My long term Military Dodge Truck build up

[Kevin in Ohio]

I started this project 13 years ago and figure I have close to 3000 hours in it. It a 1941 Dodge WC40 1/2 ton military 4x4. They made 275 of this model and it's the grandpa of the Power Wagons. I made a lot of the parts and most everything was smoothed, painted and bolted back together with polished stainless fasteners. Little by little it finally came together and did most everything here at home, including the paint. Even made that grill which is 1/4 X 2 inch stainless stock and cold bent.

You can see the build up pics and how stuff was done at : Albums By kevininohio - ImageEvent

Some people play video games, I like to make stuff when I'm not sawing for the boiler.

 

[andydodgegeek]

very nice truck

Nice truck. looks like you spent a few hours and a few dollars on it. I have several old dodges myself and enjoy playing with them, kind of like a kid. I have 1947 wh47 2ton, 1977powerwagon 1 ton 4x4, 1981 Ramcharger, (2) 1989 w250 4x4, and a 1991w250 cummins 4x4. Always looking for another. Any way just wanted to comment on your sweet ride (too bad about the chevy motor)

 

[promac850]

:jawdrop: Damn, that's a nice truck...

I've always loved the old military trucks... doesn't matter who made them... Kaiser-Jeep, Dodge, GMC, or otherwise... they all are cool trucks.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Nice truck. looks like you spent a few hours and a few dollars on it. I have several old dodges myself and enjoy playing with them, kind of like a kid. I have 1947 wh47 2ton, 1977powerwagon 1 ton 4x4, 1981 Ramcharger, (2) 1989 w250 4x4, and a 1991w250 cummins 4x4. Always looking for another. Any way just wanted to comment on your sweet ride (too bad about the chevy motor)

Thanks for kind words. I wanted all Dodge but none of the frames I looked at matched up as nice as the 1 ton Chevy. I'll redeem myself with you as I have another military half ton exactly like this one that will be basically stock. After that I'm redoing the '61WM300 Power Wagon stock as well, although I have been kicking around the thought of a swivel frame. Too many ideas, not enough time!

 

[72thing]

Cool! I don't mind the Chevy motor at all...Ramjet 350? And the 60 and 14 bolt look nice underneath it. What size Boggers?

Will

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Cool! I don't mind the Chevy motor at all...Ramjet 350? And the 60 and 14 bolt look nice underneath it. What size Boggers?

Will

Yes, It's a RamJet 350 with stainless headers. TH400 behind it. The donor Chevy came with 4:56 gears but the rear 14 bolt was bent so I had to get another. I rebuilt it and put a Detroit locker since it was all down. Had to get the step up center section as it had a 4:11. Reindexed the spring perches and got a CV driveshaft with 1350's on everything. Boggers are 39's, 15 wide on 16 1/2 Eaton Rims.

 

[TimberMcPherson]

Thats VERY VERY cool. Nice work. If I had the space I would like to get a ww2 chev quad.

 

[DroppedP51]

neat truck

Ive got an old fargo

View attachment 197304

 

[72thing]

Yes, It's a RamJet 350 with stainless headers. TH400 behind it. The donor Chevy came with 4:56 gears but the rear 14 bolt was bent so I had to get another. I rebuilt it and put a Detroit locker since it was all down. Had to get the step up center section as it had a 4:11. Reindexed the spring perches and got a CV driveshaft with 1350's on everything. Boggers are 39's, 15 wide on 16 1/2 Eaton Rims.

Very nice work! I dig the stainless headers and gloss black everything else. Don't you love how easy it is putting a Detroit in a 14 bolt? Its nice how they drop right in. I admire your attention to detail.

Edit: You running a 205 t-case?
Will

 

[Metals406]

That truck is too nice to drive now. I'd be afraid to scratch it or get a spec of mud on it. :jawdrop:

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Very nice work! I dig the stainless headers and gloss black everything else. Don't you love how easy it is putting a Detroit in a 14 bolt? Its nice how they drop right in. I admire your attention to detail.

Edit: You running a 205 t-case?
Will

Yea, the Detroit was almost too simple. As you know the 10 1/2 14 bolts are probably the easiest axles to rebuild. I put rear discs on as well which is a bolt on thing too. With the hydroboost it stops on a dime which is what I wanted.

I'm running a 203 which was original to the donor truck. I rebuilt it with new bearings and seals. The chain was fine and not stretched as that truck had 50,000 miles on it. LOTS of loose bearings in those for sure!

