International 1973 D-Series 1210 4x4 Van

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

I am not sure whether any of these had military service? However, they were extensively used by the PMG, Telecom and Telstra.  So they were a Federal Government department just like Defence is? Yes a bit of a stretch there I know!

Does anyone know if the parts list for things like brake components in a Parts Manual would be the same for the D-Series 1210 tray back truck and the van?

Also, would the parts numbers in what seems to be an American publication of the Parts Manual be the same as used here in Australia? Or did we used different parts in Australia?

I have come across a Parts Manual for the D-Series trucks that was printed in America. It is also rather expensive. So it would be good to know if I was wasting my time buying that version of a Parts Manual.

Kind regards
Lionel

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

Apparently over 100 people have read about "Bluey" my 1973 D-Series ex-Telecom 1210 four wheel drive van. Thank you for reading my post.

An update - Bluey is sitting on its six wheels now at my home. This was after a two part trip from outside of Sydney to Brisbane then Brisbane to Bundaberg. For the second leg I played tail-gun Charlie keeping bandits off a fellow club member from another club who towed the trailer with Bluey on its back to my home. Once we got closer to Bundaberg I stepped into Pilot Vehicle mode and guided the proceedings via some local shortcuts.

Progress so far. Nearly not having Bluey anymore. There is a problem with the carburettor. It flooded - It backfired - it caught on fire. I put the fire out. Exciting times.

I contacted a Holley carburettor specialist and they traced the problem to Bluey being on LPG at one stage. There  is a very big gas tank bolted down in the back. Apparently, LPG eats the alloy float valves in the carburettors. A new plastic type of float and a rebuild kit is on its way.

Too much excitement for me to want to repeat again

Kind regards
Lionel

[Chazza]

Nice to hear from you again Lionel.

I am glad Bluey survived; had a similar fire with my Alpine which wrote off everything in the engine bay,

Cheers Charlie

[Lionelgee]

Hello Charlie,

It could have been a close call Charlie. I had just filled up a 10 litre container of water to top up the radiator. This meant water was handy to Bluey. The bonnet release that sticks was not very helpful. Anyway, I had water on hand. Otherwise - due to where Bluey was parked it would have taken a lot of minutes to sprint round the house yard to collect and connect all the hoses needed to reach the fire.

Yes, a large fire extinguisher will be nearby the next time I attempt to start and move Bluey.

No - as it will be my first Holley carburettor rebuild my confidence will be increased by the ability to extinguish any potential mistakes. Or the hose will all be connected - possibly both the extinguisher and the hoses. Plus a bucket of sand ... a big blanket. The fire brigade on stand-by...

Yes - I am  literally bursting with confidence that there will not be the slightest source of ignition outside of the motor or any ancillary parts such as carburettors  - Not!

Kind regards
Lionel

 

[Bluebell One-eight]

Hello Lionel, Holley and fire they seem to go together! I was asked to sort one out and the float level was to high. I left it till early morning removed the bung started the engine and fuel came out and almost immediately FIRE! In those days BCF extinguishers were legal. The flames were out in less than a second. One of the things that makes them flood is the o rings in the adjustable needle and seat assembly. The rings must shrink a bit if the vehicle isn't used for a while. If you start it up it will flood and carry on.  I found it was best to fill the carby up ( electric pump ) the day before use and it was usually ok. I had an old friend who had an Inter van with a 354 and he had an overdrive box and it gave incredible fuel economy. He said that the axle assemblies with floating axles had a good range of ratios too. An interesting project good luck!

[john.k]

Interesting ...I d be interested to see the Data plate from the front LH door....Ive never seen a D1210  4x4 ,and I suspect yours may be a D1310 with the body off a 1210 ,or maybe just a door.......I do have D line partsbooks ,latest being dated 20/6/1974,and the back axle in your truck will be very different from a 1210 to a 1310......In a nutshell ,if you have a rear axle with a removable carrier (centre assy) ,like a bigger truck ,its a 1310......the 1210 is a Spicer type /Dana 60 with a one piece  centre casting and pushed in tubes either side .(somewhat similar to the front.)....Brakes quite different.

