1948 power wagon project

[TK064]

Thanks. Just tore down the carryall (again) and working with my nephew (future recipient on his 40th) and trying to decide on any running gear upgrades to future proof it.

Inspirational work for sure.

[Todd M]

Beautiful work. What axles are you using.

The engine and majority of the drivetrain including the axles came from a 2006 Ram 2500 HD donor truck.

Tisdale Coachworks mounted engine/drivetrain and the cab I stretched on a one of their custom frames for me before coming back to get the thousand minutia items done.

[texcwa]

Unbelievable work Tod. I hope to have a chance to see it in person when finished.

[TK064]

Beautiful work. What axles are you using.

[Todd M]

Before putting the bed in at the shop I asked a favor from a machinist. Mill down the original spacer that I received from VPW from 5/8 thickness to .4” or put 4 holes in the disk that I purchased and possibly mill down from 4” to 3”. He took the original and had it cut down in what seemed like a minute. Big thanks to him.

Fan has been installed, radiator hooked up, brakes bleed, fuel pushed to the pump (used compressed air through the filler neck was quicker than I thought) and on to getting the truck to run so the power steering could be bleed.

We were unable to get the engine to start so hopefully tomorrow once I have a timing light to ensure that I have the distributor correctly installed.

Not to loose the day I went to installing the mud/splash panel that attach to frames bottom. Passenger side went well. Then the drivers side had me modify something because of the power steering addition - the 3 bolts under the brakes master cylinder and power steering were unable to have bolts placed in them so I tapped them to thread them in like the front two. Will be easier to remove in the future if needed.

The radiator extension for the the orange PW had its unwanted logo removed and polished.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and if they worked on their truck all went well.

[Todd M]

Good day getting the bed on today and securing the bed floor downs - 20 man hours. Still need to get several longer bolts - polish them and then finalize the inside edge.

Best benefit was the young help to get under and up in the bed multiple times an hour.

Will look like it is finished once we get the fenders on but still a million little things to complete.

[53Crusher]

Wow!

[Todd M]

Orange PW finally made some noise today. I will hopefully have the bed on tomorrow.

Will hopefully be able to get in the upholstery queue in the near future.

[texcwa]

Tod, you've been doing allot of work on both trucks. They look great. Since finishing my flatbed on my 49, I've been working on my (not Dodge) 72 Landcruiser. I built this with my son when he was in high school 15 years ago teaching him how to build a V8 (put a SBC in it) as he taught me how to weld. Just finished redoing the interior of it with Herculiner, new seats and center console he got for me from his work (Wild Horses 4X4), they sell vintage (66-77) Bronco parts. Anyways great job and keep posting photos of both your builds.

[Todd M]

Work on the power steering pump installation. Two issues for my truck installation.

1st - the alternator bracket ran directly against/flush with the power steering pump bracket; not leaving enough room for the lower bolt.

2nd - the fan has ~1/8” interference with the bolt/spindle of the power steering pump.

Resolved the first issue by placing some bends in the alternator bracket. The first photo is before the final twist was removed at the brackets end. Of course I had it powder coated already before all of this.

Second issue will require a spacer behind the fan to move it towards the radiator. At this point I still have not determined the maximum spacer width I can have; that will fix the issue, still fit behind the radiator, and how to fabricate one if an existing one that has 1” width is to much.

Alternator now has less than half of the travel then before leading to finding the correct belt length slightly more critical.

[Todd M]

Engine is in!

So if I were to do it again I would remember to have the throttle control bracket installed across the bell housing. Very difficult to install after the fact and is a two person job.

[Todd M]

Long tiring day on the assembly of the engine/clutch/transmission so it would be ready to get installed this weekend with the help of my son.

For those that have installed the transmission after the engine is already in the truck my hats are off to you. I struggled for hours and even took the clutch back off to ensure I had aligned it up correctly before I got it to go the last inch.

[Todd M]

Photo issues

[Todd M]

Long time since I posted on my red truck. While engine was at the machine shop I took the opportunity to put power steering in the vehicle. I still need to repair the steering wheel of all the cracks but that is not an issue now that it is removed. Outer column sleeve is getting ready for paint.

one item I noticed as the unit sits tighter to the frame and all the adjustments I can easily make - moved cab to driver’s side as far as I could, moved column to dash support to driver’s side - the steering wheel is slightly off to the dash. Does anyone have a cure for this?

Frame will also be painted prior to final installation. And as I usually do something out of order. This time was painting the power steering unit before all the test fitting to ensure it worked and also needs to be touched up. Two steps forward one backwards.

[Todd M]

Slowly my orange truck is getting back together. Almost ready to make some noise but a long way to go.