Roadside Find: '68 Dodge Power Wagon

[cjforumadmin]

http://www.bangshift.com/blog/Roadside-Find-68-Dodge-Power-Wagon.html

[TheSilverBuick]

I was just talking about Power Wagons tonight at dinner with my Boss and Co-Worker. I mistakenly thought my boss owned a '68 Power Wagon, it was a '58. We were talking about how he would like to get one and put the Cummins and 5-speed from his '92 Dodge in to one of these. My Co-Worker worked at a ski-resort/logging place through college that had two Power Wagons for hauling trees, pipes, etc. I'm showing this to my Boss when I get to work tomorrow.

[BigBlockMopar]

So, what exactly are the crumple zones on this thing? :D
I don't live in the right country for a truck like that but I think I wouldn't mind roughing up some ground with it. But there really should be a bigblock Mopar under that hood though. ;)




I was just talking about Power Wagons tonight at dinner with my Boss and Co-Worker.

For a moment there I thought you were talking about the wife... ;D

[tiresmoke!]

There's a guy by the name of MacAllister that has a warehouse FULL of these damned things(1942-spec and the later Dodge truck-based "Power Wagons" through the early-mid 1960's)).......he owns a local Caterpillar dealership(several, in fact).

Some are restored, others are dripping with, as DF puts it, "patina"...others are in various forms of restoration.



Had the opportunity to see the collection a few times several years ago when I was hauling Cat-powered generators for SBC(AT&T)refits bound for Michigan......wouldn't allow cameras, sadly.

[TheSilverBuick]

So, what exactly are the crumple zones on this thing? :D


What ever it hits.

[Blazerteam]

There's a guy by the name of MacAllister that has a warehouse FULL of these damned things(1942-spec and the later Dodge truck-based "Power Wagons" through the early-mid 1960's)).......he owns a local Caterpillar dealership(several, in fact).

Some are restored, others are dripping with, as DF puts it, "patina"...others are in various forms of restoration.



Had the opportunity to see the collection a few times several years ago when I was hauling Cat-powered generators for SBC refits bound for Michigan......wouldn't allow cameras, sadly.


We need pics ;).These kind of cars are cheap over here,and can be found here and there.Would have liked some newer axles though.

[66gg1tnc]

I was just talking about Power Wagons tonight at dinner with my Boss and Co-Worker. I mistakenly thought my boss owned a '68 Power Wagon, it was a '58. We were talking about how he would like to get one and put the Cummins and 5-speed from his '92 Dodge in to one of these. My Co-Worker worked at a ski-resort/logging place through college that had two Power Wagons for hauling trees, pipes, etc. I'm showing this to my Boss when I get to work tomorrow.


The Cummins 4Bt found in most UPS or similar bread trucks fits right in....the 6BT is to long. http://www.dodgepowerwagon.com/ has a ton of info as well as http://www.vintagepowerwagons.com/ and http://www.powerwagonadvertiser.com/

I beleive the Power Wagon in the pics is an M-601. It's a Civvi PW converted for military use mostly for overseas military assistance sales.

[squirrel]

The civilian version

http://www.hotrodscustomstuff.com/Cars/PowerWagon/PowerWagon-1-01.jpg

looks downright civilized compared to the military one. When I was a kid my neighbor had a 54 civilian W300, it was a fun truck. The little plate on the dashboard lists the maximum speed in each gear, I think tops in high forward 2wd is 45, and 1st in low range reverse is like 4 mph. The 140 mph speedo is kind of odd.

btw if you want to fix a dent in the fender, a hammer ain't gonna do it...you'll need heat. He tried.

[TheSilverBuick]

I've heard you can winded them up to 55mph for a cool 8mpg.

[squirrel]

You probably could, but that lack of insulation and upholstery makes it hard on the ears....and you might shoot a rod out....

[JRoberts]

I have always thought those things were really cool. I can't wait to see what you guys do with one. How much deeper will the mud hole be after you guys put the Power Wagon through it? Looks like fun ;D!

[66gg1tnc]

Once upon a long time ago I had a '52 Dodge M-37.

http://pic70.picturetrail.com/VOL1789/7783792/19288237/309195186.jpg

Same basic drivetrain as the WDX-WM300, M-601 series Power Wagons. The 230 flathead and 5:89 gears was good for 45 mph all day up hill and down (well..sort of, keep reading!) Yeah, if you fiddled with the governer you could get 55 out of it, but at a greatly reduced engine life. Kicking the rods out was usually the result. A fairly common conversion is the Cummins 4BT with a 5 spd or a Small Block Mopar. There were bolt in conversion kits available a few years ago for the SBM and also for adding disk brakes (which I wish I had when the drum brakes on mine went whack on a steep grade, I hit 75 and was looking for a runaway truck ramp when they pumped back up and I got stopped :o )

It was very reliable, rode nice and smooth and would pull most anything out of a mud hole with the MU-2 PTO winch or a snatch strap (I tore the bumper off a new Ford one night...the idiot driver didn't want to get dirty so he looped the winch cable around the bumper ::) ) And would go most anywhere (except an interstate highway :o )

I had a lot of fun with it but family commitments intruded (no back seat and not very safe in a collision despite it's imposing looks) so I sold it about 8 years ago. Finances permitting I would have kept it. Oh well....

[66gg1tnc]

You probably could, but that lack of insulation and upholstery makes it hard on the ears....and you might shoot a rod out....



Gear whine, engine noise and wind noise aside it was pretty quiet inside. It's slow speed contributed I think. It was funny watching bugs bounce off the windsheild, vibrate around on the hood for a bit before waking up and flying off! The canvase covered seat was pretty comfortable, It was easy to get in and out of. Opening the windshield up for "flow through ventilation" was nice. Anybody sitting in the middle had to deal with the small forrest of levers sticking out of the floor (L-R PTO lever, E-brake, Gear shift, twin stick transfercase levers). Hitting something or getting hit was unthinkable....the truck would survive but the occupants would be mush...even with seat belts. There simply wasn't any "give" anywhere and with all the exposed bolt heads and a myrade of other "gotchas" in the cab it wouldn't be pretty.