6x6 Power Wagon Project

[Greg Coffin]

Minor Progress, and Minor Delays

My bodyman came over today to pick up some misc parts and fasteners for painting. He's planning to have the radiator cowl parts and hood back to me this weekend. The cab will probably show up a week later.

I dry fit the power steering box in my chassis the other day, and it's going to be a tight fit to the starter. I'm going to try a couple other things to make some room, but for now I think I'm going to put the manual steering back in, and tackle this project once the truck is more complete. I really want to get the cab set and weather tight before fall turns into winter - which is any day now.

I've heard that there is a modern gear reduction starter motor that fits the hydraulic bellhousings, and makes more room for the power steering box. Anyone have a part number for one of these elusive starters?

[Greg Coffin]

Wiring System Research

A while ago I decided to do my own wiring on the truck, but I've been a little stuck deciding exactly how to do it. I really like the Bussmann mini fuse panels, and I've been looking around for information on how to wire them up and make them work on the Power Wagon.

I couldn't sleep last night so I poked around the interweb and stumbled onto a really great 6 part tutorial on Bodenzord.com that spells out exactly how to wire these panels, what tools you need, wire to use, etc. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to use these panels. It's given me the confidence to get started on the wiring project.

I had planned to mount the box on the inside of the firewall using the factory standoffs. But instead I may cut a hole in the firewall and panel mount the box, with the waterproof fuse cover in the engine compartment, and the wire terminations inside the cab. Not sure yet, but I'm thinking about it.

[Greg Coffin]

In Other News

There is a rumor that the repainted cab may be delivered tomorrow. I am cautiously optimistic. Still waiting on the radiator sheet metal, hood, and inner fenders. Once they show up I can get the cab and front end aligned. Then everything else can happen.

[Greg Coffin]

Steering Column Alignment Issues

We got the cab back last weekend and started aligning it with the engine and chassis. We installed the manual steering box (temporarily) just so we would move the truck around while we got the bugs out of the systems, but the steering column is not in the right location.

The steering box came off the same truck as the cab, so I figured they would play together nicely. Wrong.

To make a very long story short, a WC63 frame and a PW frame are virtually identical from the transfer case cross member forward. Both the WC and PW use a steering box with a 4-1/2" offset. The PW cab sits in the same location on a WC chassis or a PW chassis. Yet the steering column hits the side of the firewall slot.

I measured my stock 1962 WM300, and all the measurements match what is going on with the 6x6 chassis and 1957 PW cab. The WM300 doesn't have any issues with the steering box. The 6x6 does. That's all I can figure out.

I also figured out that a Saginaw power steering box will probably put the steering column right where I want it. So we will be installing power steering now, rather than down the road.

[Greg Coffin]

Power Steering and Body Work

The new Saginaw power steer box arrived today. I mocked it up on a temporary bracket and measured the offset. It centers the steering column right in the middle of the firewall slot, with a 3-1/2" offset. So we will be installing power steering NOW, rather than in the near future.

Most of the body parts arrived early this week, so while the weather was good we got the radiator installed and aligned. The cab is 90% where I want it, and I only have to check a few last things before I order cab mounts. I'm really happy with how it's coming together.

I'm using the factory gauges in the cab, and I discovered that the engine temp sending unit was too big for the factory opening in the intake manifold. I spent a few days trying in vain to find a sender that would match the gauge electrically and fit into an 1/8" pipe thread. After some debate I decided the only real option was to drill out the hole and tap in 1/4" pipe threads. It turned out pretty well, and doesn't leak.

Today winter finally showed up. We've been in the 70's for the last 6 weeks and no rain at all, so the snow is most welcome. I was hoping to get the windshield in beforehand, but we didn't quite make it. Not a big deal really.

[Greg Coffin]

Power Steering Issues, Part 2

The power steering installation is not coming together as smoothly as I hoped. The bracket that I bought from Snake River puts the steering box too close to the 318, and I have almost no room for the hydraulic hoses and the brake pedal arm. I may need to fabricate my own bracket so I can push the steering box outboard another 1/4" to 1/2". That *may* give me enough room to clear everything. I'm cautiously optimistic that I can make the Saginaw box work on the truck. Others have done it, so I can too, right?

The steering box is also very close to the starter, and of course the positive terminal wants to touch the side of the box. I may have to reclock the starter housing to rotate the terminal closer to vertical. That should be easy, right?

With all this going on I haven't gotten the cab and hood alignment finished, therefore I haven't ordered cab mounts yet. Every time I get close to done, some issue pops up that forces me to pull the cab and deal with whatever. It's almost comical - except it's not. But we are making progress, if only at a snail's pace.

I hope to have lots of good news for my next post!

