46 Power Wagon Restoration pt. 2

[CSCameron]

Looks awesome! Can't wait to see it on the truck. Good job!

Clark

[W_A_Watson_II]

WOW, Very NICE!

[Desoto61]

After the bed had a chance to sit and cure for a bit I hooked the trailer up to the Power Wagon and it hauled its own bed to get a bed liner sprayed in at a local shop.

They can do lots of colors but black fits the truck well, they also added a UV top coat to help keep it from fading as fast. The company is not Line-X but the material is essentially the same and the guy came highly recommended from some pretty reliable sources.

A week later it's finished and I hauled it home yesterday. The coating covers all the interior surfaces including the interior bed box panels and both the tailgate (inside and out). I had them extend it down the back wall of the bed to cover the rear bumper and side steps as well. They also sprayed the undersides of both fenders.

They did a really good job coating everything. The back sides of the angle iron and underside of all lips and edges are coated, same with inside the stake pockets and even the D-rings on the back. He protected a lot of the holes in the bed but missed a few so I'll have to clean them out but that's a minor price for the protection. Now to get it in the garage and get it back on the truck!

[Desoto61]

Thanks! LOL, not if you want it any time soon, this has been two years coming, and I've learned a lot but the biggest one is that I don't like body work!

I will say I did a much better job of sanding the filler this time, it looked really straight wet, the fenders were pretty good too for being curved. I did get a little lazy and didn't do any primer-surfacer this time, but I'm also kind of OK with leaving it less than perfect since I've already got some scratches and dings on the front end, and I'm less hesitant about using it as a truck that way.

Next is to figure out how to fix the two areas of the cab I screwed up painting, that will mean repainting and blending, should suck, but short term I get to put stuff together which I like more.

I will need to get with you about a few odds and ends to get cut for the interior and probably for the running boards once I get to them.

[Alxj64]

Looks really good! Now I know who to bring my Carryall to when its done and ready for paint!

I'll be picking your brain on prep tips and tricks for sure though. Again, looks great!

[Desoto61]

The painting part was going to add a new wrinkle for me. For the front end all the sheet metal was painted apart and individual parts were either black or blue. So to paint it was a day painting black stuff and a day(s) painting blue stuff. Because the fenders are attached to the bed and I wanted the fenders black but the bed blue I was going to have to mask and spray the two shades together.

First was the black fenders, so I masked off the sides and sprayed the fenders, then let everything dry well and reversed the masking, which was the nervous part, I tested the tape on the paint in a hidden area first but still a bit nerve wracking when it was time to unmask it. Luckily everything went well unmasking the fenders afterward.

Then it was time for clear coat over everything. It went pretty well, I did a better job on the fenders strangely enough than the bed sides, the first coat was a little dry, but the other coats went much nicer, we'll see how it actually looks once it's had time to set up, definitely some orange peel, but should be good enough for truck duty.

It's a little tricky for me when spraying, I have a nice full-face mask to wear while spraying, but I can't wear my glasses while wearing it, my sight is good enough to get away with it, but I have to pause and inspect closely to check my progress while doing it.

Regardless, I let it flash off and unmasked everything and will let it sit for a few days before hauling the whole thing to get the liner sprayed in next week, then it can get installed on the truck!

If I had thought ahead I should have had a stencil made and done something similar on the tailgate to put the word DODGE on it.

[Desoto61]

Paint!

Made a big push last week since the weather cooled off and things become busy here to finish painting the bed of the truck. Finished sanding out the filler and scuffed up the remaining surfaces to be painted. I also used some paintable seam sealer at the joints of the fenders to the bed and at the front angle brackets where there were gaps and smoothed everything out.

Painting the bed while on the lift wouldn't have worked well, the arms block clean access to the sides to spray, plus it will leave here afterward and need to go to get the bed liner installed, so I built a nice new sturdy frame to mount it to the trailer and bolted everything down with some nice big lag screws. Then I cleaned everything in/on/around the bed and masked off the inside of the bed and the wheel openings as well as around the bottom and trailer area. Finally I hung some plastic around the garage to cordon off all the dirty stuff from the paint area, then cleaned one last time and started preparing for paint.

[Desoto61]

A little painting

Original plan was to have bed liner sprayed on both the bottom of the bed and fenders as well as the usual inside surfaces of the bed. The logistics of trying to get that done were proving to be a little tough. If I had taken the bed directly from the blaster to the liner place and had the bottom done then come back after painting the sides for the inside might have worked best, but at the time I wasn't sure who I was going to use to do the work. The place I did pick has some concerns about how to lift and handle the bed after it was painted without damage, and I didn't want to try and mask off to the bed liner, or worry about having to rework paint or primer.

So with the bed on the lift and half a bucket of spray-on sound deadener that technically was probably already past it's prime, I decided that I would go ahead and spray the underside of the bed floor with that, it's not as durable as bed liner, even the DIY stuff, but the underside of the bed will not see as much abuse as the wheel wells, and it will allow me to mount it to the trailer (better this time) and they can basically spray the inside of the bed and the underside of the fenders without having to remove the bed from the trailer at all.

The lift makes it much easier to do, with the bed in the air I could more comfortably scuff the primer and then clean all the surfaces really well before taping over all the openings and hanging some plastic and craft paper to keep the overspray from getting where I don't want it (I was mostly successful). The coating seemed fine other than having some chunks that clogged the gun once or twice, it's a messy process especially overhead, but it worked well, looks good, and used the last of the material so it didn't go to waste.

A little more sanding to do on the tailgate cover and then I can start preparing the rest of the bed and the garage to paint!

[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.

[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.

[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]

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.

[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]

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.

[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.