Topic: WARR-WAGON

[smalltowncowboy]

(from the beginning)

ok so i been gone for quite a while so here is my new contribution.

i bought this (or am buying) from an old co-worker. its a 1980 dodge W200 4x4, the last of the powerwagons. 360 (runs) 4speed 205 transfercase, HD44 front, 60 rear, warn 8274 winch, it used to be a DOT truck.

plans:
crate motor
lift
rear winch
tool box
canopy
lights
rear bumper (with swing out tire carrier)
dual batteries
new seat
extra rack over canopy
inner airlock double beadlocks
OBA (york)

onto the pics:

when i brought it home







put a set of 35"s on the rear but they wouldnt mount up on the front cause they are 15" rims and it takes 16" rims to clear the calipers. but this can be worked around.


old skool outside temp guage


the PO told me there was some rust in the driver side floor board but he took care of the rust and fiberglassed it. yah his fiber glass was a piece of plastic shower wall screwed down.



so i fixed it the other night





the seat belts were broke so i threw in some spares till i get the new seat



i thought about putting a set of these in since i have them but they arent the easiest to ride in all the way to the coast.


id like to put something like this in, 40/20/40 with flip down center console and built in seat belts.


yesterday i started on the rear bumper, but i have a cold so i only worked for like 10 minutes.




my rats nest of a wiring mess to straighten out.

[smalltowncowboy [OP]]

ok got the truck into the shop this afternoon. pulled the hood, grill, and pipes off the bumper and my camera batteries died. then i painted the grill, pulled the radiator reservoir, fan shroud and drained the radiator. when i pulled the pipes off the bumper there was rust and crap behind them, luckily only surface rust.




did some more work on the truck today, pulled the radiator, winch, fenders. my damn camera runs through batteries like crazy so i ended up using my camera phone.




apparently they used this spot for storage lol

[smalltowncowboy [OP]]

got the wiring labeled out and took pics of where things are connected, unbolted the exhaust manifolds and its a good thing i am getting a crate motor cause when i broke loose the manifold water poured out of the no 7 cylinder. finished pulling the inner fender on the drivers side and just getting things ready.

the grill painted (needs another coat)

[smalltowncowboy [OP]]

friday the old man came out and helped me pull the core support and the engine.





then sunday i helped put a leveling kit on another guys newer ford, and yesterday was my first day at my new job. hopefully today i can drag my butt to the shop for a bit but its cold outside lol.

an expensive day, i ordered ALOT for the powerwagon.

crate motor
6AL MSD ignition
headers
edelbrock intake
edlebrock carb
3 core radiator
power steering pump
upper/lower rad hoses
thermostat
100 amp alt
white face gauges (speedo, volt, water, oil pressure, 5" tach)
spark plugs
new starter
water pump
motor mounts
dist cap
rotor
plug wires

which all ran me $3268 with about $300 in core deposits.

[smalltowncowboy [OP]]

i picked up my parts, took some pics of some of the goodies but my camera batteries died so they re recharging right now.

oh yah


thats sexy right there (with rev limiter)


color changing



they had just got freight in when i was there so i couldnt get my engine (it was blocked in). so i went back in the afternoon and got it and my new 3 core radiator. now the fun will begin. i will have to get a comparison picture of the 60 amp alt. and the 100 amp alt, lol its almost comical lol.

heres is a pic of the stock alt compared to the 100 amp alt.



spent today building a new welding cart to hold the welder and my new plasma. :wings:



carts still not done yet, i was test fitting everything

[smalltowncowboy [OP]]

new engine still wrapped up till i get the sheetmetal all cleaned up and ready to put on.


here you can see how flat the old springs were

and with the helper spring


not sure why all these holes were drilled in the frame but i am going to weld them up


got my BFG's mounted on a different set of wheels with less back spacing, mounted them on the truck and without the engine in its almost level on the bed.








got the old heater core out, didnt come out as simple as i had planned, im going to weld in a piece of sheetmetal to fill the hole. then i have a summit brand mojeve heater to mount inside.


it sits at 23 3/4" t the pinch seam.

[smalltowncowboy [OP]]

went out today for a few hours after i got off work, doesnt really feel like i did much cause i kinda just bounced around. i pulled the motor mounts off the cross member, the driver side was fun. painted some of the front frame section. pulled the front diff cover and cleaned it up and painted it, inside the diff didnt look bad, a ittle bit of metal grind in there but no chunks or anything like that and the fluid looked fairly new. also started to sand the hood down, i dont know about anyone else but MOPAR to me just screams blacked out hood  ;D

thats a 2 foot pipe wrench and a 3 foot pipe on my half inch drive




installed the front diff cover today




found the diff tag on the rear when i pulled the diff cover. the fluid in the front axle wasnt too bad but the rear diff must have been the red headed stepchild, 3.54 gears (not what id hoped for but oh well)


and the first coat of semi gloss on the hood


kinda splurged a little this morning. i tried to clean up the valve cover but there is so much crap baked onto the inside and i couldnt get it all out of there and i didnt want to chance any of it getting into the new motor so here we go

Fabricated Small Block Mopar Aluminum Valve Covers



These are a fully TIG welded aluminum cover. Thick 1/4" billet rail. 1 1/4" baffled breather holes. 3.5" tall. Includes bolts.

