The little D50 (known as the PW50, aka Power Wagon 50) is going back on the road again, it'll be serving as my primary 4x4 this winter.
A little background on the truck
1969 "Formula S" 273 Small Block, "587" 360 heads with 1.88 valves, 340 Intake, 850cfm Thermoquad Carb, .500 Mechanical Lift Cam, 10.5:1 Compression, 2.25" Dual Exhaust with 360 Truck Manifolds & Glasspacks.
1971/1984 Hybrid TF904/MA904 Transmission with a Slant 6 Torque Converter (Higher Stall), 4 & 5 Pinion Planetaries, Forward Pattern Manual Shift Valve Body, B&M Ratchet Shifter.
KM100 / NP203 Transfer Case Doubler, yes the truck has Fulltime 4WD. 4.10 Gears, Limited Slip Rear, with 33" Tires.
Other stuff : 2" Body Lift, 4" Suspension Lift, Solid Motor Mounts, Square Tube Bumpers, 10k Winch, Dual 850CCA/1000CA Batteries, Removable Snow Plow Frame, Receiver Hitch, Dumping Bed (stock bed shell mounted to a hinged dumpbed subframe, bed floor is 3/16" steel)
Blah blah blah It had originally been built to be a work truck and was then modified to run on 40" Tires. The poor truck has had half a million engines in it, Everything from 4-Bangers to Diesels & big blocks. Don't ask
This is what the fugly critter looks like. It's not a pretty truck, but it'll serve well as a 4x4 this winter.
At this point I only have a few things to do to drive it with the 33" Tires :
Install the Tail Pipes (the exhaust is ran back past the axle, just need to install the tail pipes)
Swap the 40" Tires for the 33" Tires
Connect the Choke Cable or install a new Thermostatic Choke on the manifold
Swap the Mechanical Fan for a pair of Electric Fans.
Lengthen & Install the Front Driveshaft
The truck is already wired for electric fans (From a previous engine setup I had in the truck), and I have the fans on the shelf. The 33's are laying in the bed of the truck (still mounted to the wheels) and the choke cable is already in the truck (from a previous engine setup). And the tail pipes are laying in the trunk of my '71 Demon.
As much as I'd love to run it with the 40" Tires, that is going to be a future project. To run the 40's legally I need to extensively modify the front fenders to cover the tires out to the sidewalls (max of a 3" Flare allowed, still need another 2" to be legal) as well as some other modifications to the rest of the truck.
At the moment this project thread is just about getting the truck ready to be my Winter 4x4. Once I'm driving it I'll work at modifying a spare set of fenders for the 40" Tires and other stuff as well. I'll eventually be converting the truck over to a 5-Speed and swapping the axles out too. Also a Rollcage & Rollbar are in the plan too, along with a Removable Spare Tire Carrier (mounted in the bed) with a Hi-Lift mount.
Expect more pics and details on the stuff I'll be doing to the truck. The pics shown (Except the engine) are fairly old, a lot has been done to the truck since those pics were taken.
People used to rag on me all the time for driving this truck (back when it was mostly stock) because it was a D50. Now people actually comment on how long its been since they've seen another D50 and they act like I've got a truck made of pure unobtanium Well, they are kinda right... When's the last time anyone saw a D50 up here in the Rust Belt?
EDIT :
Tires are swapped, but... I got a lovely surprise when I swapped the front tires. "Hmm the engine block looks wet." Yep, leaking freeze plug. Fortunately it isn't too bad to replace the freeze plugs in this truck. Everything else is a royal PITA, but the plugs can easily be reached through the wheelwells.
A little background on the truck
1969 "Formula S" 273 Small Block, "587" 360 heads with 1.88 valves, 340 Intake, 850cfm Thermoquad Carb, .500 Mechanical Lift Cam, 10.5:1 Compression, 2.25" Dual Exhaust with 360 Truck Manifolds & Glasspacks.
1971/1984 Hybrid TF904/MA904 Transmission with a Slant 6 Torque Converter (Higher Stall), 4 & 5 Pinion Planetaries, Forward Pattern Manual Shift Valve Body, B&M Ratchet Shifter.
KM100 / NP203 Transfer Case Doubler, yes the truck has Fulltime 4WD. 4.10 Gears, Limited Slip Rear, with 33" Tires.
Other stuff : 2" Body Lift, 4" Suspension Lift, Solid Motor Mounts, Square Tube Bumpers, 10k Winch, Dual 850CCA/1000CA Batteries, Removable Snow Plow Frame, Receiver Hitch, Dumping Bed (stock bed shell mounted to a hinged dumpbed subframe, bed floor is 3/16" steel)
Blah blah blah It had originally been built to be a work truck and was then modified to run on 40" Tires. The poor truck has had half a million engines in it, Everything from 4-Bangers to Diesels & big blocks. Don't ask
This is what the fugly critter looks like. It's not a pretty truck, but it'll serve well as a 4x4 this winter.
At this point I only have a few things to do to drive it with the 33" Tires :
Install the Tail Pipes (the exhaust is ran back past the axle, just need to install the tail pipes)
Swap the 40" Tires for the 33" Tires
Connect the Choke Cable or install a new Thermostatic Choke on the manifold
Swap the Mechanical Fan for a pair of Electric Fans.
Lengthen & Install the Front Driveshaft
The truck is already wired for electric fans (From a previous engine setup I had in the truck), and I have the fans on the shelf. The 33's are laying in the bed of the truck (still mounted to the wheels) and the choke cable is already in the truck (from a previous engine setup). And the tail pipes are laying in the trunk of my '71 Demon.
As much as I'd love to run it with the 40" Tires, that is going to be a future project. To run the 40's legally I need to extensively modify the front fenders to cover the tires out to the sidewalls (max of a 3" Flare allowed, still need another 2" to be legal) as well as some other modifications to the rest of the truck.
At the moment this project thread is just about getting the truck ready to be my Winter 4x4. Once I'm driving it I'll work at modifying a spare set of fenders for the 40" Tires and other stuff as well. I'll eventually be converting the truck over to a 5-Speed and swapping the axles out too. Also a Rollcage & Rollbar are in the plan too, along with a Removable Spare Tire Carrier (mounted in the bed) with a Hi-Lift mount.
Expect more pics and details on the stuff I'll be doing to the truck. The pics shown (Except the engine) are fairly old, a lot has been done to the truck since those pics were taken.
People used to rag on me all the time for driving this truck (back when it was mostly stock) because it was a D50. Now people actually comment on how long its been since they've seen another D50 and they act like I've got a truck made of pure unobtanium Well, they are kinda right... When's the last time anyone saw a D50 up here in the Rust Belt?
EDIT :
Tires are swapped, but... I got a lovely surprise when I swapped the front tires. "Hmm the engine block looks wet." Yep, leaking freeze plug. Fortunately it isn't too bad to replace the freeze plugs in this truck. Everything else is a royal PITA, but the plugs can easily be reached through the wheelwells.