GMC-IH

chasw44 said:

I might be jumping the gun but if it is sorta old school maybe a fi 500 caddy would be neat.

Click to expand...

I like the way ya think ...



Blown 572" BBC making 900 HP would be my choice ..

But, i better keep the 406" Mouse motor in it being it would net better gas mileage ...
Then again if I hit lotto, it's on !!

I bought a column for parts ..
Got it from eBay out of Nebraska ..



Hoping that the parts I'm needing are still serviceable ..
Be here tomorrow, soon to find out if I bought a dead horse or not ??





Emergency brake cleaned up well, for being 70 years old still works good and shows no signs of wear ...


With some parts from Lokar might get it married to the GMC drum brakes ..

Cool Beans ....

The junk column was a 77 and up my column is a 75 year model ..
Took a chance with thinking that the internal parts I needed were interchangeable...

Got lucky, they were ...





One of the items that I was hoping would work in my column was the contact switch for the key buzzer ...
Again with the luck of the Irish it was there..
(Grandmother was Irish, maiden name was Smithwick from
Tipperary)


Back when I did the body swap is when the Caddy column got cut down to fit and installed .
I recall deleting that switch, thought I don't need that annoying buzzer ... And didn't at the time ..
But now that I'm in my twilight years I can see the dang thing coming in handy ..
(Be 72 tomorrow)

Just a little more wiring to do since I do have under dash courtesy lights, there's the ground for the buzzer when the door is opened telling me to take the key out ya old fart !

Man it's been a long journey with working the column ..
Had a problem with it when the 4L85E trans was installed ..
I'm using the column shift for shifting ..
Worked alright when the TH 400 was in the tuck, but a whole new ballgame with the overdrive trans having another gear for the column to contend with ..

Had all the gears but for first ..
Column didn't have enough swing to work ..
Ok, alright seen right off that the two stops needed to be elongated ..



The outside the column stop was easy to modify ...



The internal stop was a PITA since the column had to be gutted down to skin & bone ..

But after doing the mods it's working all the gears now ...



Doing a bit of the weird with using the Hurst floor shift as the transfer case shifter ...
That was another long journey to make happen ..

Made up a support mount in order to nail the transfer case shifter far forward on the trans case ..

Wanted it to look like it was for shifting the trans ..



That's as far forward as the shifter will go, it's in 4 wheel low lock ..

The white shifter knob will be replaced with a wood knob that matches the dashboard ..



Keeping a eye open for a Cadillac Eldorado steering wheel ..
They was made a bit more fancy than the other Cadillac models ..



Was being made with a woodgrain insert ...
Nothing wrong with the wheel I have, just like the looks of the Eldo's wheel ...

Did my own thing on the horn button ..

Almost done ...



Couldn't use the key buzzer switch from the 77 column cause it's not made the same as the 75's ...

I should forget about the buzzer, but would like to have it on line ...

dragstews said:

You must be registered for see images attach

Made up a support mount in order to nail the transfer case shifter far forward on the trans case ..

Wanted it to look like it was for shifting the trans ..

You must be registered for see images attach

That's as far forward as the shifter will go, it's in 4 wheel low lock ..

The white shifter knob will be replaced with a wood knob that matches the dashboard ..

You must be registered for see images attach

Keeping a eye open for a Cadillac Eldorado steering wheel ..
They was made a bit more fancy than the other Cadillac models ..

You must be registered for see images attach

Was being made with a woodgrain insert ...
Nothing wrong with the wheel I have, just like the looks of the Eldo's wheel ...

Did my own thing on the horn button ..

You must be registered for see images attach

Click to expand...

Good looking steering wheel. I like the big ones lol

These are the leftover parts from the 77 Caddy column ..
I have no need for them ... What I do need (Like another hole in me head) is the key buzzer switch that fits my 75 column ..

Called a few places and soon found out that item is gold .. !
One shop wanted a $100 .. Eek !
Another shop wanted $60 ...
I was just about ready to say screw it and give up the idea of having a key buzzer ...
Sure .. It'd be neat to have a reminder to take the key out, but good golly it wasn't worth that much money to me ..

(Tibet of useless info;
Years ago I work for a Cadillac dealership, most of the buyers that bought a brand new Caddy didn't care for that annoying buzzer ... Don't have a clue on how many cars that I disabled the buzzer ..
And here I am putting one on a old truck.)

But, I asked the $60 guy if he would be willing do a trade for the leftover parts that I had no need for .. Sent him these two photos ..

Told him if he'd cover the cost of shipping to get these parts to him, we would have a deal for his switch ...

He jumped on it ..
Well ... Looks like I'm going to have a annoying buzzer after all ..

Maybe not that annoying ...


I liked # 10 .. ( Bet that one ain't cheap ! )
# 1 is second choice

Ya know what ..?

Think i'm going to get a wee bit fancy and do my own key alarm sounds ...

dragstews said:

Ya know what ..?

Think i'm going to get a wee bit fancy and do my own key alarm sounds ...

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

Click to expand...

You'll probably leave them in just to hear it lol

squaredeal91 said:

You'll probably leave them in just to hear it lol

Click to expand...

Wire it up to the subwoofer .. Lol

That looks fantastic... love the stance on the truck.

Buzzer switch came in,



installed it and finish putting the column together but for the steering wheel .. It needs some clean up before it goes on ...

Couldn't find a Eldo wheel (That i could afford) so the old wheel will be going back on ..



It works ...
Guess there's not many 54 IH trucks sporting a key buzzer that plays Tubular Bells for the chime .. ?

dragstews said:

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

Click to expand...

Good custom work on all those mods

Thanks squaredeal91
Sure has been keeping me busy for dang sure ..

Wanted the Eldorado steering wheel cause of the wood grain on it, but soon realized that wasn't going to happen ...
A wheel cover with wood grain wasn't going to look all that good so I started looking at aftermarket wheels ..

Came across this one ...



Dark walnut wood, black leather and chrome bands blends in with the dash and the gearshift knob ...