6x6 Power Wagon Project

[Greg Coffin]

P/S Bracket Complete

Today I welded up the bracket for the power steering box. Before I welded it all up I ran a dry fit with the bracket tacked together. Overall I'm very happy with how it fits and how the box lines up with the cab. The input shaft is about 1/2" to the left of center in the firewall opening. The original steering box put the steering column 1" to the right of center, which was hard up against the right side of the firewall opening.

The sector shaft is dead center in the frame opening. There's enough room between the pitman arm and the frame to get a puller in if needed.

The notch at the bottom of the angled plate gives enough room to sneak the brake and fuel lines under the bracket. I drilled and tapped 2 holes in the bracket to attach the bracket that supports the rear section of the inner fender.

I bought banjo fittings for the supply and return connections to the steering box. Expensive little buggers, but they fit, so that's that! I think I will run AN-6 fittings and 3/8" braided steel teflon lines between the pump and the box. The hose shop recommended the teflon lines because they are more flexible and not as affected by heat from the exhaust system.

All the parts are painted and currently drying. With any luck I will mount everything in the next day or two.

[Greg Coffin]

A few more photos of the p/s system

View of the input shaft from inside the cab, and where the old steering box located the column.

[Greg Coffin]

Power Steering is Installed

The power steering box is officially installed. All the parts are painted and installed! I'm cleaning up the drag link now. One of the springs inside was broken, so I'm going to replace both of them.

The new cab mounts are due to arrive today. If they do I'm going to mount the cab tomorrow. Then we can get the steering column installed, and put this baby back together!

I finally feel like I'm moving forward on this project - though I shouldn't say that too loud....

[CSCameron]

Greg, I re-read this thread again. Really nice and amazing work! I can't wait to see it finished and on the road. It will be really interesting to see how it performs with all the mods you've done. Excellent job.

Merry Christmas!

Clark

[Greg Coffin]

Thanks Clark. I'm hoping to make some real progress this month. Work has slowed down a little, and I may have some bigger chunks of time to devote to the truck. I feel like the power steering was the last real variable that had to be dealt with. There's a ton of stuff still to do, but it seems a little less daunting now. Mostly just putting parts back together. Here's Hoping!

[gyman98]

It's Really coming together!

[53Crusher]

Looking Great!

You are making great progress!

Makes me feel a little lazy. Most of what you are doing is out in the Colorado winter weather and I can't seem to make the walk to my shop :-)

[Greg Coffin]

Thanks guys! Tim, I'm trying really hard not to be jealous of your inside work area. :) My garage is too small to be able to work on the truck, so it sits outside. Fortunately Colorado winters are pretty easy to work in, it's just the dark coming at 4:30p that makes it hard.

[Greg Coffin]

I Owe You Tim!

Tim, last night you got me thinking about parking the 6x6 in the garage. Today after work I did some quick measuring (2" clearance to the door), and my wife and kids all helped push the monster in. I have 3/4" between the pintle hitch and the garage door, and about 18" in front of the front bumper. And plenty of room on either side. I'm gonna be warm and dry AND get some stuff done this winter!

Wa-Hoo!

[53Crusher]

Excellent!

Glad it fits! You will be done in no time now!

[Greg Coffin]

It's been 2 months since my last post so I figured it was time for an update. Things are moving very slowly, with most of my energy going toward planning the electrical system and assembling parts for it. The radiator has also been giving me trouble. Here are lots of details:

Radiator (drama alert) - I kept finding antifreeze on the bottom tank of the radiator. At first I thought I had spilled a bit of antifreeze when I refilled it, but watching it for a month convinced me there was actually a leak somewhere. Now, this is a brand new rebuilt radiator, so I was more than a little miffed about this. Granted it was done 3 years ago, but it only has 2-3 hours on it!

I pulled it out and took it to another radiator shop. They said it did not leak when pressure tested, so I took it home, installed and refilled it. A few weeks later a small puddle of antifreeze showed up. I yanked it out again and took it back to the original shop the rebuilt it. They tested it for 4 hours and found no leaks, but I was not convinced. I took it home, capped the ports, filled it with antifreeze and set it in the corner. 2 days later I found a small puddle of antifreeze on the bottom header. So back it went to the rebuilder and I showed him where the antifreeze was pooling. 3 days ago I got a call that they found the leak - a defective tube near the bottom header. They cut out the tube and capped the ends. Supposedly it is all better now. I'll pick it up tomorrow and retest it before I put it back on the truck. I'm ready to be done with this drama.

Electrical - I've been slowly gathering parts and wiring for the electrical system. I wanted to do something a little different with the fuse box location. I liked the weatherproof Bussmann mini fuse boxes, and I realized it is about the same size as the factory voltage regulator. I thought about surface mounting the fuse box in the same location, but I wanted to hide the wires. After much debate I bit the bullet and cut a large hole in my almost perfect firewall, and panel mounted the fuse box. Now the wires will be hidden in the cab, and the fuses will be easy to access in the engine compartment.

I've never liked how the wiring runs through the firewall on Power Wagons, so I decided to use a WC style junction block. Trouble was I have 19 wires going through the firewall, and the junction block only has 11 posts. So I installed a second junction block on the passenger side - what's one more large hole in the firewall anyway? The junction block on the driver side will service all the systems on the back of the truck (lights, fuel sender, trailer brakes) and the headlights, and the junction block on the passenger side will service the engine compartment systems and the front marker and turn lights.

Heater - While I was hacking away at my firewall I took the plunge and drilled the holes for the little heater that I found. The layout was tricky because the passenger side junction block was dangerously close to interfering with the location of the heater, but it just fit. Phew, no drama!

Firewall Pad (more drama) - Now that I had all these holes cut into the firewall, it was time to mark their locations on the firewall pad and begin hacking holes into it. I pulled it's pristine figure from the large shipping container and set it on the firewall. And it didn't fit. The holes for the mounting tacks were off by almost an inch in some places. For $95.00 I expect better than that. So my son and I went to good old Hobby Lobby and we bought some heavy poster board and felt and made our very own firewall pad. We put a layer of Vicor on the engine side to help deaden the sound, then glued the felt to the Vicor. After 2 coats of satin black Rustoleum it looks quite nice. $20.00 well spent I think. Note: I found that my son and I do not fit into the usual demographic for Hobby Lobby.

Paint - Now that I have all these fresh holes cut into my firewall I want to put some paint on the exposed metal edges. So I have to get the painter to the shop to do some detail work with his touch-up gun. If he would only return my calls....

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

The home stretch is in sight, That steering looks like it fits really well. Love how that bracket turned out.

[Greg Coffin]

Thanks Matt. I'm really happy with how the steering came together. I can't wait to actually give it a try!

[CSCameron]

Good progress Greg! It is turning out really nice! Keep it up.

Clark

[Greg Coffin]

Got the radiator back today. One of the tubes was defective, so he capped it off from the tanks. Not the cleanest repair, but it will not be visible from the front. I'm testing the radiator now (capped and filled with antifreeze) to see if there are any more leaks.

The painter is coming by tomorrow to touch up the holes in the firewall. Then I can install the firewall pad and start wiring this monster. Looking forward to making some progress.