1953Reo Civil Defense Van1948Diamond1949International1950Food1951Truck1952T

Description

This vehicle is a very rare if not unique 1953 Reo Model F22B two ton truck with a 150 inch wheelbase riding on 9.00 x 20 tires. The steel Civil Defense ban body was built by the Boyertown Auto Body Works in Boyertown Pennsylvania. This truck was used in the Spokane Washington area before it was retired and brought to Bozeman Montana about 25 years ago. It was originally painted white with blue trim and was professionally repainted as you see it now about 20 years ago.
The engine in this gem is a Reo Gold Comet 6 cylinder overhead valve gasoline unit with wet sleeves. It displaces 292 cubic inches and was rated at 128 horsepower at 3,200 RPM.
This truck has a 5 speed un-synchronized transmission and a vacuum shifted Eaton 2 speed rear axle with a dash mounted control. This truck has vacuum boosted hydraulic brakes and dual rear wheels with 9.00 x 20 tires all around
The bare chassis weighs 6,400 pounds while the maximum gross vehicle weight rating of this loaded truck is 20,000 pounds. I  have not wighed this empty truck and don't plan to. I am guessing that this complete truck will weigh around 10,000 pounds. The overall length is             while it is               wide and             high.
The engine still runs like a fine watch since this truck has only 36,803 original miles on it. I believe there is a very minor leak on the exhaust manifold somewhere but have not tried to find it yet. The previous owner told me he and his brother bought new sleeves, pistons and piston rings from J. C. Whitney about 30 years and 30,000 miles ago and rebuilt this engine back then. He said it really did not need rebuilt but they had nothing better to do so they did nit anyway.
Since the hydraulic brakes are not working, I have only driven this truck around the block once and have not driven it on the highway. I suspect the brakes will need new wheel cylinders, hoses and a master cylinder to make them as good as they need to be. The clutch works fine and the steering is very nice and tight with very little if any play in the steering wheel.
The vacuum switch to the right of the steering column on the dash still shifts the Eaton 2-speed rear axle just as it should. The transmission is an un-synchronized 5-speed unit with low and reverse all of the way over on the right side of the shift pattern. The tires are all 9.00 x 20 bias ply with excellent tread but there is some cracking on the sidewalls. There is a correct spare wheel and tire stored up under the rear of this fine original vehicle.
The previous owner said he put about 30,000 miles on this truck traveling around the western half of the USA splicing copper communication cables. He said this truck created quite a stir every time it came to a job site. After he retired from working, he sold this truck to the log home company that added their logo to both sides. That log home business owner later sold this truck back to the man he bought it from who is the same man I bought it from.
To me, the worst thing about this entire truck is the fact that the previous owner discarded the single original folding bucket driver's seat and installed a front seat assembly from an automobile of the 1980's or so. I guess that is really no bid deal because such old seats are available if one looks for a while. The gray cloth upholstery on the present seat is still in very good functional condition.
There is no significant body damage anywhere except for some minor rust issues.
The only rusted through metal I can find on this entire truck is in 2 places. There is some at the very bottom of the right side of the body right in front of the right rear wheels. There are also some blisters at the upper right front corner probably due to the presence of some mice urine in that area at one time. Both of these rusted through areas are shown in the last 2 photos of this listing.
The silver paint is oxidized a bit but still in relatively good condition. Some of the yellow log home graphics are painted on and some are yellow vinyl decals. I think the yellow decals would scrape off fairly easily but the yellow paint may be more difficult to remove.
Please notice the very distinctive arrow type 1950's vintage turn signals on each rear corner of this gem. These turn signals were most likely added after this vehicle was manufactured. Turn signals were not required on trucks in most states in the early 1950's but later laws required that they be retrofitted to trucks like this above a certain GVW rating. Please also notice the very distinctive headlamps that have the park lamp on the top of the headlamp housing. Such headlamps are now very popular with street rodders and rat rod builders.
This very special body has sliding doors on both sides at the front
as well as a hinged full height personnel access door on the back. This body
also has 6 storage compartment doors on both sides for access to 18" or so deep wood framed storage compartments where tools and supplies were stored.
As you can see in one of the photos looking ahead from inside the open rear door, twin padded benches are on both sides of the inside of the body. There is a ladder on the right rear corner of the body for access to the roof of this body.
The very special chrome plated die-cast metal hood ornament that says F22 is damage free and still wearing it's nice original chrome plating. The GOLD COMET engine name plates on both sides of the front of the hood are also chrome plated die-casting in exceptionally nice original condition.
The R-E-O name plated on both sides of the back of the hood are stainless steel stampings in excellent original condition as well. The rather fragile unique alligator hood and louvered grille assembly appears to never been damaged yet and that is very unusual for a commercial vehicle of this vintage.
The two stainless steel trim pieces on the lower front of the hood grille are in superb original condition too. The original steel channel front bumper appears to never have sustained any significant damage yet. It has a pair of steel angles bolted to it where a tow bar was used to move this truck about 6 miles a few months before I bought it.
A friend hauled this on his trailer for me for the recent 12 mile trip to my warehouse in order to avoid any damage to the transmission which can occur when towing a vehicle like this very far with the transmission in neutral. When towing a vehicle very far with the transmission in neutral, the pocket bearing between the back of the transmission input shaft and the front of the transmission output shaft can become dry and sustain damage. One should either remove the drive shaft or both axle shafts to avoid such transmission damage when towing a vehicle like this very far
.
The original steering wheel has the typical age cracks but still has it's original and very distinctive horn button that has the name REO if special script letters. The electrical system was upgraded from 6 volts to 12 volts about 30 years ago using a GM alternator to replace the original generator which I do not have. There is a battery tray to accept one or a pair of batteries hooked in parallel under the right front floor area just inside the right side access step. Getting a battery in and out of that area is a bit of a challenge when laying on one's back on the ground while holding the battery overhead.
I can help to arrange safe and economical delivery but it will take me while because many transporters I deal with can not haul a vehicle as large and as heavy as this one is. I have several more larger and more detailed photos I can email to you if you send me your regular email address.
This is a very rare opportunity to acquire a very special vehicle in exceptionally nice original condition except for a professional repaint many years ago. If you have need for a vehicle like this for a display, light use work truck, lunch truck or whatever, you might do well to give some very serious thought to purchasing this truck while you can. I am sure I will never see or own another truck like t his again. Thanks a lot, Bob Woodburn in Bozeman Montana USA