Home-Built IH

2002 - Volume #26, Issue #5, Page #21

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Home-Built IH "Jalopy"

In 1971, a youthful Steve Zimbrich salvaged a 4-cyl. Continental engine out of a 1949 IH combine and built a little jalopy.
    Zimbrich, of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, says building the jalopy was one way he and his brothers honed their shop skills, and that each of them built something similar while growing up. His brothers later went on to race stock cars in their spare time from farming.
    Zimbrich's little hot rod still gets a lot of use around the farm, often pulling light wagons. "It's low to the ground so it's easy to get on and off," he says.
    In 2001, his sons Nick, 11, and Chris, 14, asked if they could enter the jalopy in a parade in a neighboring town.
    "We couldn't do that in the shape it was in, so we decided to clean it up a little and put on some fresh paint," says Zimbrich.
    What started out as a little cleanup turned into a major makeover and restoration project. "We probably spent four times as long redoing it as I did building it the first time," he admits.
    To make the original jalopy, Zimbrich mounted the old hand-cranked combine engine on a frame salvaged from a 1956 Chevrolet. He used the rear end from a 1958 Ford, and the steering column and gears were salvaged from a 1957 Ford.
    Nothing about the frame or engine was changed in the makeover, but he remounted the seats to make them ride better and added leather seat cushions. Everything was taken apart and cleaned. Then new parts were added and the entire jalopy was reassembled. "I'd welded a lot of the parts together originally. This time, I took the time to make brackets for the seats and a lot of other parts, so we could bolt it together," he says. He added new fenders, which were made with some help from a local welding shop, and this time, he installed running boards. He also added a new front bumper, made from 4-in. channel iron, with a cut-out for the engine crank. Even so, he also had to add several inches to the crank so they could start it from in front of the bumper.
    Once the Zimbrichs had it all together and knew the old and new parts were going to fit correctly, they disassembled the entire vehicle, sand blasted off the old paint and rust, and repainted. Then they added new decals and finished it off with some classy hubcaps from a 1966 Ford Fairlane GT and a stainless steel exhaust pipe.
    He put a block on the throttle so maximum engine speed is about 200 rpm's below what it would have been on the combine. "This keeps the top speed down to 10 or 12 mph," he says, "which makes it safer to ride on."
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Steve Zimbrich, 5710 Town Hall Drive, Sun Prairie, Wis. 53590 (ph 608 837-6515).

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Home-Built IH Jalopy AG WORLD Ag World In 1971 a youthful Steve Zimbrich salvaged a 4-cyl Continental engine out of a 1949 IH combine and built a little jalopy Zimbrich of Sun Prairie Wisconsin says building the jalopy was one way he and his brothers honed their shop skills and that each of them built something similar while growing up His brothers later went on to race stock cars in their spare time from farming Zimbrich s little hot rod still gets a lot of use around the farm often pulling light wagons It s low to the ground so it s easy to get on and off he says In 2001 his sons Nick 11 and Chris 14 asked if they could enter the jalopy in a parade in a neighboring town We couldn t do that in the shape it was in so we decided to clean it up a little and put on some fresh paint says Zimbrich What started out as a little cleanup turned into a major makeover and restoration project We probably spent four times as long redoing it as I did building it the first time he admits To make the original jalopy Zimbrich mounted the old hand-cranked combine engine on a frame salvaged from a 1956 Chevrolet He used the rear end from a 1958 Ford and the steering column and gears were salvaged from a 1957 Ford Nothing about the frame or engine was changed in the makeover but he remounted the seats to make them ride better and added leather seat cushions Everything was taken apart and cleaned Then new parts were added and the entire jalopy was reassembled I d welded a lot of the parts together originally This time I took the time to make brackets for the seats and a lot of other parts so we could bolt it together he says He added new fenders which were made with some help from a local welding shop and this time he installed running boards He also added a new front bumper made from 4-in channel iron with a cut-out for the engine crank Even so he also had to add several inches to the crank so they could start it from in front of the bumper Once the Zimbrichs had it all together and knew the old and new parts were going to fit correctly they disassembled the entire vehicle sand blasted off the old paint and rust and repainted Then they added new decals and finished it off with some classy hubcaps from a 1966 Ford Fairlane GT and a stainless steel exhaust pipe He put a block on the throttle so maximum engine speed is about 200 rpm s below what it would have been on the combine This keeps the top speed down to 10 or 12 mph he says which makes it safer to ride on Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Steve Zimbrich 5710 Town Hall Drive Sun Prairie Wis 53590 ph 608 837-6515

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