Restorable???

[Bruce]

I Smell A Fenway.........

So I called up mister Talbert's supplier, Bob Fett about those custom aluminum radiators today. Just told him that I was lookin' for a power wagon radiator like those he has built for Charles Talbert. He said that for about $800 he could build a unit for my power wagon. I went ahead and ordered one. He said he would call back soon and let me know the exact cost. I figure around $900 or so shipped to Colorado... a lot of money, but I figure that when it can cost near $700 to re-core, what's a little more to get something new thats more efficient and durable. Anyway thanks Desoto for all the help and thanks to mister Talbert as well.

JReed, Your rig is going to be one fine looking Power Wagon, I liked it before too!

[W_A_Watson_II]

JReed,

Did you see what I had happen with the Bead Locks? It seems that Brant at Marsh failed to ask me how heavy my truck was, and I broke a couple of bolts. At highway speed and inflation the bolts actually get a lot more bending motion and break. He said I should have ordered the 40 bolt, not 20 bolt style. After all the conversations and e-Mails and drawing and WEB site link, he now claims my truck is too heavy for the wheels!

http://m37.wawii.com/2009.3.html

[JReed]

Thanks for the heads up mister Watson. Thats rather unfortunate. I think my truck is similar to yours in weight, however, I don't think I'll ever do much over 45 or 50, especially being that I'm at over 8000 feet. Either way thats not somethin' that I wanted to hear. You would think that Marsh wheels would be a little more clear about weight ratings on their products or at least a little more intentional about obtaining vehicle weight info from their customers. I like the look of the beadlocks but have wished for some time now that I had gone with one of Stockton's tubless Power Wagon wheels. I would probably have gone with the same size wheel and tire, just not the beadlock and not Marsh. It would be nice to run low pressure at times, I just don't think I'll ever be on any terrain where it's absolutely necessary. Anyway, I have too much money invested in the current wheels to go and change my mind... at least for the time being. Hopefully I won't have any troubles. Thanks again.

By the way, do you know if Kevin Mienke has had any troubles? I know he is running an inch smaller than you at 16, but other than that do you know if his wheels are the same?

[712edf]

Would larger bolts/bolt holes be an option to fixing this bead lock issue?

[vcpowerwagon]

Frame Paint

Jreed,
Nice work on the restoration. I was wondering what brand of frame paint you used?
mkennedy

[Kevin Mienke]

By the way, do you know if Kevin Mienke has had any troubles? I know he is running an inch smaller than you at 16, but other than that do you know if his wheels are the same?

I haven't had any trouble at all. My wheels are 20 bolt, built to the same specs as Will's except that mine are 16's. I think Will's truck is used in a different way than mine, meaning I don't drive as many miles as he does and my off-roading is not nearly as extreme as his.
Highway speeds in my truck never exceed 45 mph and are most commonly under 40.

By the way, your truck is looking great.

[W_A_Watson_II]

Yea, perhaps I do push it's envelope, at both ends. I do (did) run down the road at 55 MPH with no thought and up to 60-65 as required. then on the other end I crawl slowly over rocks.

I agree, Marsh should have asked, they seemed more concerned over the lug bolt pattern, and not about the application. He stressed checking the torque, but none were loose. It's strictly a bending motion that's causing the fatigue failure. Perhaps if your tires are a thinner bead, and the lock ring is tighter to the wheel, you will experience less bending load.

[JReed]

Jreed,
Nice work on the restoration. I was wondering what brand of frame paint you used?
mkennedy

Thanks. I actually had the frame sand blasted and powder coated. Ran me about $300 which seemed pretty reasonable considering the time I would have otherwise spent cleaning it up with a wire brush and scotch bright and painting it by hand. If you don't want to take that route, I've had pretty good results just brushing por-15 on by hand and top coating it with their chasis coat black. Most powder coaters aren't quite as cheap as where I had mine done, but I would definitely suggest gettin' an estimate or two. Might be worth the money to free up the time. Also powder coating is far tougher than your typical paint.

[JReed]

Thanks Kevin and Will.

