International Metro Mite van ice cream milk truck hot rat rod custom 1959 60 61

1959 International Harvester Metro Mite Description

1959 International Metro Mite van. Very cool little van with the short wheel base. It is a unibody, not a full frame. This body style was used for a few years from 58 to around 64. This has a BMC 1,500 CC 4 cylinder engine which I think is the same engine used in the MG MGA cars. It does turn over. I put oil in the cylinders, pulled the valve cover to look inside. It is very clean inside, oil is clean also. I did get compression by putting my finger over the plug hole, but could not get spark to get it to run. It has been sitting for a lot of years, engine condition unknown. When I was turning it over, I seen that it was pumping oil pressure. It is a manual, column shift transmission. When I bought it, it would not roll and appeared to be stuck in between gears. I couldn't get it free with the linkage, but removed the arms from the transmission and then was able to get it into neutral. I did not put the linkage back on nor checked into it any further. So, there might be a transmission or linkage issue. It has 5 on 4 1/2" common Ford/Mopar pattern wheels. There are 2 original looking wheels, 1 on the right rear, the other inside. The other wheels are mismatched ones I had laying around. Left front goes flat every couple days, the rest seem to stay up. Hub caps are all mismatched and none are correct. The body has dents and scratches and some rust. There are patch panels screwed on in front of the doors on both sides. I have been under it and it isn't really rusty underneath bad. The glass is all in it, but foggy on the edges and there are probably some cracks. The left door has plexiglass in it, not original glass. That one is supposed to go up and down, right side is fixed. The main floor has surface rust and pitting, but is not weak. There is rust out in both step areas. Right door slides open/closed and latches both ways. Left side is a challenge to get open and the track/rollers would need some attention. There is an extra window cut in on the right side. There was also a 4" hole cut in the roof, right rear corner where it looks like there was a chimney at one time. I covered and sealed that to prevent rain getting in. There was also a fold down bed and a mocked up sink inside, so somebody was planning on going RVing at some point. The 2 rear doors open/close/latch. There are some extra holes where there was a external lock mounted. There are also a few extra holes in the body where they drilled and mounted the inside bed. The gauges are in it as is an original looking radio. Outside antenna probably not original. There were a couple chrome horns mounted on the roof. I removed them and caulked the holes shut. The original grille has some dents. Both Metro Mite scripts are there as are all METRO letters. The IH emblem is missing in front. The gas door has a little flipper installed to hold it shut. Overall, a very cool little van that would make an awesome street rod, rolling billboard for your business or make a vendor van out of it and make some money. If you intended on updating the drivetrain, I would guess this engine would be worth some pretty good money to a MG person. Local pickup in N.E. South Dakota. Clear title. I will store it for a short time (outside) after it is paid in full.