6x6 Power Wagon Project

[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]

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?

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

That Power Steering kit makes a world of difference, Hope you like it!

[CSCameron]

Looks great Greg!

Clark

[Tom Petroff]

Nice Greg.
I like that light modification.
Tom

[Greg Coffin]

Real Progress

The painter brought over a batch of small parts today. They look BEAUTIFUL! Just the right amount of gloss on a nice deep black paint. I'm getting excited again.

One of the things he brought back was the B/O style front turn signals. I put new guts inside, and cut the lenses for the doors. I'm pleased.

Quote of the Day:
I told my Jeep friend that I pulled the trigger on power steering for the truck. His response: "Manual steering just isn't fun anymore". Amen, brother.

[Greg Coffin]

Progress, I guess

The painter came by Sunday to pick up the cab and start working on stripping it down for the new paint. He thinks he can have it back to me in a week - I'm going to assume more like 2 weeks, just to be safe.

The rebuilt radiator looked like it had a leak at the bottom of the tubes, so I took it down to another radiator shop to have them test it. Turns out it is OK, so I'm having them relocate the overflow tube a bit so that it clears the underside of the radiator cowl better.

I ordered a power steering kit from Snake River 4x4 on Friday. I figure I'm not getting any younger, and steering this monster is only going to get harder, especially if we are off-road. And I already have a power steering pump set up for the winch, so that is done. The clincher was watching a friend wheeling his Jeep CJ5 with power steering. The 6x6 is twice as long and twice as heavy, so I figured "why not"?

I'm still need to decide what I'm doing about the electrical system. Paint Drama kind of took over for a while there, but I need to get the electric figured out and going. Fall is in full swing here, and winter is right behind it.

[Greg Coffin]

Thanks Clark, I'm itchy to see it done too. Paint is my least favorite part of any project, and this one is no exception.

[CSCameron]

Can't wait to see it Greg! Good luck! I know you're ready to move on from this stage of the process.

Clark

[Greg Coffin]

Progress

I've been back and forth in my mental debate regarding the sheen of the paint/clear coat. My son noted that the chassis, winch, and bumpers are all low luster, and wondered if that would that look good with a gloss body. After much debate we decided to go with a semi-gloss clear coat, which I think will look much better with the chassis paint. The painter also thought that the truck would look better in semi-gloss, since glossy black fenders (and dark green body paint) tends to show dirt and imperfections more readily. That sealed the deal for me.

So SEMI-GLOSS it is! First parts should start showing up this Friday, and the cab should be done in another week. I'm ready to be done with paint drama.....

[Greg Coffin]

I could go with a semi-gloss clear coat, but if I have to touch up paint down the road it will be easier to match the full gloss. And over time the paint will dull a bit, which will put it right where I want it.

[CSCameron]

Holy smokes! That sucks Greg. I was really liking the way it looks now. Bummer. I understand though, you gotta do what you gotta do. Hope you didn't get too far into it, that is a lot of work. Glad he's standing by his work. Good luck!

Clark

[Greg Coffin]

The cab is back but....

I got the cab back from the body shop a couple weeks ago. We put it on the chassis and started getting things lined up. Things were going pretty well until I noticed that the paint was chipping a lot.

I contacted the body man and he found out that the flattening agent we used in the paint makes it brittle. It also seems to have affected how it bonds to the primer, so small chips are easy to scrape into large chips with just a fingernail. No Good.

The silver lining is that the body man is standing behind his work, and is going to sand the paint off down to the primer, and repaint the whole thing. I've decided to use regular gloss paint (single stage) this time with a gloss clear coat over it, so that I don't have any more adhesion issues. I wasn't expecting to go shiny with the truck, but I guess that's where we're going.

[Greg Coffin]

Sorry, I fat fingered that one. 0.005-0.010" is the correct lash.

[Elwood]

Knocking sounds like too much gear lash to me. It should be 0.050-0.010" The easiest way to set the lash is with the transmission on a bench, but you "can" do it in the truck, it's just a pain in the but-tocks (to quote Forrest Gump).

Did you mean 0.005" to 0.010" gear lash? 0.050" sounds like a lot a freeplay.