46 Power Wagon Restoration pt. 2

[Desoto61]

Overhead console 1

Got the tracking number for my seats so they should be here in the next week or so!

In the interim there's still a lot of other things to do. I managed to track down a switch assembly that is designed to work with self parking wipers and has an intermittent feature. It is a Cole Hersee switch PN 75600-4. Looks to be for commercial applications but they are available from a few different places if you do a search.

I also started building a center console to cover the wiper motor. I started with some cardboard and designed the side profile using some wire to copy some of the curves and angles from the interior to try and make it look like it belongs.

Once I had a shape I liked I cut a second out of cardboard and then wrapped that in some poster board to form the shape so I could trial fit it. When I was happy with the shape and fit I removed one of the side pieces and trimmed it down slightly so I could use it as a template to plasma cut a pair out of some metal plate. I then took the two sides and clamped them together and finished the edges so that they were identical.

I cut two pieces of metal rod I had left over as spacers and and welded those between the two plates to get my shape. Then I took some 22 ga. steel and wrapped the shape in that. I was looking to go for 18 or 20 ga. but the 22 was all I could find easily in a smaller size and seemed to be stiff enough for this use. I folded a bend in the rear end to give it some rigidity, and then slowly worked it over the sides tacking it in place as I went. It is a little tricky welding between the thicker sides and the top but it worked OK.

Once I had it wrapped completely I flipped it over and welded the inside, making sure to move around a lot. Then I could dress the corners and my spot weld sites. It will need a little smoothing with some body filler before being painted but I think it will look OK.

[Matthew Ziegler]

e or c clip groove

I used to modify cars for use by handicapped drivers, and used to have to make up all sorts of crazy linkages, one trick I got from a colleague was using a tubing cutter on small diameter steel rod to make groves for snap rings or e clips, use a little cutting oil and more pressure than you would on tubing, works great.

[Desoto61]

They work!

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6_ysEJwQ3AM?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The swipe seems good, and there is no binding.

I finished by measuring the distance from the center hole of the motor mount to each of the wiper pivots. Then subtracted the distance of the rod ends so the connecting tube was about mid length along the threaded ends of the rod end. Then subtract the thickness of the two nuts that would be welded to each end of the tubing.

I welded up the tubing ends by threading a bolt into the nut to help locate it in the tubing. Then tack welded it in place. I'll use a second nut as a lock nut on one end to keep the tube from turning.

Now for the issues. The motor arm has to be installed after the motor has been mounted. It can be done but it's tricky. It's not something you have to do frequently so it's not a big deal but you could consider cutting the header and adding a set of flanges so the motor mounting plate can be removed with the motor. Then the unit could be installed with the arm and links installed.

Second, I would probably suggest going for the female ends and using all-thread. The tubing worked OK, but I had one failed end where there was some sort of issue after welding that damaged the bolt when I tried to remove it, and another where it wasn't quite straight and there is a hard spot when trying to thread the rod ends in.

The wiring may be a bit of a challenge if I want to keep the intermittent feature.

[Bob2]

Wipers

Desktop,
Thank you, by far this build of yours has been the most informative, in the way you go about it.

Bob H

[Desoto61]

Wiper Parts list.

My goal was to provide the list if materials and measurements. I guess I should provide some of the specifics though.

The wiper pivots are from a 76-85 Jeep CJ. OMIX-ADA (PN: 19105.06)makes them though I have seen them under the Dorman name too. Cheapest I found was at Summit PN: OMX-1910506. They come with the locating washer and nut.

The pivot pin on these I thought was 5/16", which is the size of rod end I ordered, however they ended up being just slightly larger then that (by .004"-.006"). I wondered if they weren't metric as the spec was 7.81 mm by my calipers. Just didn't seem to fit based on the age. Some emry cloth and time removed the excess till I had a nice fit though.

The wiper arms are a universal adjustable arm from Anco (PN: 114-4101). A jeep arm might work but I couldn't determine the length, and the Anco arm can be adjusted from 8" to almost 12" long and fits the pivot without any adapters. I also ordered these from Summit.

An 11" wiper blade for the same Jeep CJ was the smallest and most common I could find. Advance Auto had them in Trico brand as number 11-6.

The rod ends I ordered from McMaster-Carr. Any of the versions should work as long as it has the right size opening in the ball end for the pin size (5/16" or maybe 8mm), though I used the ones with the oil impregnated bronze inserts for the extra lubrication. I chose male ends and will use tubing and nuts to make the link bars but you could easily use the female ends and use all-thread too. No welding would be required and it should be strong enough, I just thought the tubing version would be stronger and more adjustable, but it is slightly larger.

