46 Power Wagon Restoration pt. 2

[Desoto61]

As complete as the Painless harness there are things missing. The newer versions I think have some of these but I'll have to add them, such as the power lock wires. There is a power feed in the harness but the actual wires and relays to operate them are not part of the kit. There are two relays for the heater/AC, as well as the relay block for the high/low beam switch. There will eventually be other modules too, finding spots for them all and how to route the wires to them really has to be part of the process. Biggest problem I have is that I don't yet have all the various parts and modules, so that wiring has to be roughed in for now.

Some of the relays I attached to the center dash support by drilling and tapping some holes. I also cut a piece of leftover aluminum and mounted it on the driver's side as a place to mount other modules like an alarm and the headlight relays.

Grounds are the other big issue. The best option would have been to weld some studs to various locations to use, but I didn't do that before paint, so I have been drilling and tapping all of my grounding studs to get more contact. Star washers help. This includes grounding all the various parts of the truck. I installed some ground straps from the cab, radiator cowl, and engine to the frame. Inside the cab I used some screws drilled and taped though thicker support pieces as common grounding points.

The cruise module has really long wiring harness, and it's mounted so close that I have a ton of extra wire, which I hate. Don't love cutting the harness and re-soldering the wires back together, but I hate having giant loops of excess wire just hanging around too. Wiring is a fight between my desire to make sure everything works and my OCD to keep it clean and organized.

[Desoto61]

Nice holiday break, time with friends and family but still found some time to work on the truck too. It's all mostly wiring, which isn't much to look at, and is rather tedious. Doesn't help that I'm not running a gas engine, and plan on installing other modules/features. So I've mainly been working on trying to route wires and just figure out which wires are going where.

I bought a bulkhead connector that I cut an opening for during the cab work, so for now the hole is used to route the wires to the engine. To go to the rear I snaked wires down the A-pillar and out below the cab behind the kick panel. Most of the rest run across the cab toward the driver's side. There's enough extra wire for most of it, but the headlight switch wires aren't long enough, and a few others are close. Some can be lengthened by modifying the harness as some of the wires run back across the cab then back through the openings to the engine, and those I can cut loose and pull that extra loop out. So there's just lots of time trying to determine which wires go where and the best way to route them.

The wire runs in the cab are too small for the wire bundles but they make a great support point so I can hang the wire bundles from them on zip ties. The second step then was to start routing them through these zip ties to get a more final routing, but I leave the zip ties loose so I can still route additional wires and move things if needed.

The kit comes with some zip ties but I have a ton of others that I've been using as temporary tools to help group wires, roll up the excess, or even to just zip tie wires to the item or wire they're supposed to connect to. It involves lots of cutting and reapplying them sometimes but it really helps to keep things organized.

Up front there's a Maxi-fuse for that protects the whole panel and connections for the battery/starter terminal and alternator. I also have a power wire for the Heat/Air system and one for the headlight relay setup. Right now they're kind of bundled up in the corner, but I will need to come up with a cleaner option for these sources once I have all of them figured out as they'll need to tie into the battery feed which will be in the bed.

[Desoto61]

They are made by Hella, part number 003399801, a dual tone horn. Supposed to be very loud, but I haven't heard them get.

[Bruce in BC]

horns

What kind of horns are those?
How is the sound?

[Desoto61]

Lots of little tasks and started one big one. Ordered a pair of horns, in one of those rare situations they ended up fitting almost perfectly beside the intercooler and I used the two lower support mounting bolts to hold them in place. It uses some dead space, required no extra fabrication, and fit great. It's like an early Christmas present.

Of course then I tried to start connecting up my AC hoses and it was back to business as usual. A local hydraulic shop crimped the ends on for me properly. I used the aluminum bendable hard lines for the connections to the condenser, the connections were tight, should have shifted the condenser more to the driver's side but managed to get it to work out. The lower return line was fairly simple but the upper condenser input line was tricky. The larger line is harder to bend up properly, and even the short line ends up being a little long. That caused the line to be practically non-existent. Routing it became a real struggle both because of the size and how close it is to the hood. The condenser is bolted in place, just have the final connections to the dryer to make, but I'll save those till it's time to actually evacuate the system.

Started laying out the electrical system. I'm using a Painless truck harness and in typical fashion for me I decided to mount it on the passenger side so I can access it through the glove box. Problem with that is it was meant to mount on the driver's side, which means that some of the wires may be a bit of a stretch at best. Most look to be OK, but the headlight wires aren't going to make it as is. First task is to just start routing the various groupings of wires toward the right sections of the truck.

[Desoto61]

Interesting, I'll look into it. My biggest concern with the way I have them mounted is that they connect to each other in the middle so they have some movement there mostly forward and aft. I dislike the plastic push clips so I may look at having a small plate cut to mount them to that runs across the rad. Since they're small I didn't want a full shroud, but a band slightly bigger than the fans may do the trick. Might even still have enough material from the tank to do it.

Sure, I'm out of town over Christmas but will be here after. Been trying to figure out the right flange and clamp for my turbo, but the build plate is missing so I'm not exactly sure what I have. I think it's the standard Cummins 2.75" setup based on measurements and what I've read at 4bt swaps, but the flange at airflow is mild steel I think, and I plan to run a stainless exhaust, so I need to find a source for a stainless version.

It does feel weird putting things together and not planning to take them back apart. Feels good but I've been in mockup mode for so long it's hard to shake the habit!

