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My bet is something blocked the line inside the tank. I had two different tractors do that to me; they would run great and then suddenly die; after priming they would usually run great, but occasionally they would act up again as soon as they primed. When I cleaned the tanks I found a couple of insects that were just big enough to plug the line, but would float back out of the way when the suction from the pump stopped.

A little late now, but if you need to keep it running to prime it again try using WD-40 sprayed into the intake instead of ether. Much safer and it will keep it running until it picks up the fuel. My experience is that once the fuel is picked up the air will clear from all of the lines and you can tell because it smooths out after running like crap on less than all cylinders. Did you replace the filter? Treat the stored fuel with an anti-fungal additive? Will it run normally now without using the primer pump?

The Suburbans of that era are also notorious for rusted out rear brake lines. Make sure you check them closely. (Good luck with that, they are inside the frame tubes.)

Not to hijack the thread, but this really points out why tire pressure monitoring systems are a worthwhile investment, especially for a trailer with duals. Being able to read the tire pressure with the press of a button makes it far easier to keep the proper pressure in all tires along with the warning the system gives you if a tire loses pressure.

One of my all time favorite part time gigs I did was helping a friend replace the frame rails on a bunch of Texaco's 9500 GMCs. He would drive the truck into the bay where he would lay the new frame rails out facing the opposite way. The truck was then re-assembled facing out so he never had to back the truck up.

Congratulations. Nice to see an American success story.

My bet is that by the time you drill out all the rivets, cut any welds, and remove all the accessories you will be better off to just replace both rails. I think this will turn out to be like a lot of jobs, the parts you need to replace will not be all that expensive, but the time and preparation to do the job will be the killer. You should be able to make a good accurate drawing of the existing rails showing where the holes need to be punched. Get the rails made with the holes punched where you need them and then you can move one item at a time to the new rails after they are welded in. Or you could go all out and replace them all the way to the front.

Have you tried using "Open Office" to transfer the document? It is a no cost shareware program that mimics Office and I have found that it seems to be a lot better at going backwards to retrieve documents.

Have you checked for metal chunks in the transfer case oil?

You can also check with a local steel fabricator to see if they can bend up new rails for you. There was a very nice IH like yours at Macungie a couple of years ago that came out of Worcester. You might ask around to locate the owner who did a complete restoration of the truck. I believe he was with the Worcester Sand & Gravel owner.

Have a friend hit the switch while you watch the levers to see if they move. I doubt that letting the clutch out with the parking brake on would do any damage. Is the pump turning?

What VALS327 said and don't do it with the truck in road gear while you try the manual override. It should be running at idle in neutral. If it won't shift you may need to put it gear, let the clutch out briefly, and then return to neutral before re-trying the manual override. I have also had cases where the manual override was frozen from lack of use. If it acts like it is stuck a couple of smacks with a hammer will usually free it up.

That's truck porn at it's best!

Cow mat from Tractor Supply also works well.

Beautiful work.

Necessity is the mother of invention. Nice work. Make sure you keep a "look what I went through to get this looking so nice" book of pictures to display with the truck. One trick I have used when bending 12 ga. is to kerf it about halfway with a metal cutting skil-saw before bending it. You can weld up the seam after it is bent if you need the strength. Figure out what you want for a shop, double it and then make it 50% bigger and it will still be too small.

Neat truck; i always liked that series of IH's. There was a time when they were everywhere in New England and were probably as popular as the B81's were. Why not just register it with antique tags and drive it home? Sales tax, insurance, etc. will be about the same as the tow bill and you will have to register it eventually anyways.

If you use the "Carbon" theme the print just disappears.

Dan. Go back and change the font color so we can read the post.

Looks great; it's always an exciting day when the foundation finally gets poured.

Wow! It really looks good. Time to re-think whether to attend Macungie???? We would love to see it in person. And yes it is the small shit that kills you. It is relatively easy to find a new engine, but just try to find that used for one year bracket for any rig. That is why most of us end up with a parts truck or two when we start to bring one back. No one but you will ever notice the seam on that bracket; nice work.

A friend brought me a nozzle for the AB that I had been looking for. I just decided it wasn't worth the cost to go this year.

My answer to anyone who wants to put an old truck back to work is it is just like marrying a beautiful women; everybody admires you for doing it but you are the one who has to pay to keep her looking like that. There is a reason why they don't build them any more; uncomfortable to drive, no amenities like A/C or a decent seat, and inadequate power for what you will expect it to do. But, we'll all be very happy to admire the truck if you go for it.

That type of fill is also an option here, but no one uses it since it requires a third party inspection and an engineering report that details the compaction tests. It's cheaper to use 57's or sand and skip the inspections and testing.

I feel your pain. I ended up putting 200 tons of stone in mine to fill the foundation prior to pouring the floor. I wet them down with my tears to compact them as I paid for every load. In my part of the world you can use stone, sand, or an engineered grade beam in lieu of either to backfill a foundation.