Intro

[Karl Kostman]

Hello folks I am new to the site and my name is Karl Kostman. I have been very into acquiring and restoring older military vehicles, generally leaning towards the larger trucks, I picked up my second 52 M-37 almost a year ago and about a month ago I bought my first 1950 Power Wagon, I bought this truck David B. with Power Wagon monthly. The truck I got has under 19K original miles on it and virtually NO rust anywhere except some in the bed sides around the stake pockets, cut a little and weld in new metal and that will be gone.
So far on the truck I have replaces all the coolant hoses and drained every drop of liquid from the vehicle and today I got everything refilled again. The truck runs great but of course needs some attention, tomorrow I will pull the rear axles and check bearings and replace the seals. As this project moves forward I will have a few questions I hope you dont mind answering, and I have bought 3 maintenance books on the truck so far but in all honesty I sure wish there was a full set of Military TMs on this truck, I know they dont exist but are what i am used to!
Thanks much folks and look forward to learning a lot!
Karl

[Matt Wilson]

Hi Karl,

Sounds like you got a great truck! Welcome to the forum!

You probably know this already, but the Power Wagon shares some components with the M-37's, such as brakes, wheel bearings and seals, front and rear differentials, rims/tires, transfer case. Also, Power Wagons built before 1961(?) used the 230 engine, which is virtually identical to the engine used in the U.S.-built M-37's. So with this in mind, there are military manuals that cover these portions of the truck and they will apply to the civilian Power Wagon as well. I don't have those manuals in front of me at the moment, but I will try to remember to look when I get home this evening. Also, Vintage Power Wagons should be able to point you to some military manuals that would be of use. Maybe you already have some of these, since you have experience with M-37's.

Good luck, and keep us posted on your adventures with your truck!

[Karl Kostman]

Thanks much Matt I knew about the engine being almost the same as the M37 and I have all the manuals for that truck so I have been doing some cross referencing between them and that is helping somewhat. I got a lot of the seals and gaskets in yesterday but still waiting on oil filters hopefully they will be here tomorrow. Then again its not like I am in a big hurry it was -22 here last night and I think the high today is -7!
Thanks again Matt I will keep you posted
Karl

Hi Karl,

Sounds like you got a great truck! Welcome to the forum!

You probably know this already, but the Power Wagon shares some components with the M-37's, such as brakes, wheel bearings and seals, front and rear differentials, rims/tires, transfer case. Also, Power Wagons built before 1961(?) used the 230 engine, which is virtually identical to the engine used in the U.S.-built M-37's. So with this in mind, there are military manuals that cover these portions of the truck and they will apply to the civilian Power Wagon as well. I don't have those manuals in front of me at the moment, but I will try to remember to look when I get home this evening. Also, Vintage Power Wagons should be able to point you to some military manuals that would be of use. Maybe you already have some of these, since you have experience with M-37's.

Good luck, and keep us posted on your adventures with your truck!

[Andydodgegeek]

Welcome aboard Karl. I'm in East Central Minnesota and am in the same cold boat as you are. Glad to hear about your new truck. My wife has a 48 Power Wagon. Fun truck to work on and drive. In case you haven't heard but the folks down at Vintage Power Wagon's in Fairfield, Iowa have an annual Rally in June. This year is the 30th anniversary. Me and my wife started attending these in 2014 and we already feel like part of the family. Real good people here, I would highly recommend attending if you can. I look forward to hearing more about your truck.