Late April, 1999, I was driving home for a quick break from our M4x4A's annual convention when I saw this at a car repair/towing shop at the end of my street. I started pondering, "I wonder what they want?" The next week, I called on it.. $200!! WOAH. The auto shop was closing it's doors and the owner was retiring to Colorado. The Travelall could be mine for $200.
What's wrong with it, you ask?
Here's the story of what I know.
It was last registered in 1994. A husband and wife owned it. They'd just put new brakes and a rebuilt 727 into it. The husband then decides to swap a 4bbl intake on, but the deal for the 4bbl falls through after he got the 2bbl off.. he never put the 2bbl back on. Flash forward. The husband and wife divorced, and the wife remarried to the auto shop owner, who just happened to have room to store the Travelall. They never needed it, and so it sat, unrunning, until I saw it for sale.
It's a 1972 Travelall 1110. That's a 1/2T 4x4. I scraped away the grime on the engine ID plate to reveal the magical, "V392E" on the block - a 392!! I received the 2bbl intake and a Holley 2210 carb. Behind the 392 is a TF727 automatic and behind that an NP205 divorced transfer case. From there power goes to Dana 44s at both ends, filled with 3.73 gears. The truck had air conditioning at one time - the dash has a lever position, the motor sports the AC bracket, and the old AC condensor has been converted into a massive transmission cooler. A Reese receiver hitch is bolted to the rear frame, with a Kelsey-Hayes trailer brake controller that is plumbed into the hydraulics, but not wired up. The T'all sports 4 wheel power drum brakes and power steering on the open knuckle Dana 44 front.
My plan is to put the intake back on, reattach the ignition, redo the spring bushings n' bolts (a few of the bolts are half out!), and then make the Travelall into a tow-rig for my racer.
This is the sight that caught my eye from Montana Avenue -
I finally got a hold of the shop owner and ran over to slip him $200. I then had to wait a night for my friend Dan to help me tow it the 6 blocks or so home. He steered and braked the Travelall while I towed it with my Scout. We got it home and had to do a quick inventory.. but we couldn't figure out how to get the hood open! I ran inside to get mom.. and she revealed the trick - pull down on the rod to pop the hood once. Then pull it down again while pushing down on the hood a little.
The morning after - I took some pictures of the rust I knew about... like the rear wheel well and quarter panel. I think there should be a gas tank behind here, but I haven't looked very closely yet - it's been raining a lot since I drug it home.
I cleaned out the interior some, and picked up a piece of sheet metal from the driver's floor when.. YIKES, I see ASPHALT! A quick crawl underneath confirms the driver's floor is SHOT and will need repaired. The passenger side is marginal. Both rockers are dented. I also noticed the e-brake cable has been cut (why do people insist on doing that? sigh).
Quick shot of the interior.
The driver's door doesn't open super-well. There's a "kink" to it when it binds on the front fender. I believe it was hit at one time. The passenger door won't open from the outside. The two rear/side doors open and close beautifully - much better than my Scouts' doors! I haven't tried the rear window and tailgate yet, since it requires the keys, and since I've finally received the keys, it hasn't stopped raining long enough to hook jumper cables up to the T'all.
Despite mom trying to explain to me that the yard is only SO big and that I really do need to stop collecting (I agree.. but when the guy said $200... well, I lacked the will power!).. but at the same time, I caught her looking over my latest acquisition with a mother's approving eye - she sure raised a shrewd son. Heck, I was going to try talking the guy down from $200.. but then.. the 392 is worth that.. so is the NP205.. or the Dana 44 front.. or rear axle.. or.. well, OK, it's all worth $200 or better! ;-)