46 Power Wagon Restoration pt. 2

[Desoto61]

I probably missed it but who's AC system are you using? I would like to install one also.

Vintage Air. Specifically their Gen II Mini unit. It's the smallest heat and AC unit they offer though my neighbor has one in his Z and doesn't think it's powerful enough. Though while small I still think the cab of my truck is smaller, so I think I'll be fine.

The unit in the pic is a mockup unit. Just the plastic housing with no guts so it's easier to position and mount. Plus when I'm done I can put it on e-bay and recoup some of the purchase price.

[dieseldude4bt]

What does a mock up unit cost? Or better yet I may be interested in yours when you are done if your are close.

[Desoto61]

Don't remember exactly but it was under $100 vs closer to $500 for the real thing.

I could do that, I kept the box knowing I would be shipping it out. The other advantage of the mockup unit is it's light so shipping is cheap. Not sure when I'll be done with it though.

[gyman98]

How is it fitting? Would you pick the gen-II mini again?

[dieseldude4bt]

Let me know when you are done with it you can email me at dieseldude4bt@gmail.com
Thanks ....Jevon

[Desoto61]

How is it fitting? Would you pick the gen-II mini again?

Too early to tell really. There are no major issues so far with where it's at but I haven't finished figuring out plumbing or gotten everything else behind the dash. I'm sure it eats into glovebox space as I have it mounted far higher then a normal heater, and I can't comment on performance yet naturally.

Only think I don't like about the mini is that all the connections come out at the bottom of the passenger side of the unit. That puts them close to your feet and the outside edge of the firewall. I need to cut some templates for their different bulkhead fittings to figure out what is going to fit where, but it could make for some tight bends or longer runs inside the cab.

But honestly I'm not sure what else I would have used. They have a slightly larger gen-II that isn't drastically bigger, but until I get a chance to actually use the system I won't know if it's enough. If you do heat only they have some very small options, but it gets too hot here in the summer to go without AC, even if I'm still not sure where the compressor is going to fit. Their Gen-IV systems are almost all designed for specific applications, and none are as small as the Gen-II mini.

[gyman98]

Thanks for the reply, started doing some measuring on mine yesterday. Not sure I can make it fit even getting rid of the glove box.

Mine is dog housed for a cummins though so without that I think it would work pretty easy. Only going to be driving this in the summer so I definitely want AC

[Desoto61]

Thanks for the reply, started doing some measuring on mine yesterday. Not sure I can make it fit even getting rid of the glove box.

Mine is dog housed for a cummins though so without that I think it would work pretty easy. Only going to be driving this in the summer so I definitely want AC

Yes, it takes up most of the space between the cowl vent lever support bar and the outside of the cab, so I can see that being an issue. There's so little room in those cabs I'm not sure where else it could go.

Since you won't need defrost and probably not heat much at all I almost wonder Vintage Air could fab a heater unit with just an evap coil in it. Kind of like the old cab heaters just for AC. They are simple but small, or failing that you could try and modify one of the old cab heaters to do the same thing. Find an evap coil that is the same size as the heater core and swap it out. You'd just have to rig up the electrical so that the compressor comes on when you turn the fan on.

If you wanted really fancy you could try and fit both in the same box, hard part would be rigging up a valve to shut off the coolant flow when you didn't want heat.

[Desoto61]

Wipers

A better replacement wiper system is one of those nuts that doesn't seem to have a great solution. I've looked at the cable operated units, but longevity and strength seem to be issues. Vacuum operated ones are out for plenty of reasons, not the least of which is that with a diesel I don't have a ready source of vacuum. The Bosh or current electric units from VPW are not very strong or fast, especially the VPW ones.

There are a ton of options on modern vehicles, but ideally the new system would fit in the header with no obvious modifications, and most modern systems are too large to fit well. They are however a good place to start. I've been staring at this one for a while, wondering around the junk yards staring at the different vehicle configurations.

I looked at rear window wiper setups. Some are direct drive with no linkages, and are fairly compact. The big problems end up being that they usually have too much rotation, only have one speed, and often the gearbox has an offset output so they may fit on one side of the cab but not the other, assuming they fit at all. My truck no longer has the cab seam and it's still not enough room.

Another issue is mounting, many of the wiper arm pivots mount through their face to a bracket under the cowl vent panel which would mean studs or similar through the face of the sheetmetal. The linkage arms also tend to be long or rotate over too large of an area for the space constraints.

The marine industry has some options but again, most are larger and more imporantly are designed to go through a thicker bulkhead and so have too long of a shaft to work well in the header panel.

I've seen custom made systems that mounted the motor under the dash and run a linkage up one of the A pillars and across the header panel. I tend to dislike the length of a linkage that long as to give it strength against bending in compression will require some decent sized link bars.

