46 Power Wagon Restoration pt. 2

[Smokeshow]

Looks great so far!! I am very impressed with this build. Keep up the good work!.

[Desoto61]

Interior Misc.

Ordered my steering column, which has been a bit of a cluster and is supposed to take a while due to some sort of stock issue, but it's done.

Since I had the seats in place I measured to verify length and then ordered the seatbelts. Again a stock issue meant I could either wait a very long time for the ones I wanted or go with something similar, I elected to go for something similar.

While waiting I recieved the other linear motor to use for the cowl vent. The stock linkage was broken and had missing parts so again, just as easy to go this route. While space behind the dash is starting to get a little tighter in places the cowl is still a much easier setup then the windshield. A pair of brackets was built to hold the ends of a 1" linear motor. The top one bolts to the door bracket like the old one and hangs then I can place the lower bracket and tack weld it to the dash support like the old one. The pins were just for testing, they were replaced with bolts. It's a tight fit but should clear the wiring from the HVAC and radio. Can't really test it though since the cowl vent isn't mounted in the truck right now.

Another task was to do some finish work on the overhead console. A set of brackets welded to the back of the unit allow it to bolt to the headliner supports, and a piece or two of metal help support and shape the thinner sheet metal in the middle.

Control switches for the ARB locker, and some other accessories as well as a pair of map/dome lights and a screen for some potential future ideas are the plan for the rest of the space. The layout of the screen was pretty straight forward. A cutoff wheel in the Dremmel and a few holes and the unit mounts fairly easily.

For the rest of the items I first had to determine what I was using for switches and lights. The swithces for the locker are included, so I used a similar style for the other switches to be consistent. The lights I found online from Summit. They are intended for marine use and sealed but are LED and small so they should work well.

I took the measurements for those items and using a drawing program laid out the design so that everything was organized and aligned. Then printed it off full size and used that as the template to mark and cut the holes (again with the dremmel). A file cleaned up the edges and any tight spots.

The metal is a little thin for the switches. I may cut a backing plate out of some plastic or similar with the same switch openings so that they hold tighter, as it is they can move slightly in their openings. The lights are secured with some machine screws through captured nuts I welded to the back side. The smaller switches will allow them to operate as map lights, and a diode will let them serve double duty for dome lighting as well.

I may find some use for the center space either internally for my future project or externally for a cubby of some sort. I don't have plans for all those switches, but I figured a few extra wouldn't hurt just in case.

[Desoto61]

Seatbelts

I ordered a pair 3-point belts from Andover restraints. Their site isn't that great but they do have a lot of different options in buckles and styles. Unfortunately they do not have the selection of colors they once did, so rather then try and match the blue in the seats I went safe and got black. I also got their retrofit hardware kit which comes with reinforcing plates that are threaded or have captured nuts that are attached to the backside of the mounting points, but didn't end up using all of them.

Ironically the 3-point harness actually has 4 mounting points, one for the buckle and three for the shoulder belt. I used the seat mounting frame as the mounting point for the latch and the fixed end of the shoulder belt. All the fasteners supplied are grade 5, though some were too long for my purposes so I used shorter bolts of equivalent strength.

With the seat in place I used a pair of vice-grips to sit in the seat and determine how high I wanted the neck point of the belt, and then marked that spot on the B-pillar.

For the upper shoulder pivot, and the lower retractor mounting point I mounted both to the B-pillar, however the stock sheetmetal needed to be beefed up a little. Again the kit comes with some backing plates that can be installed fairly easily by drilling a few holes and riveting them in place. I wanted something do spread the load out further.

For the upper mount I used a piece of angle iron (1-1/4" though on one side it had to be reduced on one side to fit) that slid down into the top of the B-pillar from the top. I made mine about 9" long as that was the longest I could easily fit above the opening. I have seen someone cut an access hole and run a much longer piece into the shaft, but I'm too far along for that and had some interferences which would have made that difficult. I drilled the angle iron and welded the support plate and it's captured nut to the angle iron. Then punched a hole in the b-pillar where I wanted the upper mount and drilled a few smaller holes to plug weld the angle iron to the b-pillar.

