The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk International Cab on Chevy Chassis

My plan is to mount the cab and bed of my '67 International onto the frame of my '88 chevy 1/2 ton 4X4.
I've always loved the way my International looks, but disliked the handling and fuel consumption.
On the other hand my '88 Chevy 4X4 with IFS handles better than some cars I've driven and gets better fuel economy as well.
Last year a rat chewed the wiring harness of my '88 rendering the fuel injection inoperable, and subsequently there was an underhood fire, which put the final nail in the lid of the coffin as far as the '88 ever being smog legal in the state of California, where I live.
A swap to a carb was a temporary but illegal fix for the problem. But a better cure would be to put the chassis from the '88 under the body of my '67 Intl, being as the '67 is smog exempt here.
If it's possible.
Of course it's possible... Much more complex projects are being been dealt with all the time.
I'm just curious whether anyone out there has any familiararity with such a conversion.
If so, I'd be interested in talking.
With summer nearly here, it's time to put those extra daylight hours to use patchin up some sheetmetal, twistin some wrenches.

Talk to me

Thanks

Streetiron,

Welcome to the Stovebolt Page, by the way!

About your plan, I guess I'll beat everyone to the punch in stating the obvious -- You're right on about it being possible. Anything is possible if you have the time, money, patience, determination and skill (Pick 4).

I guess a good place to start would be in comparing where the cab mounts are and if the steering column matches up to the steering box -- how much fabrication will you have to do to the frame for it to accept the Binder cab? And how much will you have to jigger the cab so the steering column works? From there, it's just a matter of comparing how the puzzle pieces fit together and how much work it takes.

You could also try looking in our Links Page under "Clubs" or other Truck sites for the Red Power or any of the other Binder pages and try them, too. Around here, we seem to mostly keep things in the family (older GM sheet metal on newer GM frames). The guys who are into older IH stuff might be a better resource than us Bowtie and Jimmy guys.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Regards,
John

Thanks for the warm welcome John.
I'll keep searching. And I'll post any interesting progress.

welcome streetiron,, I have a 70 international halfton but it is stock and I would not touch it with a ten foot pole,, I like it that way but it is your truck and you can do as you please,, a lot of help here,,, good luck,,,Fred

Fred,

Then how do you drive it???

:p
John

Good one,,,,,it drives itself....Fred

I am currently in the middle of a similiar project and it is my first. I am putting my 49' 5 window on an 56' cab and chassis 1 ton. And nothing matches, don't expect it to. But so far there has been an easy and pretty good looking fix for everything. I have just finally got the cab mounted onto the new chassis. I built all new cab mounts and ordered polyurethene cab bushings for an 80's chevy truck to mate it all together. The next challenge is to put the the 86' 4-speed clutch and brake pedal assembly in the truck. The orginals came through the floor. I am mounting the hydraboost to the firewall and the swinging pedals will go behind it. But it can all be done and really I think it has been pretty easy so far. It is gonna be a show truck one of these days, I am real excited. This truck was a 3600 deluxe, I started off to restore it but I want something I can drive everyday that has good brakes, independent front, air, and plenty of pulling power so that is where I am. A friend of mine is currently mounting his on a 4wd 1-ton chevy I think it is an 84' model the truck is a 50'. Man it looks awesome. To a non expert my truck is gonna look factory with the exception of a lot of chrome and aluminum. Also my steering column didn't line up with the gear box, yours want either, I bought a borgenson steering shaft from Summit that has a u-joint in each end and is telescopic, that fits right on. It will compensate the offset and looks good too. You can also get similiar joints outa some mini vans. You will have a one of a kind and with a little money it will look like a million. Or should I say more than a little money!!

Thanks for the help.
Is there possibly a typo in there poleclimber?
I think I'm getting that you're mounting a '49 cab onto an '86 1-ton frame??
Anyway... With the way these '80s IFS 4WD trucks handle on the road, it's not hard to figure out how the SUV craze got started. It's nota true serious off road 4WD chassis, but if you don't go around looking for trouble, it's good enough to get you through sand and stuff. And the road manners are better than a 70s or earlier full size car.
First cuppa coffee this morning, and I just gotta start talkin bout my truck.
I hope I finish this project someday.
I hope we all finish our projects someday!