46 Power Wagon Restoration pt. 2

[Desoto61]

Spent the long weekend playing with the truck since I'm still waiting for the bed to come back from the media blaster. Lots of repairs/upgrades to do.

Finished getting the radio installed, works well and definitely gets loud enough to hear over the Cummins, but have a bit of a speaker hiss I'll eventually need to track down, and I need to make up a pair of RCA cables, the shortest ones I could buy were still way too long for my needs which leaves stuffing a lot of extra cable behind the dash.

The other big upgrade was new flooring. The place I got my sound deadening from started offering a heavy vinyl mat with a foam backing already attached, mostly for trunks and such but seemed perfect for the floor of the truck. A few yards of the diamond tread pattern wasn't cheap but it's nice stuff.

To install it I built a template from some craft paper. The key was to build it up vice try to cut it down. Taping smaller pieces together was way easier than trying to take a big piece and cut it smaller. With the rough template I laid it out and did a rough cut, then pressed and trimmed to get it to fit and sit well. The front is one piece that goes under the seats, the rear was two pieces that overlap the front under the seat. Managed to use one of the leftover pieces to make a small pad for around the shifter hump too.

It will offer much better protection and from a quick startup while still in the garage seems to have done a lot for the sound in the cab (even with the radio off).

I tracked down a wiring issue with some of the switches in the overhead console, I'll need to find a different switch for the fans since the way the controller works it looks for ground not 12V so the lights on the switch won't work when wired backwards. Also ran a trigger wire for a relay to make the seat heaters switched vice constant power. I used the power window circuit from my Painless harness to run the seat heaters, but it's not a switched circuit like in most modern cars, so that means you could leave the heaters on when the vehicle is off, which is not an ideal situation. So the relay will kill the ground and prevent a seat heater from killing the battery if left on, not that I'll need them any time soon.

I tried replacing the belt tensioner and belt but turned out the Dodge one won't work on my Cummins, tracked down one that should be right from RockAuto, also used their much better search engine to track down a slightly longer belt which should make changing it a bit easier.

Final mod was the power steering remote reservoir hose. It was a tight fit before I put in the windshield washer tank, but notice while I was under hood the braided stainless hose was actually wearing a groove into the tank where they touch, and the routing created a high spot I wasn't sure wasn't trapping air. So I ended up getting some fittings to put a 90-degree fitting in the line to better route the hose, which was a good thing as it looks like I did have an air gap preventing the remote tank from keeping the pump full.

I still don't have a perfect run afterward, but by filling the tank differently I'm sure I've managed to purge the air from the line, and I'll run it for a bit and then re-purge. If I still have issues I'll have to work out another option for routing.

[Alxj64]

Good deal! Looks great and glad that the debugging process is still going well! I have been taking note of everything you do to make sure I do, or don't do, whatever that might be!

Thanks for documenting and sharing all of this!

[Desoto61]

Got the new belt tensioner and belt and went to install them. Modern cars have nothing on me, there's not much room up front, add in the hoses and tubes for coolant and the intercooler and there's not much room to pivot a tool to release the tension and then the belt has to be snaked in and out. To add just a bit more fun the Cummins uses an 8-rib belt, while the AC compressor uses a 7-rib, so I run the narrower belt, which means trying to align the belt on all the factory pullies too. It's a good way to practice your adult english.

While searching for a tool that fell into the abyss under the truck I noticed some other issues to track down, the biggest being a loose power steering bolt. Turned out another one is missing altogether. Still need to pick up a new one but the other two I can access were removed, cleaned, and some lock-tight was added before they were re-installed and torqued down. Other searching showed a loose engine mount bolt, so all those were re-torqued. They're a bear to get at so we'll have to see if they stay before I fight to do a more thorough fix, but obviously I've been going over most of the other fasteners too. Most seem fine luckily.

Another problem I knew about was the oil pan, it had hit the axle and damaged the front axle brake line, so I routed it differently when I replaced it and while that was fine it has definitely hit once or twice since then, so it was time to fix that too yesterday.

