My Project

[MoparFreak69]

So looks like things have changed for the better today. Got the truck sold, didnt get as much cash out of it as I had hoped but I did get a decent parts hauler rig and a little over $4k to work with.

First order of business, where can I locate a windshield and rubber for this rig? I need all the glass rubber and might as well get the door rubber if the same place sells all of it.

I need wiring harness recommendations. I am going all electronic gauges (tach, speedo, temp, oil pressure, fuel level) and will be running a MPFI setup. I will be installing A/C. I will be going with a modern steering column with intermittant wipers/etc. I know Painless makes some decent harnesses. Any other suggestions? Im all ears.

More info to come.................

[mattsoldmopars]

I bought a new windshield and rubber last summer for my 1960 W300 I was working on, from a local body shop. It was ordered threw PPG. I can find the part numbers some where for you if you want? But you should be able to go to any body shop or glass shop and tell them what you need, they are still available new.

I went into the local body shop and told them I had a 1960 Dodge W300, he looked it up but didn't not find anything. Knowing that the 1957-1960 Power Giants have the same front window as a 1961-1966 town wagon or town panel, and the 1960-1974 LCF (= low cab forward) trucks, I told him look it up for say a 1972 low cab forward dodge truck, he did and it was available.

I have a 1959 W300 that I plan on restoring and I am still looking for some parts. One of them is the little stainless trim piece for the drivers door, I see your truck still looks to have this piece, I also need a few other pieces of the SS trim. If you would Please email me at mattsoldmopars@yahoo.com I would be interested in buying them, or all the trim you have.

Thanks Matt

[MoparFreak69]

Thanks for the info and suggestions Matt. Email sent on those trim pieces.


So it looks like I need to get this thing going by winter. It is going to be a plow truck during the winter, and then the restoration finalized next spring.

Some decisions have been made as far as gameplan for the truck.
I am taking the cab and bed off the frame and plunking them down on a 1997 Ram 2500 frame. It will have a Magnum 5.9 and a 4 speed auto. I will keep the Dana 70 rear axle that is under the 97 frame. Front axle will probably get older outer c's and knuckles to convert it from CAD to hubs.
Since I have no seat and want shoulder harness seat belts I will pick up a 40/20/40 split bench out of a 98+.
Found a couple prospects for a drivers door to save me the time of trying to get the beat up one back in shape. I am thinking about making custom glass sliders and removing the vent wing window. I have never been a fan of them and the very old vintage power wagons did not have them. I think they look quite nice without. Other than that small visual cue the body will remain quite stock.

[Ron in Indiana]

Sounds like you have a plan worked up and a budget to work with. Drop me an email if you would at 59redtruck@verizon.net so I can shoot you some pictures that may help Ron

[MoparFreak69]

Thanks for that Ron.

I found a place that will sand blast the cab inside and out and the doors inside and out for $300. I think it will be money well spent and will save me a couple of weeks worth of sanding and grinding to remove paint and surface rust.

A bill of sale is on its way so that I can get the title process started. It will be pretty simple, only thing about it is that it will be a conditional title for 3 years. After that 3 years the title will be a full on legal title.

Anybody ever seen smoothie steel wheels with 8 lugs? I am thinking about going that route with some baby moons, wheels painted body color. Just throwing ideas around in my head about that right now though.

[MoparFreak69]

Well, just bit the bullet and ordered some of the parts I am going to need to complete the project.

Decided on the Old Tyme White gauges from Autometer. I got a 3 1/8" electronic speedo and tach and 2 1/16 water temp, oil pressure, fuel level and voltmeter gauges.

Ordered a 12 circuit universal wiring harness from Painless, supposed to be extra length for truck usage.

Decided on a non-tilt, column shift, non-keyed universal steering column from Ididit. From the firewall to where the stock column ended measured about 32" in my truck so I got a column that was 35" long. That way I should have plenty of extra for shifter linkage, but not so long to get in the way of engine components.

Found a seat that needs recovered (would do that anyway so no biggie) for $35. Its out of a 98 Ram pickup and has the shoulder harnesses built into the seat back.

Hopefully Matt will get back with me and let me know about the door deal I have pending with him so that I can get the cab sent out to be blasted. I am debating whether to epoxy prime THEN filler work or do filler work before priming. I have heard arguements for either way. I have always known filler over bare metal and then prime it up. Any insites?

Ben

[Ron in Indiana]

I like the looks of those gauges and they'll go well with your truck. That seat will fill the space and work out with the seat belts. Prime or fill, the age old question. I've done it both ways but I lean toward filling first. I use Dura-Glas over welded seams because it's waterproof. I use Z Grip for filler, less shrink and it sands well. If you're not going to get to the filler right away after blasting then prime first then scratch first before the filler. Flash rust is always a problem and some guys I know use Pickle X-20 to stop that. This gives you protection until you can really get into it. Check with your local bodyshop supply house for advice on products available. Everyone has an opinion on which way is best. Drop me an email if you would 59redtruck@verizon.net please.

[MoparFreak69]

Thanks again everyone for the advice and info.

