The WC53 Carryall thread .

[Alxj64]

Motor is looking good Alex!

One hinge is completely rusted out, and the other one looks bad. I can't think of any good ideas other than pulling the door skin, but if someone has other suggestions I'm all ears.

Ick! That hinge looks like an unpleasant mess! I lucked out on my project having minimal rust problems... it has some, and in stupid places, but not a ton.

The engine situation is not looking very good...
Will it work eventually? Yes.
However, like you mentioned Bruce... the front cross member is not being friendly to the fitment... As a matter of fact I think its going to have to go bye bye all together. In comparison to the 4bt... my Common Rail is longer, taller, and wider in all aspects... The rear gear train is adding to the heart ache as in the gear train wants to live in the firewall where my right foot needs to go. These trucks are already snug on room, so cutting anymore out than what was removed previously is going to yield to some uncomfortable driving and thats not what I am wanting.

That being the case I am investigating a solution... I am thinking I am going to offset the engine a few inches towards the passenger side and then completely ditch the stock front cross member. I really don't want to, but for the sake of drivability, fitment, and cleanliness, I am 95% certain its gotta go in order to fit this fat little motor into where it needs to go. The new front cross member can hold two front motor mounts, leave me more room for clearance of my steering and still act as my support for the radiator and intercooler and allow my more room to sneak the inlets for those components in and out of the front cowl.

Anyone going to feed me to the wolves for cutting it out? I guess this means I should turn in my forum membership over on WWII dodge forum because this will upset a lot of folks. Heck, it upsets me even.

[scott]

41 wc10 video redo

hey guys I spent a little time and redid my video, have a look and let me know what you think,
http://youtu.be/0FMRTeVkAlk

[Chris Olson]

On my M37 the crossmember is likely going to go as well.....
I guarantee that by the time folks are done figuring out what you built that no one is going to say, "did you see how he cut out the crossmember....totally ruins the truck..."
there will always be misguided individuals that will say that you "ruined" the truck because it is not totally stock and to really enjoy it you should have a weak engine, crappy brakes and a harsh buckboard ride...

[Bruce in BC]

take the skin off

You can beef up the door carcass and shorten it so that it looks stock . You can also straighten the skin and derust the metal on both sides . I did this with one of my doors and should have done it with the other one . Once you have done a couple the whole procedure seems a lot less daunting and makes a lot of sense .

Cross member - I wish I had cut mine out . Seriously all I did was make a lot of work for myself keeping the thing . The late model Dodge motor mounts might bolt up to your block and save you some time and fabbing . What you describe for your aproach to the front cross member is dead on . I all ready made the mistakes for you , now you get to take the design a step further and the next guy to do this will take your work and tweak it a tad more . You can have an intercooler , better steering box location and get the motor to fit .
I see no down side to chucking the cross member - this is not a hack job - You are creating and improving on the original platform .

You going for a drivers side diff ?

Way cool

Bruce

[Alxj64]

Cross member - I wish I had cut mine out . Seriously all I did was make a lot of work for myself keeping the thing . The late model Dodge motor mounts might bolt up to your block and save you some time and fabbing . What you describe for your aproach to the front cross member is dead on . I all ready made the mistakes for you , now you get to take the design a step further and the next guy to do this will take your work and tweak it a tad more . You can have an intercooler , better steering box location and get the motor to fit .
I see no down side to chucking the cross member - this is not a hack job - You are creating and improving on the original platform .

You going for a drivers side diff ?

Way cool

Bruce

Thanks Bruce! And yea the front crossmember can be built around the engine and steering vs the other way around and give me a better setup than having to build the opposite direction.

As for the diff, yes going driver's side. With the starter and turbo on the pass side, why also deal with the driveshaft over there too? The divorced NP205 I have is also a driver's side case so that works out well too.

It doesn't look too terribly off from the original round housings. Once the cover goes on it should blend in nicely.

[Desoto61]

I would agree, not cutting it out for originality sake is just drawing an arbitrary line in the sand. You've already created your own with the axles, engine, trans, etc. And there will be plenty more to come. You've already left the purists behind, so all you have to please is yourself.

I replaced one of the crossmembers on the PW. It was rusted out and I'm sure I could have turned up an origianl replacement, but it also gave me the chance to make a few improvements. The new one should be stronger and last longer then the stock design, and again, with all the other modifications that I'm making the crossmember is the least of any purists concerns.