I dropped the pan which didn't want to come out till I jacked the front end up and got the axle to droop. It showed me how much the front suspension has settled, now I'm wondering if I may need to add a leaf to the front springs anyway. Something to look at later, but for now the pan relief. I cleaned away all the oil and paint around the old one and cut out the top part of the old relief and spent some time templating the new opening and test fitting it to see that there was no interference. I failed to extend the oil pickup quite far enough the first time and it sits tight against the cutout. That's still there, but I didn't make it any worse.

The TIG welder made the new patch much easier to weld in. I then filled it with water and let it sit to make sure I had no leaks which I did, but amusingly were two very minor weep points that were part of my previous patch. I touched those up and then painted both sides. I'll get a new gasket today and pick up a lot of oil and hopefully get it all back together today.

[Desoto61]

Monday I get out of work and run to the Fastenall store for a 7/16-14x2" socket head cap screw for the power steering box - they have it. Then over to the local Cummins supply and get a new oil pan gasket - they have it. Then I proceeded to have to go to FOUR different auto parts stores to get the oil and filter I was looking for!

Got the pan back in on Monday but ran out of time to torque everything down and finish changing the oil so I finished that up yesterday. I must have had to use about 12 different configurations of extensions and adapters to get to all the pan bolts, which get torqued way tighter than any bolt I've ever seen on those type of sheet metal parts (18 ft-lbs). The remote oil filter was a little messier to remove than I though it would be, but it is easy to pre-fill the new one. Then slowly add 8 quarts of oil, thank goodness oil change intervals are fairly long on these motors!

The bed is done at the media blaster so the goal is to go get it today and figure out how to get it back in my garage. The trailer is tricky to back up and my skill at doing so doesn't make things easier, plus there's little space to maneuver in many places along the driveway. Should be entertaining!

[Desoto61]

Picked the bed up yesterday which was an adventure. It's been in the mid 90's here with high humidity. So after running home and getting the truck out of the garage I drove over and we loaded the bed onto the trailer. Some of the mounting hardware had gone missing but we strapped it down real well and I was only going about 6 miles in town. Truck ran fine and the AC worked pretty well in the heat with the temps leveling off about 200 at the thermostat.

Only problems were that somehow I had basically balanced the trailer perfectly, which is not ideal, even with the other parts at the front it was not as nose heavy as I would have liked, but the trailer didn't misbehave so it was OK for the short drive. Plus side is that made it much easier to move once unhooked from the truck! Unfortunately the bed shifted while on the trailer and banged up one of the fenders pretty bad. I have body work to do anyway but it still sucks.

They did a really nice job. The black is a heavy duty primer that is preferred for use under spray-in bed liners. He actually did the whole thing in that and then shot an epoxy primer over the outside surfaces for body work, so it should stand up to a beating even before it gets coated. I plan to do the body work and paint on the outside first, and then have it coated inside and underneath. I'll just have to determine a better method of moving it this time!

As an amusing side story, I kept a close eye on it to make sure nothing was leaking and how it would handle the high temps and (light) towing. I had some coolant leak but it turned out to be from the tank overflow line. When I got home I noticed something else dripping and got all worried because I saw oil, but the dripping turned out to be condensate from the AC and the oil was just left over from when I changed the filter.

I did however notice that I managed to bang the oil pan again even with the new notch, which leads me to believe I'm going to need to add a leaf or two to the front axle, and maybe play with the brake line mounting as I think it's hitting the T-block on the front axle.

One step forward...

[Desoto61]

Have I mentioned I don't much like body work? I've been dragging my feet on the bed sides because of it. I started with just a few obvious areas and as I started sanding realized I was going to keep chasing bad spots, so I broke down and did all of the bed sides. It's tricky though with the right angles making corners that are hard to sand into smoothly. After a few rounds of adding and removing filler I think I'm close enough that a coat of glaze will get me to my final sanding. Then I need to move to the fenders, but I'm waiting on a more flexible sander before I try that.

Also need to go talk to a few of the spray in bedliner places and see who I want to use and how best to tackle the surfaces I want sprayed.

Took a closer look at the oil pan and it's the axle housing that is hitting, more concerning is that one of the brake line mounting studs is also hitting now. It put a good gouge in the pan so that needs to be handled before I drive it again so I don't punch a hole in the oil pan. I think the easiest fix will be to replace the stud with a button head bolt, at least for the short term.