[DavidGB]

Saginaw Box install

Hi Greg,
I am not familiar with the snake river mount for the Saginaw reverse gear box. I used the UglyTruckling mount which requires notching of the frame and thus fits the gear box fairly snugly to the frame. This was with a Dodge 270 hemi and I found it too snug for headers but OK with manifolds.
David

[Greg Coffin]

Hi David,
I think the Snake River bracket is very similar to Ray Suiter's bracket. It requires notching the frame too. I'm having trouble just getting the steering box into place with the bracket. I'll probably have to pull the exhaust manifold (which is not a big deal, just a pain) before I can really tell how much room I have for the box.

[DavidGB]

PS box

Hi,
Don't know if this will help. But for comparison purposes this is an old photo of the Saginaw box mounted and before I replaced the headers with original manifolds.
David

[Greg Coffin]

Homemade Power Steering Bracket

This post is basically a cross-post from the Power Steering Kit thread, but I figured there might be useful info for people dealing with a similar issue:

My 318 seems to sit a little close to the left side frame rail, and the Snake River bracket simply won't allow the Saginaw box to fit where I need it. So I'm designing my own bracket, and I'm going to have a local water jet cutter make the plates for me. I'll weld it all up and hopefully everything will work just fine.

Here are some of the changes I am making compared to the Snake River bracket:

- Squared up the mounting plate to the face plate. I can't for the life of me figure out why they have a 5 degree tilt to the mounting plate, but I'm pretty sure it's intentional. Squaring up the mounting plate will allow the sector shaft to stick out a little further from the frame, which will give a little more clearance between the pitman arm and the frame.
- Cut a relief notch in the bottom of the mounting plate to allow the brake and fuel lines to pass under the bracket, rather then swinging out around the bracket.
- Centered the sector shaft in the factory hole in the frame (the other bracket has it lower by 3/16" +/-)
- Realigned the mounting plate so that the steering box is now parallel to the frame. This puts the steering column shaft right where I need it in relation to the column slot in the firewall (which is a 3-1/2" offset from the inside of the frame rail on my truck).
- Made the hole in the face plate for the sector shaft smaller to leave more steel above the hole. The hole in the mock-up bracket is a little off, but it will be good when the plates are cut.
- I will be adding a triangular gusset to the bottom of the bracket, but it will have a relief notch in it to allow the brake and fuel lines to pass underneath.
- I will drill and tap the mounting plate for the two 3/8-24 bolts that hold the inner fender bracket to the frame.

I also ground off the two lugs on the barrel of the steering box so I wouldn't have to notch the frame so much. I still have to cut the big notch in the frame for the upper mounting lug, and the shallow relief for the barrel of the box. I spent days trying to figure out a way to lower the box, or change the angle of the box so that the mounting lug would slip under the frame, but both options created more problems than they solved. So notching I will be.

I have yet to fully install the bracket and box yet. I've been reluctant to notch the frame until I was absolutely sure I had to. I hope to fit everything up this weekend, make any final adjustments, and then send the drawings to the water jet cutter. I hope to have the plates back in a week.

[bilfman]

Looks awesome Greg, that old 6x6 is in excellent hands!

[Greg Coffin]

Thanks Bilfman.

Today we put the finishing touches on the p/s bracket, and notched the frame for the p/s box. I took as little as possible out of the top flange, but it still seemed like a lot. Overall I'm very happy with how the bracket turned out. I sent the drawing to the waterjet cutter today, and I should have parts back in a week. Yippee!

[Greg Coffin]

Today we got the cab, hood and radiator cowl all lined up. I'm ordering new cab mounts from Chris Case - 2" mounts on the front, and 3/4" mounts on the rear. This is a little different from a regular PW because the WC63 uses a different style rear cab support. I'm really happy with how everything came together. I have *just* enough space between the firewall and distributor - maybe 3/8". Not a lot, but enough. I forgot to take pictures today, but I will post some soon.

Here's a photo of the notch in the frame for the power steering box. I may weld a gusset along the edge of the deep notch, just to help support the top flange. People tell me it will be okay, but I don't like it.

[Tom Petroff]

I have seen some grind that tab off the box, eliminating the notched frame.
Also heat and bend the top frame flange up restoring frame integrity.

Your gusset should restore some strength.

Nice bracket you fabricated.

Tom

[Greg Coffin]

Thanks Tom. I tried a couple different orientations on the box to try to minimize the size of the notch, but doing that either lowered the sector shaft in the hole, or lowered the input shaft - which raised the angle of the steering column. I considered grinding a bit off the mounting lug, but I would have had to remove the entire lug to make any difference to the frame notch. So I notched the frame. I did take off the lug that sits on the barrel, which eliminated the front notch in the frame. I feel good about that.

The WC 63 frame is 5/16" thick, so heating and bending didn't seem like a good option. I think a gusset along the top of the frame will make me feel better.