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70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 12:30 pm
by Plowking
Hey Everyone,
Picked up a '70 reg cab shorty a year ago and tucked it away in the barn. Had 11 inches of lift on it and sat way nose high. 440 automatic equipped. Data plate says 318 4 speed D200. I planned the build pretty well with a good friend. We were going to make a long bed out of it and reframe it on a '72-80 long bed frame. So, work started... (I will post pics assuming I can figure out how :-) Using the later frame would allow for better steering geometry, easier parts availability. As we tore into things, we found A LOT of rust. Drivers floor totally womped, passenger side floor killed back to the front of the seat. Cowl by the fender killed, fixed once already, but obviously not so well... Rockers, made of bondo. What an amazing job. Even made the three ribs out of bondo. I give the guy credit. Spent a lot of time making it look good. Cab Mounts gone, etc. I stumbled onto Kenny Exline. I picked up ALL the panels from him. His work is AMAZING!. I also located a long bed in Virginia. Although pretty rust free, just ABUSED! Probably 50 holes drilled in it. Tailgate ROUGH. Found a CHERRY one In California. So, we got the cab off the original frame and mocked up on the new frame. Which was totally stripped down to two rails and crossmembers. Wire wheeled, bolted back together with all grade 8 fasteners and squared to within 1/16". Painted Gloss black. Mounted the rears to make it a roller. Measured wheel opening centerline and we are mounting the cab on the frame to center the front tire. Just need to make a front cab mount for the frame next. Then its cab sheet metal time. :-( not gonna be fun, but it has to be done.

I have another friend working on the bed at this point while we are doing the cab. The holes are slowly getting welded up and Kenny Exline to the rescue again. He made me two lower rear end caps for under the back up lights. He also made two lower bed pieces from the wheel lip back to the end cap as mine were rusted and just destroyed from mishandling prior to my ownership. Again, the stuff is AWESOME! Sorry for the long post, just have not seen really anything on reframing to the later frame and thought someone might be interested. Pics to come when I get a little more time!
Jamie

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 4:39 am
by 68dually
Definitely interested in seeing your build. I live in central Pa so I'm not too far away from you. Keep us posted with pics.

Randy

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 6:53 am
by crusty
I would like to see it as well. As far as posting pictures, I just upload them from my computer. The biggest issue is that they have to be small.

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 7:28 am
by Plowking
Well,
Here's what we started with. WAY too much lift, horrible steering geometry, bad bodywork... Still working on more photos. It is quite time consuming to shrink them. I am doing that now. I need to shrink them twice though.
Jamie

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 10:34 am
by Hobcobble
Do I see a Belvedere in that pic??
John :thinking

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 11:49 am
by Plowking
John,
IMPRESSIVE!!!! Especially since there is about 3 inches showing... The cars are in the background of some of the other pictures to follow. The white one is an all original '65 Satellite that my Dad bought new. 426 Wedge 4 speed. Only has 19,000 original miles on it. The car is awesome. Without question, the last of the fleet to ever go anywhere should the need arise.
Jamie

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 12:31 pm
by surfnuke9
The black one a Cuda?

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 12:33 pm
by Plowking
That is my '72 Cuda. My first car. Very fortunate to still have it!

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 8:21 am
by Plowking
Another shot showing the BAD lift job

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 8:26 am
by Plowking
Front Shot:

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 8:33 am
by Plowking
Frame Rails. Frame is a 1980 Frame From a Long Bed Regular Cab. It was stripped down completely and cleaned with Wire cup brushes.

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 8:35 am
by Plowking
Shot of all the crossmembers painted and ready for building the frame back up.

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 8:42 am
by Plowking
Frame getting reassembled and squared up. Added a cut down main leaf to the front Spring Pack. Front Springs are are off the 1984 3/4 ton that we got the differentials from. Rear Springs are off a 1980 9500 LB GVW Dodge 350 Dump truck with a helper leaf.

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 8:56 am
by Plowking
Finally a Roller! Rears are Dana 44 Front with lockout hubs and Dana 60 Powerlock back. 3.54 gears. Both are out a 1984 3/4 ton Junkyard truck. We went over them. Both in surprisingly great shape.

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:05 am
by Plowking
Another shot of the frame from the back

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:12 am
by Plowking
rolling it over to get the cab put on.

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:20 am
by Plowking
Some of the crew getting things in order...

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:25 am
by Plowking
Cab coming off the original frame

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:29 am
by Plowking
another shot

Re: 70 Power Wagon Build

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:32 am
by Plowking
Cab is totally off and ready for the new frame for mock up for all the mounts etc.