New pics of Fenway

[QuantumJo]

Great looking truck.

[Gordon Maney]

I think the wheels look great. They are not so different from combat wheels in concept or aesthetics.

[W_A_Watson_II]

Kevin she looks FANTASTIC!

[NNICKB]

Sigh. This truck is the twin of what mine is supposed to look like. Some day...

[Kevin Mienke]

Thank you everybody for the nice words. I had forgotten how satisfying it can be to shoot some pictures and share them.

Rebuilding these old trucks is rewarding enough, but it sure is nice to hear good things from other rebuilders.

[RTSrunner]

Fenway

Kevin,Did your truck have body color fenders originally?Is there an option code on the trucks for body color fenders vs standard black painted fenders?Regardless ,your truck looks awesome!Is it a stock driveline?
Ron

[Kevin Mienke]

Kevin,Did your truck have body color fenders originally?Is there an option code on the trucks for body color fenders vs standard black painted fenders?Regardless ,your truck looks awesome!Is it a stock driveline?
Ron

Some Power Wagons were special ordered to have cab colored fenders, headlight buckets and cowl lamp buckets. My truck was a service station truck that was originally Omaha Orange with cab colored fenders. Unless a truck was special ordered, these things were always black.

When I got my truck, I had a great deal of patch panel work to do and a ground-up rebuild was in order. I decided to change to dark green because my Grandfather's Power Wagon was dark green. It is not Dodge's ponchartrain green, but rather a custom color with a bluish tint. The Dodge green has a bronzish tint.

During my rebuild, I decided to run the original 251 c.i. L-head with the original NP 420 trans and 5.83 gearing. I may go to 4.89 gearing in the future, but, overall, I am happy with the original drivetrain. I can do an easy 45 m.p.h on the highway. If I push it to the limit, I can get over 50.

[Gordon Maney]

If I push it to the limit, I can get over 50.

Do you find it necessary to wear goggles when you go that fast?

[Kevin Mienke]

Do you find it necessary to wear goggles when you go that fast?

Goggles and driving gloves. Also an old aviator's hat if the windshield is cranked open.

Honestly, if I miss something in life it won't be because I was going too fast.

[NNICKB]

My truck is one of the last of the FFPW's, a 1967. It was part of a fleet order by the Pennsylvania Forestry Department, and modified into brush fire trucks. All were a dark bluish green very similar to Kevin's, with body colored fenders. I believe it was a stock color for that year. If you look at some of the sales literature from '67 and '68, you will also see the trucks with fenders painted in the body color.

These trucks were built for a long time, from '46-'68. The early ones are much more common, and most seem to have black fenders. I do not know what was "standard" for the various years. I suspect you could order them either way for all years.

My truck has 5.83 gears, with 9.00-16 tires. When I had it out west, I thought about going to 4.89s. But for around here, with all the hills and curves, it always did fine. Indeed, the low gears give somewhat of the illusion of an automatic transmission, you know, in case you want to drink a cup of coffee or talk on the cell phone. Plus you don't have to worry about outrunning your brakes. The 251 seems to have a big jump in power over 230s I have driven.

[Kevin Mienke]

Simplicity can be defined as eliminating the unnecessary so that the necessary can be seen. Dodge understood this when they built the Power Wagon.

The focus of my rebuild was to maintain the utilitarian simplicity of this unique truck.