Repairing 57 PG doors

[MoparFreak69]

To start off with, I live in Boise Idaho. The truck was pulled out of the high desert about an hour from here where it sat in a field for 5 years. Prior to that it sat at another farm in a field for about 15 years where it was parked by I believe to be the original owner. I did not recieve a title for it when I got it but I will be able to obtain a conditional title that will become permanent after 3 years, that is unless I can get in contact with the original owner and have them apply for a lost title.
The truck is a 1959 W 100 Power Wagon. It has 3/4 ton running gear and came from the factory with the 168 HP Poly 318 and 4 speed, which it still has. The truck is about 90% complete, missing only glass, seat, steering wheel, radiator ,front brake hose, and just a few bits of trim that I plan on removing most of anyway. Doing a bit of cleaning in the cab last night I found a little bit of rot, the total amount could be hidden by a dollar bill easily so I am not concerned about that at all.
I had just sold my travel trailer and have my other truck (98 Ram w/Cummins) listed for sale because I saw no need for something that big. Glad that nobody had called on it yet because it was needed for one last run to pick this thing up.
I am trying to decide what to do with the truck. Right now I am just seeing if there is a chance to get it running. I have a Magnum 360/46RE/242 combo with a set of 3/4 ton axles out of a 97 Ram I could put into it and give it a modern drivetrain which would make it a very nice driver. If I can get the original engine to run I might be hesitant to swap out all that stuff though, and stick with original. Keeping it original would make me not really want to drive it though. Decisions Decisions.

[Ron in Indiana]

The 318 poly is a great motor so don't give up on it yet. Plenty of torque and parts are still available. You say it has 3/4 ton running gear so it has 6 lug wheels? The 1/2 tons had 8 lug wheels and the 3/4-1 tons had 6 lug split rim wheels. If you are contemplating the axle swap I'd check track width first. The front should be a Dana 44 closed knuckle with probably 4:10 or maybe 4:88 gears. The parts you need are fairly easy to find. The trim you want to remove, are these stainless strips along the fenders and on the doors? These are prized pieces so be careful in removing them for possible trade/sell. Napa or the box stores have brake parts like the hoses and cylinders. Pop the top off the Stromberg carb to clean out the gunk, file the points and dump in some gas. You may be surprised to get it started. It's easy to post pictures here if you have some. Good luck, my vote is keep it original.

[MoparFreak69]

I guess I was misinformed about the running gear, it has 8 lug wheels so I guess its got the half ton running gear. Thanks for the correction!
I have been wanting to make this rig into a daily driver rig of sorts and running drum brakes, poorly geared 4 speed and a carb are not really my idea of a good driver. I have nothing against the old 318, it really was a great motor in its day, but a MPFI 360 would be so much more efficient, reliable, powerful, fuel efficient and nicer to drive. An automatic, or even OD 5 speed would also make it much nicer to drive. Getting rid of the drum front brakes is very high priority and adding power brakes and power steering are a must. I guess those things alone make the decision easier.

[Ron in Indiana]

It's a common misunderstanding on the 8 lug wheels. As for the rest, it's your truck so make it the way you'll enjoy it the most. There are a few guys who have done disc brake conversions on these early axles if that would help.

Back to my project. Tonight I finished the bodywork on the passenger door so it's ready for primer. I worked on the other door also but it has a ways to go yet with removing the dents and applying the filler. I'll have them ready by next weekend if it kills me.

[MoparFreak69]

Yeah, sorry for hi-jacking your thread there. I will start a thread later on when I get some pictures and start making some decisions about what to do with it.

Good luck on getting the doors finished. Hope everything works out.

[Ron in Indiana]

Hey no problem I've been hijacked before. Any good exchange of information is always worth it. I just wanted to update where I was on the doors. I have a couple of fans out there keeping an eye on me. Speaking of which I need to get back down to the shop. I pulled the dents before supper and so I'm ready to slap on the mud.

[Ron in Indiana]

The doors are DONE. Well the bodywork anyway is finished. Since it was to hot and humid to prime today I'll wait for better conditions. The drivers door ended up being a lot more work than I thought with the dents and and all. I'll know better once I shoot the primer how well they turned out. I stripped the paint off both doors(three coats of paint) which allowed the small dents to show up better. A crease across the top became visible which had rust in the metal. I treated it as well as other areas. So it looks like I'll have a fresh set of doors heading to Vermont this coming weekend. Yo Kevin is that cab ready?

[jsiebert]

Hi Ron,what do you treat the rusty spots with ? John

[Ron in Indiana]

John I used a product called Ospho which I got from a guy in NJ. It turns the rust into black iron oxide. Any of the rust converters will do it like Eastwood carries. Just wanted some insurance that it wouldn't creep out under the filler and paint. Eastwood company has a full line of rust products.

[MoparFreak69]

Hey Ron, how are those doors coming out?

Ben

[Ron in Indiana]

They are done and back home in Mass. I took them to Vermont and delivered them to Kevin. Unfortunately one was damaged on it's way home from VT so it's getting shipped back for repairs. They came out very nice according to those who saw them. I'll get pictures of the finished door when I get it back as I was running out of time to finish and forgot to take pictures. I'm off on another road trip this weekend. Stay tuned.

[jackw19]

Possible to Cheat?

Ron, did you look into the possibility of using readily available Ford or Chevy lower door repair panels as a starting point? Did you find something close?

Sure, that'd be cheating--but some of us don't have a brake.

Thanks.

[Ron in Indiana]

No I did not. With the tapered shape of the bottom of the door I don't know that something else would work. A good sheet metal shop could form the piece perhaps even easier with a roll former. I went with the advice from my bodyman mentor to make that patch. Matching the corners is the most difficult part of the process.

[jackw19]

Is the bottom shape really tapered (radius of bend at one end different from radius at the other) or is it just the bottom edge extends further at one end?

[Ron in Indiana]

It's a combination of both actually. The rear has a slightly tighter radius than the front and it of course narrower at the rear than the front. I used a profile gauge on another door to get it correct. Once I made the slightest of bends with the brake I used a hammer and dolly to planish the radius.