Any wiper motor should work, you probably don't want one with a special park position (i.e. it parks in a different position then the normal sweep), so you might be able to find something that will package better. The one I used was off of a Dodge Durango I had pulled because I thought the linkage might work. I also had one from a Saturn that was similar but smaller. Even though it was probably enough I went for overkill and used the larger Durango motor. You'll need the junkyard though because most use a splined tapered shaft to hold the arm to the motor and you will need that end of the arm.

[Bob2]

Electric wipers

Desoto!
When you get it all complete up and running make me one for my 66 PW, or make a list of material used with dimensions, I will buy it. I would imagine other PW owners will want one to.

Bob H.

[Desoto61]

Poor man's lathe

One little trick that I thought of that worked better then I thought it would was the notch for the e-clip. I had thought of trying to thread the end of the rod and use a nut but was concerned about how long that would make the rod. I liked the idea of the clip like on the factory pivots but how to make the slot it rides in. My neighbor has a big lathe but that seemed overkill and he has his own projects.

So I used a poor-mans lathe and chucked a piece of the rod into the drill press and put it on it's slowest setting. Then I used my little drill vice as a tool rest and used a triangular shaped file to start a groove in the rod. Once I had a groove I switched to a hacksaw blade also held flat against the vice and slowly moved back and forth against the spinning rod. Then just slowly removed material and tested till it was the right size for a clip.

It ended up working really well, and was fairly quick. I cut the piece of rod longer than I needed, then when I was don determined the needed length and cut it to size.

[Desoto61]

I found an 11 inch wiper arm mostly used on Jeep CJ vehicles up to the mid 80s that fit the adjustable arm and worked well on the windshield. From there I could determine the sweep I wanted it to have. Once I figured that out I could measure the length of the arm and do some math to determine the sweep angle, which in my case was 89.2 degrees.

The inside arm of the pivot would also need to move through this angle. Using some more trig I determined that they needed to move 1.4 inches to get that angle. The motor has an arm that rotates 360 degrees to make one sweep of the wipers. That arm needs to be 1/2 of the length of the sweep (0.7") since a full rotation will turn through a full 1.4".

Of course my first attemp at building the sweep arm I forgot about the 1/2. So I built it to be 1.4" long, the shorter length proved harder to do. It should work but it could have been cleaner. Worse case I may have to find another arm and start again as the motor side mounts using a tapered splined hole that I couldn't re-create.

I cut the stock pivot mount off the arm and welded up some 3/16" bar stock to get the needed length. That was drilled to accept a piece of round stock the same size as the rod ends which was welded into the hole. I cut a groove in the rod to hold an e-clip to retain the rod ends. I should have tried to increase the offset of the arm slightly to prevent any interference with the nut and the rod ends, but a washer acts as a spacer and does the same thing.

My second mistake was that I had mounted both pivots into the cab the same way, with the interior arm pointed downward. After looking at the sweep I decided I wanted the park position and sweep direction to be opposite each other. They will park against the outside of the window and move toward each other in the center. That meant that one side needed to be a mirror image of the other. So I had to remove one of the pivots, file a new mounting tab on the opposite side of the hole so it could be mounted with the pivot arm pointing upward. Not a huge issue since the washer hides the other slot but not perfect. I could try and weld it closed but that will probably cause more trouble then it solves.

[Desoto61]

Still working through the windshield wiper setup. It seems straight forward but we all know it never actually is. To help prevent wallowing or bending the cab metal where the pivots pass through I cut and drilled some support plates that I tack welded to the inside of the cab. It also allowed me to weld shut the small locating holes under the pivots.

A set of rod ends will connect the motor and the pivots together using some metal tubing. The first snag is that I thought these units were all standard sizes, but the 5/16" rod ends were too small for the pins by a few thousanths, some sandpaper fixed the fit but it was a tedious process.

The motor is from a Durango, any motor should work fine but I had purchased this one thinking I could make the attached linkage system work so I already had it. I plan to mount it externally to the header box, so another support plate was cut and drilled and welded in behind the header with some plug welds.

The motor is mounted centered on the header which offsets the output shaft to the driver's side. Because of the "V" shape of the header I had to relieve the opposite side of the header so the motor would sit flat. Centering the output shaft would solve that issue but look a little weird inside the cab and make the interference worse. Similarly a smaller or differently shaped motor might make things easier but this one should be plenty strong for any weather.

It's not stock looking but my plan is to build a center console to hide it and maybe hold some map lights, switches, or similar.

