1948 power wagon project

[Todd M]

Here are photos of the tank in stages the past couple of days and finally sealed. Closing the gap was a little more work than we anticipated. I chose to cut the top and not bottom - one it will be hidden under the bed and hide my terrible weld job from the public and two if any leaks do arise later I will not lose all my fuel everywhere.

[Matt Wilson]

Hi Todd,

What preparations did you do to be sure the tank wouldn't explode when you cut it open or welded on it?

[Todd M]

I used a cleaning solution from KBS that came with the kit. A less expensive solution would be to use vinegar and warm water. Once cleaned and dried I cut it open when I could smell no fumes. Nothings volatile was in it since it was cut open and sand blasted. The sealer inside was dried and again no fumes.

[Matt Wilson]

I used a cleaning solution from KBS that came with the kit. A less expensive solution would be to use vinegar and warm water. Once cleaned and dried I cut it open when I could smell no fumes. Nothings volatile was in it since it was cut open and sand blasted. The sealer inside was dried and again no fumes.

Good to know. Thanks!

[Todd M]

Sand blasted

Cab is back from the sand blaster. I was worried about the cab roof from previous repair because it had many small dents as if they used a hole punch to take dents out. I knew of one small hole well I now have ~3 dozen small holes I have to figure out how to fill in. Big dent on the rear I removed does not look half bad and should clean up nicely with a little more work. However the roof will take a lot of work. Fortunately I have a replacement radiator shell top so I do not have to work on it that much.

The hood will require some serious work that may be out of my league. The hood hinge should be replaced so it someone has done that and has any helpful hints I would greatly appreciate it. Also what a good rivet gun would be for me to add to my ever growing tool collection to replace this hinge.

[Todd M]

My constellation of pin holes

Well I had over 90 holes not the 3 dozen I thought earlier. Why a previous owner put all these dipoles in the top of the cab roof I do not know. I welded them all up using a small piece of 22 gauge steel as backup inside the cab. After grinding them down I still had 23 holes. So for my second welding experience I earned a low C. I’ll take it and run.

I still have to re-grind the 23 welds down to see my second attempt. The pin holes show up clear as day when I have my halogen lamp set up inside the cab and garage lights off, it was like my personal constellation of torture.

[Greg Coffin]

Hey Todd, a trick for welding up the holes is to back the hole with a piece of copper or brass. The weld doesn't stick to the copper, it just rests against it, so there's much less cleanup.

[W_A_Watson_II]

Hey Todd, a trick for welding up the holes is to back the hole with a piece of copper or brass. The weld doesn't stick to the copper, it just rests against it, so there's much less cleanup.

Yep a great trick that works well.

[Todd M]

Greg, thanks for the tip. That helped with the remaining 23 holes today. I now only have 5 bullet holes in the doors and a 1-1/2” hole where I imagine an antenna was on the top right corner of the cab. Saved it for last as I still have not developed a plan of attack for it.

[Todd M]

Drivers door rust repair

Worked part of the day to remove rust in the lower front of the drivers door. Once rusted section was cut off I treated the inside with KBS products of rust blast and rust seal as I hope that is the last time to see it up close. I still am learning to weld as you can see but job is close to being done.

[Todd M]

Welding continues - removal of antenna hole?

Grounded out a disk of 16 gauge steel down to fit the hole. Was quite surprised that it fit snugly without being held with a magnet. I however did back it up before welding. Welds still look like a novice or better a blind novice but getting it done with a bit of grinding afterwards.

4 bullet holes remain as I can not get my gorilla arms into the space to back it up with a dolly. Does not help that the cab sits 8-9” of the ground right now.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Looks fantastic Todd, you will be done in no time at all!

[Todd M]

Door hinge removal

Well I finally got one door completely off. I tried everything from penetrating oil for weeks and then heating it and pounding it with a sledge hammer with no success. I gave up once the ends had been ground down to the hinge. As previous post show that was not ideal to take to the sand blaster like that but I was anxious to move on.

What finally did the trick was this tool I found while surfing the web. A hinge removal tool. An ingenious tool but has some limitations as it is. It comes with several push rods; I’ll call theM as no instructions came with a the tool, that fit in the bolt that is threaded into an end of the tool and pushes the hinge pin out. The top has a cut out that fits over the hinge pin head so while it pushes the hinge pin up from the bottom it moves through the hinge lol end. In my case since they were ground smooth to the hinge - top and bottom I pushed it down.

Limitations of the tool as I see it are the push rods are a soft material and bend easily. Especially since they do not fit snug into the bolt and then get even more play as it passes through the C tool. So keeping the push rod straight with the hinge pin is impossible with the force needed to push it hinge pin out.

However I was at my wits end trying to get these doors off I just went for it. Well I got one off and bent both of the short push rods and snapped the next larger one in the process. In doing so I was able to get the hinge pin moving and pounded it out the remaining way with a punch.

The pin came out in two pieces as you can see.

Improvements before I attempt the passengers door will be to tap the bolt to hold a threaded rod. This will keep the push rod centered and will be a higher strength material.

The 3rd photo is with the 2nd smallest push rod size. The kit came with two push rods of three lengths and only one long one.

[Todd M]

Photos of hinge pin removed (2 parts) and the two smallest bent push rods. Of with one got wedged inside the bolt and had to be cut and drilled out.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Great find on the hinge pin tool, I am glad you got those guys out!