Posted by Tom in Indiana [108.162.219.175] on Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 02:38:39 :
... just fell off the face of the planet for most of the past year. I'll try to make a long story bearable.
On my 39th birthday, I told my wife that on my 40th, I was hanging up wrenching for good. I extended it for a year when I found my '53 last January. I fully intend on this being my last "hurrah" for projects. As of January 1, 2018, I plan on being as done as I can be, only doing routine maintenance and the occasional engine build... maybe. I've been doing projects, day in and day out, for 25 years now. I'm just completely burned-out, and have made up my mind to get as much as I can done this year. So, that being said-
I still have my '50 (it's in the registry), and the '53 (which I seem to have forgotten to register), along with the '69 Beetle that has sat on the lift in my garage for seven years, half-restored with over $10k in parts for it still sitting in boxes. The first car I ever bought, a '72 Dodge Dart, has now sat in the driveway for 20 years, basically just a shell. I hope someday my son will want to take that project on, but I just hope to find a parts '72 to strip and at least make it movable under its own power and have the glass put back in it. It's simply too much for me to even attempt to start on, even though it is pretty solid still. The VW just needs prep and paint- no biggie. If it's still sitting next year, it'll be done whenever my son decides to finish it, or someone buys it as it sits. Anyway, on to the Power Wagons.
The '50 is pretty solid, and the only real negative is that the bed had been shortened by a few inches before I got it. I had it apart was beginning to start the restoration when my wife got hurt at work three years ago; my sidekick was out of action, so I concentrated on getting all of the swap parts together to do the 360/NP435/Helitool Disc/Hydroboost/Power Steering stuff. Accomplishing all of that, I did odd-and-end mechanical jobs to pass the time until she had surgery... and she still hasn't had it. So, I am going to put the truck back together, cracked glass and all, and then decide whether to keep the flathead in it (and stock brake system), or sell it, or do a Helitool disc swap, or whatever.
The '53 is nicer, but has the wrong bed (a 2wd bed, which actually looks the part). It has hydroboost disc brakes and power steering now (thanks, Greg Coffin!), and is running on the borrowed '50 wheels and 39.5" TruXus tires. With the 5.83 gears, it still screams at 50 miles an hour, and I cannot STAND the way it drives with the huge tires at that speed. Something has to give, and I cannot make up my mind of which way to go with either truck- time is running out, and I want to figure out what I'm going to do before my personally-imposed deadline. Here's my question to you all:
I'm doing the 360 swap to one of these trucks, and keeping either just one, or both. I drive four miles to work each way, every day (currently done in a '92 short bed D150), and basically never drive out of town in anything other than my wife's car. I can't see spending $5000 on a pair of Helitool disc/ARB locker/4.89 gear axles for either truck to make it winter-proof. For less than a quarter of that, I can get the Dana 60 front/rear swap done (I actually sold the set of axles to do it last year... stupid decision), and have a good set of nicer wheels and tires suitable to daily-ish driving. The purist in me simply has to take a backseat to the practical now, so originality is out of the question on at least one truck. SHOULD I:
Do the 360/Dana swap in the '53, put the '50 back together and sell it, spiffy-up the '53 and be done with it, do the Dana swap in the '50 and make it a V8 truck that isn't as nice, keep the '50 as a stock wood-hauler, or just give up and sell both trucks? I am tired of working my posterior off for years, and never having that one nice ride- I've sunk so much (well over $30,000) in three vehicles of which only one will run, and it won't make it out of town, really. I don't have endless funds like some who can just pay someone to do their work, so I am trying to pull everything together based on what I already have, plus another $5,000-10,000 (TOPS) and finally be finished.
I just hope you guys can give me some opinions of what to think, and maybe it'll help me get things going in at least a half-right direction. I'm just totally spent (physically, mentally, and monetarily). After all, the best part of owning a Power Wagon is enjoying it... and it's not been enjoyable for a while. Thanks.
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