Next step is to determine how much sweep I need so I can determine how much I need to modify the motor output drive. Then I can measure and build the connecting links. The second big trip up was that the arms I used are adjustable but are for older vehicles and use an old mounting method. Add in that it needs a small 10 or 11" wiper blade and finding the right unit gets tricky. The local shops didn't have anything that fit.

[Desoto61]

Windshield Wipers

I've been trying to figure out how to adapt a more modern wiper system to the truck, unfortunately most of the systems are designed to be mounted below the windshield. The arms they use are usually not right either and their mounting style is unique.

After a handful of other experiments I think I've found a solution. The pivot from a 76-86 Jeep CJ is available as a replacement item. It's not cheap but it's small and easily mounted. Just open the stock opening to 5/8" (may have to go slightly larger with a file), and then use a small round file to make a slot for the locating tab. The unit comes with a keyed washer that also fits over that tab and a nut to keep everything tight.

I plan to add an extra plate behind for re-enforcement and weld up the locating hole below the wiper arm. For final install I'll make a gasket or use some sealer to keep any water from getting in around the opening.

An adjustable wiper arm fits the pivot and will allow me to adjust the length and angle to fit the windshield. The hard part will be building the linkage and figuring how to mount the motor. I don't think there's any way I'm going to get it to fit in the header panel, but I may have a way to hide it.

[Desoto61]

Like many the transfer case lever bracket on my truck was badly worn as were the lever bushings. I had replaced the bushings but the worn shaft still allowed a lot of play in the levers. Luckily the shaft is 1/2" bar stock, and it's just surface welded to the back side of the bracket. I ground the weld off and could drive the shaft out. Unfortunately, the shaft is smaller where it passes through the bracket. You could drill the hole out larger and then re-weld, but my neighbor has a metal lathe so he quickly turned the stock down to fit in the hole. Then it's just a matter of drilling a new pin hole at the other end and welding it back into the bracket.

The e-brake lever had a similar issue. The pins at the upper and lower pivot are easy enough to replace, but there are no bushings so the holes themselves were egg shaped. So my solution was to weld them shut and re-drill them to the right size. I used a copper backing plate head from a welding tool and clamped it to the back side of one of the legs of the lever and welded the hole closed. Then I could use the existing hole in the other side to locate the hole and re-drill it to the correct size. Then flip it over and repeat the process on the other side.

Final result is a nice tight lever assembly that will hopefully be good for another 60 years.

[Desoto61]

Desoto61, you are the man, this has to be the best restoration on a pw with lots of pics i have ever seen. keep up the good work..

Thanks, I really do it as much to get tips and input as to show what's involved. I'm learning most of this stuff as I go (and making up the rest)!

[scott nepa]

Desoto61, you are the man, this has to be the best restoration on a pw with lots of pics i have ever seen. keep up the good work..

[Desoto61]

Turned out the issue with the opener was installer error, had the end links hooked up wrong, once corrected it worked much better. Once I had it where I wanted I marked the two mounting holes in dash and drilled the mounting bracket. Then I pulled it and finished welding the bracket, tack welded two nuts behind the mounting holes, and cleaned up and fixed a few of the links to make them a little tighter. I also added a piece here and there to keep the liniear motor from pivoting as much which was creating some of the slack in the mechanism.

I picked up and quickly wired a double pole switch so I could cycle the system more easily and put it back in to see if there were any other tweaks that needed made. After I got everything aligned it really hasn't needed it. It extends about 5 1/2" and pulls nice and tight.

I'm thinking I may try and use one of the hotrod window switch conversions to turn a stock operator handle into the switch for the mechanism, or build something similar, though first I need to buy an operator handle.

I also picked up the adapters and pieces needed to start hooking up the hydroboost brakes and power steering lines. Earl's makes adapters to go from the combination of metric o-ring fittings on the pump and hydroboost, and SAE inverted flare fittings on the steering box to AN line. They also make braided stainless line and AN fittings for power steering use. The lines are tricky to cut but the fittings aren't bad to use and come in different angles. I can do most of the lines except for the return to the pump. I want to install a power steering cooler which I don't have yet, so plumbing for that will need to wait.

Final small task was to install the Painless brake light switch. I don't care for the hydraulic switches, this one is mechanical and threads into a fitting so that the brake peddle pushes against it when the brakes are off. To mount it I drilled a hole in the stop bracket for Ray's hanging peddles and tack welded a nut over the opening that the swtich threads into, a second nut locks it in place. This version has two poles, one for brake lights and a second which can be used as a signal for cruise control or similar.

I also finally managed to place the order for my seats, it will be a few weeks but that will let me move onto a lot of the bigger items like steering, accelerator peddle, and belts.

[cj7ox]

Nice!