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Randy Albrecht came from Grand Junction, CO today, with a '48 Dodge Power Wagon, completely disassembled.
My job is to make it go again. Holy smokes.
Stand back, non-believers, this is gonna get messy.
Here's how I got it...in a trailer. Wider shot, after some boxes removed. Removing the engine
What a pile of parts. It's like a grenade went off. Or, maybe a nuclear bomb. All the small stuff in the garage.
Me, Jason, Randy unloading. Steve Albrecht. The guy responsible for all the mayhem. Engine had one valve missing...I robbed one from the blown engine that was in the pile. We think the blown engine is the original, this engine (a '58) is a replacement.
Valves are adjusted, side covers on. Head and manifolds installed. The front engine mounting plate was the wrong one. I had to remove the timing gears to replace it.
Here's the engine ready to go in. There was no timing pointer, so I found TDC via a handy 1/8" pipe plug above the #6 piston. Here is the timing pointer I made. You can't see the mark I made in the pulley.
The spring are on the frame... ...and the engine is in. Me with the engine.
Installing the transmission. The rolling chassis with transfer case installed. Another shot of the chassis. Ready to roll into the shop.
Here you can see the transfer case. We got a new master cylinder from Vintage Power Wagons, as the old one was badly pitted. It also has four brand new shocks, wheel cylinders, brake and fuel lines. I installed a GM alternator, and made the lower bracket.
Here's a template for the upper alt. bracket. Jason's Dad will make one in his machine shop. Radiator installed in grille. I made the rubber cushion it will sit on (blue part). Radiator installed. Starting to look like a Power Wagon.
Jason stopped by, so I put him to work helping me install the cab. Cab lift adapter was made by Tim Jr. A few shots of the cab going on.
5 minutes later, it's almost a whole truck. We had a visitor in the shop. Can't remember her name.
I think she's going to be a car chic.		 This truck has not been an assembly job. First, you have to figure out where the part goes, fix it,
chase all the rusty threads, then assemble it.
The steering column tube was broken in half, right at the shiny part on the right.
RS engine, complete with farmered up throttle return. The correct parts are on order from Vintage. LS engine. Dash is pretty much done. Choke, throttle, ignition switch, and light switch.
It moved out under it's own power Saturday! LS sheetmetal going on. Here's the hood and inner fender panel installed. Left fender.11 holes to chase.
LS fender and headlight on. I have to pick up the wiring pigtail for the headlight. The air cleaner had holes rusted in the bottom. 2 part epoxy fixed it right up. Marker lights were pretty rusty, and the bolts were broken off. Jason bead blasted them.
Markers with a shot of primer. Marker light lenses are cleaned up. The bezels were pretty rusty inside, so I hit them with rust neutralizer. I made new cork gaskets for them.
The correct throttle linkage from VPW RS marker light and hood is on RS Inner fender and running board mounts
The interior is finished The whole truck is together...almost. Still needs winch installed. The winch shown here is not the right one. Other side view. Windshield and door glass is not in, waiting on parts.