beloved 91 dodge diesel needs ressurection

[farmerdoitz]

The best truck I ever owned was just recently rolled by my slightly brain dead brother who was swerving to miss a deer?!
I hit a deer a year ago with the thing(91 3/4 ton diesel) and only made a small crack in the bottom of the grill thanks to the grill gaurd. any way, I have had this thing since it was new and am not about to see it go, there is not one salvageable body panel and the cab roof is down about 6 inches-- in an effort to make lemonade out of rotten lemons and to keep me from contemplating murder I have been trying to find a body from one of the classic 50's power wagons for a transplant does anyone here know where there may be one for sale or is it time to say good by to the last truck that was built like a truck and not like grandma's oldsmobile.

[Terry Newton]

Is the frame in good shape?

What about new sheet metal for the whole truck, if you like it that well?

Just a thought.

[Gordon Maney]

Just curious....do you farm with Deutz tractors? Is that the origin of your user name?

In Fairfax, near Cedar Rapids, there is a company (actually I think there is are two....) that sells rust free body parts brought in from Texas. They could sell you an entire cab, front sheetmetal, and bed for your truck. That might be the way to go.

I drive by it every day, they have an enormous amount of stuff. They even sell entire Chevrolet Suburban bodies. If you were really ambitious, you could take a trailer to Texas and avoid the middle man.

As far as putting 1-ton Power Wagon sheetmetal on that chassis, yes, you could, but you have some real issues with engine length. Also, some would suggest it a shame to use good Power Wagon sheet metal in that way, due to its rarity. If you were really bent on putting early Dodge sheetmetal on it of that flavor, I would urge you to consider using M37 components, it would be far more readily available, more easily modified in terms of cab length and bed length, and would look pretty neat.

Given what I think your feelings are for this truck, I think I would urge you to buy nice parts to fix your 91 as it was originally, which will actually make it worth more, and then also purchase an early Dodge with which to feed that fetish....

[Russ Erickson]

Replacing the body

I rebuilt a rolled '91 Dodge 3/4 ton 4X4 Cummins Turbo Diesel by using the sheetmetal from a '87 Dodge 1/2 ton gas engined 2X4 truck. The only real issue with the swap was replacing the transmission hump of the 2X4 cab with the transmission hump from the 4X4 cab, which I did in a single day. Just cut the 4X4 transmission hump piece about 1-inch larger all around than the 2X4 transmission hump, use good sealant on the overlap, drill and pop rivet the 4X4 hump into place. Disassemble the entire dash from both trucks, and then use the pieces from the diesel truck in the non-diesel dash - it fits right in. It's good to get help from someone with small hands to finish routing and connecting up the wires inside the dash. There are several other small differences, but they were easily overcome. Good luck with your transformation if you decide to use an early Power Wagon body.

[farmerdoitz]

I think the main reason I was thinking about using the power wagon body was that I would have a higher speed and long distance comfort with the classic look. but I am a little too much of a purist to butcher either one, so I should take the good advice and just get a new body for the 91. it's just awfull hard to look at a truck that has been so well maintained since new and just a few weeks ago was near perfect.

We are mostly John Deere other than a gleaner that runs the air cooled doitz diesel It is a fantastic engine, and amazingly economical to run considering the displacement of the engine, It has twin turbo chargers and the sound it makes raises the hair off your arms. agco dosn't use the doitz anymore in the combines and have gone to the cummins I think the m11 in the r65 and the n14 in the 75. But, that sweet sound is gone --

It still seems like I am at a perfect place to put something really interesting on a great power platform if anyone has ideas that wouldn't be using up pieces with great rarity, but still maintain it as a dodge, hmmm there I go again.

[slozukimc]

I think the main reason I was thinking about using the power wagon body was that I would have a higher speed and long distance comfort with the classic look. but I am a little too much of a purist to butcher either one, so I should take the good advice and just get a new body for the 91. it's just awfull hard to look at a truck that has been so well maintained since new and just a few weeks ago was near perfect.

We are mostly John Deere other than a gleaner that runs the air cooled Deutz diesel It is a fantastic engine, and amazingly economical to run considering the displacement of the engine, It has twin turbo chargers and the sound it makes raises the hair off your arms. Agco dosn't use the Deutz anymore in the combines and have gone to the Cummins I think the m11 in the r65 and the n14 in the 75. But, that sweet sound is gone --

It still seems like I am at a perfect place to put something really interesting on a great power platform if anyone has ideas that wouldn't be using up pieces with great rarity, but still maintain it as a dodge, hmmm there I go again.

Find a good M37 and transplant all of your drivetrain.......The M37 rides nicer than the PW due to the larger shocks and , I think, more weight. I wish I had a wrecked Cummins to put in mine. Looking for an IVECO truck to rob the Deutz diesel from for mine.

Mike

[JimmieD]

Yo, farmer, there's all kinds of guys yanking the drivetrain out of perfectly good Cummins Turbo Diesel trucks for engine conversions all over the country! That means there's all kinds of empty body/chassis sitting there waiting for you from their leftovers. You could just run some ads, like in the Power Wagon Advertiser, for empty body/chassis. Should be real cheap considering.

For a swap I'd like to see a '58 to '60 pickup on a Cummins diesel chassis, using the flared front fenders and some nice big fat tires and a little bit of lift. They have a certain look when done right with the flares....and the Cummins Power to back it up!

[DThibault]

Farmer, this is another farmer in New England who just did the cab swap. I bought a gas job from CA on ebay and it was relatively easy. The only this you have to do is change the tranny hump in the cab. I made a nice little bolt in thing like the old pickups have and everything else bolts right in. You can use any interior and the wiring is the same gas or diesel. My old truck didnt have AC and the gas job did, now I have AC. It was a fun and rewarding project. I painted it while it was apart so it took a litle while. But now I think I could do it with another guy in a weekend. If you need any help let me know.