New Project - 1957 PW

[Desoto61]

Looks good. There is a thread on here (probably in the archives by now) about rebuilding one including a great discussion on what lubricants to use in them Worth finding!

[wayneh]

I got my winch housing parts back from powder coat today. I had these done the same as the chassis, a semigloss black. Assembly begins with new bearings, seals, safety brake, keys, and pins.

Powder coating looks awesome. If you don't mind me asking, about what did you pay to have those parts done?

Thanks

Wayne

[RicherRacing]

Powder coating looks awesome. If you don't mind me asking, about what did you pay to have those parts done?

Thanks

Wayne

Thanks Wayne, I haven't received the bill yet. My son's company does over $25,000 a year of powder coating so I get good rates. The frame which is normally about $900 I paid $500. They charge by the area to be coated. I expect the winch parts will cost between $100 and $150. There are other parts not shown in the picture such as the rear rail, the winch drum, and the two front winch cable guides. I just bought a NOS winch from 1950 and will be disassembling it to assemble into my case which is stamped 1957. I expect to have many of the NOS parts available.

I also removed the shortened frame extensions (which i should have done before powder coating the frame in hindsight. I took the new frame extensions to powder coat Friday and will need to clean out the rust and paint inside the front frame rails.

John

[wayneh]

Wow. I've had a few parts powder coated locally, but the prices seem high with nothing costing under $100. On some small cast parts I've had very good luck using a rattle can and the VHT roll bar/chasis paint sold locally at the auto parts stores. It seems they have pretty decent spray nozzles and enough pressure to do ok. But... nothing compares to powder coating or a real quality single or two stage automotive paint...

Wayne

[RicherRacing]

My truck came with a non stock HEAVY DUTY bumper. Obviously i discarded that and procured brackets and new bumpers from Vintage Power Wagon.
Tried to fit up today and ran into a snag.
It appears my bumper extensions had been cut to custom mount the previous bumper. Ah well, time to order new bumper extensions from VPW.
I am almost to $12,000 in parts from them in the last two years. I figure about another $5,000 to go for bedsides and interior.

Well I received the new frame extension from VPW, had them powdercoated to match frame, and then needed to grind a bit away where they fit inside frame. After getting them to fit, i hit them with some primer/paint to prevent rust. This is all hidden where they go inside frame rails. Reused my 5/8" DPCD bolts I cleaned up and only had 6 of the 1/2" ones. I used replacements from VPW for the rest. Then I check fit the bumpers. Now it's off to powdercoat with bumpers and brackets.

[RicherRacing]

Muffler1.jpgMuffler2.jpgMuffler3.jpg Exhaust Install

The exhaust install went fairly smoothly after I figured out where the brackets went. I had to bend them a bit as two of them were overly bent as received but fortunately they are mild steel and easy to bend by hand clamping them in a vise. In hindsight I should have done this before I had them power coated. I bought everything from Vintage Power Wagons. The muffler ends were a bit long (about 1.5" on each end) but easy enough to fix. About 2 hours spent for everything.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

What a very nice tutorial on the exhaust, thank you for making and showing that.

[DrPepper]

So they are not rubber mounted?

Did I miss something or don't these need any rubber mounting for flex and vibration built into the attachments?
Just wondering...
DP

[RicherRacing]

Did I miss something or don't these need any rubber mounting for flex and vibration built into the attachments?
Just wondering...
DP

That's a good question. The old clamps did not have any but that doesn't mean they are not supposed to. There is nothing that I have seen on VPW that says there are supposed to be. Note the exploded schematic that does not refer to any rubber pieces. The muffler and pipe are hard mounted to the frame using these brackets that are somewhat flexible but not like rubber. The motor might flex a bit but I think the long length between the front of the muffler and exhaust manifold would allow whatever flex might be needed.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

The Dodge M37 used rubber insulators on the exhaust brackets but best to my knowledge and what I have seen the Power Wagons never used any insulators.

[RicherRacing]

winchall.jpgbumperinstalled.JPGwinchinstalled.jpg MU2 Winch Assembly and Bumper Install

I made some visible progress today, the bumpers and winch are finally installed. When I disassembled this last year, the bull gear was so worn it came out without removing the worm gear. I had The final assembly of the worm gear bearings all set with the shims just right and then tried to put the bull gear and shaft in. No go!. I removed one bearing end to remove the worm so I could install the bull gear and shaft. I chose to use Corn Head Grease per VPW recommendation as it will not drip. I don't plan to use this as a work truck so I don't expect the winch to get much use as all.

All bumper details are powder coated. I used all DPCD bolts from VPW with 4 long ones I was able to salvage for the front of the hooks and the ends of the winch mounts. Close to 50 bolts in all. Made sure bumpers were straight and square before starting to tighten bolts.

Winch install was relatively easy, needed two helpers to lower it in place while I put the 8 bolts in place. I am very please how well it turned out.

On to the transmission and drive shaft/transfer case lever installs.

[Todd M]

Looking good. I appreciate all the photos.

[RicherRacing]

image_12713.jpgimage_12714.jpgimage_12715.jpg
My rolling chassis has been fully restored for a year now. Bodywork next.

[RicherRacing]

We designed and fabricated a rotisserie for the cab using a front hub. It works very well. The cab has been totally stripped and is going to be grit blasted Tuesday.

Rotiserie1.jpgRotiserie2.jpgRotiserie3.jpg

[RicherRacing]

This cab seems to be in excellent condition. No serious rust. I am looking forward to getting it blasted. I plan to epoxy prime it immediately afterward.


rot3.jpgrot2.jpgRot1.jpg