The angle proved to be a very tight fit, but that was a good thing. I faced the L so that the other face was against the door opening and drilled a few holes here as well. Once I had the bolt opening in the angle lined up with the hole in the pillar I plug welded the smaller holes shut to hold everything in place. It doesn't provide any extra strength, it's all about spreading the load over a larger surface area. The same thing was repeated on the other side.

For the lower retractor mounting point I again went against the B-pillar but there was no way to fit the angle in and the metal down there is somewhat thin anyway. However the cab support and mounting point is right below this spot, so I used some 3/16" plate and built a mounting plate that extended from the lower supports that I built up onto the b-pillar. I drilled and welded a nut to the back side of the plate, and punched a hole large enough to let the nut and plate sit flush against the pillar. Then welded the plate to the b-pillar and the floor bracket.

I'm pretty sure everything should be plenty strong enough, though this is one of those things you hope you never have to verify.

[Desoto61]

Seatbelts 2

One other minor detail, the retractors have a tab that sticks out the back to hold it upright so it doesn't pivot on it's bolt when the belt is released. Drilling a small hole in the right spot worked well to hold this pin and keep everything in place.

Since I have bucket seats the latch mechanism is mounted in a rigit plastic shell to hold it in place. If you were doing a bench then you can buy them longer and without the cover so that the latch will go through the bench. The brackets they are mounted to can be rotated 180 if I decide to move the seats in any more so I don't have to drill any more holes, but are still close enough to the seats that I don't have to worry about issues if I add a center console later.

Final result of a rough fit works well, though the retractors are a little sensitive.

[Desoto61]

Throttle Linkage 1

I decided to use the stock peddle for the throttle, I didn't have any major issues with its location which seemed to line up well with the other peddles. The tubing I had purchased for the windshield wiper links had the right ID for the 1/4" attaching pin in the peddle. I welded some 3/16" rod to that. I originally went down with the rod so that when the peddle was on the floor it was directly over the rod pivot point. That made the linkage much harder, so that hole will have to be filled (annoying), and I went straight out the front for the second one. It ended up being more of a slot since some amount of vertical movement was necessary for the linkage.

The peddle won't go flat to the floor before the rod stops it but it's close and still provides plenty of travel. The other end of the rod gets threaded to accept some ball and socket ends I picked up from McMaster Carr. This bolts to a piece of 1/8" bar stock I had left over which is welded to the same tubing used for the wiper links as the pivot rod. McMaster also supplied a pair of bushing blocks with a 1/2" ID to match the tubing. This assembly gets bolted to the firewall.

The throttle lever on the Cummins injection pump rests against its rear stop, so the linkage needs to push in the same direction as the peddle moves, which means both arms point in the same direction. The length of the second arm is dependent upon some math to relate the travel of the peddle with the travel of the throttle lever. In my case they were close so the second arm is just slightly shorter.

I wanted to be able to remove the bearing blocks if needed so welding the other arm to the tubing was out, but I didn't love just bolting the arm to the tubing as it could slip and you would loose the throttle. So I threaded the ID of the shaft tubing to take a bolt to hold the arm on. Then I welded a piece of metal across the mounting hole in the second arm and drilled it out to match the mounting hole. This gave me a key on the back of the second bar which I cut out of the end of the tube so they are locked together. It's not a real pretty fit, my tooling is not very precise, but it works and will prevent the two pieces from rotating against each other while still letting me disassemble the linkage.

[Desoto61]

Throttle Linkage 2

Another piece of round stock threaded on each end to accept a pair of the ball end links forms the final piece of the linkage. I used 10-32 sized ball ends (hence the 3/16" rod), but 1/4" would have also worked well, I had sized mine based on the throttle lever end, and not wanting everything to be too big, but it wouldn't have been a problem looking back and the end would have fit the hole in the throttle lever a little better, but otherwise it works very well, no binding or hitting, and while the throttle peddle doesn't quite touch the floor it gets close enough.