On the plus side I finally got the input gear I need for the PTO so I can make the winch work. I ordered new bearings and seals to rebuild it while I'm installing the new gear but after an e-mail to Chelsea-Parker they told me there is no repair manual for this PTO to just make sure to take lots of pictures/video when I tear it down. It's kind of crazy, I have an exploded diagram, that's not my issue, just wondering how you set clearances and torque values?

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Can you tell me more about that floor matting? Did you glue it down or is it just sitting in that position? Curious does it move around much? I really like the looks of it and have a few trucks I am trying to figure out what to do with the flooring.

Again thank you so much for sharing all of this!

[Greg Coffin]

On the plus side I finally got the input gear I need for the PTO so I can make the winch work. I ordered new bearings and seals to rebuild it while I'm installing the new gear but after an e-mail to Chelsea-Parker they told me there is no repair manual for this PTO to just make sure to take lots of pictures/video when I tear it down. It's kind of crazy, I have an exploded diagram, that's not my issue, just wondering how you set clearances and torque values?

I just rebuilt the Chelsea 352 PTO for my 6x6. I could only find a little bit of info on the web, so I called a local drivetrain shop to see what they could tell me. The gear lash at the input gear should be 0.006-0.012", and the bearing preload on the internal shafts should be right at zero or just slightly loaded (under 0.004"). I went with standard torque ratings for 5/16" Grade 5 fasteners (17 ft-lbs) for the end caps, and 3/8" Grade 8 fasteners (44 ft-lbs) for the mounting studs and nuts. Honestly, I don't think I was able to get all the way to 40 ft-lbs on the studs, since I was using a small open end wrench to reach the nuts.

[Desoto61]

Can you tell me more about that floor matting? Did you glue it down or is it just sitting in that position? Curious does it move around much? I really like the looks of it and have a few trucks I am trying to figure out what to do with the flooring.

Again thank you so much for sharing all of this!

I purchased the flooring through Sound Deadner Showdown which is where I originally got the materials for the rest of the cab. It's a fairly recent addition and they have it in a more "normal" pattern too. I like it because it has a layer of closed cell foam already glued to the back to both provide some padding but (naturally) sound deadening as well. It is nice and thick and very dense, but cuts nicely and the standard piece was just about perfect for my cab.

It's not glued down, the only piece secured in any way is the piece I put around the shifter levers which is held in place by the trim screws for the dust boots. It ended up being four pieces, one large piece from the firewall to the back of the seat frame. Two small pieces across the area behind the seats, and the piece over the transmission tunnel. Like I said the standard size is just about perfect for a PW cab.

It shouldn't want to move because of how it's cut around everything. I got a roll of craft paper and basically cut and taped smaller pieces together to form the template (kind of like how they used to template for stone countertops with lots of little sticks), then removed that and used it to trace and cut the pad, leaving it a little long so I could trim back to just the right size.

The stuff is dense but cuts nicely, almost too nicely sometimes as it gets tricky to "shave off" small amounts. Hardest part is the paper is way more flexible naturally, so there were some changes to the design once the mat was in place while trying to get it to conform to the floor. I left a little extra length at the front that went under the firewall pad at the tops of the foot well also.

I've had a chance to drive it and it definitely helps a lot. There's still lots of noise from the Cummins, but it doesn't seem to come from "everywhere" like it did before. It went from being a loud truck to mostly just a loud engine if that makes any sense.

[Desoto61]

I just rebuilt the Chelsea 352 PTO for my 6x6. I could only find a little bit of info on the web, so I called a local drivetrain shop to see what they could tell me. The gear lash at the input gear should be 0.006-0.012", and the bearing preload on the internal shafts should be right at zero or just slightly loaded (under 0.004"). I went with standard torque ratings for 5/16" Grade 5 fasteners (17 ft-lbs) for the end caps, and 3/8" Grade 8 fasteners (44 ft-lbs) for the mounting studs and nuts. Honestly, I don't think I was able to get all the way to 40 ft-lbs on the studs, since I was using a small open end wrench to reach the nuts.