[Lionelgee]

Hello John,

The vans were made as special contract for Telecom. I found a copy of the D-Series International range and it shows the 1210 as the only van available. It is a single wheel rear axle. As you suggest John, the Telecom contract for "Service Vans" or as I knew them as "Linesman's Vans" could have seen the factory dropping the 1210 van onto a 1310 four wheel drive train.

The sales brochure for the D-Series describes, The D-1210 utility of panel van will do your bidding up to 12600 lbs GCW. Its versatility is only limited to the amount of uses you can find for it.

It is powered by an International 6281 petrol 6 cylinder engine with BHP of 142 at 3800 RPM. It has a four speed transmission with the availability of three speed on the panel van version. It has a 3500 lbs capacity front axle and a 5500 lb rear with full floating axle shafts.

All this helps to make the D-1210 a popular choice for light duty transport buyers.


As mentioned before in this post - there were no other vans advertised in the sales brochure. Even though the brochure goes all the way up to the D-1910 and the D-1950.

The first vehicle advertised with four wheel drive is the D-1310 then it goes up to the D-1610 four wheel drive. Perhaps they needed to combine a van shape with four wheel drive capability and this came out as a Telecom "Special" contract.

Kind regards
Lionel

[Bluebell One-eight]

Lionel, it's not the first time something like this has come up. If you believe the pundits the 6-283 was a military only engine, BUT the local milk factory had a c line prime mover that pulled a tanker and it had one. I asked the driver why it had a different note, and old Lex said " it's got twin carbies and twin exhausts" The smart alec teenager said " Bulls...." He opened the bonnet and sure enough two big strombies were leering at me. Looks just like an X2 I said, and he said " It goes like one too, but it's bloody thirsty" The 283 wasn't in any catalogues either, but was a special order option. It seems Inter would go the extra mile to get a sale with the van you have. A real piece of history.

[Lionelgee]

Lionel, it's not the first time something like this has come up. If you believe the pundits the 6-283 was a military only engine, BUT the local milk factory had a c line prime mover that pulled a tanker and it had one. I asked the driver why it had a different note, and old Lex said " it's got twin carbies and twin exhausts" The smart alec teenager said " Bulls...." He opened the bonnet and sure enough two big strombies were leering at me. Looks just like an X2 I said, and he said " It goes like one too, but it's bloody thirsty" The 283 wasn't in any catalogues either, but was a special order option. It seems Inter would go the extra mile to get a sale with the van you have. A real piece of history.

Hello Bluebell One-Eight,

Yes, they seem to be genuinely rare on the ground.

One of the things I have to become more acquainted with is the treatment of stress cracking in fibreglass around door hinges. I have done fiberglassing as a hobby since making kayaks in Year 10 "Plastics". At this stage I can envisage a length of square hollow section bent to follow the profile of the vehicle side. Then numerous layers of glass to blend its appearance in with the rest of the vehicle.

Still waiting on the Holley carburettor rebuild kit that is coming from Western Australia. It would be good to be able to start and drive Bluey without it catching on fire again.

Kind regards
Lionelk

[john.k]

The twin carb motors were fitted to the 6x6 accos .....only difference was the manifold (and carbies).......the difference between the std motor and the 282 and 283 was in the head .....the 2 and 3 s had positive valve rotation and sodium cooled exhaust valves.....There were plenty of the bits about ,and later on the army sold a lot of recoed motors in crates......I bought some ,and a big selling point was they were crated ....sold about 5 to one crowd in Fiji ,another 5 to someone in Indonesia...We wrtecked lots of the army ACCO s ,there was a lot of demand for diffs and axles ,especially ......not much for the petrol motors ,easier to fit a Perkins .I fitted to Perks to about a dozen ACCOs over years ,and to lots of other inters ,including my AB110/C1100 panel van...a steel bodied van ,much sought after now ,not then.

[Lionelgee]

Hello John.K,

How are you John? Thank you for replying to my posts about the D-Series van.

Can you please check your Personal Messages? I sent you a couple on the 19th of this month. It would be good to hear from you.