The ball ends all have dust boots and the mounting blocks are oil lite bushings in aluminum housings so it should work in just about any condition they will encounter.

For a throttle return spring I salvaged the one that came with the motor and to mount it did something similar to the original setup. I used a piece of angle stock and ground down one side slightly so it would sit on top of the transmission adapter plate against the engine block. Then I marked and cut a slot in the other leg which slipped over one of the adapter mounting bolts. After re-tightening the bolt the angle is held in place and the other end could be drilled for a bolt to hold one end of the spring. The other is attached to a bolt in the throttle lever using nylon lock nuts on both ends so that the spring can still pivot.

[Desoto61]

Running out of parts to mock up, but I had a few other things I wanted to take care of. One was the cab mounts. I had built some blocks out of leftover composite lumber I had around to the original dimensions and used some rubber mat in place of the canvas that was there for the front. But after looking at them they were very short compared to the length of the cab mount. I didn't understand why they didn't make the blocks longer to provide more support for the cab floor, so I did. I also wanted to see about raising the cab by maybe 1/4" for some extra clearance under the hood (which would also solve some other potential issues down the road).

I made a new cab block out of the same material, but didn't try to cut and glue it to get the right thickness this time. I used a piece of 2x4 stock and made up the extra height using some Shore A 60 polyurithane sheet stock I got off of e-bay. The stuff is hard without beeing too hard, and is easily cut with a jig saw. The only problem is that the rubber sheet I used before was already thicker then I remembered so I actually only ended up being about 1/8" taller with the new setup. I left the rear pads alone since they were already 3/8" thick. It's not much of a difference but every little bit helps.

I also cut some holes for a pair of lighter sockets to power whatever accessory I may want to use. And then unwrapped part of the Painless truck harness I picked up a long time ago and welded a set of tabs under the passenger side cowl beside where the glovebox will be that will eventually hold the fuse panel.

I'm getting close on the interior mock-up though, the steering column is the last major item. Also need to determine the door wiring connection, and where I might want the holes for the heat and AC lines to go through the firewall.

[Desoto61]

Transmission crossmember #3

When I installed the engine and trans the first time I built a simple and robust crossmember for the rear transmission mount. However I didn't think it through completely and later when the transfer case was installed in the frame it became obvious that the front driveshaft and my crossmember could not occupy the same space.

So I cut out the offending piece of the mount and built a "hump" (technical term) for the driveshaft. Not as clean and simple as version 1 but it worked, until I tried to install the bracket for the transfer case levers. I had been trying to avoid building down to reduce the visibility of the bracket and maximize ground clearance, but it didn't look like that was going to be an option. A sawzall took off the old hump and a cutting wheel helped clean up the area.

A simple piece of square tubing across the bottom side of the opening would solve my clearance issues, though it was still a little close to the driveshaft. Since I didn't need much clearance I simply marked and cut out a small area and then trimmed it and used it to cover the opening and welded everything solid.

Getting everything aligned and straight proved to be a little tricky, but once there some nice big heavy welds keep it all in place. Not sure if there is a lot of benefit to closing in the ends of the tubing. While it will help keep debris out it's not a difficult thing to clean out either.

[Desoto61]

Gauges and wires

Aftermarket gauges will be used in the dash, so I had previously cut out the stock gauge area with the intent of cutting an fitting a new panel. I worked out a design with some drawing software and Alxj64 was kind enough to turn it into metal on his plasma table.

It looked nice and fit well, so I drilled out the mounting holes and proceeded to fit it into place which is when I realized something interesting. The gauge opening, and by proxy my panel, are not centered over the steering column.

