap.

If the framerails are the same width as the D-series Internationals an '80s suburban tank fits nicely between the rails aft of the rear axle.

 

[Grendel]

Hey man, the cowl and rust behind the glove box? One and the same. How's the hood under the hinges?

IH in their infinite wisdom use that all as a channel for HVAC.... and it gets packed with leaves from the cowl vent inlet.

Mine was "rot free" too.

 

[budget76]

Dig it. 304 I'm assuming? I put a lot of miles on a '69 pickup and '70 travelall. If it has the factory 2 barrel holley keep it and give it a good rebuild, they run great with them. At least until you do your engine swap.

If the framerails are the same width as the D-series Internationals an '80s suburban tank fits nicely between the rails aft of the rear axle.

i think its a 266 from reading, have not hunted down the marking to verify. seems to rev quick compared to the 196 and 345's i've had in the past. more on the engine coming later. Good looks on the tank info

Hey man, the cowl and rust behind the glove box? One and the same. How's the hood under the hinges?

IH in their infinite wisdom use that all as a channel for HVAC.... and it gets packed with leaves from the cowl vent inlet.

Mine was "rot free" too.

glovebox area is shot, that seems to be the worst spot. I don't plant to cut away and get to that level you did, so there's going to be a little 'ignorance is bliss' on my side DEFINITELY have to fix the glovebox area tho and get in that cowl to clean it out. Got to get some more pics of that area. Hood hinge area looks solid but I did not pull the hinges off to verify. no signs of rust peeking out, think I might be OK

Hoping Chaz has most of the patch panels I'll need, sounds like he's fabbed up a bunch and kept the templates. and he lives 45 min away, so thats a big win. Already have an order in for the battery tray

 

[Grendel]

i think its a 266 from reading, have not hunted down the marking to verify. seems to rev quick compared to the 196 and 345's i've had in the past. more on the engine coming later. Good looks on the tank info

glovebox area is shot, that seems to be the worst spot. I don't plant to cut away and get to that level you did, so there's going to be a little 'ignorance is bliss' on my side DEFINITELY have to fix the glovebox area tho and get in that cowl to clean it out. Got to get some more pics of that area. Hood hinge area looks solid but I did not pull the hinges off to verify. no signs of rust peeking out, think I might be OK

Hoping Chaz has most of the patch panels I'll need, sounds like he's fabbed up a bunch and kept the templates. and he lives 45 min away, so thats a big win. Already have an order in for the battery tray

He has it all.

 

[budget76]

He has it all.

and I'll be giving him business

seems like a good dude bit hard by the IH bug

 

[Penetrode Offroad]

I fucking love these trucks. Will own one someday.

 

[Chops24]

i have a VERY similar build going. i will be following. sweet rig.

 

[budget76]

still catching up to today, couple more posts will do it

Didn't want to run it off the fuel tank without dropping it and inspecting. Thankfully, looked brand new inside. Tank was 99% perfect. One tiny hole on the top of the tank got sealed up with JBWeld. Tank got a full wash and fresh paint, same with underbody in the tank area. All Rustoleum brush on except the nooks got a shot of spray. apparently no shot of tank painted but before/after of power washing, and before/after of underbody. Nothing but slight surface rust under there.

Didn't like metal on metal for the tank straps, so I used a garage door seal I had sitting around as a buffer between the two. Hot glue didn't stick well to the rubber, but it held enough to get everything in place without cursing the entire time. Epoxy of some sort would be better but no need, its trapped once its in

 

[budget76]

popped the carb off with plans of rebuilding it. had kit in hand. didn't need to, yet. Seems like it was run dry, tank was virtually empty and carb only had a little residue. Cleaned bowl area and main jets and slapped back on

its taking over the garage. Need to get the crown vic in the bed so its out of the way

spent $35 on an unknown bench seat that'll bolt in with a piece or two of straight angle iron and some bolts. It looks brand spanking new, not a single stain. Suspect its a 2nd row out of a transport van or something. Needed something other than the bare frame and a carpet on it, the original seat was FILLED with rodent piss/shit and I ripped all the upholstery off. Wont be final, but it should work for a while

and a big thanks to iwillnc on BinderPlanet for getting me these drivers door parts. My door has none of the latch or related components, its held closed with a barrel latch. BIG step to getting the thing mostly sealed up from the rain. They'll get cleaned up and installed soon-ish. IF you can tell, this is the "claw" style latch. My passenger side is the "finger" style. From what I read the striker is unique, so he pulled that for me to. Great dude helping keep these old things alive

