Make no mistake about it, we think that this truck is 100% bad ass. We’re also not throwing rocks at the seller for advertising the rig as he is. We’re guessing that he was told the same thing when he got his hands on it, the same thing meaning the fact that a 3-53 Detroit Diesel was installed from the factory backed with a 5-speed manual transmission.
We cannot find any record of that being an option in these trucks but is it possible some executive or some engineering department guy wanted an experiment? Possible that this thing was built as a mule to try out the potential of this powertrain back in the day? These are all pretty logical questions to us because of how shockingly nice the engine installation is under the hood. it has all the fit and finish of a factory job and this would not have been an easy swap because it’s not just the engine but the suspension that would have to be beefed, the fuel system would have to be changed, and the list goes on and on and on.
It makes sense to back the revvy 3-53 with a five speed stick rather than the available 3-speed automatics of the day. It likely would have gotten the cruising speed up to at least normal highway standards. Oh, and we should mention that this truck is for sale and that it comes with a second, cleaner truck to swap everything into if you want to do that.
Factory freak or Fanciful fraud?
Marketplace: Did this 1973 IH TravelAll really come with a 3-53 Detroit Diesel –
The factories had a fair amount of diesel trucks made on contract for oil field use where they couldn’t have a spark ignition. I am unaware if International ever did this but I have seen Ford and Chevy examples over the years. I am unaware of who did these conversions though, but they were supplied by the manufacturers.
http://smclassiccars.com/international-harvester/604032-1973-ih-1210-travelall-with-detroit-diesel-engine-5-spd-low-miles-nice-iowa.html
Check out the comment section of this Travelall
For $25 the build sheet can be obtained. On IH vehicles, they are called line setting tickets and will answer the questions easily.
I have not seen a International with the Detroit conversion. But do know there was a company doing them I believe they were from Colorado. I knew someone that had a late 70’s GM dually with a 4-53 & 5 speed conversion it was professional job.
Five speed was an option. That I know.