Front suspension completed

I installed new ball joints, rotor/hub assemblies, bearings, seals, calypers and pads. There's no point in using used stuff for this part of the build. Same with the steering and brake parts later.

Right side
Left side
I used 3" drop Bell Tech spindles and cut 1 coil off the bottom of the Chevy springs to get this ride height. The measurement from the floor to the bottom of frame horns where the bumber mounts is 14.5". The 292 and 5 spd are in place but not much else, so I think it will drop some more when the truck is fully assembled. I don't think the frame is a whole lot lower than stock, but I'm happy with it.

The tires are 235-75R-15" on 6.5"X15" stock GMC van Rally wheels. The track width from outside edges of tread on the tires is 71". This should fit within the fenders of the L,R,S series pickups.

Frame with Chevy cross-member installed and painted with Black Por-15 and Blackcoat.

Bottom of floor stripped and painted with silver Por-15.

I now have a Non-World-Class T5 5 speed from a GMC S15 that fits the bellhousing that came with my 292 inline 6. I just have to ream out the tranny to bell housing bolt holes to 1/2 inch.

I have now attached the Chevy cross-member to the IH frame. Here's the right side. I've used enough of the Chevy frame to mount the cross-member, idler arm and sway bar. This keeps the front end and steering geometry correct as it was in the '84 Chevy.

This is the left side. By using part of the Chevy frame, I have the steering box in the correct position for the Chevy steering system.

I have quite a bit of welding to do to have the modified frame strong and looking decent. Later I will be using '73 to '87 Chevy 3" drop spindles to help lower the front end of the truck.

I got the differential, springs and spring hangers off the Chevy in one unit. I disconnected the shocks, brake hose, E brake cables and vent hose. I then cut the heads off the six rivets at each corner and punched them out. I had to drill the rivets to about 3/16" to be able to punch them out.

Will it fit? I'd say yes, quite well. The IH rear frame width is 33 1/2". The Chevy rear frame width is 34". With 1/4" steel plate to fill the gaps it will fit very nicely. By welding the 1/4" plate to the frame, I can strengthen the frame as well.

The track width from outside of tire to outside of tire (using Chevy 15"X8" wheels with 255-60-R-15" tires) is 74". The rear fenders measure about 77" inside to inside. This should work very nicely.

Now I can get rid of the remains of the donor truck. :)

I had a question come up on IHC.org regarding some measurements.
The measurement from rotor face to rotor face is 63 3/4". With the steering system hanging loose it was a bit of a challenge getting it right, but that's pretty close. This will be a little wider than stock for the IH chassis, but I think there's lots of room in those big fenders. The stock wheels are set in pretty far.

The measurements from vertical mount to vertical mount on the IFS are 29 1/8" at the front and 30 1/4 at the back. The Chevy frame rails are parallel much further forward than the IH frame so it's not as simple as drilling holes and bolting it up. I'm using modified pieces of the Chevy frame rails to take care of this problem. By using enough of the Chevy frame rails to include the steering box mount, idler arm mount and sway bar mounts, I can keep the geometry for those parts the same as in the Chevy. This will make the IFS installation a simple bolt-up operation. The Chevy power steering box will also be in its stock Chevy location.

Obviously, i figured out how. :) I'm in the process of cleaning up the cross-member now. I'm not going to get fanatical about cleaning and painting because this truck is planned to be a daily driver.

Hi. I'm new to this blogging thing.

I started building my own 57 International S-100 1/2 ton this past summer (2007). I think I might be doing it the hard way.

I got a decent cab from an S-160, chassis and bed from an L-110 and pretty much everything else from an 84 Chevy C10 1/2 ton.

At this point I'm preparing to attach the Chevy's front cross-member, complete with suspension and steering components onto the L-110 chassis. It looks like it will fit with a few modifications. I'm using pieces of the Chevy's frame (firewall forward) to get the geometry right for the steering box, idler arm and front sway bar. I've included pictures of the front of the cross-member right after i got it out from under the Chevy, the bare L,R,S series frame, the rear of the cross-member and the first trial fit under the L,R,S frame.

I'll be posting pictures on this blog as soon as I figure out how.