 

[budget76]

getting close. Windshield was broken out. Struggled to find a new one in the Northeast, made a half dozen phonecalls and another half dozen online inquires. Wound up getting very lucky, as long as it pans out on Tuesday install day. Local shop didn't have access, but was willing to call out west to have one freighted (worth it to me since I'd essentially pay the same for installed as I'd pay to order it myself from the West). As we waited, one became available locally.

cut the gasket and out it came

very happy. no significant rust hiding. again, minimal/surface rust I'll clean up. Also minimal window goop to fight cleaning up - win

Factory welds joining the A-pillar/rain rail area to the cab are... not pretty. drivers side actually looked to have a little separation. Its not structural, likely means nothing. I smeared a little JBWeld into that crack for peace of mind. nothing shown is rust . Remainder of the cab/rain rail/etc will be cleaned up and painted later, focus is windshield area. Cleaned and primed the gasket area earlier today, it's going to get 1 or 2 coats of Rustoleum prior to windshield install. Maybe overkill, but its exposed and getting painted

oh, and I spent the big $$ ($35) on the crown vic conversion frame boxes off Ebay. Should make life easy in the future versus fabbing up my own stuff. A VERY quick measurement made it look like the frame width is just about perfect for the Vic. Don't think I can easily run the swap with the SV powerplant, so I don't think that goes in until the LS goes in. We'll see....

 

[budget76]

Final for today for Grendel

Cowl / air vent area pics. Definitely not ideal, but I think very patchable for a driver-quality resto without getting to the level you had to. Likely have to pull the dash out to get access from the inside, I am NOT drilling out spot welds / ripping the entire cowl area apart to get the whole patch panel Chaz offers. If anything, I'll hack and merge his patch to my cab from the interior

I have not even run a vaccum down in there yet, windshield took the immediate attention since I did NOT want to risk losing the local glass that showed up. Suspicion is its no trees, but rodents that caused this. Looks like a nice cozy spot for them to sleep

passenger side

driver side

full patch panel Grendel probably bought

somewhere in there I ripped out random wiring, added a new 1/0 ground, patched the positive wire, rewired the ignition coil/resistor, pulled and cleaned the plugs, etc.

Starts right up now, surprised the fuel pump is still good. could probably use a little tuning but it sounds GREAT except for a knock. Have not pulled diagnosed at all. Cranked it over a fair amount without spark so I don't think I killed anything by oil starving, coulda been why it got parked or could be typical IH dead lifter.

Ran it on jack stands and clutch/brakes seem OK brake fluid was very low and a couple fill then pump pedal and let air bubble come out the master got pedal pressure. It probably needs a better bleed before I trust them, especially since my driveway is downhill either into the house or into trees



thats it for now and it's going to slow. Its close-ish to running and driving, but I've got a bunch of small crap to do before then. And I am cleaning/painting whatever comes off before it goes back on. Interior floor gets painted before a seat goes in. Pass door gets painted on the inside before reinstalled, that kind of stuff. Doing it right once, not 12 times. I want it weathertight before snow, I refuse to park the daily outside and scrape ice for 3 months. Other than that, I'd love to drive it to some bike trails this fall but I'm not going to rush to pay taxes and registration on it for a handful of drives.

 

[shortbus4x4]

Looking good.

 

[Projectjunkie]

I always put a new fuel pump in something that's been sitting, the diaphragm dries out and the chances of it flushing your bottom end out with gas is too high. I've lost 2 engines this way, nowadays a new fuel pump is another box on the punch list

 

[Grendel]

Yours is worse than mine was.

I deleted the cowl vents. Didn't use that patch panel at all.

Thing is, if that's how yours looks at the top, the bottom is going to be a lot worse. It will come through in a few years (or less).

