46 Power Wagon Restoration pt. 2

[Desoto61]

I appriciate the offer! I've gone back and forth on the chrome. I have used stainless fasteners in many places, but for corrosion resistance more than bling. I'm thinking of painting the housings body color and powder coating the rings black, but if I decide to go shiney I'll keep it in mind. Right now I'm thinking the only shiney metal on the outside will be the Dodge and Power Wagon logos and mabye a big C.

As for the reflectors one of my goals was to go with pretty much all LED lighting, it's low load and very long lasting, so I'm tempted to build an LED insert for the housing vice just using a conversion bulb, at which point the reflector is redundant. I've even picked up a pair of LED headlights, which is probably one of the next projects to tackle, I don't remember how good a quality they were.

[bobyepsr]

I don't know where to get that type of window channel. I found one in a door, and the other door of the same truck had the other type. I thought the common type used with one pc. door glass would raise the window more evenly so that's what I used.

Desoto61, are you going to polish the shine back on the stainless cowl light rims? I've gotten pretty good at bumping out dents and repolishing headlight and cowl light rims. I have a buffer that came from a jewery store I use. The reflectors are reproed for fords and are exact fit. They cost $8.75 each from MacsAutoParts.com Let me know if you'd like me to polish the rings. Jim

[Desoto61]

Also decided to try that electrolytic rust removal everyone keeps suggesting, and one of the two window regulators was pretty rusty and I was hesitant to use the media cabinet for fear of getting blast grit in all the pivots.

So I just used some scrap I had around and a little charger as an experiment. It worked OK, it did come out better than it went in. Might need to take a little more time and build a better setup and try again.

I also worked on cleaning up the pair of cab lights I bought on eBay since I know one of mine is bad. These are pitted but better than mine and were reasonable. I blasted what I could but the inside is harder so I used an Eastwood etch solution on them. Works better at the nooks and crannies and leaves a zinc coating on the parts which are small enough to be dipped in them. Not bad, still slower than blasting but more thorough.

I have new mounting stud pieces for them. Also considering building an LED "plate" to replace the bulb/reflector assembly. You can get conversion bulbs but they wouldn't work as well as something dedicated because of the nature of LEDs.

[Desoto61]

I had heard there was a different guide, but I hadn't seen one, if that was the only difference I probably could have, would have saved me a bit of money.

Oh well, I managed to figure out a solution today. The interference was minimal, as the hotrod door lever mechanisms I used have two mounting studs but is mostly open on the bottom, so I only needed a little space.

So after some experiments I decided to re-drill the mounting holes about 3/4" higher. Too much higher and I'd hit the linkage, not enough and I'd just elongate the holes and make mounting it harder, or not get enough clearance and make a bigger mess.

It worked out well enough, my linkage still works, it actually took a little of the slack out and tightened it up a little. The old holes will be hidden so I don't have to worry about closing them up. Only down side is I'll have to modify the cover panel for the new location, but I've modified everything else, why stop there!

[Waspworks]

Desoto61, there is a bottom channel that uses the same regulator as the vented door. It looks the same as the one with a vent, but is longer to reach the front guide. I would think you could lengthen your old ones. Jim

Interesting.. Do you know if these are available new/repro Jim?

Greg.

[bobyepsr]

Desoto61, there is a bottom channel that uses the same regulator as the vented door. It looks the same as the one with a vent, but is longer to reach the front guide. I would think you could lengthen your old ones. Jim

[Desoto61]

That's a good way to do it. I gave them some drawings and photos with the important dimensions but one lesson I've learned is that while AutoCAD can draw anything that doesn't mean it can be done, so they owe me a drawing showing what they actually plan to do, and I just need to be really careful about checking all those dimensions. Which might be where that foam trick comes in.

[Bruce in BC]

radiator trick

Buy some foam , cut and glue it in the shape that you need and will fit. Write the dimensions and location of the inlet , outlet and filler. Or better yet make those parts and mount them in the correct position on the radiator.
You get a test fit and the rad shop has a model……...

