1943 Dodge Carryall
Before buying my Bumblebee, I found a 1943 Dodge Carryall. The Carryall was in terrible condition, more suited for the crusher that a restoration. The Carryall had been in 2000 to the Power Wagon Rally in Fairfield, Iowa to be offered for sale. It was not sold and it returned to Mass and sat looking for a new owner. I still do not know how it made the trip to Iowa and back as it was so structurally weak, It could hardly carry its own weight. I decided I would purchase the Carryall and do a restoration. It was also going to be a learning experience as I had never tackled a job so large on a truck. The Carryall was delivered and sat in my shop while I finished my Bumblebee. When I was ready to actually start work on the Carryall, I got 'cold feet' and decided that the body work required was way over my head. I started looking for a good carryall body. I could not find one and drew a line in the sand, that if one was not found by Thanksgiving 2002, I would start and do my best. It could always be taken to the dump if all went wrong.
From the front A Post on both sides to the tail gate welds, rust had eaten away everything inclding all floor cross members. Doors were shot, roof shot, many stress cracks in the body. The body was racked 6 inches to the left. You could take 2 fingers and rack the body back and forth, seriously 2 fingers. After over a week of trying to figure where to start, I came to a plan, a plan that was followed to completion.
I took 1.000" x 1.000" x 3/16" angle and x braced the body bringing it back to true. Then I cut the sides, inner and outter out of the carryall with my plasma torch. The body panels were fab'ed from 1 piece, 16 gauge sheet. Patterns were made and steel sheet cut. It took 21 days for one outter side to be completed, totally by hand fabrication. Once knowing what had to be done the other side was done in 5 days. One piece, 18 gauge sheet steel was used for the inner skin. Slowly It looked like it really was going to roll again someday. All new fender wells were fab'ed, new cross members from 2.000" x 2.000" x 3/16 tube were fab'ed. Carryalls used a 2 piece tail gate, top lifted and bottom dropped down. My lower gate was so bad there was little hope of repair. I decided that I would use Panel Doors from a 1947 Dodge Panel. The width was correct but they were much to high. These had to be cut down to fit the opening. The new floor in the Carryall was fab'ed from 3/16" steel. A custom rear stem bumper was fab'ed. The seats are 1999 Ford Explorer front and back. Heavy use of Q Pads and Carpet has really made this a quiet running truck. All parts were blasted with Black Beauty and Pickle X applied. Then I shot PPG MP-170 Epoxy Primer, then PPG MP-182 primer on everything. The chassis was shot with PPG MOA Chassis Black, everything else shot with PPG Base/Clear. The Color is Harley Davidson Orange and Black mixed to a reflectance of 37% to give it the always wet look.
From the start of work, I had stuck a Cummins "C" on the front left cowl. This truck was going to get a Cummins 4BTA Engine and the Cummins "C" was my incentative goal. I found a 1999 Cummins 4BTA Recon engine with only 23K miles. Also located a 1999 Dodge NV-4500 (5 speed od) transmission and a 1993 Dodge Married NP-205 T case. The ring and pinions were changed to 4.89's, Saginaw Power Steering was added along with 4 wheel disk brakes. I decided to add a Braden MU-2 Winch which is drive shaft driven. My plan was to power this winch with hydraulic power using the Power Steering pump as Mile Marker Winches do.
The Hydraulic Winch is Bi-directional. The Tires are STA Superlugs 900x16 mounted on Budd Wheels.
My goal was not to build a show truck, I am not a coach builder or body man, but rather a nice driver that I can have fun with. From the begining of the work, I set a Completion date, that it must be done in time for the Power Wagon Rally in Fairfield, Iowa June 2004. Completion was May 14, 2004. |
Date(s): 2002/2004. Album by Power Wagon. 1 - 175 of 175 Total. 37837 Visits. |
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