Stumbling Through A '46

[DC_Knox]

Hello All - Wanted to say hello and introduce myself. I recently picked up a '46 and am getting started on taking it down and figuring out what I've gotten myself into.



Truck came out of Washington state. Previous owner purchased it in 1968 (from one of the railroads I believe). He was using it to drill wells, haul mules, and get back up into the woods for hunting trips, so I'm sure it was happy living its intended life. He parked the truck in a field four years ago and there it sat. I purchased it from his daughter after he passed last year and hauled it down to Tennessee. I've requested a build card through FCA, but from what I've gathered the engine, cab, frame and wheels all look original based on the serial numbers and date codes. The winch was added later (it's an MU, not an MU2, and the bumper isn't correct for a winch truck).





I've been wrenching as a hobby for the last decade or so, but this will be a whole new experience for me. I'm not going to do (nor do I have the skill for) a full restoration, but I'm looking forward to getting this truck cleaned up and back on the road. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions, but from poking around it looks like this is a great community. I'm looking forward to sharing my progress (if I make any) and learning as much as I can along the way.

Cheers - DC

[bilfman]

Congrats on joining the club , or maybe better said, the addiction.

[Todd M]

Welcome aboard. I look forward to your future posts and seeing your progress.

[Jeremy Horvath]

Pictures?

Consider it a 71-yr tune up.

[Matt Wilson]

Welcome! We look forward to hearing of your progress.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Congratulations and Welcome, Look towards this group as friends and family.

The wealth of Power Wagon knowledge among the members of this forum is

more than happy to help anytime.

[DC_Knox]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I've got the old flatbed off. For the most part, things look good under there.



I also pulled off the front end. The MU wouldn't free spool. I'm new to these winches, but it looks like the drum has been placed into the engaged position and won't slide back over (towards the passenger side) to allow for free rotation, the fork(?) that you use to engage the drum isn't contacting anything, so I was trying to disengage the drum via crowbar with no luck. That was a lot of cable to unspool by hand.



Still getting things clean up, but it's starting to get in shape where I can begin figuring out what I'll I'm going to need to replace.

[DC_Knox]

Also of note, I got my build card from FCA the other day. I've been able to find some other examples of cards online and how to read the punches, but haven't had much luck in finding out what the codes stand for. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Cheyenne Dave]

DC,

I am not seeing your photo's, just an icon.

Has the passenger-side winch bracket been bent? If so, you would also see some distortion of the angle iron winch mounting brackets. Had you noticed if the shaft end was flush with, or recessed within the side bracket?

There likely is also some amount of damage to the keys and key-ways in the area of the sliding clutch and winch shaft.



cd

[DC_Knox]

Sorry about the pictures not working. I'll try to rehost them on a different site so they're visible. The winch angles looked straight when I pulled them off. But the whole setup was clearly installed diy. The PO didn't have a winch bumper on, so I'm sure a lot of the normal geometry was off. When I get a chance, I'll take a look at the winch itself to see how everything is positioned at present. Unfortunately, like everyone else, I don't get into the garage as much as I'd like during the week. At least our weather is getting nice again. As soon as work calms down in a few weeks, I'll have a lot more time to spend cursing at rusted bolts...

[DC_Knox]

I tried hosting these pics from a different site. Let me know if they're showing up.

I've got an MU, not an MU2, so my clutch is on the passenger side.



Here's a closer view of the passengers side. As you can see, the fork isn't contacting anything at all (neither does the bottom half). Looking at the diagrams for the MU2 and how the MU looks, I think the fork is supposed to sit within the grove of the clutch and slide it to the left so it's not integrating with the drum or to the right (where it is now) so it's engaged. I haven't been able to get the clutch part to move, so my drum is locked in place.



I'm not too worried at this point. I've got a long time before I get everything back together. I'll probably also try to switch out for an MU2, but I'd like to make sure this MU is in working condition so I could sell/trade it down the road.

[53Crusher]

Pics

Your pictures are showing up now! Looking forward to seeing more. You are correct on the clutch fork.

[DC_Knox]

Finally got some time last weekend to get back to working on the truck. The good news is that most of the engine looks to be in pretty good shape for being twice as old as I am. The bad news is that it seems to be stuck. I'm going to give the cylinders a good soak with ATF/Acetone and see if it breaks loose. If that does the trick, I'll see how well it runs and go from there. If not, looks like a rebuild will be my summer project. That's the nice thing about working on old vehicles, they always do their best to make sure you don't get bored.