My 1949 B-1 PW Project

[Gordon Maney]

I am curious. How did you cut the slot in the socket?

[mageew]

Shop-Made Pinion Nut Tool

While I'm waiting for my new front wheel bearings & seals to arrive, I removed the carrier housing to inspect the front differential and found that my ring gear was badly pitted & rusted in places. I peeked inside the case & didn't see any rust so I'm going to stop short of a complete rebuild but I am going to replace the ring gear and thus the pinion.

I used the described technique of drilling 1/4" holes in the pinion seal & slapping it out with a slide hammer - this worked nicely. Looks like I had a Victor 49614 pinion seal which was apparently composed of a felt ring in a metal housing along with a rubber seal. I was expecting a leather seal, not sure how long this seal has been there but it seems NAPA has appropriated this part number. It's pricey but I'm trying to do all I can to avoid leaks so I've decided to go with a replacement seal kit from Charles Talbert when I put things back together.

When I got to the pinion bearing retaining nut (picture #1), I was stumped as to how to remove it - I checked my tool box & for some reason must have misplaced my "Special Tool D-1050" so I had to improvise. I took a spare 1 7/8 " socket and cut a slot to accept a piece of 1/4" plate that I cut to span the ID of the nut (picture #2, #3). Put my impact wrench on this socket and out she came! I'm not sure what others have used & I may be mocked for wasting a perfectly good socket but I was pretty pleased with the result.

[W_A_Watson_II]

I've become no fan of Power Coating as well. Epoxy sounds like the trick. You might also consider (if you can find it) placing a thin strip is UHMW between the leafs to help them slide and flex.

[maineSS]

My workplace had some bobbins powdercoated- wasn't impressed as it chips right off. I'd ask around about epoxy or two-part urethane. Surface prep is really important- follow the paint maker's directions exactly, you'd be surprised how many people assume coatings are all the same- they most certainly are not! Charles at M37 Rebuild might have better insight on what holds up in the real world, depending on what you plan to do, and what sort of climate you'll be seeing.

[mageew]

Paint advice

I'd advise against powdercoating or painting the spring leaves. Powdercoating involves oven baking, and you could end up drawing the "spring" right out of the leafs. You also don't want any coating that will wear off between the leafs- they have to be kept tightly drawn together by the U-bolts, and as the coating wears off, the pack will loosen enough to result in a broken leaf or U-bolt. Oiling them is also detrimental to the steel. You can paint the outside of the spring after it's assembled, but the between the leaves it should be just steel on steel, unless you decide to use plastic liners...

Thanks for the advice regarding powder coating the leaf springs - that makes sense. I talked to the owner of the spring works & he's the one who suggested powder coating. They've been in business since 1915 so I figured he would know. He said they paint the springs after assembly but admitted to me that they just slap a coat of cheap paint on & said they'd probably be rusty within a year or so of use. What would you recommend at this point? I'm also trying to figure out how to treat the rest of my wheel assembly (e.g., steering knuckle flanges, drums, hubs, etc.) Should these be painted & if so, with what?

[maineSS]

I'd advise against powdercoating or painting the spring leaves. Powdercoating involves oven baking, and you could end up drawing the "spring" right out of the leafs. You also don't want any coating that will wear off between the leafs- they have to be kept tightly drawn together by the U-bolts, and as the coating wears off, the pack will loosen enough to result in a broken leaf or U-bolt. Oiling them is also detrimental to the steel. You can paint the outside of the spring after it's assembled, but the between the leaves it should be just steel on steel, unless you decide to use plastic liners...

[IP66Pro]

Nice update, Looks like that truck came apart quickly enough! Cant wait to see it start going back together.

[mageew]

More Progress

Well, the frame is finally completely stripped down & off getting blasted & powder-coated. After blasting, it's getting a phosphate wash, primer, two coats of powder & a clear coat to help protect against chips. I'm planning to treat the axle housing and steering knuckle flanges the same way. Haven't decided how to paint the rest of the wheel assembly - recommendations anyone? I made a dolly out of some 2 x 4's & caster wheels which has really been helpful to move the frame around my garage due to the limited space. It'll come in handy to protect it after it's painted, too. Made a similar rig for the cab.

