Civilian Power Wagon 360 Conversion Project Coyote

[Kevin Mienke]

"Promise to replace them, trust."

I can hear his voice

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Working with the front motor mount plate that is part of the Ugly Truckling kit, gave me a few issues. Getting the correct brackets pulleys and spacers to set up the power steering pump was something that was challenging but interesting. I researched several options and knowing that space under the hood would be limited I decided on an off road KRC Power steering system.

Space for a mechanical fuel pump is also limited with this plate and creates some issues with fuel line routing. CRF Pulleys also makes very good quality and reasonably priced pulley kits for the small block Mopar. Not having a donor engine made the need to outsource many of the accessories, and our scour the yard for organ donors.

[Pismopowerwagon]

I will have to do some reading on that Ps pump set up as I need something like that for a project.

Tidy your doing

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

The pump ended up working very well, the pump itself is very small bodied and the fluid tank sits off to the side and is very small as well. It was easy to adjust and worked well beyond my expectations as far as a small pump moving 37 inch tires. While speaking to the company this pump as I recall was good for up to a 40 inch aggressive tire. Very easy to bleed the air from and the steering was smooth and no noise from the pump at all.

[sdobson]

Matt - where have you or will you end up putting the battery tray. We put a 360 in a 1950, plus master cylinder and handing pedals. The engine compartment is getting pretty tight....which has led to a discussion on where to put the battery. Good to know about that PS Pump option. I have the pump from a 1985 W250 on mine. It mounts on the outside of the frame, so wheel and tire selection is going to be critical for tire clearance on that pump. Might end up moving to something like what you've done. All of your work looks really nice.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

That was a problem that I had as well, I ended up using a spring loaded drop down battery box and mounted it along side the out side of the frame on the drivers side under the cab, I will post a picture and if you look behind the front left tire and under the running board you can see it. The battery bok has a lever on the side you can pull and the battery and box dropped down easily to remove the battery and or get to the connections if need be.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

[sdobson]

So, I'm guessing you built the battery box or did you have a starting point?

Thanks for the help.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

This box, I purchased from Jegs motorsports.
I will find the link and share it.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

With the frame prepped, painted and done, the engine and transmission in place and rebuilt differentials with 4.89 gears, disc brakes on all four corners it was really starting to come together.

The Fuel tank was built by Chris Case and fit like a glove and gave it the extra capacity for cross country trips.

More phone calls and emails with the customer set in stone additional plans for what was to be done with the truck. Luckily the body of this truck was 99 percent rust free, faded from sitting in

the Nevada desert all it really needed was a few days of cutting and buffing the old faded paint out.

The truck needed to be able to pull a Bambi type air stream trailer so designing a hitch and making sure it had functional trailer brakes were a must.

The days were growing longer and the amount of time spent trying to figure out the best ways to attach things build brackets, and have it be as functional as possible at times had me scratching

my head more than building or wrenching.

Someone along the way had built a diamond plate wrap around rear bumper on the truck, It made an excellent step to get into the truck but made it hard to hook up to a trailer.

The rear bumper had to be modified and rear lights needed to be mounted for night time work.

All through the project keeping in mind it had to stay looking like a Power Wagon.

The 17 inch Budd tubeless wheels made for fantastic wheels wrapped in 37 12.50 17 BF Goodrich all terrains made a logical choice for being both a good Highway tire along with working some

off road.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Here are some pictures of it coming together.

[Greg Coffin]

Matt, I'd love to see some detail pictures of the battery box, I'm wrestling with a similar situation on the 6x6.
Nice job on the project.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Here is a link to the exact box that I used on this build, I wish i would have taken more pictures, there are a ton of small details and things that I designed and made that I do not have pictures of.

The time crunch was on, through the entire project. I did make a file with all of the part numbers I used for the project.

https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/10225/10002/-1

[Greg Coffin]

Thanks Matt, I think that box will solve a couple problems I'm wrestling with.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Prepping the cab for installation, all the extra holes had to be filled. And it had to be insulated and have sound deadening material installed for heat and to quiet the ride a bit.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Once the Cab was ready to set I felt the rest of the picture was all downhill from here. Boy was I wrong on all accounts. The drive train angles were off far enough that I knew I was going to have a problem. Again in the back of my mind I knew this truck was destined to spend its life at highway speeds and being worked on a continual basis.