Right now I'm thinking the best option will either be a linkage for maximum stealth though it will give up some reliability and strength, or more likely mounting the motor to the exterior of the header panel with the linkage inside it and then building a cover for the motor. It will extend into the cab and not look stock, but the system would be simple, compact, and easily accessable.

I've got a junkyard system from a Durango/Dakota that has some positive benefits for this purpose, just need to see if I can make anything out of it.

[gyman98]

Yes, it takes up most of the space between the cowl vent lever support bar and the outside of the cab, so I can see that being an issue. There's so little room in those cabs I'm not sure where else it could go.

Since you won't need defrost and probably not heat much at all I almost wonder Vintage Air could fab a heater unit with just an evap coil in it. Kind of like the old cab heaters just for AC. They are simple but small, or failing that you could try and modify one of the old cab heaters to do the same thing. Find an evap coil that is the same size as the heater core and swap it out. You'd just have to rig up the electrical so that the compressor comes on when you turn the fan on.

If you wanted really fancy you could try and fit both in the same box, hard part would be rigging up a valve to shut off the coolant flow when you didn't want heat.

That would likely be a better option, I'll make my own. Sorry to mess up your build thread

[Gordon Maney]

That would likely be a better option, I'll make my own. Sorry to mess up your build thread

You're not messing up anything. You are asking related questions.

[Desoto61]

No major task lately, just bouncing between small tasks. Plus with the weather finally improving there is all the outdoor stuff to do. Finally ran down to the Cummins dealer and had them get a few parts I've been needing, including a new dipstick. The bread truck uses an insanely long one so it can be checked from the front of the vehicle. Since I'll have access from the side I could make due with a smaller one.

I got the dipstick and the mounting tube, though I ended up finding out that the extension tube for the original dipstick was just pushed over the same metal tube they gave me. I may still try to replace it since I damaged the original one when trying to remove the extension tube, but I may need to drop the pan to do so.

Still scratching my head over the windshield wiper setup. I keep playing but there are still more questions then answers. I decided to put the windshield in to get a better idea of what space I had. The original frame was pretty much gone so I picked up a replacement a while ago. It's solid but I think it was tweaked when they took it apart as the bottom channel was distorted. I played with trying to work it back into shape but only had minimal success. Regardless I cleaned up the original hinges and bolted the frame back in place.

When I got the power steering box I thought it had been clear coated, turns out that was not true and after sitting outside for a few days it was no longer metal colored. So it had to come back out so it could be cleaned up and painted then put back onto place.

I also decided to repair some metal under the rear window. It wasn't gone but was thin and rusted through in places. I was going to leave it since it was not structurally weakened and would be sealed around the glass, but decided it would go.

There are two pieces of metal here, the top of the cross brace to which the bottom of the window opening attaches to. Both got cut away and two new pieces were bent and welded into place. This is one of those places a metal brake would be great but I made do. Not my best patch, but it's all hidden so it doesn't have to be.

[Desoto61]

Still trying to get the seat issue worked out. Too many questions and not enough answers.

With the steering box re-installed I tried to attach the pitman arm. This one is a replacement as the ball on the end of my original was badly worn. I ran into a problem though in that it does not go on as far as I expected it too on either the new power box or the original steering box. I verified that the splines and sizing are the same, but it's still tight. I took a small file and cleaned up all of the splines which helped a little but it is still only on to about half the depth of the pitman arm.

I can't go full depth as the steering shaft does not potrude far enough away from the frame, but after some work I got it on about as far as the original fits onto the stock steering box. It's enough to get the nut on and leaves a little room for a pitman arm puller should I need to remove it but it is only into the arm about half way. However from looking at the stock steering shaft the original shaft wasn't on much further.

Outside of that I've also been working on what fittings I need to make the steering and brake hydraulics work. The pump and Hydroboost use metric fittings while the steering box uses a flared fitting, on top of that there are different sizes between the different components and even between inlet and outlet on the same part.

Last task was new floor pans. My originals were in pretty good shape, but they have openings I no longer need. My plan is to have the floor coated with some sort of bed-liner, professional or DIY. So I don't really need all the same overlap of the stock floor pans. Like the ducts though I used them as a template to cut some from cardboard which I could easly shape and then use as a template for the plasma cutter.

That part went OK, the hard part is the final fitting. I used 14 ga sheetmetal so putting the bend into it is tough. My first attempt didn't go well, and I'm not sure it can be salvaged. I'll either have to find someone who can bend them or come up with a better method.

[defdes]

It's more work, but you can score the backside of your plate where you want the bends with a cut off wheel and then in-fill weld and grind. You can attain nice sharp bends that way. Easier with a big brake, but you do seem like a DIY guy....

[Desoto61]

It's more work, but you can score the backside of your plate where you want the bends with a cut off wheel and then in-fill weld and grind. You can attain nice sharp bends that way. Easier with a big brake, but you do seem like a DIY guy....

I've done that with the thicker material like the 3/16" plate I used for the skid plate, but this seems kind of thin for that.