1948 KB5 Railway Express

KB5 Front Bumper Filler Panels

The truck uses a stamped sheet metal filler panel between the bumper and lower front section of the fenders. The panels fit and bolt under the top/back edge of the bumper.

Pic #1 - The panels had been painted with undercoating and I used the brush-on paint stripped to loosen/lift much of it and followed up with a putty knife to scrape the majority of it off. Followed this with water and a greenie pad to neutralize the stripper and scour the panels. Did the tops and underneath.

Pic #2 - To get the panels clean, I sand blasted them. I got the tops clean of all paint and the underside I did a basic blasting getting loose paint and rust removed as my plan was to undercoat the underside. I did have to do some slight straightening work on the panels. At the same time I sand blasted the latch plate to which the hood lock locks into. My latch plate had a couple splits from use and I welded these up before blasting.

Pic #3 - Once the panels and latch plate were cleaned up, I used brush-on Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer in the quart can. Painted up all my parts and let them dry/sit for the next weekend. Then I scuffed up the primer with a greenie pad, painted the latch plate black, and applied truck bedliner to the undersides of the filler panels and Rustoleum Hunter Green from a spray can to the tops and let dry.

Pic #4 - Panels are just laid in place to check for fit. The front edge/lip goes under the bumper - which means doing some unbolting to get them back under the bumper.

KB5 GRILLE GUARD



The REA truck was originally fitted with a grille guard. Not many seemed to have these and I don't know why some did and some did not. I wanted to keep it since it was original to the truck. It was removed when I got the truck, but it was inside the box body.

Pic #1 - The grille guard. It had 3 layers of paint and sandblasting it would have taken me some time to do. I brought it to the dustless blaster to have him blast it and epoxy prime it for me.

Pic #2 - I got it back and scuffed up the epoxy primer with a greenie pad and put a coat of Rustoleum metal primer on it. Then let that dry a week, scuffed it with a greenie pad, and put a spray coat of Rustoleum High Heat BBQ Black adding in 2 capfulls of paint hardener. Then let it dry another week. I installed the grille guard using all new bolts and nylock nuts. Hand painted all the new bolts and nuts BBQ black.

Pic #3 - #5 - At the lower left of the guard, I added a small city of Roanoke license plate tag. It can be mounted on top of the State license plate, but I mounted it as a separate plate making my own bracket. Cities in Virginia issued a tag which I assume was for vehicle tax purposes during that era and this truck was based out of Roanoke. I have seen other tax tags of that era and because the filler panel had 2 drilled holes which looked to be for some kind of bracket, I decided to add the small (stamped "48" for the year just as the State license plate is) 1948 Roanoke tag that I bought on Ebay.

I made a simple bracket/stand using a pre-made stand/bracket I bought at Hobby Lobby, then cut it down, and fabricated the 18 Ga steel plate using my die grinder and cut-off wheel that the tag bolts to. Then I welded the steel plate to the cut down base legs. I fabricated and shaped a small plate 3/4" x 11 1/4" to put along the lower front of the tag to sandwich the tag to the back plate. Drilled my holes in the base to match the holes in the filler panel and the holes in the steel plates to match the tag. Painted it BBQ black to match the grille and bolted it together.

Pic #6 - Looking good.

KB5 HOOD SEALS
Part 1


I wanted to add a seal that would attach to the fender, take up the gap between the upper fender ledge and hood, and seal the hood. I do not know if the original trucks used a seal, or simply rubber stop bumpers on the fender ledge.

Pic #1 - Top to bottom: I made a stainless steel filler plate to fit directly above the grille ribs to clean-up the appearance, cover up some of the rusted away metal, and provide a solid base for the seal. Made a cardboard template and cut/trimmed the stainless for fit. I had the stainless and believe it is an 18Ga thickness as it as not very flimsy. Then you can see the lower hood latch release, and next is the hood panel with the latch pin and safety latch. I installed a new spring on it and oiled it up to get it working ell.

