White 1993 B2200 extended cab, first vehicle!

Found a local sale (Prince George, BC) of a 5 speed B2200 extended cab with only 155k (!!!) km on it, and it's lookin' like I'll be picking it up as my first vehicle! It's white with the blue and turquoise decals. Bit of body rust, but that's to be expected for a car that's over two decades old. It ran smoothly when my friend drove it with me in it yesterday evening (insurance was for people with a license for 10+ years), it shifted fine, no weird noises from the engine aside from a fan making a little tinny noise upon start up which in all fairness is to be expected when it's -20 C out =)

Just a question in case anyone reads this sooner rather than later, I'll be dropping it off at the mechanic's tomorrow morning for a safety check and I figured I'd pay the extra $100 for a compression test just for peace of mind even though it sounded like it was humming along nicely. I also read about a leak down test, but it seems like that might be a bit more meticulously diagnostic. If I'm already spending the money perhaps it'd be worth it? There shouldn't be anything wrong with the compression, but I'd be interested to hear what you guys might have to suggest!

Suffice to say if it checks out okay and there isn't anything catastrophically wrong with it I'll be driving it by next week! I'll get some photos up later, I don't wanna jinx it for now.

Stoked!

Edit: where I am.

Compression test never hurts, but as these get more mileage on them the compression can still be like 165 psi in each cylinder and still burn oil from bad oil control rings. But I used my 35 year old American calcualtor and figure you have under 95K miles on it, so you should be good to go. Plus, being in Canada, likely yours is fuel-injected B2200, you lucky dawg !!!

I could drive practically any truck out there and brand new, but I still drive my 1988 B2200 Cab Plus every day. We call them "Cab Plus" here, not extended cab, extra cab, or king cab here, those are other brands' names.

Another great site with good technical data in MazdaTrucking.com - many visit both sites.

Yeah I've decided I'm gonna do it, might as well make sure it's gravy!

Also I gotta plead uneducated here... how would I be able to tell? I've seen this mentioned in another person's thread. Time to hit the Google Machine, I think.

I'll take a looksee at the other site! Been super cool looking at engine swap options for down the road =)

If this is your first car, get the engine swap idea out of your head.
There's nothing wrong with dreams, but you don't want to tear into your daily driver. Projects like this take a lot of time, and sometimes, a lot more money. Budget for both when you have another driver.

Yeah, it's definitely not something I'd consider at this point, not just for the points you'd mentioned but also because I need more technical know how. Amusingly, "down the road" included the "when I have other wheels" caveat. Suffice to say, thanks for the wise words =)

Shazam, here it is parked out front my place =)

Whoa! Hard to imagine there are any of these up north! Thought they'd all be rusted to nothing by now, I'm in Vancouver and they are a little hard to find in good shape!

Let me know if you need anything, I am up there fairly often so I can bring stuff if you need it.

BTW - those graphics are worth $1200.

Yeah I lucked out super hard! Super low mileage, taken good care of. Pretty stoked on it =)

I'm interested in a canopy, and maybe some new bumpers... chrome would look kinda sick I think haha. There's a guy in Vancouver stripping a B2200 that has bumpers, a canopy, and some wheels I wouldn't mind scoring too but he's not replied for a few days.

Welcome ctrlatlesc,

There is plenty to do to that truck without swapping an engine and other major projects. Being your first driver just enjoy it - the freedom your first car gives you is pretty special. Just be safe and pay attention on the roads as a new driver. You don't want to bend that truck around pole before you fix it up!

Search this website and MazdaTrucking.com for maintenance and project ideas and how-tos. There is a ton of information on sights like these and even more guys willing to help.

If it were me I'd make all the "leaks" go away then drive her until she gives you a reason to fix something.

One thing to remember, DON'T ever heat that engine. The head will be damaged and cause you to make major repairs.

Good luck and post pictures of all your B projects.