Started off as only a Brake Job, and snowballed from there.
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Well while waiting on parts for the M37, I started the front axle conversion to disc brakes. I pulled the hubs, brakes, and spindles, and was surprised to see how little grease was in the Tracta Joint Housings. Now to do a lot of cleaning and some painting, new seals and a lot of grease as it goes back together with disc brakes. 08/18/2009 | |
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Still need to pull the differential, but the outer Knuckles and axles are all out and cleaning is underway. 08/20/2009 | |
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I started the front differential yesterday. Did you know the 46 drain plug is a small 1/4" pipe plug with the letters US stamped on the face? Since it was going to take a while I let it drip overnight. When I got into the shop this afternoon, I found a small metal dowel like pin with angle sheered ends, and three groves cut the length of it laying on the top of the oil drain pan. So I pulled the differential out (had planned on doing it anyway) and found two more large pieces, but nothing small and no shavings. One looks like the metal dowel, and the other might have been e piece that was smashed between the gears. Looking through M37 Power Train Manual (TM 9-8031-2/T019-75-1-100) they are the Taper Grove Pins for Differential Case Cap. Mine has six holes and as you can see in the photo, the holes are empty. One hole looks like the other half of the pin is still there, the other two seems completely gone, and the case cap has rotated 1/2 hole. I'm going to clean up and use one of the carriers I pulled out of my M when I installed the ARB's rather than try and repair this one for now. With the exception of two teeth that have a little water pitting, the gears look good and the bearings all roll and sound good. 08/23/2009 |
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The drive line keeps fighting me. It started out as a simple brake front Disc Brake Conversion, now I've just pulled the rear differential out since I was repairing the front one as a result of what I found. Well I like to have never got it to wiggle out, thought I might have left a nut on, no it was just sticking. Well, once it was out I had a stud and nut hit the floor. What? Did I indeed miss a nut and brake of a differential stud? No! It was one of the ring gear bolts! I found another one in the axle housing and a piece of the same dowel pin material I found in the front! Well the loose parts have managed to damage the pinop gear and the ring carrier. No axle damage though, so I'm on the hunt for a complete differential. Man this thing is getting into a major drive line overhaul! 08/25/2009 | |
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Work continues. The bearings from Alex Nash at Nash Lift Truck Supply Company arrived this afternoon, so I can start working on the front differential. It's completely gutted, but still needs some cleaning. I have a couple of good leads on sources somewhat locally for a good used differential, so I hope to have one for the rear soon. As soon as I have the front wheels back on, I plan on pulling the truck out (in Front Wheel Drive Mode) for a degreasing and removing the bed. This should help in the rear brake/fuel tank work.. I'll probably pull the radiator and get the leak fixed while I'm at it. 08/27/2009 | |
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Started cleaning the front differential center section to install the M's carrier and re-install it. Found the rest of one of the pins, and several metal shavings. Ended up having to pull the Pinion in order to clean a piece of metal out of the outer bearing. Will have to get a Redi-Sleeve for the yoke so the new seal survives. 09/10/2009 | |
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Pulled the oil pan off while the front differential was out and easer to do. Needed new gaskets and I also knew it needed to be cleaned out, but man what a buildup of sludge! 09/11/2009 | |
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Well today I got the oil pan back on, as well as completed assembling the complete front axle and brakes (less lines). I also installed my first Redi-Sleve, and it went on straight forward (after freezing the yoke first). The truck is now a front wheel drive only while I find a better rear end differential. Next is to clean the remaining grease and oil from the front and paint what I can. Next will be getting the radiator fixed and the brake lines installed. 09/16/2009 | |
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When we bought the truck, it had an extra set of leaf springs in the rear. They were bolted to the axle, and rested in channels on the under side of the bed. They were apparently required in addition to the extra heave stock location springs to carry the loads previous owners had hauled. | |
