Back in 1992, when Dave Malady was just a teenager, his parents were travelling home from a holiday when a nice-looking rig caught his dad’s eye.
A 1948 International Harvester was sitting in the driveway of a house in Chiltern, Victoria, with a “for sale” sign too tempting to resist.
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Dave’s dad, John, pulled up for a chat with the owner – and decided then and there that he was going to buy the truck.
“A man named Colin Sanders had owned the truck since taking it over from his father, who purchased it in 1948,” Dave says.
“He had recently been pulled over in the truck by an RTA officer, who carried out a road worthiness inspection and proclaimed it unsuitable for public roads.
“Col decided it was time to move the truck on and purchase a more modern means of transporting his timber fence posts and beehives around the local area.”
Sanders was asking $2,000 for the International, which he had named “Argus”.
Included in the sale was a tray load of parts he had accumulated from stripping another truck with a burnt-out cabin, which he had found in a paddock.
“When Mum and Dad got back from their holiday, Dad told me and my brothers that we were getting the truck,” Dave says.
“We were excited, to say the least.
“We had always had an interest in trucks, and the thought of actually owning one was a dream come true!”
Picking up the truck
The next weekend was set for the drive back to Chiltern, unregistered vehicle permit in hand, ready to bring Argus home to Warragul.
“Dad started driving the truck back and it wasn’t too long before he was pulled over by the police around Benalla!” Dave remembers.
“They wanted to make sure we had the right permit to be driving something obviously very old and desperate need of some TLC.”
Dave and his friend, who had recently gained their heavy vehicle licences, then took over the job of driving the truck home, with John following in the car.
“I had limited experience driving any trucks, let alone an old truck with a crash box and two-speed diff,” he says.
“By the time we got to Healesville, it was getting dark and starting to rain. The lights on the truck barely lit up the road ahead thanks to its six-volt system, and the one windscreen wiper it had didn’t work!
“We briefly considered leaving the truck there for the night, but we pushed on and eventually made it home.”
The restoration begins
Once the truck was home and had been taken for a drive by every friend and family member who wanted to get in on the fun, the Malady’s took it for a roadworthiness inspection.
“We were given a list of what was initially required, without getting too picky,” Dave says.
“The truck was in pretty good condition for its age, and at a great starting point for restoration.”
One thing that was decided, though, was that the truck was too long.
“It had a three-piece tail shaft, which just wasn’t practical, so we decided we would shorten it up by taking a 1m section of chassis out.”
But as is usually the case with vacuum/hydraulic brakes, once you disturb them, you need to renew the whole system.
“All wheel cylinders and the master cylinder were either honed or re-sleeved and the hydrovac booster was sent off for restoration,” Dave says.
“All new brake lines were also fitted.”
The strip down
Shortly after this work was carried out, Malady began stripping the whole truck down, right back to the chassis. All major components including the chassis, cabin and panels were then taken for sandblasting and priming.
The panel preparation
The cabin and panels on the truck, although in reasonable condition, needed some work to get them ready to paint.
“It was at this time that a friend of Dad’s, Robbie Dupuy, offered to panel beat the cabin and panels, using the old skill of file finishing,” Dave says.
“The roof was heavily dented from people standing on it in its previous working life, so it and the panels were beaten back into shape using oxy/acetylene, hammers and dollies, files and the slightest smear of filler.
“It was a real pleasure to see the old style of workmanship and the result.”
The engine
“The engines in the K6 line are an International Harvester, BLD 250, 100hp inline 6-cylinder engine,” Dave says.
“According to Col, the original engine in the truck was starting to get a bit tired so he had the spare engine he had acquired from the burnt-out truck rebuilt to the K7 BLD269 spec.”
Sanders had this engine fitted in the truck not long before he sold it.
“I cleaned up the engine and painted it, but at this stage I didn’t touch the internals,” Dave added.
Painting
At this point, Dave had the chassis and driveline components painted.
The cabin and all the panels were then painted individually by Drouin Smash Repairs and fitted to the truck.
“I wanted the truck to be restored as close to the original as possible, including using the original paint codes and choosing enamel paint over the 2Pac option,” Dave says.
“The K line trucks only came out of the factory in International Red or International Green to my knowledge, with the interior painted in International Brown.”
Shiny bits
The Maladys were fortunate enough to have nearly all of the chrome and stainless pieces still attached to the truck, with only a few grill strips missing and the centre grill piece dented beyond repair.
“I was also lucky enough to have two spare nose cones complete with the strips I was missing,” Dave says.
“I did, however, have to have the centre piece replicated by a local engineering firm, which came up the same as the original.
“All pieces were sent off for polishing or re-chroming.”
Unfortunately for Dave, the emblem in the chrome centre piece on the nose of the truck was stolen while he had it in storage.
“Of all the things to be stolen, it had to be the one thing hardest to replace!” he says.
“I did have another one, but it was not in as good condition as the original.
“Thankfully I found a man in Geelong who specialised in the glass etching required to fix the emblem. I enlisted his services and once again had an emblem.”