Pic #2 - Before installing the seal, I wired up my headlights/running lights and installed the latch parts. I added an extra ground wire on the back of each running light before I had installed them, connected those wires to my wire junction block, and then a ground wire from my wire junction block to the frame. With all the paint and undercoating I used I wanted to make sure I had a good ground for the lights.

The black lines in the photo show the 4 factory paired pre-drilled 1/4" holes along the fender ledge. These look to be more for rubber stop bumpers to keep the hood from rattling rather than a seal, but I used 1 of the 2 holes to attach my seal.

Pic #3 - This is a section of seal and the parts I used. At the top is the hollow seal as purchased at my work and is used on a trailer/box truck rear door. I bought 7 feet of seal. It has a self-sticking adhesive strip and can be used as is or by adding small screws or tacking nails. I provided a cross-section cut and dimensions. This worked on my truck, but may not work on yours depending on the fender to hood gap. If tighter, a flat style seal may work better.

At the left are 1/4" diameter base "push-pins." I bought a push-pin box kit at Harbor Freight that had a nice assortment of these, but I used the smallest ones. The pin at the left is how they look and the pin at the right is the modified pin which I had to trim 2 sides to make it narrow to fit the base and inside of the rubber seal.

Pic #4 - I put painters tape on the fender in line with the 1/4" holes in the fender for a reference point. I used a Sharpie to mark on the tape where the holes were - I only used 1 of these holes for the push pins. I measured how much seal I needed for 1 side from the firewall to the curve going around the radiator front. Gave myself a few extra inches to play with. Then I cut the rear of the seal at a bevel to somewhat match the firewall so it fit fairly tight.

Put painters tape along the seal to match the tape on the fender and use the Sharpie to make a mark to match the marks on the tape on the fender so they line up.

Pic #5 - This photo shows how the push-pins looks installed. They fit into a slice cut into the middle of the seal base using a utility knife

Remove the seal with the painter's tape and set it on it's side. Transfer the Sharpie mark on the painter's tape to the bottom/middle of the seal base on the adhesive tape. This is your spot as to where the push-pin will be located. Using the utility knife, begin a slice/cut 1/2" before you mark, slicing through the mark, and going 1/2" past it. That slice is where the push-pin will be slid through.

Insert 1 flat side of the pin into the slice and use a flat blade screwdriver to pop the other side in. The push-pin will cause the rubber seal to flare out around the push-pin creating a bulge in the rubber base and causing it not to lay flat on the fender ledge. Using the tip of the wire cutters, come in from each side of the pin and snip away a "V" notch just large enough to let the rubber fit around the pin. The utility knife will work, but it would be easier to slip and cut to the edge of the seal making it split or weak. The cutter offers more control. Do this to all the other pins.

Once done, lay the seal on the fender ledge to see that the pins line up with the holes. You can adjust them if necessary forward of backward so the pin will drop in the hole and not be angled to it. If this looks good, remove the protective strip from the adhesive tape on the seal, then set the seal/pins down onto the fender holes. Then knock the pins down into the holes holding the seal straight as you go. The pins and adhesive strip will secure the seal. Form the seal around the curve at the radiator.

Pic #6 - This is how the seal should look if all went ell.

KB5 HOOD SEALS
Part 2

Pic #7- This is the stainless steel filler panel installed. I had to fit/trim it, then drilled 2 holes along each side and secured it to the grille using stainless screws. Just like the side seal, I cut a piece to length butting up against the front of the leg of the earlier installed fender seal . The ends of the seals were cut to fit just like the seal end at the firewall. The nose butt was a little more difficult, so trim a little at a time. It won't be perfect, but can be made fairly good.

Once the seal as cut, I repeated the same painter's tape alignment EXCEPT, I first marked where I as going to drill my 1/4" holes in the stainless panel - be careful not to drill the holes too far to the outside and let the seal overhang to edge. So a little planning and fitting should be done before making your drill marks and the follow-up push pin locations in the seal. Not difficult, just mark/test fit until you get it correct. I had to re-drill 1 hole as I made it too far outside and the seal overhung the grille edge and looked bad - it happens. The adhesive strip will help hold the curve area that will need to be shaped.

