1986 B2000 2.5 T Diesel FOR SALE $750obo

Damn. You are making good progress!

I figured out my shifter situation. I ended up getting an automatic shifter from another Mazda and modify it to work with the B series transmission. The MB setup has the leg on the left side, the Mazda has the leg on the right side. I had to cut the leg of the Mazda shifter, move it over to the left, and extend it so that it has the same range as the MB shifter.

I still have to fine tune the final position of the shifter and adjust it so there is no slop. It got too dark for pictures, but I'll take a couple.

A bit of catchup first:

11/26/2013
Looks just like a Mazda shifter, eh?



Here is where I had to modify it. Normally it would just drop down, but as I mentioned earlier, the transmission linkage was on the other side versus a B series, so I had to do this:





And my modified MB link rod




Today:
Did some work with the oil cooler today, man this thing has been a thorn in my rear for a few days now. At first I was trying to mount it in front of the radiator, but there just wasn't enough room to clear the grille or the radiator. Next I cut a slot in front of the driverside wheel well, but the hoses were too close to the power steering pulley, so that wasn't going to work for me. A few more modifications to my already f*cked up core support, then I had a good idea. I cut up the hard oil lines, flared up the ends, slipped the hose over the ends, then used clamps. Now it sits just like it should.

At this point, I'm going to need to do a new core support, probably like mymmemoryloss did for his. For now I'm just going to leave it, get everything into position, then I'm going to take it all off and make it to acceptable dimensions.

Pics as promised:









You can see the hard oil lines above the motor mount in this picture. The rubber hose ends are joined at a point below the AC compressor.

It lives!

The settings on the video are private. We can't see it.

Try again? I just unlocked it.

I'm not going to put this in my body lift thread because this isn't a typical body lift due to my rear IRS swap. Note that at this point I'm just lining up my brackets, nothing is permanent as of yet.

1" square tubing, 1/8" thick. I plan on having 3 of these welded in a row, with the one with the holes in the center. This will give me more surface area for bed contact. For lining everything up, this works just fine.



Mocked up on the frame


My initial measurement originally had my bed one inch further from the cab, but when I realized that my rear bed mounts lined up nicely without the need for an adapter I decided to move it closer to the cab.


A bit more work for me with the rear IRS though. Worth it IMO. What I'm going to try to do next is to put a shim on the rear IRS mounts to try to change the angle a bit, this should bring the wheels up closer to the cab. For the rest of the space, I'm going to search for some aftermarket fender flares, tub my bed flares a bit, and blend them in.


On the plus side I get to use a hockey puck for the rear bed bolts. Bolts to use for the rear bed M12-1.5 thread, 2.5" length. I will need to modify the bed again, my fuel filler hose is being pinched by the rear bed rail, I need to notch it so I can put my fuel door where the license plate goes, or route it to my passenger side tail light.

instead of doing all that work to the bed. why not just put a long bed on it? or move the IRS assembly forward? If you already talked about it sorry for being a dutts.

Long bed would require me to move the IRS further back, plus the frame would need to be extended a few inches. I looked into this before.



For the standard short bed, I have yet to find one locally in good shape. Plus this one I already shaved the fuel door. This also gives me a bobbed look.

ok that makes sense. Are you going to cut the whole wheel arch out and move it? Like Powerblock did with their Ranger project a couple years ago.