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

That truck is too nice to drive now. I'd be afraid to scratch it or get a spec of mud on it. :jawdrop:

I have about 1000 miles on it now since this Spring. I lined the under sides of the fenders with 3/16 black poly and it's really nice. I was worried about throwing rocks but I've found that since these tires have such huge open lugs they pick up hardly anything compared to my daily driver. I didn't build this one for a mudder anyway. No way I'd go to this extent for that, I just wanted to do a nice modified.

This is the second complete vehicle I've ever painted and first dealing with base/clear. First time I've ever cut and buffed too so I was a learning experience for me. I guess I've done okay as people want me to paint for them now. There was a LOT of metal bumping and blocking to get this thing straight. It shows once the color is on and makes a BIG difference in the finished product.

 

[046]

NICE JOB!!!!

a perfect motor would have been a 6BT or 4BT Cummins.
then you'd get 20+ mpg instead of 12 mpg range with same or more power.

 

[Metals406]

Kevin, that thing is a show truck from what I see.

You've put more time and energy (lets not forget money too) in that thing than I can imagine!

Being the poor sod I am, all my rigs look like a turd with wheels slapped on the side, because I use them for work, and they're gonna get some abuse.

That truck of yours sure is sexy though, I love old iron!

 

[Blazin]

That is a STELLAR job you did on that ole girl brother! I've been in the business for over 30 years and know exacly the time you have in that resto, hats off to you!

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

NICE JOB!!!!

a perfect motor would have been a 6BT or 4BT Cummins.
then you'd get 20+ mpg instead of 12 mpg range with same or more power.

Honestly MPG wasn't a big consideration

A stock 4BT is 150 HP and 285 ft lbs of torque and weighs around 800 lbs

A stock 6bt is (first gen) is 160hp and 400 ft lbs of torque
(later gen) is 305 hp and 555 ft lbs of torque BUT weighs around 1200 lbs

a stock RamJet is 350 hp and 400 ft lbs of torque and shipping weight was 450 lbs.

The 6BT's have turbos on them so if you throw a turbo on the V8 it;s numbers would be higher yet. It was the extra weight that killed that option for me. That's the same reason Dodge won't put them in the current Power Wagon.

The original motor in this truck had something like 70 Hp from the flat head 6. They relied on the gearing for it to seem like it could pull anything. Most guys in the power wagon commiunity go with the 4bts because of the length. I've seen 2 with 6bts but a LOT of fab work was done for fitment.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Kevin, that thing is a show truck from what I see.

You've put more time and energy (lets not forget money too) in that thing than I can imagine!

Being the poor sod I am, all my rigs look like a turd with wheels slapped on the side, because I use them for work, and they're gonna get some abuse.

That truck of yours sure is sexy though, I love old iron!

We have wood trucks too

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

That is a STELLAR job you did on that ole girl brother! I've been in the business for over 30 years and know exacly the time you have in that resto, hats off to you!

Thanks, most people look at it and say, man he chromed that too. Truth is most all the brightwork i made out of stainless steel. that took a lot of time and tinkering but that's the part I enjoy the most. Getting all the pieces of the puzzle done. Driving is pretty fun too though

 

[Blazin]

The trim work always takes the majority time. lol! what did you use for the BC/CC?

 

[046]

your truck looks almost too nice to be a daily driver
extra fuel mpg is always nice

bombing Cummins for HP is not a big deal.
Cummins made 4BT variants that were rated at 250 HP intermittent (1 hour) from the factory
A marine 4BTA-250 makes 490 ft lbs at peak torque, 3000 rpm for 250hp

don't know what weight original flat 6 was, but guessing it was closer to 6BT.
certainly more fab work than a Chevy V-8 ...

again... NICE JOB!

Honestly MPG wasn't a big consideration

A stock 4BT is 150 HP and 285 ft lbs of torque and weighs around 800 lbs

A stock 6bt is (first gen) is 160hp and 400 ft lbs of torque
(later gen) is 305 hp and 555 ft lbs of torque BUT weighs around 1200 lbs

a stock RamJet is 350 hp and 400 ft lbs of torque and shipping weight was 450 lbs.

The 6BT's have turbos on them so if you throw a turbo on the V8 it;s numbers would be higher yet. It was the extra weight that killed that option for me. That's the same reason Dodge won't put them in the current Power Wagon.

The original motor in this truck had something like 70 Hp from the flat head 6. They relied on the gearing for it to seem like it could pull anything. Most guys in the power wagon commiunity go with the 4bts because of the length. I've seen 2 with 6bts but a LOT of fab work was done for fitment.