46 Power Wagon Restoration pt. 2

[Desoto61]

Door latch 3

I installed the pin again and made sure everything was still good and the latch worked correctly. Then I could weld in the latch mount panel, I also needed to add a small patch behind it to close off the gap from the stock hinge as well.

The only two other problems I had were that the hinge has three bolt holes but the latch plate is only drilled for two. I neglected to mark and drill the third hole before I mounted the plate. I want to add it for strength but will have to make a template to get the right position. The second was that the lock arm was rubbing the window glass channel just slightly, enough it was hard to work the lever. Removing a very small amount of material from the lock arm (which is very thick) with a sanding disk was all that was needed. Now I just need to repeat the whole thing on the other side.

One other task I keep coming back to and scratching my head over is the fuel shutoff solenoid. It wants to be exactly where the driver's cowl support rod wants to go. I'm having a tough time determining the best location to relocate it too that doesn't put the linkage in a bind or hit anything else.

[cj7ox]

Nice work!!!

[Desoto61]

Repeat on the other side.

The driver's door went faster, but was not without it's troubles. I remembered to drill out the extra mounting hole before I installed the plate. But I ended up with the mounting plate a little too low for my captured nut and had to make some modifications. Welding this side was a little tougher also as I had more burn-through in places, but the end result was the same.

I hadn't torn down the driver's door since I bought it, so the old latch and window mechanism had to come out before the new latch was installed. Even if I had wanted to re-use the stock latches this one was beyond gone anyway.

[Desoto61]

A solution

Thanks to the 4BT forums someone pointed me toward a solution to my problem with the fuel shutoff solenoid. Dodge/Cummins used a different setup on the mid-late 90s Cummins pickups. A little searching and I found the system. Apparently the Dodge solenoid is smaller than the Cummins one and is more prone to failure, so replacement brackets and solenoids are pretty readily available. There are also kits that replace the Dodge version with the heavier Cummins version.

The kit mounts the solenoid above the lever using three of the pump housing bolts. The modified version is a much better location for clearance and wiring.

My engine used a remote power steering reservoir which came with the engine when I bought it. While access to the pump isn't a problem in the Power Wagon one advantage of the remote system is it is set up for the hydroboost brakes as there are separate return fittings on the reservoir and the pump housing. After playing around for a little while I figured the best spot would be on the firewall just below the clutch master. I cut the stock bracket, drilled a hole and then cut and bent up some bar stock to bolt the mounting bracket to. I tack welded this to the brake booster mount. It's close to the hydroboost return fitting, fairly easy to get to, and not too far from the pump. I'll finish welding it when I tear everything apart for paint.

[Desoto61]

Door latch 4

To get the door handles to work with the new latches I put in an order from Carolina Custom for their interior and exterior handle kit. It provides a pair of mechanisms that are mounted into the door that will accept the handle and transmit the rotation to the latch. They come with mounting hardware and the parts needed to build the linkage mechanism.

The inside handle almost bolts into the stock location, but not quite. So I cut and drilled a mounting plate. I used the stock mechanism to confirm how the original handle was positioned, and made sure the new one was close.

Then I marked and cut out the door area and fitted the patch. The latches are mirror images obviously. So it could be mounted to turn in either direction. I was going to mount it so that it operated like the original but ran into a problem.

I got concerned about the window mechanism. So I remounted the regulator and confirmed that when down the gear sticks up into the latch area. If I mounted the lever down it would interfere, so I switched them so the lever pulls from the top. It's still close but it clears.

There was one issue with the hinge. The company offers different versions with different mounting pins for different handles. This one is the Ford/Mopar version which is a square shank. But it's perfectly square and the original handle has rounded corners. So some sanding and the corners get knocked off till the original handle fits, though it will need to be drilled for the locking pin.

Still need to build the linkage. The kit comes with some rods but I may just bend my own linkage vice using the rods and the connectors provided as I'd be concerned about them moving over lots of cycles.

[Desoto61]

Exterior Handles 1

The exterior handle mounts I ordered are supposed to work similar to the stock mechanism in that they mount to the inside surface of the door at which point the linkage is short and simple between it and the latch. Unfortunately the new latch is too big to allow for the outside handle shaft to pass between the latch and the window channel.

That meant mounting the adapter on the outer side of the door and getting the linkage around the glass channel, which was the harder of the two tasks.

To mount the handle adapter I templated and cut a mounting plate and welded a set of nuts so I could screw it to the door side using some stainless allen head screws like the door latch. This held the mechanism in the original door handle opening. I had to cut down the handle shaft so it didn't hit the latch mechanism.

[Desoto61]

Exterior Latches 2

The linkage was tricky though. Even though the latch and handle mount are close, the window channel runs right between them. I didn't have room to mount the brackets the opposite way so the lever arm faced the edge of the door either.

I first tried making a U shaped linkage to just fit around the window channel but the 1/8" rod stock simply wanted to pull itself out of their holes. I tried a few different configurations, but ultimately went to bigger 3/16" rod, which fit tighter in the holes of the latch and the mount arm, and made a big U shape that went down under the window channel and back up. It still tries to twist but the larger size and length prevent it from pulling loose before it generates enough force to open the door.

I also mounted up the power lock actuator and bent up the linkage for that, but I'm still having some interference issues with the latch arm and the window chanel, so I have some additional tweaking to do. I also need to determine if I want to add a manual release bar and where and how to tie that into the existing linkage.

