Without a doubt one of the coolest machines on display at ConExpo-Con/Agg in Las Vegas this March was a former dump truck that had been sitting on a fence line in rural Missouri three months earlier.
Summit 752
Gabe Owens was the lead mechanic on the project.
By the time the 1973 International Loadstar 1700 arrived at ConExpo, it had been tricked out by a team of mechanics at Summit Truck Bodies with a 707-horsepower 2015 Challenger Hellcat engine, placed on a 2010 Dodge 5500 chassis, and upfitted with a Summit service body and matching crane.
“We wanted to do something that would showcase Summit Truck Bodies is innovative and quality and we think this has done that,” said Duston Hansen, a Summit service technician. “No one, to our knowledge, ever done a Hellcat swap into a big heavy truck, medium duty truck. And we did 100 percent of this restoration on our own. From the restoration of the International, to the installation of the Hellcat, all the custom fabrication, 100 percent of what you see what done in house by Summit truck body employees.”
Summit 773
Summit 6K crane is among the features.
Kris Eidsness, manager of the Summit plant in Wathena, Kansas, was looking for a special project for his crew to work on. And when he came across the truck for sale online, he arranged to bring in to the shop.
“And in early October, a 73 International Loadstar 1700 dump truck come into the shop and 90 days later this rolled out,” Hansen said.
10 years in a field
Gabe Owens, the lead mechanic on the rebuild, said that a 10-year-old photo on Google Maps showed the truck had been sitting on that fence line for at least a decade. After it was brought to the shop, Owens took a can of gas and a battery out to the truck and had it running within 10 minutes. But it didn’t keep the original power train for long.
In addition to the new engine and chassis, it has a front and rear Kelderman air ride kit to give the truck a hotrod look.
Summit 793
Original dashboard was modified to incorporate the Hellcat cluster.
Assisting Owens with the build was Miles Clary while Jeremy Wisier did the drafting and Robbie Blythe and Aaron Keith took care of the paint, which alone cost $20,000, Owens said.
That paint is EPG extreme black with the trim in PPG copper penny, Hansen said. “And everything that doesn’t have copper penny or extreme black has got Line-X shot on it,” he added.
For the rebuild, Owens and Clary were able to use most of the original cab except for the fenders, which were dented and had to be replaced.
“The doors, the hood, the center section, the grille, the pieces around the grille, the dash, everything is original on the truck,” Owens said. “We cleaned it all up. The dash was a little different because we tried to incorporate the Hellcat gauge cluster, the touch screen, the air conditioner controls and everything into the original dash.”
Not just a play toy
He and Clary made hand sketches of how they wanted the layout to look and took them to Wisier for drafting. “And he’d just kind of laugh at us and sent parts out and we’d put it together,” Owens said.
Other features on the truck include a Summit 7 series truck bed, a Summit 6K electric-over-hydraulic crane, electric-over-hydraulic outriggers, and a Vanair Viper gas-powered compressor, “powered straight to the fuel supply” because the truck doesn’t have provisions for a power takeoff.
“So she’s not just a play toy,” Hansen said.
Summit 738
A 707-horsepower Challenger Hellcat engine drives the rebuilt truck.
To have the truck ready in time for ConExpo involved a “pretty crazy” last week before the show, Owens said. They were told that if time was tight, they didn’t have to shoot for Vegas.
“But the guys that were working on it, said, ‘No. The hours we’ve got into it, if it doesn’t go to Vegas, then we’ve failed,’” Owens said.
“And here it is. It was an awesome project to do. One of the biggest things in my opinion is the fact that the company we work for allowed us to do it.”