Yeh, I definitely don't foresee myself using the truck quite like you in those pics mister Watson. Looks fun though... and makes for some cool pics. Also like Kevin, I'm probably not likely to see speeds much over 40 or 45.

Curious mister Mienke, are you runnin a 230 or a 251? I believe the only motor on trucks with the third series beds was the 251 but can't remember for sure. Just want to know if my truck will run at comparable speeds to your's.

[Kevin Mienke]

Thanks Kevin and Will.

Yeh, I definitely don't foresee myself using the truck quite like you in those pics mister Watson. Looks fun though... and makes for some cool pics. Also like Kevin, I'm probably not likely to see speeds much over 40 or 45.

Curious mister Mienke, are you runnin a 230 or a 251? I believe the only motor on trucks with the third series beds was the 251 but can't remember for sure. Just want to know if my truck will run at comparable speeds to your's.

Actually, there ARE some 3rd series trucks with the 230. The third series bed was introduced in 1956 and the 251 was introduced in 1961.

Mine is a 1961 with the original 251 and 5.83 gearing. With 35-inch tires she is capable of 55 mph. I’ve done this and she didn’t like it. She is most comfortable at 40-45 on the blacktop and 5-10 in the field.

My favorite time to drive her is on bird hunting trips when she creeps down rough level B trails at a snails pace. A few patches of soft mud and deep ruts are nothing for the Power Wagon. I just keep driving and she just keeps creeping and eventually we find ourselves in an area where others won’t go.

By the way, you can just call me Kev. I appreciate the respect implied, but Mr. Mienke seems too ceremonial for a yokel like me.

[Bruce]

It's All Yours

Mr. Mienke, you earned it buddy!

[vcpowerwagon]

Thanks. I actually had the frame sand blasted and powder coated. Ran me about $300 which seemed pretty reasonable considering the time I would have otherwise spent cleaning it up with a wire brush and scotch bright and painting it by hand. If you don't want to take that route, I've had pretty good results just brushing por-15 on by hand and top coating it with their chasis coat black. Most powder coaters aren't quite as cheap as where I had mine done, but I would definitely suggest gettin' an estimate or two. Might be worth the money to free up the time. Also powder coating is far tougher than your typical paint.

Thanks for the reply. Looks great.

[JReed]

Radiator

So I've been too busy to do much work on the truck over the last month or so but finally got goin' again this past week. I recieved my new radiator from Bob Fett and am very happy with his work. Originally I called Mr. Fett and told him that I wanted a radiator just like those he built for Charles Talbert's Power Wagons. Fortunately I caught my mistake before he started building the radiator. The radiator on my truck was not like the ones he built for Charles. My radiator needed a setback to create clearance for the fan and such. It also had different intake and exit locations. I ended up just sending Bob my old unit and he used it to measure for the aluminum repro. Anyway, I would recommend Bob to anyone who needs a new radiator. I let him keep my old unit so if anyone is interested, he already has what he needs to make make another radiator that'll fit the 251. Here's a few pics.

[JReed]

I've been tryin' to get an alternator that'll work on my truck but have been havin' some problems. I started by gettin' a remanufacture through car quest. The first one I tried had a pulley that was set back too far from the crankshaft and water pump pulleys. I'm afraid that this misalignment could cause my belts to wear too fast. I returned it to car quest and they suggested that I try an alternator with a double pulley, that way I could use the second pulley and it would be closer to inline with the crankshaft and water pump pulleys. Unfortunately, the extra pulley ended up putting the pulling spool out so far that the fan wouldn't clear it. Aside from that, it still wasn't properly aligned. I returned it to car quest. I decided to go the expensive route and get the alternator through vintage pw. Unfortunately, they sent me the same unit that I originally got through car quest (just triple the price). I have tried pulling the pulley out on its shaft so as to align it, but it comes entirely off the shaft before reaching alignment. The pics will make more sense of this. Can you buy pulleys like what the original alternator had?

[Bruce in BC]

A couple of ideas

Machine the back of the double pulley - basically the pulley closest to the alternator is eliminated .
Machine a new pulley .
Build a new mounting bracket .
Toss out the Mopar alternator and go to a Ford G3 160 amp alternator and make it fit . They are internally cooled and are simple to wire .