my new warrwagon

[smalltowncowboy]

used some aircraft paint stripper on the stock air cleaner housing, this stuff really takes the paint off.

[farmer0_1]

years ago i used oven cleaner for underhood paint stripper. of coarse the new stuff probably doesn't have all the nasty stuff in it the old did. looking good. how them water melons coming along?

[smalltowncowboy]

Picked up my MSD coil today and ordered the "dealer only" oil filter adapter, the dealer can't even get the gasket for it anymore.

[smalltowncowboy]

got what feels like quite a bit done today. found this little access door, there was one on each side. opened them up and cleaned out the dirt and stuff so they will drain water again. didnt see them till i was sitting eye level with it.



i got the new power steering pump pulley on, the new high pressure line, and the new pump on



it took a while to remember to how the pump mounted but i got it figured out. also had to modify the mounting brackets for the new alt. the 100 amp one is huge compared to stock.

[smalltowncowboy]

clearance for new alt and new valve covers



had to bend the adjusting bracket



also had to bend the dipstick tube to clear the bottom of the new alt. used a brakeline tubing bender to bend the dipstick tube



also pulled the seat belts and the bench seat again so i can POR the floor boards and prep for the heater install

it kinda sucked being in the shop in 100+ degrees, dads truck said it was 110 sitting in the sun.

[squatch]

Looks like you are doing a great job. I had to go back and check some of the pics. Looks like you have the rear tank or dual tanks. That's cool. Those rear tanks are almost non existant. Took me years to find one. Did you verify that this is indeed an '80 truck? Every '79 and '80 I've ever seen has quad headlights and this has the earlier grille and core support but has the right hood for an '80. I wonder if it was swapped out or just a Dodge oddball. Same with the rear springs. I've only seen something like that on a dually.
What springs are you using? I went with skyjacker softride on mine and like them. You can mix and match with SJ. I went 4" in the front and 6" with a smallblock to replace the 4.5" block in the rear. It fit's 35s fine.

[smalltowncowboy]

Yah its an 80. I'm not sure if the core support was changed or not but this was an old depatyment of transportation truck so that explains the rear springs. The PO has hauled 4-6 cords of wood in the bed before.

I havnt fully decided on my springs yet. I will figure that out when I put the front sheetmetal back on, but for now I just added 3" trailmaster add-a-leafs to the front that I've had sitting around for many years. I'd like to keep the heavy springs in the rear because I will be hauling loads with this.

Yah it has the dual tanks, I will probably pull the front one when I do the flatbed and just a aux fuel tank ontop of the bed against the bulkhead. I'm planning a 75-100 gallon tank there and may even entertain the thought of removing the rear tank. There's a good chance ill be fighting fires on the farm with this thing and would like to have my fuel above the bed all together.

[smalltowncowboy]

well i actually worked on my own rig today lol
cut cut here and cut cut there

i still need to clean it up a bit and i know i cut it up higher than the back of the bed floor but i will be tucking the bumper up nice and tight.
while cutting the bed side, the rear of the bed side seperated from the inside of the bed. bad pic

here you can see where the bed sides must have seperated before, there was some bad welds there. i will be cleaning the area up and re-welding it befpore im done.

[smalltowncowboy]

and going back together

[Williespeed]

**** near speechless

STC I gotta tell ya I have a bad case of valve cover envy right now. That is triple X rated automotive pornography and I want! that is one nice truck you are building.

[smalltowncowboy]

STC I gotta tell ya I have a bad case of valve cover envy right now. That is triple X rated automotive pornography and I want! that is one nice truck you are building.

Thanks. I finally got the right belts for it. I was hoping when I bent the stock alt bracket it would work but its not long enough, so ill just bend up a new one.

[Williespeed]

??????

Did you fab those yourself or source them somewhere? I didn't see any pics of your heater in the post. I like the minimalist aproach to the firewall with removing the fan and would be curious to see what you did there as it can be damp as **** up here and I need a good defrost. (I'm a little north of you in Washington) I see the plumbing fittings in the new plate butt if you don't mind sharing I would like to see the heater you mounted.The Mojeve is it?

[smalltowncowboy]

I found them on ebay for about $125 but well worth the price.

The heater is a mojave style summit heater. I'm not sure what the BTU of a stock dodge heater is but a chevy one is 12,000BTU and this one puts out 28,000BTU. I havnt installed the heater yet till I get the floor and firewall bedlined. Once I get it mounted ill post some pics.

[Williespeed]

cool thanks I'll look into those and e-bay was it a guys store or one off beauties?

[smalltowncowboy]

It was a store. Only problem I had was the bolts they sent me were way to long. I just went and bought some down town. I can't remember the name of the store and the paperwork is up in the shop.