Longwinded 58WM300 questions


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Posted by Damon G on May 14, 1998 at 12:07:17:

I've been searching for a PW for a while- and thought
that I found a '64 WM300. Turns out that it was simply
missing the cowl lights and the S/N starts L6WM30 so
that makes it a '58, right ? The door hung a little
crooked and it rubbed off the trailing section of the
VIN so I can't be more descriptive.

It was a work truck used by a welding company.
As such the bed has been modified with a neat-o
cutout to mount two gas tanks. The bed's floor is
diamond plate with a slight coat of rust. There
is no tailgate. The rear "bumper" is set up to take
a pintle type hitch. Rear fenders in good shape
for their age, no real damage- maybe a few small
dents. Running boards are solid with some rust
on the underside. Up front, there's a custom
bumper and what I believe is the original PTO
winch. I didn't get a number off the winch but it
does not seem to have any external controls ??
It's about half full of cable.

There's a "gin pole" up front. Like I said this
was a welding shop truck and the pole is very solid.
There is diamond plate elevated above the roof of the
cab and there's a hand winch that controls the angle
of the gin pole. It looks very sturdy, and is also
the mount for a spare tire (no spare with vehicle)

I asked about the gin poles before and got a response
that it's a quick way to kill the front springs.
I looked underneath and I think I counted 14 leaves.
Is that possible ? The owner said that the pole
was good for ~400# driving, on a straight yank it
could raise about 1000#. I can see it now- pulling
the engine out of my Jeep and just dangling it
off the pole as I drove it down to the machine shop!!

The VIN showed a 9500# GVW, so I'm assuming that it's
got 5.83 cogs in the round differentials. The pumpkins
seem to be removable out the pinion side, like a ford
9", not like a Dana. Also it's on nondirectional
9x16 tires. With snow chains !!. The rims have bolts
(10?) that go around the outer circumference. What's
up with those ?

Front fenders are solid, maybe a little bent, but
strong. Rot through one at the bottom, maybe a 2"
by 6" area.

The only annoying dent is dead center above the
grille, right where it says "Dodge". I guess the
truck didn't dodge fast enough! It's about softball
sized, like someone tried driving with a load hanging
low off the gin pole. Is this sheetmetal available?
Or am I gonna have to pull and bondo it ?

The doors are fair. There's a repacement door on
the driver side with some bondo at the bottom.
(Black door on a brown truck.)

Both doors have the "quarterwindows" and their
large "up&down" panes are broken. How available
is glass ? Could I just get some flat glass cut ?

Speaking of glass, how do you crank open the
windshield ? It's obvious that the little chromed
handle does something - but I didn't want to force
it. Is there another latch or release, or is it
just tight from not being used ?

In the cab, things go downhill. The seat is in
pretty bad shape - like there's only fabric on
the passenger side. Anyone need some OEM seat hair??
Are replacements available? I wonder what reupholstery
would cost.

The OEM gauges are gone. There's been an attempt
to put in a little plywood panel with a couple of
cheapy gauges, oil pressure, water temp and amps.
That panel was dangling out of the dash so...

Steering wheel was cracked in a couple spots,
nothing that looks like it would come off when
driving but... Someone painted "horn" under a
button on the left of the dash, and also painted
out what I think was one of the shift patterns
on the other side. I didn't look at it, I was
confused by the 5(!) levers. No heater on the
interior. It looks like one of the floor panels
was unbolted. Did Dodge assemble these with bolts,
or was this some repair attempt ?
Also there was no heater in it, but there was an
underdash blower in the PW that he had parked next
to it. (Didn't get the year, it had late bed and
cowl lights, bluish-green in color.)

The license plates on it expired in 87. The
owner says it hasn't been run in ~5 years.
His words were "It runs. Um, It could be made
to run." I didn't expect it to run anyway but
I had figured it was there for 15+ years.

Staring it up again should be reasonable.
It's got an oil filter and nothing is visibly
missing from under the hood, except a battery.
It's got a generator, I've never had to deal
with one of those before.

Is it possible to bolt up an alternator ?
I wouldn't mind having an electric heater.

Does anyone make a locker (E-Z or lock-rite)
for the stock axles ?

The small shifter on the left of the tranny,
I'm assuming that is the PTO. It's got a
nifty little homebrew lockout to keep it
from getting bumped into gear. (The winch
cable is snapped, so it looks like someone
learned the hard way!) It's got a two stick
t-case and I believe it's the NP420 gearbox.

Could someone describe these shift patterns?
One stick I could handle but with 3 + PTO it
may get ugly !!

I'd love this truck - it needs some work to
get to be able to take it out for a spin,
mostly interior/cosmetic, plus blasting out
some of the surface rust. But all things
have their price and the owner wants $2500
for this piece. (no spare tire, either)

I will go back and check out the frame and
be sure that it is solid, but from what I
have seen it should be in decent shape.

I'm not too sure about the price though.
$2500 , sitting for 10 years, solid chassis,
cosmetically challenged. It's been there
for 10 years so he's in no hurry to sell it.
He said the brakes are shot (big surprise).
He's got 3 PWs. One that he drives occasionally
(15'?) gin pole, orange; and a blue-green one
in pretty rough shape- neither of those are
for sale. He's also got a W500 too.

I should go back and check the spark plugs
and be sure that the block turns freely.

Should I take any precautions before I have it
flatbed-towed home? (knowing the shift patterns
would be key!!)

Anyway, I think I've thrown out enough
questions for the day. Any advice is appreciated
and I've already been bit by the PW bug.

The big Q : What should I offer / pay for
a 58 PW in this shape ? I didn't really
want a show truck or one in factory condition.
Something that someone else has modified will
save me the decisions. It would work out fine,
but take me at least the summer to blow off all
of the surface rustpatches and get it roadworthy.
I hope changing out the window glass is a no-brainer.

Thanks much, I've babbled enough, I think!!

-Damon __Oo[+++++++]oO__


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