I duplicated the whole process on the passenger side, which went quicker since I knew how to attack the problem.

The biggest issue I have with the setup is that the latches have a very short release throw, so the handles have a very short movement to actuate the latches. It's not a big deal, but it feels different and if you're not expecting it it may be a little jarring. The exterior handle is better since the linkage has extra slack in it. Adding a little more to the inside latch would also help. The interior mechism uses a slot to retain the rod and I have mine about half-way in the slot normally. Making it longer would add extra throw to the handle before it actuated.

[Desoto61]

Heat and air 1

For climate control duties I'm going with a Vintage Air Gen II Mini. I ordered a mockup unit without the guts for now since it's a lot easier to position and play with and no chance of damaging the real thing. I played around with placement, knowing that the mock up isn't perfect since the wiring and plumbing connections are not there and decided to keep it fairly low to allow enough room for the vent lines but hopefully high enough to not be easily hit by peoples' feet.

For the two forward mounting locations I simply drilled through the firewall and bolted them. Eventually there will be insulation and padding to help dampen vibrations, and maybe some spacers for support, but it's simple and secure.

On the interior side I played with a strap from further aft under the dash so I didn't have to weld to the painted surface of the cowl but it didn't provide the support I wanted. Since I know I'm going to have to re-prime once the filler work is done I broke down and welded a hanger from the underside of the cowl and then bolted the support bracket to that.

[Desoto61]

More door latches

I decided I wanted a manual door lock release just in case, as well as having a visual way to confirm the doors were locked. Naturally that meant re-configuring the door latch mechanism. I started with some round stock and bent up a manual lock linkage. I drilled a hole on the inside of the door big enough to fit a rubber grommet and the bar stock. The rubber grommet will prevent the latch from rattling in the door and helps guide it.

The power lock actuators came with these connector pieces which fit over the round stock and the power lock bar and lock with some small screws. Once I got everything positioned and working, which took a couple of tries the lock was working well, but it was now hitting the interior door handle linkage, so I had to re-arrange that by moving it to the inside of the mechanism closer to the interior skin of the door. All of it fits and works well but it's not easy to install. Luckily I should only have to do it one more time.

Eventually I'll cut it down and thread the end to take a lock knob of some sort.

[Desoto61]

Plumbing - Brakes

Since the Ugly Truckling brake kits are the same front and rear a proportioning valve is needed to prevent the lighter rear end from locking up before the heavier front end. I built a bracket to mount to the hydroboost mounting studs and hold the valve near the master cylinder, then bent up a piece of stainless brake line. The shorter the line, the harder it is to get right. This was my third try.

I used some wire to build a template for the front and rear brake lines before transferring it to the brake tubing. Stainless is harder than OE steel, so it is not as easy to bend into shape. It also requires a different flaring tool as the usual bar style cannot clamp strong enough to make the double flare.

The rear line is trickiest since it is so long and needs to snake through the frame. Like the fuel lines some clamps bolted to the frame with stainless hardware hold everything in place.

The front line is shorter and somewhat easier, the tricky part is routing it clear of all the interferences in the engine bay. I bent a strain relief into both lines around a piece of PVC pipe to help prevent any problems from vibration and cab/frame movement.

The clutch master gets the same treatment but will use a flex hose so no strain relief.

[Desoto61]

Transfer case levers

Paul's site has a nice writeup on adapting the adapter plate from the Ugly Truckling V8 kit to work with the NV4500. I used the rear of the two original mounting holes and marked and drilled the forward one to match the NV4500. I cut off the mounting tab and bent a new one out of some bar stock that extends to the lower trans mounting bolt to stiffen the assembly.

I also had to use some longer bolts and spacers to get the levers aligned with the slots in the transmission floor cover. I'll finish weld the bracket when it gets removed for paint or powder coat.

I've also been picking up other odds and ends. A universal ignition switch goes in the stock location after cutting down the original mounting tube a little, and a headlight switch gets mounted into an existing hole after a little filing. Also need to think about vent locations and where all the other controls are going to go.

[cj7ox]

Looking...

...good!

[Alxj64]

Looks great man! Really coming together! Love this truck!

[Desoto61]

Found the seats I wanted to use but there is a bit of a supply issue so they are on hold till the manufacturer works that out.

Luckily plenty of other tasks to do. I had cut a slot into the transmisison cover so it would clear the shift tower on the transmission due to the tilt introduced by the Cummins/Chevy adapter plate.

Hind sight being what it is the better way to have done that would have been to cut the "hole" out of the tray and move it where I needed it and then just patch the opening left over. Which is what I essentially did this time.

It maintains a the lip around the opening for strength, is much more round then anything I could free-hand, and it already has the right curve to it. I'll have a little work to do on the driver's side of the opening wher I had cut out but in all it was far better then trying to cut and install curved patch pieces.

[Alxj64]

Looks good, but in the future if you ever have any crazy funky patch peices or shapes you want cut and you can make them out of stout but thin cardboard (I prefer beer box material) you can cut them out to your fit and I can then cut them out of 16ga or 18ga nearly exactly as your part is cut out of the cardboard. Its nice for locating holes and stuff that you don't want to cut exactly but need perfectly circular... As long as the pieces are less than 11x17. I can even make relief cuts for bend lines and stuff too.