[Desoto61]

Decided to work on some other tasks today, some of which worked, and some didn't. I picked up some rubber cowl lace and went to install it today. I used aluminum rivets and a dab of RTV to help seal the holes against any moisture.

Reconnected the windshield wiper arms. I had installed the driver's side upside down, turns out I had never re-welded the locating tab for the wrong position and during the body work had covered over the lower tab, so it was an easy fix.

Greased up the passenger side window regulator and went to instal it which is when I ran into another problem. The single piece window regulator is drastically different then the vent window version. And the large middle gear is hitting the door latch mechanism before it's the whole way up. So I may have to move the door latch, or try and clearance the mechanism, neither of which is a great. Might be able to use the vent regulators with a different window channel design, but I don't have those parts. Hate having to re-design something I thought was finished but that's what I get for changing parts mid build.

[Desoto61]

Houston...

Thanks for the compliments, though I had one of those days in the garage. Seemed to mess things up as much as I fix them. Tried to put the trans cover in place, which doesn't line up well on the passenger side, I think due to some of the body work I did way back when. In trying to get it in line I ended up damaging the paint. Not sure how I am going to fix it, but it won't be fun.

Tried to connect the gas peddle linkage which is binding now for some reason I need to track down. I may need to clearance the cab floor a little more, which means exposing bare metal that will also need covered somehow.

Worst part was I ordered a Charge Air Cooler based off some measurements, but as I was mocking it up in the radiator shell I realized I had failed to account for the rear winch bar, which sits under the grill and interferes with the bottom of the CAC. I think I can move it up and still make it work, but I'm going to have to cut and modify the unit.

I did place an order for the radiator. The local shop never got back to me so ended up talking with a place in Alabama. Need to be very to get the drawings right there's not a lot of room to route things, but some preliminary measurements make me thing I can get everything to fit with only minor modifications to the grill.

[cj7and8]

Very cool build! I went back to the first page and have catching up on the progress over the last few days. Keep up the good work!!

[cj7ox]

It's coming together nicely IMHO!

[Desoto61]

Last little detail was the windshield opener. I had the scissor assembly together and had ordered a new handle from VPW, but naturally none of the adapters that came with the hotrod window switch would fit. So I found the one that was closest and used a Dremmel to slowly work the grooves into the shape I needed.

It's still a little long, but the biggest problem is actually that the shaft is not perfectly straight in the hole, so the handle rubs on the bottom of the opening, making it a little stiff. I also keeps the handle from going in as far as it might. Not real noticeable from behind though. I might be able to open up the inside of the hole to help things out, or I might leave it.

Otherwise it's been just bolting little things back together and making sure it all works. Switches, vent pods, etc. Some of it will have to come back out but it's out of the way and it looks good!

[Desoto61]

Next I wanted to finish the trans cover, which required installing the draft boots I bought from Chris Case, and then putting some Lizard Skin on the underside to help quiet the panels. I also decided to do the same to the underside of the floor boards. I marked and drilled for some nut-certs and used some alen head screws to hold them down. I had to modify two of the covers because of the offset in the shifter, which made those holes tricky, but it should work out OK.

Then it was just a matter of scuffing, cleaning, and spraying the panels. They need lots of time to dry before doing a second coat so it takes two days, but it does help. It will be interesting to see how it holds up.

[Desoto61]

Still playing with putting things back together, way more fun than more sanding for paint. Plus it gets some of these parts out from under foot.

Just so no one is under the delusion I'm great at this stuff, I tried to put the center console in place the other night, and for some reason it was fighting me. Almost in but the screws just didn't want to go. So after some squeezing and pressing I got it to go. Well later I noticed I managed to crack the paint on the bottom, so I took it back down and realized I had applied some sound deadener inside the unit and it was pressing on the wiper motor and that's what damaged the paint. So now I get to figure out how to fix that!

I also worked on the cowl vent, gluing in the gasket and then mounting the unit and attaching the actuator. It works OK, the actuator is a short throw so it doesn't open very far, but It will be fine for my purposes. It closes pretty tight but the gasket doesn't compress as much as I would like so it remains to be seen how well it seals when closed.