Kind regards
Lionel

[john.k]

Sorry about that ....I get a zillion emails ,as we all do ,and dont check that regular.........anyhoo ,Ill answer you re questions here ,as others may not know ....First ,the small Inter 4x4s have the New Process transfer case model 205 or 206 ...the 206 is supposed to be heavier duty ,but I dont see it ....... The 1600 4x4  has the Rockwell four shaft case ,known as a"cloverleaf" ,a lot bigger and heavier ,and not a bad case .......None of these cases has anything to do with the gearbox .....entirely separate..........Second...the gearbox in the 1600 and 1300.....there are two different types ,the earlier trucks had the Borg Warner T98A gearbox ....the D lines and late C lines have the New Process 435 box ,which IH call the T17.....the T17 in the small inters 1200/1300/1500 is very similar to the box in the 1600,but not directly interchangeable ....the flywheel pilot bearing is a different size ....if the front gear is swapped ,the boxes are interchangeable .......note that no IH truck has gearbox and transfer together like Landctuisers etc.....(drive couplings/uni s etc are different small to larger ,but easily swapped ).........note no 4x4 has a brakedrum on the gearbox ,which all 4x2s have .....John.

[Lionelgee]

Hello John,

Way back in May 13, 2016 in a Diesel Replacement thread I started you replied: If you want to look at an Inter 1300 with a 354 Perk in it, there is one quietly rusting away in my back yard in Brisbane.

I am planning a trip to Brisbane fairly soon. I would like to take up your offer of being able to have a look at your converted 1300. Could you please PM me? Thank you.

Kind regards
Lionel

[Lionelgee]

First Carburettor Rebuild

Hello All,

Over the past couple of days I have working on the Holley Carburettor and watching a number of "How To" YouTube clips and reading Holley special topic manuals - from Holley. A previous owner took out the International engine and gearbox. They then installed a Ford Cleveland 302 V8 and an automatic transmission out of an XA Falcon. Well so the story goes...

You may remember in an earlier post that the carburettor caught fire during my first attempt to start the van once it had arrived at home. So yesterday I dismantled the carby. I found something like a fungus or lichen along with sediment in the float chamber. When rubbed a grey coating like a scale came away from inside the casting.

I also de-sooted the carby after it had previously caught fire and I had to put it out.

One and half cans of carburettor clean later, I followed up with an engine brush kit to make sure all the passages were clear. The brush work was followed with laundry liquid diluted in a bucket. More brush work and the a fresh water soak. The parts were then hung on the clothesline. The last treatment was a blow through with an air compressor nozzle.

I had a Holley rebuild kit supplied by a Holley specialist and another kit brought by a autoparts supplier. I found that the Holley rebuild kit was better made and had parts that a youTube clip included and possible problems if two special washers were not used. The autoparts kit did not include these washers that were mentioned on youTube.

I can now walk up to the van and turn the key and have the engine running.

During the rebuild I had noticed that the previous owner may have just put a rebuild kit through the carburettor without cleaning it. Also, some parts were on back to front or like the washers - missing.

One thing that one of the video blokes mentioned is Holley made some brown plastic floats that when they aged the tab holding the float up to its highest setting softened. As the tab became increasingly softer the float would keep rising upward - flooding the carburettor.

So my first ever carburettor rebuild was a success! Most importantly - no fires!

I have also driven the van around the paddock. Until it stalled. At some point during the drive the van must have either blown a starter motor fuse; or the starter solenoid that had looked pretty dodgey from the outset decided to quit.

Next thing on the "To Do" list is to fit a new solenoid that I have stored in my shed and fit that. Then I will chase some fuses and wiring to track down the starter circuit. Then upgrade the very ratty looking fuse box and install a fused terminal box.

Followed up by rewiring the headlights and front indicators. There currently is a lot of disconnected and bare wires that lead towards the headlights. It looks like someone has grabbed the wires and just pulled them until they stripped and broke off. Then they were just thrown down with bare wire laying here and there.

Kind regards
Lionel

[Chazza]

Well done Lionel.

I have an entire engine-bay covered in soot from my carburettor fire, not looking forward to cleaning it.

Cheers Charlie