Not sure how much this is going to bug me, but the offset is not insignificant, so I would either have to do a lot of cutting to move the steering mount, try to modify the panel and dash to move the gauge panel over the needed distance, or potentially toss it and design a non-symmetrical panel that will hide the discrepancy. Think I'm going to reserve judgement till I have the steering column in and can see it as it will be.

The other issue was how to route wires to the doors. Originally I had leaned toward the flush mount pin switches they sell for hotrods, however the set I bought I wasn't real happy with, and when I started thinking about it I could need a lot of them depending on where the power door lock switches go and where I put speakers. So I returned those and went for these braided stainless door looms which extend and retract through the A-pillar. They install easily and will be hid with the kick panels. Only downside is that they protrude a bit more than I like, such that they almost prevent the door from closing, and the threaded portion of each mounting bracket is very long. I may be able to cut them down to prevent interference though.

I had purchased reproduction door limiters from ebay, and they are nice, however I noticed an issue while working on the wire loom. When the door is closed they are pushed up against the outer skin of the truck very hard. Hard enough they are marking the steel. I need to figure out a way to give them some additional movement to prevent this. Widening the slot they travel in should work. Not sure if this is an issue with the way they are cut or with the way I installed it in the truck.

[Alxj64]

If you need another panel cut, just draw it up and send it my way. I've got no reservations about doing future work for you since you are one of the first few people that actual saved the file in the correct format and the drawing had no errors in it on my end. Was no problem to cut out at all.

Keep up the good work and the posts though! Once again this build is helping to keep a fire lit under my but and keeping me moving on mine. I am looking forward to the FFPW group beach trips hopefully next summer!

[Desoto61]

The steering column I ordered finally showed up last week. It's a Ididit "shorty" column with tilt powder coated black. I had it outfitted with cruise control in case I want to test my metal on some of the longer drives to the various rallys in the area or beyond.

I used the factory upper mount position, but the Ididit column is a 2" tube and the factory was smaller, though not by much, so I managed to flatten the half-round mounting brackets and open them up enough to go over the column. Originally a large felt pad was used as a cushion, I'll probably use some thinner rubber material to protect the finish but better restrict movement. For now some paper towels taped around the column protect the finish.

Installing the steering wheel was a little tricky since the instructions for the column, the wheel adapter, and the wheel itself are all somewhat generic so that they work for a range of products. Which means you have to determine which parts apply to your application. Ultimately it's not difficult but there were a few confusing moments.

The hole in the dash support ended up being perfect for the wiring to come through and the only other issue was remembering exactly how it all went together with regards to where the column mount halves went in relation to the dash. For my purposes both sit under the dash.

That kind of defined the angle of the steering wheel, which worked well for me, and the column has a decent amount of tilt left upward if needed (it goes down even more but without lowering the seats that would be uncomfortable). I did lots of "research", which essentially means sitting in the truck pretending to drive it to make sure I was happy with the position. I may want to lower the seats eventually depending on my sight lines but that would require rebuilding the bases and I can always do that later, so for now I'm happy and that meant I could measure for the lower column mount.

Because the steering box is so close to the cab a regular column won't work as they need to exit the firewall, it's also not quite a straight shot, so the shorty column both allowed for the offset and provided extra clearance for the peddles (it's cheaper then a colapsable column and just as safe). So to support the column a second mounting point is needed, so with the angle set I could measure and order a lower drop mount to support the column. It was drilled and attached to the dash support bracket and clamps around the bottom of the column to help stiffen everything up.

A lower U-joint adapts between the splined shaft on the steering box and the DD shaft of the column, it's also a vibration damper. Some stainless DD shafting and another U-joint complete the linkage and would let me turn the wheels if I had a working power steering system.

The cruise control unit can mount inside or outside the cab. The instructions recommend installing it outside to reduce any noise it makes. I elected to mount it high on the firewall under the hood it's out of the way but not difficult to get at the settings switches, and it makes use of the long cable attached.

I snaked the cable down to the throttle return spring bracket and used that as the brace and attached the pull cable to my throttle linkage. The version in the pic is not the final setup as I had to lengthen the cable and adjust the cover so it did not interefere with the throttle travel.

