1946 WD21 Pics Please

[Bruce]

Congrats

Great pic's & a great retrieval, looks like you had a plan.
Wish I could tell more about the Thunderbird logo?

[MoparNorm]

Hey hjlaredo, welcome to the forum!
Looks like a great day was had by all.
I have seen some Texas National Guard markings from WWII that looked similar to the door logos. Maybe someone copied those as a goof, or???
Did you take any photos of those Jeeps? ....= )
Keep us posted as you go along.

[mdvberg]

Is that a set of Warn M13 locking hubs on your rig Javier? Nice addition to your truck that are rarer than hen's teeth these days.

Best of luck with the restoration. Looking forward to some progress pics!

[hjlaredo]

making some adjsutments; the floor-jack is now broken,twisted and useless (we used it to move the truck to the right)

some cleaning (lots of pecan nuts inside...haha)

the 'Transition Team' Carlos Laredo, Javier Laredo, Hector J. Laredo, Mario E. (left to right)


more pics to come, as i plan to document the restoration process...please ask or comment.

Bosco:Thanks, its really a priviledge to be part of such a helpful community, and we really appreciate the support. As you can see, I'm quite young and although my father is quite experienced with trucks and engines, we're still eager to learn more about the Power Wagon specifically.
As for the selection of the truck: We have been dreaming of restoring an old truck for quite some time now. We started paying particular attention to the Dodge Power Wagon because as a young boy growing up in Bolivia, my father would witness the shipments of Power Wagons from the U.S. that were used by the national petroleum company. He admired the truck for its power and durability (a few are still being used today for intense labor purposed in the country).
Snooping in Doug's garage we went in quite deep towards the right and came out, excited and amazed of course, but not exactly finding what we were looking for (the only PW we found was that mule-attacked '46). Leaving, I noticed that the garage extended even farther down to the left. Looking in, moving a few things here and there we discovered the PW, i think i might have yelped, my father was looking at me wide-eyed. We promised each other that moment, that we would buy it. It was in decent condition, but not too great to where restoration wasnt neccassary (lets admit most of the fun is in the restoring phase). It felt perfect. However it would take a year before we felt comfortable buying it (we had a few projects going on and no storage room). So there you have it, a real dream come true for both of us.
-Javier

[hjlaredo]

loading her up (proved to be much more difficult then expected by the towers)

A slow turn on a street (the tow-truck couldn't gain much speed due to the weight)

the dropoff, and new home for the beast

[hjlaredo]

As you can see, age doesn't not cure a man's fancy for toys
My father,myself and my uncle,Carlos

The random presence of two curiosly beautiful roosters

...the mystery to us all

[hjlaredo]

Somewhat of a symbolic moment -considering that the truck had not seen sunlight in over a decade

Mr.Tipton showing me his 1946 Power Wagon collectable

a thoughtful gift from Mr.Tipton to me

[hjlaredo]

General Pics


As we found her that day (most of the clutter was cleared before we arrived)

my father and I

we attached a come-along chain from the truck to the other PW (with the dented fenders), getting it rolling seemed nearly impossible at first

[bosco]

hjlaredo...

Congradulations on your recent purchase. I'll admit that it's been 2 years since I last visited Mr Tipton facility, but you have come to the right website for answers to you questions. As for the year, who knows. Since you and your dad have the truck now, I would suggest taking several pictures and posting them on this website. The knowledge here is awesome, and those pics may provide info for identifing the year.

Just curious, why was that truck selected over the other trucks on his lot..?

Please keep us up to date on your progress.

[truck4myboys]

Bruce, can you elaborate a bid more on the thunderbird logo..? Also, I'm familiar with the "Invasion Star" which has a circle around the star. What are your thoughts on the origin (history or what it means) of the thunderbird logo... ? And I also question why the "M" star is there in the 1st place ... were civilian PW's used by the military..? Here's a better pic of the logo.

Here is a current version of the Air Force Thunderbirds' logo:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Th...n_Squadron.png

I don't know how much it's changed since they started in 1953, but I wonder if that logo could be a simplified version of it. The Thunderbirds were originally based at Luke AFB in Arizona.

[hjlaredo]

My father and I just purchased a Power Wagon last Saturday, and coincidentally it's the same truck referred to as the " '42" in this thread. After my father finally decided to buy the truck, I continued my research that i had started about a year ago (when we first discovered the truck in the downtown Houston area.) I found this site, read the thread and noticed that Bosco's description of a particular PW was very similar to the one we were buying. We got a username (in order to see the pics posted) and sure enough it was the same exact Power Wagon. We are both thrilled to start working to restore her to her original condition (we plan to use as many original parts as possible).
There are a number of questions we have. For starters, the year. Obviously at least a '46 but according to what I've read, the way the dashboard is arranged makes it at least a '51. And the mysterious symbol on the driver side door. We too speculate it is Native American, perhaps the truck was used in a reservation. Away from all of that, we plan to have her running by the end of the week (we've been busy degreasing and pressure-washing).

Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated.
thank you

[bosco]

Phil ... you've given me a ton of very helpful information here. Now I will be more prepared and know what to look for when I go back over to the guys shop. Thank you very much.

[PhilS]

Bosco,

A T306 engine is a 218 cu in from a 1951-53 Dodge B-3-B or B-4-B truck so that engine is not original to the truck.
More engine numbers can be found at this link:

Flathead 6 Engines

Check the AMP gauge on the dash: if it reads 50 - 0 + 50, it's a 1951-56 6 volt truck. If it reads 30 - 0 + 30, it's a 1956 and up 12 volt truck.
More info on gauges:

Power Wagon Gauges

The placement and shape of the transmission tower seems to indicate a NP420 sync transmission which was used from 1956-1968:

Transmission ID

Since it doesn't appear to have grill extensions then it's safe to say it's not a 1961 or newer with the longer 251 cu in engine.

Best guess, 1956-1960.


Phil

[Bruce]

Horse Bidness

Norm you are quite right ... underhanded folks they are.

See if this grabs interest....in this picture you may notice some damage to the fender. This was caused by the "guard dog" who happen to be a mule, yes that is correct. The mule climbed on top of the truck, damaging the fender and the hood.

When I was a kid, I worked for a vetranarian, we had to treat a hucksters retired race horse, he was really old. A nervous nelly w/a heavy hand on the horn spooked the old stud, he bolted over a yellow taxi, wagon, fruit & all. Driver fell or jumped. My boss, Dr. Mo Himmelstein had to put the critter down on the spot, it happened almost at our front door. 'Dem shoes is hard!

[MR 64 WILLYS]

fender

hi all.i need to know the width of the fender for a 48 power wagon [bed] from the bed to the outside edge also how much is turned down or rolled from the top and if there are any bushings or rubber between them ..i may have to make a set .unless someone has some extras for sale i have an excellent bed so i hate to goober it up but it just does not look quite right without them thanks again john