Posted by RDavis on Monday, May 12, 2003 at 9:52PM :
In Reply to: What dose it cost to fix up a Power Wagon? posted by Willy-N on Monday, May 12, 2003 at 11:11AM :
I'm 46,and back in my very early 20's,I saw my first WDX-WM300 PW in south central florida. It had been modified with big wide 20" tires and was eat up with rust in the lower cab and bed but, It was a real beast looking thing as the hand painted lettering on the radiator cover just over the word DODGE said "BEAST". I knew in some part of my being that I had to have and would have ,one of these trucks someday.
Now I was never highly educated in schools but was always a quick learner and good at whatever I attempted but, had always invisioned myself as more of a handyman,jack-of-all-trade,self employed type and had enough sense at a early age to know a truck like that would be just what a working man needed to do just about anything. When I found my first PW,I was a rodman in a survey crew and did side jobs with it. I had many a fond daydream of me and my truck just traveling the country like gypsies doing odd jobs of any kind to live our free lifestyle. Little did I know that surveying work would oneday lead me to become a county employee and a engineering inspector (a glorified name for a catchall) I assure you but, I make more than I ever imagined as a handyman but, I still dream of retiring and setting out to wonder this country ,taking on odd jobs and us living like gypsies,hunting and fishing ,just me and my trusty Big Horn PW. It isn't restored but its straight. It needs paint and might get that one day. I have no desire to roll out the windshield so I'll clean it up,replace the rubber and cracked glass then crank it shut using a permanent sealer,for good.The vent will get a new seal and I'd like to convert to a one piece door window w/o the vent if I could find someone to trade
parts.A complete drivetrain rebuild is about the most I want to spend. So you see,this is why I always get flustered at all the "showroom restoring" that has helped drive up the cost and reduce the amount of NOS or good used parts to keep as many PWs running as possible. As I get older I find it less and less aggrevating of what others do concerning PWs because I have my PW and hopefully enough spare parts to last my lifetime and hopefully my sons but, sometimes the prices asked just chap my ---!