As for the steering wheel and gear knob, Dave had them pearl coated – something a little different from the original.
Coming together
After the painting was completed, the engine and gearbox went back in, and the radiator was tested and replaced with a spare Dave already had.
All new rubbers were purchased, including the engine mounts, window tracks and rubbers and cab mounts.
The front guards and bonnet were then fitted, and the end seemed to be in sight – until disaster struck.
“Whilst running the engine and trying to adjust the idle to get it running smooth, a knock in the engine developed,” Dave says.
After removing the sump, it was found the crankshaft had broken.
Dave spoke with a local quarry man who had driven similar trucks in his younger years, who told him that this wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for this particular engine.
“I was devastated,” Dave says. “The bonnet, guards and radiator all had to come off and the engine had to be removed again.”
A mechanic friend of Dave’s offered his assistance, and the crank from the original engine was removed and sent for machining.
The pistons, rings and cylinders were found to be in great shape, so the cylinders were honed and the engine put back together, then put back in the chassis.
The interior
Dave had all the glass replaced and worked on the regulators and door lock mechanisms, so they were all in good working condition.
He gave the task of restoring the interior to Warragul Auto Interiors, who did a “fantastic” job.
“The seat that was in the truck was from an old Holden car, and the roof and door linings were in poor condition,” Dave explains.
“A new seat was made from scratch, and the door trims and roof lining were replaced.”
The instrument cluster also got a tidy up, and the speedometer, which had a bit of surface rust, was taken to a screen-printing business.
“They scanned the numbers and printed them back onto the face after I cleaned it up, and repainted it.”
The lull
At this stage, life was getting pretty busy for Dave, with building a house, living away from home, tying the knot and having kids getting in the way of him completing the restoration.
“This lull ended up lasting quite a few years, and I did sometimes wonder if I would ever finish Argus,” he says.
Dave admits he considered selling the truck as an unfinished project, but he held tight – and when he finally found the time to continue his work, something big had changed.
“By this stage, the internet had come along,” he says.
“With the spare parts I had from the purchase of the truck, I was able to help other restorers with various bits and pieces all around the country, via the internet.
“I also made valuable connections for parts and advice I needed. It was one of these connections that got me motivated to keep working on the truck.”
Finishing it off
A major problem for Dave was still the truck’s engine, which was still hard to start. When it did start, it was coughing and spluttering in a way that didn’t inspire much confidence.
“I found a tune up kit on the internet, which I ordered from the US,” he says.
“It included a replacement distributor cap, spark plugs, leads, points and a condenser.
“I installed all the parts and fired the engine.
“What a difference it made – suddenly, Argus was a completely different truck.”
His motivation fired up again, Dave made a list of the work left to do on the truck and started ticking jobs off.
“I went from not going near the truck for years to spending every bit of spare time up the shed,” he says.
Of course, the brakes hadn’t liked sitting around unused for so long, so they needed some TLC once again.
“All wheel cylinders and the master cylinder had to come off again and be re-honed, with new rubbers installed,” he says.
“The hydrovac booster was also sent off for rebuilding once again.”
When Dave started fitting the cylinders back onto the truck, he found that the brake line fittings were failing, so most lines were replaced yet again, the system was bled, and the shoes adjusted.
“I now have a hatred for the sight and smell of brake fluid pools on the shed floor,” he jokes.
Signwriting
Dave couldn’t wait to finally get the truck painted and see his name on the door.
He hired Grant Fowler to do the line work and signwriting, keeping the colours and font the same as the original.
“Grant did a fantastic job,” he says. “I stared at the truck so much when it was finished, I’m surprised I didn’t make the paint fade off!”
The jinker
Ever since he was a kid, Dave had an interest in log trucks, and knew he wanted Argus to be one too.
“When the opportunity arose to purchase a single axle jinker that was once on the same model of truck, I had to buy it,” he says.
“The jinker itself was earmarked to be scrapped. I couldn’t believe my luck when I was told I could buy it!
“I decided I wanted Argus to be a log truck long before I bought the trailer, now I had to set it up.”
Before Dave had the truck sign written, he had shortened the chassis to suit the jinker frame length, and had skids fitted that would carry the jinker.
He also had some other modifications done to ensure the truck, with the trailer folded up on it, was going to fit in his shed.
“I ended up with about a 2-inch clearance,” he says.
Dave also knew he wasn’t going to get the truck passed for club registration without mudguards over the drive axle.
“I had the mudguards made to try and fit the look of the era, even though the log trucks of that era didn’t have any,” he says.
Once he was satisfied the jinker was ready to be painted, it was loaded up and sent for sandblasting and painting.
“Once painted, the jinker was put back together, and a messmate pole was cut to size at a sawmill in Mansfield.
“I kept it rough sawn and put a clear coat of varnish on it to stop discolouration.”
The jinker was then positioned on the back of the truck, with a few adjustments made.
The final pieces were added, including the mudflaps and lights, and Argus was ready for its first inspection for the Club Permit.
After a few minor additions, Dave was given the all-clear to get the truck registered.
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