Today was a pretty good day. A buddy of mine owed me some money for some work I did a while ago, long story short he didnt have it but knew somebody who had a door that would fit my truck. Always the bartering man I am I traded the debt (About $50) for the door. The guy that was parting the truck also made me some screaming deals on some other things I needed/wanted.

Even though I am not going to use them, I figured somebody could probably use these instead of them rotting away in a field in the middle of BFE:


And even snagged the tach transmitter off it, old Sun tach setup

[MoparFreak69]

And the piece d' resistance


And got a good windsheild and rear window out of the deal as well.
All in all I spent $150 and got some great parts to make the job move along better. Cant get much better than that huh?

[Ron in Indiana]

Sweet, way to go Ben. Good looking door and parts. I'd be interested in the dash and tach drive. I just got home from a road trip after picking up a 59 W 300. By chance was there a grill in this truck and did it look different than your 59? If it's in good shape and for sale I'd be interested in it too. Thanks

[MoparFreak69]

Ron, There was a grill on the truck, it was the same style as on my truck but it was either chrome or polished stainless. It didnt appeal to me with the route I wanted to take on my truck but the owner already stated everything is up for sale on the truck so if you are interested in it lemme know. It looked to be in great shape, the headlight rings were good also. Can probably get them for like $40-50. I was going to snag the Dodge badging (I thought non-power wagons had letters only and the power wagons had the wide badge with the inset lettering?!) as it was the same as on my truck in a bit better shape. A wasp nest the size of a football at the front of the hood changed my mind this trip. Next time a couple cans of carb cleaner will be a good investment/security policy.
The truck also has a 315 Hemi. I would love to have it (not for this project) and can probably get it for a couple hundred $$$ but I just dont have the space for it right now. Once again if someone is interested I can inquire and do some leg work.
The truck was a 500 series by the way with nice badging and the spears going from the badge forward past the vents.
Its about an hour away from me, and the guy is often not around so keep that in mind when expressing interest. I will probably combine trips, so speed wont be a high point, but decent parts for not much money will be.

[MoparFreak69]

Tires are on their way. I wanted something that would be pretty aggressive for plowing snow, but not a full on mud tire like I was running on my Cummins. I found a screaming deal on some Goodyear Wrangler TD tires, LT265/75R16's, all 4 shipped to my door for under $600. I have a set of steel wheels off a 90 Ram W250 that I am going to strip and paint either interior color (unsure yet, a contrasting color to the blue though) or just paint them body color. Which means I have to make those decisions soon so I can at least get enough paint mixed up for the wheels and interior.

[MoparFreak69]

$400 later and I have all the paint prep materials needed, expect paint (thats only another $500 HA!). I picked up some PPG metal conditioner that is applied to bare metal and then rinsed off. It is able to be primed right over when I get to that point, which will make the bodywork prospect a lot less stressful to me.
Got some primer/sealer that can be high build if mixed differently. Seems like some good stuff and will suit my needs well. Hope that a gallon will do it, at $175 a gallon it sure aint cheap.
Decided to do the wheels, grill/headlight rings, and bumpers a bright white. Picked up a quart which should be enough for that task. He mixed it up as absolutely bright of white as he could. I think it will contrast well with the metallic midnight blue I picked out.
Got a seat, simply needs recovered in the medium grey color I decided on for the interior pieces (basically just seat, door panels and carpeting). I will paint the dash and the doors body color, which I think will look quite sharp together. Maybe a few white accents here and there to compliment the gauges, but I will see how that looks when the time comes.
So far it seems I am about 85% on parts needed, most of the remaining items needed are small parts.
Any good sources for some stock appearing, but not cheapo chinese stamped tail lights? I found some but they are just cheezy as all get out and I dont think they would look good for long.

[MoparFreak69]

The big brown santa truck came today and gave me a couple boxes of toys. He will be back tomorrow with tires for me.

Got the truck over to the DMV to get the VIN inspection done. Let me tell you flat towing a W100 Power Wagon with a 95 Grand Cherokee is not a good proposition. It decided to rain today (hasnt rained in 3 months!) which only made things more hairy. Glad I only had to go about 4 blocks, and did it at a whole 15MPH. 6000lbs of truck shoves around 4000lbs of SUV very easily. White knuckle driving let me tell you what!

But the formalities are out of the way and the title work is started so now I get to seperate and disassemble everything, starting with the cab.

A couple pics from yesterday as she was awaiting the trip to the DMV. Probably the first time its actually rolled on its own 4 wheels on a street in over 20 years!

[Ron in Indiana]

Yeah you had a load behind your SUV. Actually your truck probably isn't much over 5000 lbs. I weighed my 59 and it wasn't over that. Still not good towing that much with no brakes behind. We have the cops come by for the VIN inspection they won't do it at the BMV office. Colorful truck haha. I like to see the brown trucks show up too. I just got a fuel pump from ND by mail that came super fast I was impressed by the USPS.

Wait until you do your first ride under power. When I took mine out I went down our country road in the dark, no lights, no windshield and had a grin like you wouldn't believe. This was after 3 1/2 years of waiting for that ride. You'll find that most if not all the bolts are fine thread when you start taking it apart. Use your favorite penetrating oil and it'll come apart. Have you ever used heat and wax on stubborn bolts. Works great for me all the time. Have fun. Good pictures.