Do it right, do it once. Do it wrong, do it often.

I'd also hold off installing the windshield so you don't get welding spatter on it.

 

[shortbus4x4]

Yours is worse than mine was.

I deleted the cowl vents. Didn't use that patch panel at all.

Thing is, if that's how yours looks at the top, the bottom is going to be a lot worse. It will come through in a few years (or less).

Do it right, do it once. Do it wrong, do it often.

I'd also hold off installing the windshield so you don't get welding spatter on it.

This. OP, you already have the windshield out. Pull the dash and do it right.

 

[mjlogan88]

Not disagreeing with those saying do it all and do it right, but it really depends on your intentions with the truck.

I like functional drivers, not fully restored show cars. You gotta know when to call it good enough based on your resources, time being the most paramount

Cool build and you seem to be confident in your path for it. Try to avoid the snowball and keep up the good work

 

[Mr.Ratbastard]

I would be treating everything staying with ospho. Looks like a great project.

 

[ANGRYBLACK]

This is gonna be a sweet ride

Use cavity wax with an internal spray hose kit. Or with these brushes Link . Works great

 

[budget76]

update before responses:

No pic on this computer, but I pulled out the broken windshield, cleaned all the gasket area, primed any spots that the paint seemed weak, then gave it a coat of satin black Rustoleum. It looks like a windshield frame with black paint. There was zero significant rust thankfully, so it was a quick clean up job.

Not disagreeing with those saying do it all and do it right, but it really depends on your intentions with the truck.

I like functional drivers, not fully restored show cars. You gotta know when to call it good enough based on your resources, time being the most paramount

Cool build and you seem to be confident in your path for it. Try to avoid the snowball and keep up the good work

kind of my current thinking. If I can do something like this, I'll be happy. Might close off the vents completely depending on what I find in there. Figuring VintageAir or equivalent is in the cards and I'm reading those don't use external air sources. pic from this thread The C Series rust thread

This is gonna be a sweet ride

Use cavity wax with an internal spray hose kit. Or with these brushes Link . Works great

I would be treating everything staying with ospho. Looks like a great project.

will research both of these. Ospho looks like a liquid that might run down into the crevices a brush can't reach? definitely want to get something in there once I get it cleaned out. I've already asked Grendel twice what he uses for pre-weld and undercoating, so I'll heed his suggestions too when I get to patching and such.

This. OP, you already have the windshield out. Pull the dash and do it right.

but then you and Grendel can't say "i told you so" in 3 years when I revisit it again but really - I know you guys have lived these trucks and DO appreciate your advice and am not ignoring it. My reasoning is I can get it mostly closed from the elements in short term and be able to leave it outside when not working on it, and drive it a little before winter hits. I'd love to have the time to rip the truck apart that far, but it's not in the cards at the moment. So future me will curse at current me for not doing it now.

Rationalization is I'm paying $550 installed for a windshield that would cost me $600+ delivered from any source I found online, then I'd have to install it myself. So if I have to remove it in the future I'm out a $75 seal - $50 = $25 for a new seal if I install it myself, or $25 + $250 install if I have someone come out and reinstall. I can justify that cost to have the short-term gains of being able to use the thing. IF the windshields were easier to find maybe I'd act different, but i do not want to miss out on the one that showed up local. hoping it actually exists, I'll find out tomorrow

 

[budget76]

small updates. out of town now, so nothing happening this weekend.

1. Windshield is in. Installer was a great guy with 40 years of experience, let me watch and made it look SUPER easy. Obviously not as easy as his skilled hands make it, but way easier than the videos online made it look. Install was $150 so if I do pull it in the future, I probably just pay him to come back out. Also gave me tips on popping it out without damaging the seal or glass if I ever need to. Roofline took a hit in a spot or two so its not perfect, but should seal good enough

before paint, right after pulling the old glass

didn't mention, but the welds at the A-pillar to roof weren't the most impressive. Plenty sturdy, zero rust, but had gaps. I filled with JBWeld just for peace of mind. example pre-JB-weld filler

2. it drives! well, it backed up 10 feet back into the garage. its got a working clutch and reverse, full test drive probably next week sometime. if I didn't live on a hill with a downhill driveway I'd have already had it out, but the brakes are still a concern

3. Got a new driver door latch and door sill striker catch from a guy on BP as mentioned above. unfortunately my assumption I'd be able to swap over the set was wrong - you CANNOT swap the claw style and finger style latches. The door side looks like it'd fit fine, but the catch side on the cab is very different. the finger style catch is 2-3" taller than the claw style catch. I could make it work if desperate, but I'm instead reaching out to a different contact for a finger style latch.

