46 Power Wagon Restoration pt. 2

[Desoto61]

After a couple of days I went ahead and started bolting the bumper pieces back together to get them off the rack and make some room. It's a slower process in order to not damage the paint. All the bolts (and there are a lot of them) get started until all of them are in, then everything can be tightened down carefully.

Also bolted down the spare tire carrier to the bed.

[Desoto61]

With the radiator in place it was time to work on getting the aftercooler mounted. The new unit is shorter but wider, overall smaller but is a better fit.

I used some aluminum angle to build a bracket along the top. Had to figure out welding some aluminum, tricky, but it came out OK. Nothing I'd want to show off, but it won't be. That held the top, but I needed a way to support the bottom so it couldn't bang around. Decided to build a frame around the unit. Used some aluminum angle on the sides, and a piece of flat stock across the bottom then used a small 1/2" piece of aluminum bar stock to stiffen the plate without blocking a lot of air flow.

It came out OK, plenty strong, though it wasn't quite square. It's held in place by four bolts drilled and tapped to the core support.

[Desoto61]

Tracking down radiator hoses is always tricky for custom stuff. Most places are pretty good about letting you browse but that's only what they have. Dayco has a nifty feature that lets you browse via size and length on their web site, but it can be tricky to see the shapes. The upper hose was pretty simple, just a 90 in a 1.75" size. It's tight near the belt but I have more space than I thought I would.

The lower hose was tougher. At 2.25" it's larger than most automotive stuff, and I didn't get the lower radiator tube angle right, so it's a bit of an odd angle. I had a potential part number but the local NAPA didn't have it, so after browsing what they did have we managed to find something that worked after some careful trimming. It also has a wire liner which I also cut down and re-installed for extra protection.

Next was trying to mount the AC condenser in front of all of this. I got a small piece of aluminum channel with the needed outside dimension and drilled and bolted it at the top using some stainless hardware.

[Desoto61]

Unfortunately due to the thickness of the radiator and intercooler I was out of room behind the grill, so I had to take some drastic measures. Luckily the condenser is very thin, but I still needed space. I'll warn you this isn't pretty, it hurt me to do it. I took the 3/4" thickness out of the backside of the grill.

At this point I thought I should probably verify the clearance to the winch, which has been collecting dust under a workbench (literally). The rear mounting bar had been cut down for some reason, and I attempted to fix it, but managed to mess that up, so I either need to try and re-repair it, or try and get another one.

Luckily everything fits, or at least will. It's very tight, as is everything, the bottom of the condenser touches the winch drum, so I'll need to move the condenser up as much as I can, which isn't far, but it should be enough.

[Bruce in BC]

But where is the PS cooler going to go ?

You are humming along. Looks good and hopefully the motor will have no over heating issues.

Bruce

[Desoto61]

Thanks, I wish it went together as well in real life as it does in my head, but that's always the challenge.

I could have gone a little taller on the radiator, but I still have to fit the intercooler piping and the I'd like to build an overflow tank that sits under the cowl with the fill spout in the original location, so that extra space might not be extra.

Otherwise as far as surface area I'm not sure I have too much less air facing area then stock, just not the giant end tanks, but it's a dual row aluminum core all furnace brazed and welded, so I think it should be fine, but it is a concern of mine too. From everything I've read these diesels tend to run cool. If anything I'm probably under-sized on the charge air cooler, but it was rated for more HP than this motor makes, but that was gas not diesel.

I was planning to tuck the PS cooler under the radiator, though I could easily add something small to the driver's side of the intercooler now that I think about it. Hmm, time to take some measurements and head over to the Summit web site.

[Desoto61]

The condenser only needed to move up about 1/2" but it required some interesting bracketry to do so. The final result is small, but it provides little but much needed space above the winch, and closes the gap at the top of the grill.

The bottom of the condenser is still very close to the winch. So I came up with an idea to combine the lower mount with some protection by using some aluminum angle to wrap the bottom of the condenser. The height is basically perfectly level with the bottom of the intercooler mount so the bracketry is simply built from some 1/8" aluminum stock. The angle will provide some protection and the plate will bolt to the intercooler frame while also providing additional protection.

My aluminum welding went much better this time too.

[Desoto61]

I had originally planned to bolt through the lower AC condenser, but the bracket fits tight to the bottom of the unit so I just left it that way. The one bracket was plenty to hold and support the condenser but I added pieces to either side for additional protection.

With that done I moved on to the aftercooler piping. It's 2.5" aluminum tubing in a kit with various shapes and connectors. The route to the engine inlet is pretty straight-forward. The other side from the turbo was a little tougher. There was just enough room between the AC bracket and the lifting ring to tuck the pipe in-between then a bend and a small leftover straight piece complete the run. I had just enough connectors to make this work. I haven't clamped anything in place yet as I need to figure out some way to put another bead on the ends of the tubing I cut off before I clamp it all in place.

[Desoto61]

With the plumbing in place it was time to fit the radiator cowl. After marking the cut points I used a body saw to carve out the cuts, using some of the connectors to trace out the shape. I decided to try and mimic the lip that goes along the bottom edge around the opening.

