In Search of Something New

TOM BROOKS CAN APPRECIATE A CLEAN TRUCK WITH AN IMMACULATE PAINTED FINISH, BUT HIS REAL PASSION IS PATINA— THE RUSTIER THE BETTER, ACTUALLY. In the past, he’s owned and built some pretty sweet rides: a ’48 Chevy pickup, a ’39 Ford sedan and a ’48 GMC Suburban, but for his next project, he was looking to step outside the realm of what’s been done and what’s been seen over and again.

Finding just what he was looking for near his hometown in Kentucky left Tom’s selection of prospects rather limited. Instead of giving up and buying something else for the sake of buying it, he broadened his search and began a tireless sweep of cities and states beyond his home base. Unfortunately, trying to find the right truck within his network of friends didn’t pan out like he was hoping. Nobody had the specific make/model he was scouting. Actually, Tom didn’t even have a specific truck in mind, all he knew was that it had to be different and it had to stand out from the crowd. Simply put, he’d know the right one when he saw it.

TOM CHATTED THE GUY UP A BIT AND ENDED UP MAKING HIM AN OFFER HE WASN’T GOING TO TURN DOWN. TOM HAD HIS TRUCK—FINALLY.”

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Tom ultimately resorted to conducting a cold search online for a truck. He figured even if he found the truck he wanted in another state, he could try to get the best deal possible and spend the rest of his budget getting it shipped to Kentucky. Ebay brought up some decent results, but sometimes those last-second bidding wars pushed the price higher than some of the sight-unseen trucks were worth. At the very least, the auctions were good sources of info and reference material. Tom was going to have to start digging deeper into the world of used car classifieds in order to uncover what he was after. For anyone on the hunt for bargains, Craigslist is a godsend, and with the use of phone apps, scanning through listings in cities around the country is as simple as pointing at a map. Tom ended up finding the exact truck he wanted after a few weeks of sifting through listings, but tracking it down was only half the battle. Now he had to figure out the logistics of getting his hands on the sweet ’64 International Travelette crew cab he had spotted in Arizona.

The difficult part wasn’t overcoming the 1,500-mile distance that stood between Tom and the sweet truck he had his eyes on. Shopping around for shipping quotes could easily bring the truck to his doorstep in a matter of a few days. The hard part was working out a square deal to change the name on the International’s ownership paperwork. Tom put in a few weeks worth of haggling and convincing only to end up being disappointed. The seller wasn’t going to meet Tom anywhere near his offer price. That’s how it goes; it was just another sad story of a guy not getting what he wants. Or was it? Months went by after that deal fell through, but Tom kept searching for his truck, still not settling for less than exactly what he wanted. While flipping through Craigslist ads in Colorado, something strangely familiar appeared on Tom’s screen. It looked to be the very same International that he’d been trying to wrangle in Arizona, but did it really cross state lines and end up being put back on the chopping block in a matter of months Apparently, the truck did sell, and the guy who bought it wasn’t really looking to keep it for the long haul. Tom chatted the guy up a bit and ended up making him an offer he wasn’t going to turn down. Tom had his truck—finally.

When the International arrived in Kentucky, Tom had his good friend, Todd Wilt, give the truck a good once over. Tom has pulled the trigger on a few lemons in his time, and Todd usually tries to be there to inspect his purchases before any money is exchanged. Since this purchase was from out of state, the guys were both in the dark about the truck’s true condition and possible pitfalls. Other than the truck having to adjust to the below-freezing climate when it arrived in Kentucky, it was in decent running condition. The guys were ultimately looking to lower the International, and quickly noticed some red flags upon closer examination of the existing suspension setup. According to Todd, “Someone had set the truck up to haul. It had a mid- ’80s ¾-ton front clip and rear suspension. The work wasn’t great, and we actually found that the rear frame was cracking in a few places. We were wanting to work on the suspension setup anyway, so this just gave us even more of a reason to do it all over and do it right.”

THE AMOUNT OF ATTENTION IT ATTRACTS IS INCREDIBLE NO MATTER WHERE IT HAPPENS TO BE OR WHAT IT’S HAULING AROUND TOWN.”

The first thing to go was the ¾-ton clip, which was replaced with a ½-ton C-10 clip complete with a CPP big brake kit as well as fresh drop spindles and Air Lift ’bags. The entire rear was cut out a foot back from the cab, and a new back- half made from 2×4 stock was fabricated to lay the truck out without worries of causing further frame damage. The guys couldn’t find any eight-lug wheel styles that they fell in love with, so they simply converted the hubs over to a five-lug pattern and selected a set of 20/22-inch American Racing Nova wheels that they felt fit the truck’s existing style. The rebuilding process was completed in just over three months, and since the truck wasn’t going to see any major additions in the form of a shiny paint job or an unnecessarily huge stereo system, their focus was appropriately directed to where the truck desperately needed it.

Even though Tom’s International was massaged back to health and has attended its fair share of show-’n’-shines, it hardly leads the pampered lifestyle of the average feature truck. More often than not, the bed is filled with scrap materials and other items related to Tom’s recycling business. The truck is usually parked outside the gates and serves as an invaluable piece of advertising. The amount of attention it attracts is incredible no matter where it happens to be or what it’s hauling around town. Tom couldn’t have asked for a better conclusion to his search for his perfect truck. The International has just the right look he was after, and the fact that crew cab Travelette pickups aren’t all too common on the highways gives it the ideal touch of mystique Tom was hoping to achieve with this build. Perseverance, once again, paid off.

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNER

Tom Brooks
1964 International Travelette
crew cab pickup
Brooks, KY

ENGINE

• ’80s Chevy 454-ci eight- cylinder
• Custom aluminum radiator
• Turbo 400 transmission with Gear Vendors over/under drive

SUSPENSION

• C-10 front clip
• 2×4 box tube rear frame clip
• 2000 Ford Explorer limited slip rearend
• Custom axles redrilled for a 5.5-inch bolt circle
• CPP 2-inch drop spindles
• American Cobbler wishbone 4-link rear
• Air Lift 2600 ’bags (front), 2500 (rear)
• CCE air ride kit
• Two Viair 480 compressor
• Eight SMC valves
• AVS switchbox
• 5-gallon tank
• Front CPP 13-inch rotors with dual-piston calipers
• Stock factory Explorer disc brakes
• Performed by Todd Wilt of WiltBilt

WHEELS & TIRES

• 20×8.5 and 22×11 American Racing Nova
• 255/35R20 & 295/35R22 Ohtsu FP8000 tires

BODY & PAINT

• Original factory paint with natural Arizona patina
• Stock hood, fenders and grille shell
• Custom wheel tubs in bed
• Pinstriping and lettering by Kevin “Taco” Geary from Louisville, KY

INTERIOR

• Stock dashboard with aftermarket gauges
• Original front and rear bench seats rewrapped in two-tone gray vinyl
• Grant steering wheel
• Factory headliner and door panels

SPECIAL THANKS FROM THE OWNER: “Thank you to everyone who played a part in this build: my sponsors Old Iron Garage, TWD/Rusty Rooster, Cool Cars/CCE, American Racing, T-Shirt Chris, Metal Supermarkets, WiltBilt, Bowes Speed and American Cobbler.”

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