Tom's new Travelall project

["J. Grammer" <jkdaley@domain.elided>]

>I called on a '72 Travelall just now.

Tom, Tom, Tom..... you're getting as bad as me. No less than 3 trucks have
followed me home to Bindertown in the past month, with 2 more pickups
awaiting transport....then there's the tentative deal for 2 Loadstars that
are just sitting with my name on them.... ;)
>345V8, automatic, Dana 44s front and rear with 3.73s, rear receiver
>hitch, 235/75R15s, 4wd.

>What other spots on this Travelall do I need to examine for rust and
>problems?  How would I go about patching what's problematic already? 

I feel kinda qualified on this one, since I'm driving the rustiest '70's
T-all I've ever seen outside a junkyard. But....this one sounds worse than
min, even! The bottom of the tailgate is probably gone, and will require
reinforcement so that you can sit/stand on the tailgate safely. Sounds like
you spotted most of the usual stuff. I bet the bottom of the cowl vent
boxes(behind the rear edge of the front quarters) are gone, that'll pass
engine compartment fumes to the interior. Biggest thing I'd look at from a
safety/structural integrity standpoint is all the body mounting points,
esp. the main front ones. T-all bodies fromt the '70's are REAL heavy, you
wouldn't want a panic stop to leave you hanging, so to speak(I'm serious).

>Cab corners wouldn't be as straight forward.. how much of a PITA to
>repair using handy angle and sheet metal?  Functional is the operative
>word, particularly when combined with cheap.

It's all a PITA, everywhere there's rust there's 2 or more panels
sandwiched together. I'd start with the sandblaster and see what was left,
then go in with a cutoff tool followed by some 14g plate and the MIG
welder. Yeah, it'd be ugly... ;)

>I want a reliable Travelall for towing my racer and/or trail rig
>behind.  Occasional daily-driver duty when necessary.  Non-integral rust
>isn't a big deal - nor are looks.

I'd be cautious about using this truck as a regular tow vehicle for a Scout
II, car hauler, and all your race gear 'cause in my mind it's not quite
stout enough(hard to believe, eh?) Biggest reason is the lack of a full
floating rear end. Must be a 1110, right? The biggest attraction to my
current daily driver was that it's a 1200 w/Dana 60 full floating rear. The
frames are also stouter, and the brakes are bigger(though barely adequate,
since drums still fade away to nothing after a few consecutive applications
coming down Questa grade). As tow vehicles, the difference between my '68
1100(a pretty fair comparison since most of the running gear is the same as
a '72) and the 1200 is like night and day. Of course it helps that the 1200
has 4.09 gearing and a 392 :)

>Price?  $200.

Buy it! My rule is if it's $200 or less, it's following me home. Beware,
though, that kind of thinking will get your vehicle inventory up real
quick(I lost count at 15.....)

>What do I want to look at and be wary of?  What's the biggest money pit
>I'm in danger of falling into?

Brakes....esp. if you need drums, 'cause they basically don't exist.
But.....you should be able to do a 'generic' closed knuckle disk brake swap
using GM backing plates/calipers and maybe F$%*(?) hubs/rotors, grinding
the knuckle flanges for caliper clearance. Also possible is a complete
Dodge disk brake front end swap....

Jim

So many trucks, so little time....