1948 power wagon project

[Todd M]

Love seeing your build sheet, do you have a game plan for your bed?
Do you already have a design in mind?

Matthew - I do have a game plan for my flat bed. It was graciously provided/stolen by/from Will W. Website. I have some minor changes to his design; shorter bed to have less interference with the rear pto, more towards the original bed height(not as high) which may create additional interference with the rear pto, different hold down of the boards to eliminate the 200 screws while creating ease of replacement or access to underneath if required, and lastly the stake pockets I am going to try and create inserts into the 4x2 frame to eliminate the need to cut notches from the two side boards and those on the end.

Hold downs will be two steel angle bars one at each end that will prevent them from lifting up. These angle bars will have tabs that will drop down that will be bolted to the 4x2 frame. My worry is the boards may warp and vibrate later down the road and welding the nut inside the channel frame for the bolts.

Stake pocket inserts - will be made from 4x2 3/16 material in .120 channel. This will give a 1.5725" by 3.625" pocket. That leaves very little room for error. Inserts will be created by cutting the 4" side off using 3/16" material to create a C channel. This then can be inserted through a window cut in the 4x2 frame. I will attempt one to test my design. If it is a miserable failure I will go to Will's design on the pockets.

I have not decided on placement of the stake pockets ; more along originality or more for creative design. May put it up for a vote based on the two designs I have for the placements. I am trying to keep bed sides below the rear window.

Thanks Will for posting your stake pocket build.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Sounds like a great Idea, so the future plans of the Power Wagon itself to be used and put to work? So keeping the bed as functional sounds like a great plan.

[W_A_Watson_II]

It was graciously provided/stolen by/from Will W. Website.
Thanks Will for posting your stake pocket build.

Todd,

No Problem, that's why my WEB site started and why I share. Looking forward to you design and completed build.

[Todd M]

Well the frame has been painted black. Looks better with the charcoal of the engine/transmission than I imagined.

[Matt Wilson]

Well, that does really look slick. Charcoal, not quite black. I loke it. Might consider that for my engine, when it comes time to paint it.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Is that the same color as the Cast Iron Block Gray as they call it? I do like it as well.

[Todd M]

Is that the same color as the Cast Iron Block Gray as they call it? I do like it as well.

I do not know if it is the same or not. The actual color is KBS Chevy dark charcoal from their Motor Coater series.

Please do not send the nasty grams for not staying within the Mopar family. The color was chosen by my youngest for help he had done earlier in the project.

[Todd M]

Flat bed construction

Spent a good day on constructing the flat bed for my Power Wagon. My visiting parents even got into the action. As always my boys (aka my muscles) came in to help with the heavy lifting.

I will have to think of a method of mounting the bed once completed and painted. It still needs the crossmembers to support the wooden bed and the lights. My estimate is that it will be just under 400 lbs when completed without the wood.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

It looks to be coming along very well, sturdy and rugged. Built with purpose. Are you thinking of making it fairly rigid in it's attachment? Or are you thinking some form of rubber or poly mount insulators between the frame and bed frame? I was just pondering the 3/4 inch thick rubber round pads that make up the cab mounting rubbers. And using factory Power Wagon bed mounting crossmembers?

[Todd M]

Bed stake pockets

Well this morning I decided to try out my stake pocket design on a scrap piece I had from the bed construction. The bed material is 4x2 11 GA (.120”) and the insert is from 4x4 x 3/16 rectangle steel tube. I only had this spare pink 2x4 in the garage and had to round out two of the corners to fit. I got a little over zealous with the grinder.

It slide in smoothly with a snug fit on the 1.5” side. As the photo shows there is more movement in the 3.5” side which may come in handy with building the bed sides.

I will take more time cutting out the hole for the inserts on the bed.

[W_A_Watson_II]

Very Nice Solution! Better than mine I must say.

[Todd M]

This afternoon I spent 7 hrs working on my stake pockets. Completed 8. For this task found that my compressor was the weak link. Spent time cutting the inserts and then jumping back on the air cutoff tool once the compressor was finished running. Then added some welding in the mix when I had several ready.

photo of a completed pocket

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Those look fantastic Todd!

[Todd M]

Thanks for the compliments and help Matthew and Will. I owe each of you at least a cold beverage if I am lucky to meet either of you some day.

Finished the remaining 8 pockets in 6 hrs over the past two days. An improvement over the 1st 8. Supports have been added to the cross members that tie into the C channel below the 4x2 bed frame. Still to weld in the end cross members- debating on having a single additional tab in the middle to help hold the boards in place or two besides the ones on the ends or just three across the back which will be a smoother looking solution but requires additional cutting of the crossmember.

Improvement if I or anyone decides to do these insert would be to use 3x3x3/16" square tubing as it would reduce the cuts down in half and reduce the waste. I bought an inexpensive Chicago Electric cutt-off saw from Harbor Freight assuming it would be a one time use. Surprised how well it has handled all the cuts and replacing the blade was easier than I imagined vs my Dewalt Miter saw.

Thought over the last several days - life is easier with a new blade or sanding disk.

Well I brought up my flat bed side designs to my family over the last couple of weeks. Top two designs tied 3 to 3 are attached. The women choose one and the men choose the other. Interesting that it was split even and that everyone preferred the traditional pockets over the wheel vs designs that had equal spacing between the pockets.

I have my preference but was wondering what others have to say. Design is to stay below the rear cab window to prevent obstruction in the rear view mirror. Pardon the cartoon sketches. Sketch 10 has cuts at 45 degrees but could not do the coloring to match.

Option 9 or 10?

[W_A_Watson_II]

Todd,

Always happy to help. Progress always one feel good, glad to see you moving forward. As for the wood side design, it's a personal preference, but both are nice designs.