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'53 Power Wagon
Pics of how Chris restored his 1953 Dodge Power Wagon.
September 8, 200964 Images10722 visitsAlbum by chris casePhotos by chris case
Enlarge photo 1 First pic of completed truck.
Enlarge photo 2 Enlarge photo 3 After later work, modifying it into a five window extended cab. See my other album for my step-by-step.
Enlarge photo 4 The "as found" condition
Enlarge photo 5 Original cab, rotted around rear window.
Enlarge photo 6 Door, in need of repair, see later pic of that door in progress.
Enlarge photo 7 An inside view of the cab. Yes, it was pink EVERYWHERE.
Enlarge photo 8 Side in progress, after acid etch treatment.

The extra hole in the bracket, at the apex of the 'L' is not original. Mics to 9mm...

Enlarge photo 9 You can see I've welded up the bullet hole in the post pocket. Plus the condition of the sides: welds, riples, dents. And the pitting, requiring a skim coat of Bondo.
Enlarge photo 10 Firewall, before.
Enlarge photo 11 More of the mad welder's work. The pintle hook was all 1/2" iron welded to the bumper, I don't know what the bent frame was supposed to do. But I did leave the anchors for the A-frame, might come in handy some day.
Enlarge photo 12 Here's a template for the dome light.
Enlarge photo 13 Inside pink,pink,pink.
Enlarge photo 14 Gismo for compressing the LAV rims to get the Michelins off.
Enlarge photo 15 Bottling some home brew. Need fuel to restore a truck.
Enlarge photo 16 More cab rot.
Enlarge photo 17 Bed parts, rotten oak boards. Cross members destined to see the sand blaster, as was the whole body and bed.
Enlarge photo 18 You can see how crusty the frame parts were. I used a rental pressure washer to blow the crap off, then an acid bath, then some more pressure blaster.
Enlarge photo 19 Torn up seat, later found the rear back frame too far gone to save. Much rusted away.
Enlarge photo 20 Just about as disassembled as I felt necessary. Now to pressure blast, acid bath, pB again, red oil based primer, then black paint.
Enlarge photo 21 That's the old water distribution tube left of the winch. Replaced with brass, still on the shelf at a local parts store.
Enlarge photo 22 My favorite red, oil based primer, "Rust Destroyer" form Home Depot.
Enlarge photo 23 A couple of the rusted part that were cut out and replaced.
Enlarge photo 24 The passenger side door after replacing the rusted out section.
Enlarge photo 25 Left front fender, before and after. I should have know there was trouble under the bondo when I bougth the truck. The missing part had had a piece of car roof merely tack welded to the fender, inner bracket tack welded to it. A good bump and the fender would have come loose.
Enlarge photo 26 Riveting tools. The small ones go in an air hammer, the big one was used as a 'buck' to back up the head. The end had been ground to a concave to match the rivet heads. In use, heat the end of the rivet red hot, have you 90 year old help buck the head, drop the acetylene torch, pick up the air hammer and whack away. It usually took me two cycles of heat-n-whack.
Enlarge photo 27 A close up view of my hood hing repair. The gray part is the bracket that mounts to the radiator cover. Note how the repair pin is welded to the hood. That weld keeps the other half of the hood from sliding down and binding.
Enlarge photo 28 Plan for my hood repair pin.
Enlarge photo 29 My 90 year old helper (Dad), and his two year old great-grand-helper.
Enlarge photo 30 Under floor power brake with dual circuit master.
Enlarge photo 31 View of brakes, from pass side.
Enlarge photo 32 Through-the-floor access to master reservoir. Access was covered by a hatch cut from s rusted away floorboard.
Enlarge photo 33 My original iteration of an alternator mount.
Enlarge photo 34 Headers durign construction.
Enlarge photo 35 Intake manifold being 'alpha fit', tube taped together.
Enlarge photo 36 Headers complete, before painting.
Enlarge photo 37 After painting with "Ceramic Header Paint." I though red would look good against the green truck. It did until I actually ran them, then the headers turned black from the heat. So much for "Ceramic" paint.
Enlarge photo 38 Headers and intake with the original one bbl. Made NO improvement on the dyno. Running on the street at full speed in 3rd gear showed 2" vacuum, needs bigger carb. I went to a 2bbl Cart BDL form a 318. Much better full throttle, but haven't had it back on the dyno yet. Hoping for 65hp to the ground, feels like I made it.
Enlarge photo 39 "Tie downs" are Stanley brand 'trap door pulls' from Home Depot. Powder coated black before final assembly.
Enlarge photo 40 New pick up tube added to my gas tank. Hole drilled into sending unit, bendabale steel tubing soldered in. Allows servicing of pick up, if it gets plugged up.