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After about 8 hours today, the Power Wagon was clean(er) and I was filthy, so I stopped at removing the bed, cleaning off a lot of grease and gunk. The frame at the rear axle is now setting 1.5" higher without the bed. First, is the truck with the bed still on, second is after removing the bed before cleaning, and third is after the power washing and some wire brushing. 09/17/2009 | |
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This afternoon (after working on the M's exhaust in the AM) I started doing a little more cleaning on the front of the frame, and also cut off the "extra" pieces that had been added to the rear frame over the years. 09/18/2009 | |
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Now that the past two world wind months are behind me, I've been working on the truck again. Finishing cleaning and painting the rear of the truck, as well as doing a rear brake job. Here you can see some before and after on the brakes. Thanks to Jon M. I've got good pads and cylinders to go back together with as it looks like even the one wheel that was plumbed, had frozen brakes. 12/07/2009 | |
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Have test fit/installed the new MTS Plastic Bronco 33 gallon fuel tank (425C1). The fit was pretty good. Had to slightly reshape the lower strap to better fit the tank shape, and will space the upper strap up by about 3/8". The tank is 15" tall, rather than the 12" of the stock tank. They make a 25 gallon Bronco tank, that is 12" tall, but there are not any pickup/tank level kits for them. The MTS Bronco Sending Unit (73E/10F) worked well with the Autometer Ford Fuel Level Gauge (5915). 12/08/2009 | |
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Finished the rear brake job, and also mounted the Fuel Tank. 12/09/2009 | |
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The Repair and Rejuvenation continues with the front of the truck. I finished cleaning what I could and painted what was cleaned. 12/13/2009 | |
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Straightened, and repaired the Front Fenders, Headlight Buckets, and Running Boards. 12/16/2009 | |
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Still doing some cleaning and repairing, but had the opportunity to show the front brakes with the fresh painted axles, etc... 12/17/2009 | |
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Picked up a replacement center section for the rear. It's in OK shape. Some pretty good wear on the Pinion, but at least it's not as chewed up as the one I pulled out. 12/24/2009 | |
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Picked up some brake and fuel line fittings from FittingsandAdapters.com and their service was amazing. Parts ordered on 12/30 and arrived on 01/02! Have the Fuel and Brakes lines roughed in. 01/06/2010 | |
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Been working on the installation of the Dodge Dakota seats in place of the Ranger Bench Seat I had been using. Wound up removing the front portion of the stock seat riser as it was rusted quite a bit on the passenger side. Both seats have adjustable tracks, and I will have approximately 7.5" of seat travel reaming when installed. The seats are 26" on center, so I had to ditch keeping the Dakota center console seat. Need to fabricate the front riser once I'm comfortable with the front of the seats height. 01/11/2010 | |
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Finished fabricating the Dakota seat Mounting Frames and attaching them to the floor of the Power Wagon. Ended up doing it a little differently then I though, but here it is. Was originally going to have two separate front bases and have if closed in the front and inner center area to create an under seat "box". I think from a support standpoint leaving the two seats tied together is probably better. 01/14/2010 | |
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Pulled the cab off today. I'll say pulling a Power Wagon cab off is much harder to do by your self then an M37 Cab. I'll be sure to have extra hands on hand when I put it back on. 01/27/2010 | |
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Removed the Radiator and stripped the cab. The hardest part was removing one of the Stainless Steal screws that held the windshield regulator to the windshield frame. When I rebuilt the windshield I used stainless screws to keep the rust down, but it didn't help enough. Next time I', adding anti-seize. The dash insulator came out and was still in pretty good shape for being 64 years old. The original Red color under it was bright and clean on the passenger side. There was even still a paper tag wired behind it to the cad, but was painted over so I could not tell what it might have said. 01/28/2010 | |
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Started the prep work for patching/repairing the Cab. My new to me MoPar Deluxe Heater arrived today. Picked it up from Carl's Well Used Cars & Parts in Carlisle PA, Thanks Carl. 01/30/2010 | |
