46 Power Wagon Restoration pt. 2

[Desoto61]

Long day of prepping and painting. Like many of these endeavors it wasn't ideal, I wish I'd had more room to lay things out, and a little less wind would have been nice, but the PPG primer I'm using seems pretty forgiving of my lack of experience and ideal conditions. I'm pretty sure my gun wasn't set quite right but since I don't know what right is I can't say what was off.

I didn't go into the primer/surfacer to be on the safe side of the cure times, but I did top coat some of the brackets and the underside of the one fender that was ready and the transmission cover with some Eastwood Epoxy Chassis black. It's tough stuff, both liquid and dry, a little tricky to spray if you don't thin it.

I cleaned up the overspray and the garage and try to get the primer/surfacer sprayed the next morning before the weather goes to crap.

[Desoto61]

After a couple of days of crazy weather the blaster called and told me everything was ready. Most of the parts came back with no surprises. The one splash shield I could use has one area that will need patched, and the fender that I already knew about. Also had some deep pitting on the exhaust side of the hood, but nothing too deep to cause problems. There was also one hole in one of the fenders that had been badly patched and covered in a heavy layer of filler. That I re-welded and ground smooth on the surface.

With the parts home, I proceeded to make a few piles. The stuff that just needs primed I cleaned and wiped down the some After-blast to keep them from flash rusting and clean up any that had started. The parts that need some metal work were set aside till I can take care of that.

Weather tomorrow looks nice, though not for long. So the cab is all masked off and I'm hopefully all prepped and ready to get the cab ready for some block sanding as well as get a few other parts prepped.

[Desoto61]

I disassembled all the front end sheet metal parts one by one, taking apart the hood halves, hinges, and brackets. The replacement fenders were solid but a little beat up, and someone had put some really bad patch panels on them. Really just small backing plates tack welded so the body filler didn't go through. Those also had to be removed so they can be fixed correctly. Any obvious dents and issues I worked on with the hammer and dolly set to try and take care of the big stuff.

The radiator cowl had top had been bent up inside to gain access to some of the fasteners without removing the radiator, so they got hammered back into place also. There are D-shaped captured nuts inside it, which kind of work like a riv-nut. Most of them were so badly rusted you could see the ends of the threads on the flat section of the D. So I drilled out the top part and popped them out. I'll tack weld some new nuts back inside to take their place after they are blasted.

Outside of that I'm trying to find some weather to spray the primer and primer/surfacer on the cab, as well as get primer on some other parts. Which means slowly prepping for that by cleaning, hanging, and masking off the cab and other parts.

[Desoto61]

I'd also be interested in seeing the new bear claw latches you installed, I didn't see them in your earlier posts.

The door latch saga starts at post 224 on page 6, got any questions please ask.

[Greg Coffin]

Thanks for posting the pictures. I'm going to build something like that for my cab, given all the work I have to do to it. I may use two engine stands, and install taller risers off the bases. Stands are cheaper than bare steel and casters. I'll post a few photos when I get it done.

I'd also be interested in seeing the new bear claw latches you installed, I didn't see them in your earlier posts.

[Desoto61]

Here are some pics of the rotisserie. Some don't show the center support pole as I added it later. The angle iron I used still had too much flex in it otherwise.

I had to modify it slightly after I replaced the old latch mechanism with the new bear-claw latches, but it works the same way.

The only downside right now is that it blocks a lot of the door opening, so while it's great for work on the outside, it will require some effort to paint the interior as I will have to do what I can with it in place, then remove it to paint the areas it covers, but not sure how you would get around that.

One change I need to look at making is to make it two pieces. The center bar makes the whole thing very cumbersome to install and remove by yourself without scratching up the newly painted surfaces. Having a bolted or sleeved joint in the middle would solve that.

Good luck and post pics of what you do, I'm sure there are better ways, this is just the one I used.

[Desoto61]

It's not that heavy, so some wooden stands would easily do the trick as well and let you determine how much height you want. My concern with the engine stand is it's not tall enough to really let you rotate the cab any direction. The downside to my setup is I can't roll it outside that way, but I can adjust height.

My setup looks like an H with the middle bar extended. I basically started with a piece of angle that went across the opening and welded a section of pipe/tube to that about center. At each end of the angle I made a plate that used the hinge bolt holes in the front (it runs top to bottom), an at the back uses the striker bolt holes. Then welded a brace between the two angle brackets. You could get away without the interior brace if you used a stronger side bar though. I put this one together with scrap and some cheaper metal.

It's not perfectly ballanced, I originally used a piece of larger pipe welded to a "T" in the lift arms as my bearing/supports and drilled and tapped a hole for a locking bolt, but as it wasn't perfectly balanced or as I put weight on it while working it would still move, so I ended up using some vice-grips braced against the lift arms to control movement, one for each direction.

Saw someone use a piece of plywood/OSB in the door opening and just screw it in place then find the balance point on that sheet and drill for the cross bar, same could then be used to help build some side supports.

I have pictures somewhere, I'll try to dig them up and post them when I get a chance.