[smalltowncowboy [OP]]

in between the coats of herculiner i put on the floor boards of my XJ i painted the engine with high heat 500 degree paint. i prefer the color of grey just because it is easier to see any leaks that arise.





so after we put the interior back into the XJ, i cut out my first piece with my plasma cutter



but i didnt make some of my corners right and i cought my hose on my clamp and took a bigger slice out of one spot, plus i decided i wanted the diamond tread on the inside of the engine bay so i cut a ew piece. it turned out alot better, here it is fitting in place.



half way welded in and with the two holes drilled in it for the hose fittings for the new heater



fully welded, then after this picture i finished welding the old mounting holes but dont have a pic of that yet.






(NOW WE ARE ALL CAUGHT UP)

[smalltowncowboy [OP]]

instead of using a rubber grommet and just pushing the heater hose through the firewall i came up with this. just a coupler and two barbed fittings that will smash the firewall between the big washers.



i think i found an orange that closely matches



and here is the piece i am going to use for my new dash (rough cut of course)



other than that it was a day to clean the shop after i got off work.

[smalltowncowboy [OP]]

did lots of little things today, or atleast it felt like little things. bolted on the flywheel, clutch, harmonic balancer, mouts for the motor mounts and the motor mounts, then dropped the motor in but we had to clearence the bellhousing. you could see where the flywheel made marks inside the bellhousing when we took it out and it would not fit back in.  then i we put the valve covers on but only sealed the passenger side since i still ned to mess with TDC on the drivers side, and put in the thermostat and housing.







we pulled the tub off of my dads jeep yesterday so he brought it out today so i can cut out the rust and weld in new metal.

[46&2]

This thing is sweet! Love where this is going. Keep us updated. 

[smalltowncowboy [OP]]

today seemed like one step forward and two steps back. put the headers on to find out i couldnt get the starter on. one of the carb studs had messed up threads so i bought new ones only to get back to the shop and see they are too long. unhooked the power steering pump to put the new one on and broke the high pressure line.

i ended up just taking the headers back and cleaning and installing the stock manifolds. painted them with high temp exhaust paint, yah it probably will just burn off but it looks nice now lol.

my paint booth lol



cleaned up



painted







used some aircraft paint stripper on the stock air cleaner housing, this stuff really takes the paint off.

[smalltowncowboy [OP]]

got what feels like quite a bit done today. found this little access door, there was one on each side. opened them up and cleaned out the dirt and stuff so they will drain water again. didnt see them till i was sitting eye level with it.



i got the new power steering pump pulley on, the new high pressure line, and the new pump on



it took a while to remember to how the pump mounted but i got it figured out. also had to modify the mounting brackets for the new alt. the 100 amp one is huge compared to stock.



clearance for new alt and new valve covers



had to bend the adjusting bracket



also had to bend the dipstick tube to clear the bottom of the new alt. used a brakeline tubing bender to bend the dipstick tube



also pulled the seat belts and the bench seat again so i can POR the floor boards and prep for the heater install

it kinda sucked being in the shop in 100+ degrees, dads truck said it was 110 sitting in the sun.

[REG535]

looks good. keep up the good work

[smalltowncowboy [OP]]

well i actually worked on my own rig today lol

cut cut here and cut cut there


i still need to clean it up a bit and i know i cut it up higher than the back of the bed floor but i will be tucking the bumper up nice and tight.

while cutting the bed side, the rear of the bed side seperated from the inside of the bed. bad pic



here you can see where the bed sides must have seperated before, there was some bad welds there. i will be cleaning the area up and re-welding it befpore im done.



and going back together

[chim]

subscribed!

[83 Crawler]

 

[smalltowncowboy [OP]]

a couple of teaser shots

[fade]

Is it going to be orange again or are you going with the od green theame?

[PatrickLacey]

I love the looks of the classic Dodge trucks...keep up the good work

[YotaNate]

Awesome truck and cool name!  Grats on the find, that thing looks STRAIGHT!   I can't wait to see more!


Nate

[smalltowncowboy [OP]]

heres the dash setup so far, i still have work to do on it and its just sitting in there but heres my start.





also started on some cheap hood vents, i placed them towards the rear and outside edges so if it gets rain in it, it will be at the back of the wheel wells.

heres the vent material



like i said cheap hood vents, both sides cost me about $5 got them from home depot



measured and marked



cutcut and cleaned. i left the supports in the hood



i need to get some differnt bolts to attach it and then paint it



i should have this side done tomorrow night, i need bolts and more cut off wheels so i can cut the other side.

[smalltowncowboy [OP]]

today i got the other hole cut in the hood for the hood vents, got them put in most of the way, i need more hardware. apparently someone mixed a bunch of different thread pitch nuts in the bin at ace hardware so im short a few. the empty holes are waiting for more hardware.







then i had fun doing this by myself



if it wasnt for this truck being my tow rig when im done, i would just be building an "allpro style" bed and run it.

[DD85runner]

its lookin good i like your dash set up so far

[eightyfive_4runner]

lovin it man... gotta love the powerwagons my cuz has a 78 n it goes anywhere    keep it comin

[axled89]

looks like good work man.  and damn you got some springs on the back of that truck.

[smalltowncowboy [OP]]

cleaned the frame up some with a wire wheel





threw some black spray paint down





for now i welded the holes up that were drilled in the WARN winch bumper and threw some spray paint on it also. the jack stand is there because i need the right bolts for it, i just put a couple smaller ones in to hold it. after its all up and running i am going to build a bumper for it.



i also trimmed the fenders and found some bondo in the driver side fender. heres a comaprison from the uncut driver side to the cut passenger one, i need to clean up the cuts these are just rough cut out with the plasma.

[89DLX]

  Rad

[87hillbillyoter]

ya man this things badass love the orange and black look. any updates? its been a while lol