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Finished the some of the Cab Body Repairs. Both rear cab mounts are repaired and reinforced, and I fixed the left front cab inner A-Pillar. The rear cab corners were cut and patched with 16 gauge steel, and then a 10 gauge reinforcement plate was placed over them to help support and spread the load into the body. The A-Pillar looked like it had been cut open and welded back shut. Not sure why, but might have been related to the original installation of the spot light. I placed a piece of 16 gauge angle iron in the pillar and welded it in and the seem sute. 02/02/2010 | |
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Continuing to fix and clean up the rust/damage to the Driver Side A-Pillar and Cowl area. 02/07/2010 | |
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In preparation to fill the unused firewall holes I've started mounting the hanging pedal assembly. 02/08/2010 | |
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Finished the alignment and drilling of all but two of the Hanging Pedal holes. Will need to weld shut two holes then drill the final two holes. The Pedals hang about 1/8" further outboard than ray's template, but that is the result of aligning (hanging vertical) and checking clearances. The brake pedal hits the tunnel about 1/8" before it hits the fire wall, but that is an easy fix should it truly take that much travel. I have approximately 36 holes to weld shut in the fire wall, then drill out the new heater holes. 02/09/2010 | |
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Still cleaning, cutting patches, welding in patches, and grinding clean. Spot Light and Cowl light area repaired as well as the passenger side of the Firewall. 02/10/2010 | |
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Finished the firewall patches and added a lower firewall reinforcement to the hanging pedal bracket, and re-checked it for fit. Also started working on the other parts of the cab to patch/fix. 02/11/2010 | |
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Finished the front Cab mount repair and reinforcement. Also welded the lower front cab outers where the welds cracked as well. 02/12/2010 | |
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Repaired the lower rear portion of the cab. Cut out the bad section, fabricated a patch panel, and fit and welded it in place. Not perfect, but not too bad either. Now the only major item left on the cab is the missing rain gutter. 02/15/2010 | |
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Well, except for a few minor things and any holes that may pop up from the media blasting the major repair work to the cab is done. Rain gutter fabricated and attached, new heater holes drilled as well. 02/16/2010 |
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Finished patching the Lower Right Door. Hopefully will eventually find a replacement, but this will, with a little bondo, look and work good enough for now. 07/01/2010 | |
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Fixed the Parking Brake Locking Rod and Fabricated a replacement Right Rear Hood Latch. The Hood Latch is made from 3/4" 16 gauge square tubing. Someone else had previously made a replacement for the rear drivers side, but mine looks closer to the originals. 07/29/2010 | |
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I had a couple of "oil can" spots in the drivers side room from others damage/fix's. So in order to keep the roof from popping and keep a cleaner line, I braced the under side to hold the spots up and out and keep the roof line cleaner. 08/03/2010 | |
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Finished the small cab cleanup and patched the floor panels as well as making some access panels for the maintenance holes in the cab floor. the cab should now be ready for media blasting. 08/07/2010 | |
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Fabricated the Clutch Slave Cylinder bracket for the stock bell housing. Also did a little more cleanup and some small repairs to the Cab and Drivers Door. The Slave Cylinder is from a 1968 W200, part number BENDIX # 11209 09/28/2010 | |
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Finished rebuilding the last Differential I picked up, and though it wasn't perfect, it's back together fresh and with a backlash of 0.005", with a cap spread of 0.013". The Leather Pinion Seal was tough to get to loosen up, but it's getting there. Someone mentioned that with the differential not installed the installed the axles to check the alignment, well it snot good, but all I have for now. 11/29/2010 | |
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Picked up the New Heater Motor for the Mopar Heater. this one is 12V. From NAPA, Siemens PM354X (Comfort Temp, by Four Seasons #35576). Also painted and assembled the hanging pedal assembly. 12/10/2010 | |
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