[CSCameron]

This is totally awesome! I love that you will end up with a Carryall that will be functional in today's traffic and not just a museum piece. Nice work!

One day, maybe I can do the same...

[Alxj64]

This is totally awesome! I love that you will end up with a Carryall that will be functional in today's traffic and not just a museum piece. Nice work!

One day, maybe I can do the same...

Thanks! Yea, I have to keep telling myself that the juice is worth the squeeze on this project. Every little set back or unforseen additional issue I try to look at as a challenge to my problem solving and an opportunity for creativity.

The front cross member is removed. I felt really guilty removing it too. Something that had been there since 1942.

I cut /drilled out the thin gauge floor that the previous owner had installed as its not the correct shape to let the Allison 1000 fit. The 4L80E that he had was a touch smaller. Additionally I start to cut on the motor some. The ISB170 has these crazy genset lookin mounting plates that are part of the SAE 3 bellhousing adapter plate. Well, the one on the driver's side wants to consume the floorboard where the throttle pedal needs to go. The one on the passenger's side prevents the turbo down pipe from exiting the enging compartment... So, a porta-band, some cutting oil and a few friends hanging around chatting and laughing and we made a good stab at it. Still a lot of cutting to go because its in a weird place on the back of the engine and its mostly solid cast aluminum thats about 5" deep by 8" tall square that needs to become radiused the same as the 18"+ dia SAE bell. I'll try and get some pictures tonight or tomorrow.

I also recieved the photo copy from Chrysler Historical services with the build card for this truck. Birthday is October 19th, 1942. I thought it was in December based on Serial numbers.

[Alxj64]

Motor still wouldn't fit... Bet that fat girl fits now...

[/URL]

Sadly this means I now have a LOT of new work ahead of me. Not something I was planning on dealing with originally but this original firewall was just flat out beat. Tons of extra holes, some weird bondo coating, also covered in sound deadening material that wouldn't come off and also it was kinda buckled/soft where Lee had the hydro boost unit mounted previously.

Ohh Lord.. here we go.

[dieseldude4bt]

Wow that's extreme!!
But now you can build one that fits a lot better.
Keep plugging away at it.

[Bruce in BC]

Been there done that about 40 times

try and not make it a smoothie firewall . The non military firewall has a decent recess in the middle and a new recess could be shaped to look almost stock , besides the recess add some beads , a couple of dimples where the heater hoses will go and some sort of hick up where the master cylinder is hooked up . If you are really into it a little bump where the throttle control cable exits the firewall would add some neat detail too .
I passed on a decent 32 ford sedan recently because it had a smoothie fire wall . If the stock firewall had been in place I would have been hard pressed to pass up the car . No extra holes is cool but I put a big flat firewall up there with shaved door handles .

I got the wiring squared away on my trash truck , the cab and front sheet metal back on , lots of little poop to do and I will then get back at the carryall .

Too many vehicles to maintain .

Bruce

Oh yah - do it however you want , I am just planting ideas ......

edit - did you plasma cut the old fire wall ? If so how do you plan on attaching the new one ? Easiest way I have ever done one was to make a buck that was sized to the stock fire wall , hammer a lip[ in the new firewall and spot weld the thing back in through the old spot weld holes that had been drilled out .

[Alxj64]

Plenty of beads planned for the new firewall, the Cummins is going to be recessed some behind the existing firewall "plane" so I am going to have to put some shovel shape into it. Not sure if I'll do pleats or if I am going to do it curved. Curves are hard. The size and location of the hydroboost will dictate some of the beads. There will be no throttle linkage, its fly by wire on this motor. The steering column may need to be ordered here soon too so that I know what I am dealing with there. The passengers side floorboard is going to be small.. I need room for the 3" dia stainless exhaust.

Edit: Also I left a flange of the original wall all the way around when I cut it out so that I can step roll an edge and then just attach back to the existing stock flange with spot welds or I am even considering using hardware to attach it so that I can mount the A/C stuff, wiring, etc without having to stand on my head.

[Alxj64]

More work on the tailgate. Thing got heavy with all this sound deadening and the 16 ga flat panel for the interior side.



Black is the thin stick on sound deadening.



Silver is the thermal insulation stuff.

[Alxj64]

Still needs a few finishing touches though. There is a flat vertical piece that goes along the top of the gate that the weatherstripping seals against... thats not there yet.

[Desoto61]

That's an impressive piece of work.