Second picture is of my new leaf springs. The old ones were broken in multiple places and the main springs were worn almost completely through (broken bushings) so I had new ones fabricated by an outfit about 1 1/2 hrs away using the old ones as a pattern. New U-Bolts came with the package! The manufacturer painted them with cheap paint which I'm told will rust through within a year. Currently planning to have them disassembled and powder-coated by a local shop. May be overkill but I want everything to be as well-protected as possible.

Front wheels & steering knuckles are completely disassembled & rebuild parts are on order. New bearings, seals, bushings, etc. My inner axle bushings literally fell out during disassembly - not a good sign. Had pretty clear leakage of differential oil into the steering knuckle. After spending an entire day cleaning one wheel assembly, I broke down and decided to have a local machine shop clean the rest using their automatic parts washer & blaster. The last picture is a before/after overlay of the results - who knew there was metal under all that rust/grease!?! How would you guys paint these parts? Any advice would be appreciated.

Currently working on the front differential more pictures coming.

[IP66Pro]

Nice work, I like the cab removal method!

[mageew]

Engine apart, cab off

After pulling the engine, I borrowed an engine stand from a friend and learned the finer points of "balancing" the engine on the stand. I had to adjust the chains I was using to suspend the engine from the cherry picker several times to get the engine hanging "level" so I could mate up the engine stand bolts. Then I discovered what happens if the center of rotation of the engine doesn't match up with the pivot point on the engine stand. Finally I got everything adjusted properly and started taking it apart. This first picture is my first look under the cylinder head.

It was pretty fascinating to see the inside of an engine for the first time - didn't take long to get everything apart. Here's a shot of everything layed out, minus the camshaft.

After sending the engine off to the machine shop, I moved on to removing the cab. Once again, Jerry's cherry picker came to the rescue. I removed the doors and used a 6 x 6 as a joist to lift the cab. I cut a "socket" into the center of the 6 x 6 to receive the rectangular end of the cherry picker and drilled a hole in the side to bolt the piece of wood on. It was a little wobbly on the cherry picker wheels but I managed to roll the cab to the side where I set it onto a rolling dolly I made with some scrap wood and big rubber caster wheels.

[Bob2]

Welcome to the addiction.

Carefully put all removed fasteners in plastic bags/tubs with label, they seem to get mixed up by themselves if you don't.

Have fun and don't sweat the small stuff PWA community has the answers if needed, and Vintage Power Wagon has the parts your gonna need.

Bob

1966-WM300 16,246 miles
2004 Dodge 1-ton diesel 56,200 miles
2004 PT Cruiser 67,036 miles
1999 Toyota 4-Runner 602,000 miles

[W_A_Watson_II]

The second picture is what I believed at that point to be my transmission as viewed through the floor of the cab. I'd kill to know how many years of dirt and grease was accumulated on that transmission!

I thought that was they were supposed to look, I've found the same "coating" on mine as well.

Great start, keep it up.

[JStinson]

Thank you so much for sharing. I'm really looking forward to this one.

Love the bed floor.

[IP66Pro]

I'm going to upload a few every day until I get caught up. Enjoy!

Yep this is definitely going to be my daily entertainment for a while! Good progress for the first day you owned the truck.

[mageew]

More Disassembly Pictures

This first picture is literally on day #1 of owning my truck. All I owned at that point was a small tool box with a few wrenches. I bought a set of socket wrenches and borrowed a floor jack from a neighbor and I was off!

The second picture is what I believed at that point to be my transmission as viewed through the floor of the cab. I'd kill to know how many years of dirt and grease was accumulated on that transmission! This is when I knew I had to do a complete restoration - I just couldn't bolt a shiny, rebuilt engine to that thing.

The last picture is the engine coming out. Jerry (the previous owner) was kind enough to lend me his cherry picker for this job. Pulling an engine was no small feat for someone as inexperienced as I am - that was my first major milestone.