 

[budget76]

Pics to be added when I'm on the laptop, but a little bit more progress was made

cleaned/painted the cab floor with Rustoleum Semi-gloss black. Got a good coat in. Then I got the seat installed. it's about 6" too narrow to be a permanent solution, but the height is perfect as it's sitting today. tucks right under the rear window gasket. Took the simple-as-possible route and drilled 2 holes thru the OEM seat base, and stuck bolts thru into the threaded seat mounts in the front. rear is loose but fine for now, seat sits well and I actually fit pretty good, even being 6'2". Pass front cab mount area did have some rust you can see, but its still solid so it's getting filled with paint and left alone. Probably from the cowl leaking down for years. Driver side is solid too, one small half-dime sized thru hole but nothing significant rust wise

gave the bed interior its' 2nd cleaning, this time a deeper clean with lots of soap/scrubbing/etc. Quick wire brush on the grinder, a final degreasing, and it'll get a good coat of brush on primer then paint. Probably add a couple more drain holes since now it's going to live somewhere that's wet, and there's several spots for water to pool and sit depending on the angle its parked. worst spot is still very solid but not smooth anymore. Drivers front corner, crap probably sat there

Drove it about 1000ft to turn it around. it runs, like shit Pretty sure it's waay out of tune, possibly timed wrong, and maybe even short a cylinder. But it had 4 gears, reverse, a working clutch, brakes, etc. Engine's got a nasty tick too that I still can't tell if its upper or lower end, gonna do an oil drain and fill & throw in some AFT in case its a stuck lifter. Will pull the valve covers soon too before I keep running the thing. if its lower end, it gets ignored till it dies and the LS swap jumps up in the queue

it rattles like crazy with no weatherstripping on the doors, no soundproofing anywhere, etc. Knew it would, but it was still a noisy old pickup for sure

oh, and a FB post I saw of a front bumper solution thats not OEM

 

[mjlogan88]

The last 345 I resurrected from a 10 year slumber had a nasty lifter tick too, almost sounded like a rod knock. Let it run for a half hour and it eventually went silent. Put 1000s of hard miles on it after that with no issues.

Sounds like some good progress keep at it!

 

[budget76]

The last 345 I resurrected from a 10 year slumber had a nasty lifter tick too, almost sounded like a rod knock. Let it run for a half hour and it eventually went silent. Put 1000s of hard miles on it after that with no issues.

Sounds like some good progress keep at it!

kind of what I'm figuring, lower end issues on these things are RARE. Oil change + ATF help, it sat for 2 years at least. just wanna yank the valve covers to give it a good sanity check on the top end, then I'll probably ignore it.

Been reading up on the LS swap plans. Probably going to order pre-made adapter engine mounts Ford F-100 / F-Series Crown Vic Swap Adjustable Motor Mounts for Chevy LS 4.8L/5.3L/6.0L, $240 to bolt in is worth it vs half a day fabbing something shittier. Time is the hard part, I can waste a little $$ to save a ton of time. Casually hunting an AX5 from a 2WD colorado, think that's going to be the trans. Seems like if I can find one cheap-ish, it's a $1500 manual swap instead of $4k for a TKO/TXK

 

[Chops24]

Surely you mean AR5? been looking at that meself

 

[budget76]

Surely you mean AR5? been looking at that meself

yep, typo Found someone selling a complete trans + full adapter kit/clutch/etc for $1800 or so. problem is its 6.5hrs each way and I don't have a day to spend driving to get it. Might see if a buddy down that way is close enough to grab it for me

threw some pics in the posts above