[Greg Coffin]

Cab Rotisserie



I have GOT to make one of those rotisseries for my cab repair work. I don't have a lift, and I've heard people say they build them using 2 engine stands, I might look into that. Do you have a picture of how you attach the mounts to the cab, and how did you determine that balance point?

[Desoto61]

One of the other door tasks was to remove the exterior door lock hole as well, the new mechanism won't work with the old lock, and I didn't really feel like trying to rig up the lock cylinder and linkage.

[Desoto61]

Been trying to get all the the prep work done to be ready for paint. It sounded simple, but that's never usually the case. Smaller parts that get primer went through the blaster and got wiped down with some protectant before being hung on a pole.

Started prepping the one door I had stripped with the cab, in the process of scuff sanding the door I noticed all the little dents and dings that needed fixed, so that came next. Since access from the back is limited the stud puller seemed the best way to go.

A couple of rounds with the puller helped most of the areas, the larger dent in the center of the door is showing some oil-canning that I'll need to continue working on, but most of it came out pretty well for someone making it up as I go.

[Desoto61]

All off the little parts have been through the powder coating oven. I'm sure I missed a few odds and ends, but that's OK, I can either save them up for another batch or just hit them with some rattle can paint later depending on where they go.

The winter has been strange here so no telling when I will be able to throw some primer at the cab, but I'm slowly working on getting the garage set up for that process so I can go when I get a window, which mostly means lots of cleaning.

The rest is planning. I've been working on figuring out some of the other parts and systems I will need. Like piecing together a windshield washer system for instance. There are universal systems but they are cheap and generic. So instead a replacement pump and nozzles along with an aftermarket aluminum radiator overflow tank should look nicer and fit better than the cheap plastic junk.

The other task is getting the rest of the front sheetmetal stripped. I have everything forward of the cab to do and the one replacement door. I've been reluctant to take them to be blasted and primed for the same reason I haven't painted anything yet, but now I'm thinking I might just make another trip down to the chemical stripper. I'd prefer it for the replacement door to make sure it's rust free, but it's not worth the 7 hours of driving for one door, but if I have them do the rest of the front metal too it would make it worth the trip. It's not really necessary for most of it as there are no complex shapes or cavities that can't be blasted but it will definitely do the trick. Might be a good way to get the windshield frame done too.

[Desoto61]

The PA winters seem to have found me in VA, so the cold weather is a good time to powder coat parts. There are no fumes so it's OK in a closed garage, and running the oven just helps heat the garage. Like painting it's all in the prep.

First step is to disassemble and inspect the parts and clean up any issues. The parking brake pawl had worn over the years, so I welded some metal back onto the end and ground it back to shape. Other pieces it's just removing any welding spatter, cleaning up holes, and smoothing rough areas. Then lots of time blasting them, cleaning and setting up, but the coating goes pretty quick, and cleanup is just a broom and some compressed air. The really nice part is that once done the assemblies can be put together for what is hopefully the last time.

The little things are what make these projects special. I disassembled the windshield opener mechanism, powder coated all the parts and during final assembly could take my time in fitting the parts and greasing all the joints before putting everything back together and setting it aside.

[Desoto61]

Well if the purists were upset with my changes so far this one should do it. The taller seats and small rear window should make visibility tricky. A backup camera seems like a good idea, but I don't want some screen taped to my dash. So I settled on trying to fit something in the overhead console. The screens are remarkably cheap, if a little low-res. I found a unit designed to flush mount, it was a little large but I thought I could make it fit. Hardest part is I have no way of knowing unless I start cutting. After a lot of measuring and head scratching I went for it.

End result isn't too bad. It sits a little lower than I wanted, but shouldn't interfere with sight lines and still be easily visible. I'm not sure if I want to wrap the cover in fabric, or if I want to try and do some body work to smooth it out and fill some of the gaps along the edges of the screen mount.

A strap across the back with some riv-nuts secures the screen in its mount, though it is a tight fit.

[W_A_Watson_II]

As a picture is a better descripter than I I'll let them do the talking, but I will say that I'm happy so far, my only misgiving is that they are 8" wide with an 8-1/2" backspacing, which puts the extra width inboard, add in a 37x12.5" tire and it raises some clearance questions at full lock.

They look great, but their back spacing has been my concern. I spoke to Jens about it, but with the smaller tires they are happy.

I'm running 17x10's with a 7.75" back spacing (Stock is 7"). Based on your picture, you appear to be more like a 8.125" actual backspacing (measure the same way as my measurements).

By my my estimations your tire inboard surface will be about 3/4"-1" further inboard than mine, putting it close to rubbing the drag links. In the rear I already rub the inner fender side when under hard articulation.

Look forward to your results.

[Desoto61]

More pictures

You can get them powder coated black from VPW for a little extra, but I decided to buy the bare steel version and have the powder coating done locally as the place I've used to date is a known entity, and easier to deal with if there were issues down the road.

I'll get them powder coated and then once I pick a tire get one mounted to test for clearance before buying the other four tires.