Thanks! I found the info on how to install it and set lash on the vehicle, but it seemed really weird that there was nothing on how to actually assemble the internals of the PTO itself. Even if I wasn't going to replace bearings and seals, I have to tear it apart anyway to move the output shaft to the correct orientation for my application. It will probably have to wait till I'm done making a mess in the garage with sanding and painting.

[CSCameron]

Just a suggestion since you mentioned looking at bedliner. I really like Line-X over any other out there. Seems much more durable and the texture is finer, not like oatmeal. They offer a "premium" version that includes UV protection, well worth it IMHO.

Also, I recommend painting whatever you want painted first, then get the bedliner. Decide where you want the liner to stop on the edges of the bed then be sure to paint past that point into the bed. Just far enough so the liner can overlap the paint. It will come out much cleaner looking. Trust me, you don't want to have to tape and mask off the liner.

Just my .02

Clark

PS It looks great! You're doing a helluva job!

[Desoto61]

Just a suggestion since you mentioned looking at bedliner. I really like Line-X over any other out there. Seems much more durable and the texture is finer, not like oatmeal. They offer a "premium" version that includes UV protection, well worth it IMHO.

Also, I recommend painting whatever you want painted first, then get the bedliner. Decide where you want the liner to stop on the edges of the bed then be sure to paint past that point into the bed. Just far enough so the liner can overlap the paint. It will come out much cleaner looking. Trust me, you don't want to have to tape and mask off the liner.

Just my .02

Clark

PS It looks great! You're doing a helluva job!

Thanks! Yes, the plan is to get the outside painted before having the inside coated, but I also want to get the underside of the bed and fenders done as well like I did for the front fenders. Since the cutoff line was clear on those I had them done before final painting so any issues during coating I could more easily correct. I need to talk to the company I decide to use about how to sequence everything.

Line-X would normally be my first choice, that's who did the front end sheet metal. When talking to the media blaster he recommended the guy he uses, who apparently left Line-X and uses a competitor's product because he has more flexibility in how and what he can do with it. They offer the same options and warranty, but obviously are not as common as Line-X. However, coming from a guy who deals with this stuff every day his suggestion is worth considering. Guess I need to use my next day off and go see some coating companies. From what I've been reading their attention to detail is more important than the exact brand they use.

[Ammo]

Have you thought of using Raptor liner? I like it for three reasons: 1. it's easy to apply and durable. Same two part formula as commercial products; I've been told it's the same material as Line-x with a different label. 2. I have total control of what gets coated, how thick or thin, and I control the texture (using air pressure). 3. it's WAY cheaper than Line-X.

What it boils down to, for me, is control. I hate spending all the time explaining what I want done only to be disappointed when I go for pick up. Only you know what you need , and lets face it, things can change along the way.

Good luck with whatever option you choose... the truck will look nice.

[Desoto61]

Based on research I've been doing some of the better DIY liners are similar to the pro stuff, but it's not the same. I used Al's Liner on the bottom of my cab, and it's a 3-part epoxy and is decent stuff, but not as hard/durable as the LineX I had done on the front fenders.

The pro stuff is applied using very high pressure and high temperature spray equipment which allows for better control and use of a different class of material. If you need proof the pro stuff has isocyanoates and need all the appropriate safety protections, while even the best DIY are formulated to not require that level of protection. Most also have some special formulations that are more fade resistant.

It is definitely more convenient to DIY, but one big downside was it was WAY more messy in my garage (I'm still finding places I managed to get overspray) and at the end of the day I do get a warranty should I have any problems or issues down the road.

[Desoto61]

Sanding, sanding, and more sanding

The last few weeks have mostly been about me finding the motivation to go apply and then sand off body filler, but I'm finally in the home stretch. Got both sides smooth and sanded down to 120-grit, though the corners are tricky, then I moved to the fenders, which were mostly in good shape so only required some filler where they mount to the bed.

Had to pick up a longer flexible sanding board to work these, but a few more rounds of filler and sanding and I'm happy with the end result, especially when the rest of the fender sanded flat down to the first primer layer. Once I had it roughed out to 120 I sanded the whole thing to 320-grit. Only thing left is some of the corners like at the fenders and the front angle iron which may get a very small bead of paintable seam sealer.

I still have some filler work to do on the tailgate cover and I should be ready to start cleaning and preparing for paint, which is not a process I much care for.