[Alxj64]

Man, I feel you on packaging stuff in there tight like that. Some experience of mine and efans against the core like that... granted it was in a trail vehicle, I've had the fans come a little loose in the mount and the shaking and motion of the vehicle still managed to weaken a core rib in the radiator and then at moment of heavy throttle on activity, enough pressure allowed a nice long crack to open up in the core rib on the inside tangent of the fan mount. If you can spare the space, it may be worth while to try and insulate the fan against the core a little. It may seem dumb that the plastic can wear into the aluminum but with some abrasive road grime embedded in the plastic, it becomes a nice fine grit file.

Also, when it comes time, I'll be bugging you for some AC line tech and such. Keep it up man. Home stretch... home stretch.

[Desoto61]

Lots of little things. Connected up the steering wheel, then installed the floor plates after a little modification to the driver's side due to the extra shimming under the cab changing the angle slightly.

There is precious little room up front. After installing the two upper support bars to get a closer idea of the right angle I fitted the two electric fans. They're small, and still tight, but will hopefully work well as they basically form a band across the front, and even at that they're very close to the motor in places.

Slowly been working out all the plumbing. The heater hoses route from the bulkhead fittings to the same side of the motor. The AC hoses are a little more tricky. The upper hose is short and fairly simple, the lower hose runs from the condenser back through the dryer to the firewall. I used a hard line from the condenser through the radiator cowl, then to a soft line to the dryer bolted to the splash shield then to the bulkhead fitting. Still have one more line to route but need a few fittings on order for that. Then I'll have to mark and remove all the lines to go get them crimped on before I can connect everything up.

I've been reluctant to start filling any of these systems yet till I'm sure I won't need to take them apart again. Need to start figuring out parts for the exhaust system as the last big piece to get done under the hood.

[tuko]

Thread has been great, keep the pics coming!

[Desoto61]

In the future, if you need this done.. let me know. After Christmas I'll have a bead roller that is setup for doing this. I already have the dies on hand.. just waiting for that little bit of extra $ to get the machine ordered.

I'm envious of your progress! Get it done! I want to go for a ride in this thing!

Good to know. Yea, $$$ is really going to be the limiting factor here too. I need to order a new Dodge emblem for the hood, but they're like $150, which I hate to spend right now, but I'm not going to be able to install it after the cowl is bolted in place, which I'm about ready to do.

Exhaust is the next big hurdle. Need to start determining the parts for that. Have a muffler just need the turbo outlet, piping, and hangers.

[Alxj64]

In the future, if you need this done.. let me know. After Christmas I'll have a bead roller that is setup for doing this. I already have the dies on hand.. just waiting for that little bit of extra $ to get the machine ordered.

I'm envious of your progress! Get it done! I want to go for a ride in this thing!

[Desoto61]

It's a strange feeling putting things back together for what is hopefully the last time for a long while.

Most of the progress is little things, fasteners, brackets, and hoses. One of the side tasks was to finish assembling the intercooler piping. The piping kit was universal and had beads rolled on each end, naturally when you cut the pipe down those flanges go away. After some research the two options I found to do so were a bead roller, which is a rather expensive tool for what I needed. The second option was to make a set of flanging pliers out of a pair of cheap vicegrip pliers and an exhaust clamp.

Just weld the clamp to one jaw and a piece of metal to the other such that it sits in the middle of the clamp when closed. It worked OK, not the most attractive beads but under the boots it won't matter. Kind of hard on the hands, and it damaged the paint but still for only a few bucks it worked well enough.

[Alxj64]

Finally got caught back up on this thread and man it looks great! You are moving right along at a fast pace too! The light at the end of the tunnel is fast approaching!

[Desoto61]

One of the hardest things about this build is finding room. I have the painted hood and fenders, but I still have a lot of work to do in the engine compartment, so they need a safe place to hide. With those stashed in a hopefully safe place I could put the cab on the lift and then roll the frame back in and put them back together.

With the help of a friend we managed to push the frame back into place (I'll be really glad when this thing can move under it's own power), and slowly set the frame back into place. I ended up sitting too close to the trans so I had to cut and install another thickness of Urethane sheet, though it's still tight, so I may need to shim it a little higher.

Now comes the slow process of piecing everything back together. I did fit the overflow tank in the cowl and put it in place just to see how it all looked.

[Desoto61]

Never been a big fan of regular sheet metal screws, so since I had the nut-sert tool I figured I'd use it. Only problem is been one of the holes being slightly off. May have to drill it out and adjust.

Got the passenger side door glass installed successfully. Still had some clearance issues with the door latch so I ended up spacing it back slightly with some washers. The driver's side however was cut just slightly larger, and wouldn't fit. Hopefully they can trim it.

Found the best way to install it was to drop it in from the top, and loosen the front channel bolts so it can move then put the glass in the rear channel, then flex the front channel to get the glass into it. Then I could push it up and with the regulator turned upward work one of the arms into it's channel, then start opening it till I could slide the other arm into the second channel. At that point I could open the regulator and move the window till I got the regulator back into it's opening and then fasten it down.

Also worked on the windshield wipers. Connected the switch to the motor, and cycled it to the park position and connected the linkage ends. I had to adjust the rod length to get the pivots into the right range so they didn't hit at either end of their travel. Then I could install the wiper arm and blade, but I'm not real happy with them. The arm was an adjustable piece for various applications, and the blade was an 11" classic blade. The connection was kind of loose and the blade not real sturdy. It tends to want to lay on it's side too much. I tried a Jeep blade to go with the Jeep pivot, but that also uses the same connection style and a blade from a different manufacturer but it was no better.

I may have to take a trip to the junkyard. I found a more modern 11" blade but need to track down an arm that uses it and fits the Jeep pivot. I may need to just shorten a longer arm from something else.