[Desoto61]

AC bracket 1

Living in the south AC was not really an option if I want to use the truck at certain times of the year. I'm sure all the vents and windows are great for moving air, but only if you're moving, and it gets less convenient at 60 mph.

The problem is that installing an AC compressor on the Cummins is not a simple thing. There is a Freightliner bracket that mounts it on the passenger side high, the Dodge setup puts it low but would interfere with my motor mounts and both use different alternators and compressors then what I have. Another bracket mounts it on the driver's side running off a V-belt from the fan pulley, but that would interfere with where I plan to run the aftercooler piping. The Dodge mount is probably reasonable but again I need new alternator and compressor, and the other two cummins mounts are dear money and still require different components. They also both change the lower water inlet direction to point straight out from the block which creates additional problems in routing.

Since I already had the big 22SI alternator that was on the Cummins, and the Vintage Air unit supplies a Sanden compressor. So I decided to see if I could build my own. Some people have done this on the 4BT swaps forum, so I had some ideas to go off of, and the high mount bracket is fairly simple in concept.

First step was building some mounts to bolt the compressor to. The Sanden uses ears to bolt through. A template was transferred to some scrap 5/8" plate and cut and ground into shape, the holes were tapped to accept the mounting bolts.

I used some leftover plate to build a mockup bracket mounted behind the stock alternator bracket and lined everything up, tacked it in place and then started playing with belt routing and clearance. This took a while looking at all the potential options. Leaving the alternator in it's original location didn't work because of the belt hitting the upper water neck. Cummins makes water necks that point upward that would help but again the current plan is for the intercooler piping to go right through that space.

Different routings, pully locations, adding idlers, removing them. There was lots of looking and scratching my head but I wanted to try and minimize the amount of complexity in the build and keep the spring tensioner for ease of use too.

[Gordon Maney]

Good work!

[W_A_Watson_II]

Looking good, a little belt interference with the tension-er bracket. Is the water pump wrap enough?

[Desoto61]

AC bracket 2

Second try moved the alternator down which tilts it outboard more but there is still sufficient clearance. The drop allowed the tensioner to move the belt far enough out to clear the water outlet, though it's close. The only downside is that it reduces the belt wrap around the alternator to about 90 degrees. Not sure if this is going to be enough or not under a heavier charging load. Additionally the stock belt is an 8-rib design but the Sanden only comes in a 7-rib setup, so the belt is narrower then original too.

I decided to go with this setup, and so rebuilt the mockup unit out of some heavier plate steel. Alignment of the compressor is important, ended up using a straight edge and a carpenter's square to verify the compressor was aligned and parallel to the belt. Once tacked in place I measured for the belt and found one close to the same size.

I did the measurement using some tape wrapped around the belts and marked the cross point and then measured that length. The Dayco belts I could get locally have a convenient numbering system of the format 50x0xxx. Not sure about the first two numbers but I think the 05 is a light duty/automotive use, the first x is the number of ribs (7 in this case) and the last xxx is the length in inches to one decimal place (i.e. 696 would be 69.5"). Summit will let you search on length, otherwise I could use the auto-complete feature on the Advance Auto web site to search for numbers to come up with a belt length close to what I measured, in my case about 70".

Once I was happy with the measurements and placement I welded the two mounts onto the back plate and bolted everything back together. The thicker plate and possibly slightly different location actually made the 70" belt almost too short, I'd like a little longer but it's not available, the next size up is too long. So I had to cut the tack welds and try again.

The mount feels secure bolted to the thermostat housing but only three M8 bolts holds the whole assembly, to provide extra strength I cut a piece of 5/8" plate and bridged the gap from the plate across the water outlet to the tensioner mounting bracket on the front of the engine which is the same thickness. It was tacked in place on the truck, then removed and welded solid. Removal of the bracket is difficult, but it's not something I should have to do often either.