I used a thin strip of scrap steel and bent it into the opening and then welded it into shape. I used the TIG with the lanthanated rods, which seem to be much easier to control, or I'm actually getting the hang of that machine, but I'll stick with the tungstens. Once finished I cut off the excess and sanded it to match the rest of the lip. The end result is small but it really makes it look like it belongs and not like I just hacked a hole in it.

[Desoto61]

The fenders are painted and sitting in the garage so I wanted to start working on fitting them up. I should have had the front fender brackets lineX'ed when I had the rest of the parts done but forgot. Since it's a few small parts and the shop is a 9-5 type of place, I ended up using one of the DIY ones that come in a spray can. It's a little thin, but we'll see how it holds up. I can always have them re-done if it doesn't.

First I needed to install the fender welting, after doing some research on where the welting goes I couldn't find a very convincing answer, there was talk of a heavier gasket at the back where there are holes for the old split nails and then the lighter welting the rest of the way up. So I decided to use some of the excess hood lace for that on top of the fender welt and then just the welt the rest of the way forward. Rivets hold it at the back while some trim adhesive will hold it till the rest of the way till the bolts are installed.

The rear mounting brackets for the fenders were rusted off the truck, so I have reproductions, which don't have the holes drilled where they mount to the frame bracket, so I want to fit up the fenders so I can locate and drill the mounting holes too. I mounted the brackets and the inner fenders and then used a clamp to hold the rear bracket in place temporarily till I could sit the fender in place and start a bolt or two.

[Desoto61]

Started laying out some templates to build an overflow tank for the radiator. Since my radiator fills through the back that leaves the hole in the top of the cowl open. So my plan is to build a tank with the filler that sticks up through that opening. I've ordered a filler neck that I think might look good. The tank will sit in the space between the intercooler pipes and probably bolt to the rear wall of the cowl. I'll build it out of aluminum, but will have to wait for the filler neck to see exactly where it needs to sit.

[Desoto61]

Trying to get the next batch of parts painted before the weather turned too cold. Probably a little cold to finish today but couldn't be helped, and the heat in the garage should be sufficient.

Tried something different in painting parts of two different colors, worked out pretty well. The clear laid out differently with the cooler temps, so I got a little more orange peel in the first coat on the larger surfaces, but it also seemed to help with preventing any runs. We'll see how it ends up, but it's always gratifying to see the shiny parts.

[Desoto61]

I'm kind of bouncing all around now, so many different things to work on I'm like a kid with ADD. I'll work on this for a while then get sidetracked working on something else. I am trying to get parts put where they belong so I can make room. That started with hanging the door. I had tried to get everything lined up before paint. I then drilled an 1/16" hole in each hinge plate so I could line everything back up later. I had also painted some button head bolts for the hinges since regular bolt heads were hitting the door hinge and making closing difficult, so all that went in, but I still had issues. The lower corner was hitting while the top of the door was a little high. Some tugging got it lower but to get the bottom of the door to move out I ended up taking my dremmel with a burr on it and elongating the lower hinge holes so I could move the hinge outboard just a bit. Also had to carefully body work the corner out just a tad. It fits much better, though still some tweaking to be done.

I also re-assembled the side marker lights. I had drilled out the rivets and purchased new bolt straps, so they were blasted and painted separately, I then riveted them back together with the new mounting bolts. Need to get with my brother about building some LED bulbs for them.

One of my other diversions was to install some other lighting. I was trying to figure what I wanted for turn signals. I plan on making the side lights work as turn signals, I didn't really like the ones drilled and bolted to the fenders like my truck had originally. So I went with these LED ones. They work as a white parking/running lite normally and flash yellow with the turn signals. I mounted them behind the grill, and low mainly do to potential interference with the AC condenser hoses on the passenger side.

Also took a second to install one of the header panel covers. I used new clips but need to cut them down so you can't see them sticking out the ends. I did later turn up two of the originals so I may just swap them too.

[Desoto61]

The other project I started on was the surge tank for the radiator. I picked up a piece of 1/16" aluminum plate and cut and bent the center up based on a cardboard template I had built. It will sit in between the two charge cooler pipes and have a fill cap that sticks up through the radiator cowl. I found an aluminum filler cap on Summit Racing's Web site that was the right size and should look pretty good sticking up through the original opening.

I welded it closed, and then cut and started fitting the sides. Only got one done so far, but my aluminum welds are improving at least. Not all of them are pretty but so long as they hold together and don't leak I'll be happy.

[Desoto61]

Other than goofing up the one corner a bit, the tank came out pretty good. I then placed it back into the cowl and positioned it between the pipe reliefs and marked the cowl opening. I found center and used a hole saw to open up the top. After cleaning up the edges I carefully positioned the filler neck and clamped it down using a small C-clamp. Then came the scary part, trying to weld the heavier filler to the top of the tank without ruining either of them.

After tacking and moving the clamp around to get everything locked down the end result wasn't too bad. I didn't ruin either, the welds aren't the greatest but I'm happy with it.

Finally I bent up two small pieces of aluminum as mounting wings and welded them to either side of the tank. After positioning it in the cowl I could drill some locating holes and using nut-certs mount it to the back of the cowl.

End result I think looks pretty good, definitely not original, but it's functional. I still have the inlet and overflow bungs to install, and I may add a support at the front for some additional stability, but I should be able to start prepping the cowl for paint with the last batch of parts for a while.