1964 International Travelall

1964 International Harvester Other Description:

IHC dipped heavily into the MoPar parts bin to build the Travelall. If you like old Plymouths you'll recognize things like door handles, latches, control knobs even the pedal pads. Digging deeper, torsion bar front suspension, left hand threaded lug nuts on the driver's side, wheels and hub caps where the Plymouth ship is replaced by the IH emblem. This truck is in effect a very heavy duty Plymouth. International never spared the iron in stuff they made. The V8 engines were heavy truck inspired (they couldn't help themselves) rugged and premium. The aluminum pistons have an iron insert cast in for the compression ring to ride in. Everything is under-stressed especially in this engine which displaces 266 cubic inches.This example was as basic as it could be. No Radio, Column shifted 3 speed manual transmission with Borg-Warner automatic Overdrive. First gear is non-synchro. The Overdrive works automatically like a dream. It has a kick-down switch under the throttle which shifts the transmission out of Overdrive on a hill. As you lift you foot on the throttle the governor shifts into Overdrive at speeds over 45 mph. Overdrive transmissions have a "Freewheel" clutch which allows you to upshift from first to second without using the foot operated clutch. All you have to do is let the engine RPMs drop below the minimum 2nd gear speed, then gently raise the engine speed to connect. The column shifter allows you to sit three people on the 60 inch wide front bench seat. When the truck left the factory it had no heater. The dealer installed what can only be described as a "Premium Heater." It has not one but two independent blower motors with separate left/right controls. It has not one, not two but three heater cores to transfer engine heat! My kids really loved this truck when I took them to school on cold mornings, because it warmed up so fast. Originally equipped with a Ross manual steering gear, it's steering was pretty heavy. When I had the truck aligned the shop pronounced the steering gear to be worn out. That was music to my ears as I needed an excuse to up-rate it to power steering. I found a complete Saginaw Power Steering in a 1972 Travelall that bolted right in. Now you can park this truck a lot easier than my 2008 F250! It has a power rear window. The tailgate key switch is not functional and I never changed it because the window moves up & down better with the engine running. There's a switch under the dash near the ignition key so it's never been an issue. It came with a Delco "Window distributor." During a tune-up I up-graded it to a Pertronix hall effect electronic ignition with their "Flame Thrower" 40,000 volt ignition coil. For the purist, it can easily be switched back with a set of GM points. An MSC HEI style cap & rotor with 8mm solid core wires completed this reliability project. During this process it was discovered there was a voltage drop through the ignition switch, which was corrected with a new switch (shockingly NAPA had one on the shelf!) I recently had the front seat rebuilt. It was time. I noticed I wasn't driving the Travelall much because it wasn't that comfortable. What a difference!There is a label on the floor near the driver's seat that states the truck has a limited slip rear axle. I've never had the cover off the differential so I can not confirm this but it does have the tag on the cover and if you jack up both rear wheels you can feel the clutches engage when you turn the wheels. If you like the simplicity of older vehicles then this is the truck for you! IH really took their time designing it to make it easy to work on. It's finally to the age that people notice it and admire it. Great stuff!I have been asked if one could sleep in the rear. The floor is dead flat (which is very nice and doesn't have panels to flop down to make it "sort of" flat like an Excursion) with no bumps or bolts or anything like that. Both of you can sleep very comfortably in the back as long as...you are shorter than 6 feet 9 inches tall.The tires were replaced this year and the battery is less than 3 years old