Pic #8 - Here is what I ended up with. Then I did the same for the other side.

Pic #9 - The finished hood seal. BUT, I had one small problem.

Pic #10 - When I went to close/latch the hood, it would not lock. The "hood lock pilot bolt" was not going into the lower slide lock far enough to catch. The pilot bolt is threaded at the top, 1/2" - 20 sizing, so it can be adjusted up or down as needed. I needed to unscrew the bolt to "lengthen" it. There is a 3/4" lock nut on top of the bolt you can get to with a wrench above the bracket. The bracket has a nut welded on that the pilot bolt goes in for adjusting length, and once adjusted, you cinche down the locking nut.

Did all that, but could not lengthen the bolt enough to get it to lock correctly or have any threads left to use the lock nut.. It may have been because of the new seals were not compressing enough, but I could not find any areas where the seal was being crushed flat and not flexible - which indicated it was not holding the hood up. My guess is that the truck did take damages to the nose over its lifetime and when I unbolted all the parts for repair/rework and then bolted it all back up, fitment of the parts changed.

Not a big deal, so I thought. All I needed was a longer pilot bolt and most American car makers used the same basic pilot bolt to lock hoods down. The 1967-81 Chevrolet Camaro is 1/2" longer. Slightly different at the cone shape, but I found that the diameter of the shank below the threads is larger, .570" vs .520". This caused a problem with the hole in the spring's lower cup as it was too small. The next problem was the KB pilot bolt spring was too short when using the longer pilot bolt.

I drilled out the hole in the cup so the new pilot bolt could be used. I had a thick washer that I drilled the center hole to work with the bolt and used it on top of the spring to act as a spacer. Installed all the parts and the hood now locks and springs open when released. A few adjustments were made to get the pilot pin to catch correctly, and then the lock nut was tightened down.

KB5 PICS

Just a few photos I took today. Had the truck running today for about 1/2 hour. Moved it to a new spot in my driveway getting it ready for a winter hibernation. Still working on a bunch of little things that need to be addressed and should have it all done before the cold weather sets in.

Nice job and description

Nice job and description

Thank you. It was a bit winded if I say so myself, but I wanted to be thorough should someone want try this.

I did find a photo of a KB online which had a great shot of the "rubber bumpers" under the hood - which was what I thought they might be. This keeps the hood rattling/noise down, but exposes the top flat area of the fender under the hood to the elements and allows water to set there, rusting out the panel and not doing any favors to the underside of the hood. These stops were not aimed at someone saving/rebuilding the truck 75 years later! LOL

The KB truck I got the photo from showed a much tighter closer between the hood and grille, so my rubber seal itself is a bit too thick ad the reason I had to get the longer locking pin. A thinner/different seal would take care of this, but I used what I could get my hands on without searching the web and having to order/wait for it. It's not a restoration, it seals the hood and protects the fender tops, and I am ok with it.

Working on the rear deck/bumper and that will be my next set of photos.

KB5 REAR DECK AND DOCK BUMPER

Nothing trick with this one, just sand, prep, and paint. BUT, what are the correct colors?

I recently got a comment on the truck and was told that the fenders are supposed to be painted black based on 2 REA trucks that the commentator said he restored. I assured him that the fenders were green as I had sanded the layers of paint on the driver's fender and there as no black and the base color was actually red with the REA green painted over it - keep in mind that many of the International farm tractors and equipment were painted red, and my truck was seemingly red as well. I also offered up a photo of a 1949-50 Chevy REA truck I looked at that was too far gone to save, but had green fenders mixed in with all the surface rust. I can't explain why some trucks had black fenders and others did not. I have my theories, but they are just theories.

