Help Needed - '54 R-110...what do I have on my hands?

Hello!
Please try to bear with me....I'm a total greenhorn in this area:

My wife and I were looking for an older truck. After doing research and looking for months, we came across this 1954 International. Guy wanted a fair amount

The history that were were told is:
* Barn find that was amateurly restored by an old man
* Runs, Drives, Stops (I drove it 60miles home)
* Original Cab - replacement fenders from out West
* Original Straight-6 / 4-speed manual
* Original Glass
* Home-made wooden deck in bed
* Holes for a tire-carrier, but not included
* Hardly an visible rust and the frame looks to be in decent shape
* Tailgate
* 44K miles

We got it home last night and started doing more research than what we originally did.

A couple of things I found out on the way home:
-Headlights stopped working
-Brakes are tough to operate
-After sitting for 24hrs in the garage - got a 3" puddle of oil under the engine
-small drip of oil from the rear diff


I'm trying to find out if we're in trouble, or if we're in good shape. If we need to sell it, I'm relatively confident that we may be able to unload it for what we paid. I plan on talking with a mechanic Monday to see what they would be willing to do some work on it.

I plan on driving it around town, picking up lumber, hay, and other light-duty stuff. 40miles round trip would be the mx in a day.

For some reason, the guy kept making a big deal about the door ID tag. Is there anything special with this, or is it just a run-of-the-mill 1954?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

From my perspective, looks like you got a home brewed restoration and from the approximate 15 - 20ft distance you took the photos, looks pretty good. About the truck itself. Although it says R-110 on the cowl, you actually have a model R-112 as it indicates on the door tag. But don’t fret, that’s a typical logo for the cowl and the “extras” placed on the truck at the factory “upgraded” it to a model 112. Those extras are: longer wheel base, heavier springs (for heavier load carrying), perhaps heavier duty tires, four speed floor shifted transmission (with “granny gear” first). For the model 112, there should have been a spare tire carrier on the outside of the bed, between the passenger door and right rear fender. Yours seems to be missing unless yours is one of the rare under bed mounted spare tires. The bed of you truck more than likely came from the factory with a steel floor in the bed. The floor would have had a shape similar to a squared up sine wave with the sections about 2.5-3” wide and about .75” tall. Since the floor of the bed has finished wood in it, it likely has been removed for the wood to be installed. The running boards were originally steel as well and they have been replaced with wood. The bed floor and running boards typically receive a lot of abuse on the farm and usually need repair or replacement. No one makes OE copies, ergo, wood is an easy fix.
As for the leakage, that’s pretty standard for an old truck - engine and rear end. What’s going to be rough is getting all the gaskets and seals to replace what’s leaking. Many guys have found success at NAPA stores, but depending on where you live, it could be harder than for a Ford or Chevy to get parts. If you have a good mechanic that can work on old vehicles, you’ll be way ahead of the game. You did not indicate your skill level as far as mechanical abilities. So I’m assuming you don’t ordinarily perform engine overhauls or rebuild transmissions or the like, but may have some mechanical abilities or you wouldn’t have chosen to purchase an IHC and trust that it is a common occurrence to get one repaired. Parts are hard to come by, especially body parts, but your truck looks relatively complete and seemingly rust free. As for the brakes. No power brakes on these babies. That takes a little getting used to and some mild recalibration of your leg muscles when you’re driving it. It wouldn’t hurt to have that mechanic do a once over on the brakes to satisfy your inquisitive nature before putting many miles on it.
All in all, 8k for what you bought seems a little high, but I don’t know what the market is for old vehicles for your area. Looks like you got one that is about a 7-7.5 out of 10 but other guys could grade higher or lower. Enjoy your truck no matter what!
Welcome to the best website to find out about IH trucks. Check in often.

What you have is what I call a first generation R series,

Uses same cab as earlier L series with 2 small rear windows, midway through the R series production they went to second generation cab with big back window,which later S series used too,

There are some other differences between the cabs, but back window is easiest way to ID,

The tag says 112 which is a 110 with a little heavier hauling capacity by either overload springs or heavier spring pack,

The first generation R series were made from mid 1953 to roughly mid 1954,

You can go to Wisconsin Historic Society database to look up chassis number, it will tell what year, then you can kind of guess what month,

International didn't do date codes back then like other makers

Thanks!

You guys rock!!

I'm really excited about it - just want to make sure I'm in good shape.

I have basic mechanical ability, but I'm not tearing down an engine any time soon.

My plan it to get it to a mechanic (trusted/I have history with him) and go over it.

I don't want/need it to be perfect - just the ability to drive around town and not ruin anything.


As for the spare tire carrier - yes....it has the holes for one, but it's missing. What are my chances of finding one?

Here are some other closer pics...I can get some more on the computer later if there's anything else I should be showing.

Thanks again!

As far as the spare tire carrier, post in the wanted section, exterior parts wanted. Lower part of the main page.

My L110 is similar to your R112 as bedrockjon indicated. Most notable difference is the front grill and I have the short wheel base. When my truck was rebuilt, I didn’t have the spare tire mount reinstalled. It is possible I still have it. I believe it would work on your truck since IH made many of their parts universal to fit numerous applications. As you will find out about parts for these trucks the cost of shipping from one place to another usually is higher than the cost of the part itself. Therefore, the part usually stays where it is.

It might help you cause if other members knew which state of province you are in. For instance, if you lived anywhere close to me in British Columbia, I would give you a spare tire mount. This mount may be one of the ugliest ever made.
In one of the pictures you posted, the truck box looks like a longer than eight feet option. Here is a good idea that works rally well. Go to you local Ram Truck recycler and buy a spare tire mount. The spare tire mounting system is a hand turned cable winch that lifts the spare tire up and against the bottom of the box, at the back. If in fact yo do have the longer than eight foot box, there will be more than enough room for the spare tire winch thingee.
Here is a link so you can see what I am talking about. Do not get all silly about the retail price. This part is often free at the recycler/wrecker.
Back in the bad old daze, an oil leak might get a person a community service award for keeping the dust down. In 2018, an old truck or an old guy like me can get some negative attention when we mark our spots. The fix for these leaks can be relatively easy and inexpensive. If the oil is coming from the crankcase breather/road vent tube on the left side of the engine, hang a soup can over the end of the tube to catch the drips. Take a pee in the can and dump it all out when you are not being watched. My R120 leaked oil. I got a friendly green warning ticket from the environment police. I used to carry a large piece of cardboard to toss under the "R" when I drove it to visit "sensitive" friends. The wife of one of the guys I used to work with blames me and my R120 for causing her so much stress that she went into menopause a decade earlier than she thought she should. Her husband, my friend, told her I am an amateur OBGYN and if she was nice to me, I might be convinced to take a look at her problem. He regained consciousness, in the hospital, the next day.
https://parts.villagechrysler.ca/p/Ram_ ... TsQAvD_BwE

Congratulations. That's a nice truck. Looks super solid.
As far as the Spare tire goes..
This would work:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1950-1952-Inte ... Ag&vxp=mtr

WOW, I had a local place figure out the metal and cost to put one together and it only came to $27.00 each if I had them make 10 at a time, less if I went a higher price. That was 6 years ago.

rockauto has a lot of parts (gaskets, etc...) for your truck and there is a discount code in the venders forum, just put the code in "how did you hear about us" box

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/int ... 697,engine