That said, I have seen a few variations of the colors on the rear deck and dock bumper. The horizontal bar with the trailer hitch at the bottom of the dock bumper is not factory. It was added at some point by a previous owner who used the truck as a camper and I decided to leave it rather than have to cut/grind all the welds. I proceeded to sanded though the layers of paint to see what colors my truck had.

Pic #1 & #2 - Seen is the flat edge surround of the deck. It had a top layer of black, a layer of grey, some bright green, and then the REA dark green, and factory primer. I did not strip the top of the deck as I felt no need to, I just sanded and prepped it. I am confident enough that the deck was painted all green at the same time the rest of the truck was painted green based on my findings of the surround.

Pic #2 & #3 - Sanding revealed the red paint on the dock bumper under the top layer of black and grey AND, painted over the REA green base color. This means that the entire deck and dock bumper were painted green and the red painted on the dock bumper as done afterward - ie when the paint was dry enough.

Pic #4 & #5 - I painted the deck green, the dock bumper red, and the deck surround black to match the side moldings - which is not correct as it would have all been green (and boring, LOL), so black trim is my choice just to add some highlight to the colors.

A couple REA placards on the rear doors and the back is done..

SMALL STUFF

Doing a bunch of small things on the truck that need attention.

I painted a "Safety Yellow" panel with the word STEP just above the lower step. When you open the door, you really cannot tell where the step is and if you are a little off when stepping down, you can easily miss the step - this from experience. Not something done on factory trucks that I have ever seen, but it is a safety feature that may have been appreciated by some drivers.

I cleaned up the original hood/fender emblems. They were aged, so I cleaned them of all their dirt and corrosion, re-painted the black, polished the chrome (which was not perfect and had pitting), and then applied a clear coat to protect. I used rubber cement to coat the back of the emblems to seal then to the body and keep moisture from getting between the emblem and body panels. Any excess rubber cement that squeezes out can easily be rubbed off once it dries. Figured it was worth a try.

Doing a few other minor things on a list I have. I still have to tackle the wipers and get them working. Started them, but was not happy with the way the modifications were going, so moved on to other things. This will be the next project. Truck is all wrapped up in tarps for the winter and will be transported out in the spring. It will get the REA decals once my brother has possession of the truck. It will be an outside display at his railroad ticket office and he is going to have an awning/roof built over the truck to protect it from the weather.

1948 International KB-5 REA Box Truck - From Rags to Riches

I thought I would recap the stages of the truck over time. The first set of pics came from the internet and was the truck as found - rough shape and it was converted to a camper.

The truck was gutted of its camper interior, cleaned up/painted, the wiring was shot, the exterior painted in primer, new tires/tubes, glass/seals, exhaust installed, and an attempt to get the front brakes working - which had wrong parts installed and they barely worked. The engine ran poorly and had no power. But, the truck was for the most part original, still in tact, but very beat up, rusty, and rotted.

6 1/2 years later, it runs and brakes well, is rewired and lights working, and has a new look. I rather not disclose the purchase price as it was a bit high, but it was felt worth it seeing the historic value, its completeness, and the work already done to it when I got it. The receipts show an investment of around $10,000.00 in parts/materials. Labor was free since I did it and enjoyed doing it, but I would not have wanted to see the bill if an outside shop had done the work since many shops now charge $100.00 or more an hour for restoration work.

In hindsight, and from my experience, restoring/rebuilding such an old/obsolete truck in the shape I received it would not have been economical or worth what was invested if the goal was a running/driving truck. The better route would have been not to restore/rebuild the truck as original, but mount the body on a late model truck chassis complete with engine/transmission/rear-end, suspension, and braking system where parts could be had if needed to keep the truck road driveable. Then restore/rebuild the body. If just for display purposes, then keep the truck complete and rebuild/restore the exterior and leave it at that.

So keep this in mind when you see one of these REA trucks for sale on Ebay, Facebook, or Craigslist. It won't be inexpensive to bring back to life and original parts for restoring are not easy to find if you can find them.