Project Undone

Well I'm fairly new on here, but figured i'd start a build thread. I got a 86 mazda b2200 on trade a while back that was just a simple bag job on eskies. Started going through the truck to find that the cab had literally been unbodydropped. At some point it was traditional'd and they went all the back around and rewelded everything back up to make it just lay frame. So me & my bud decided since this was just an extra vehicle to soon become a daily. Let's undo the undone, and body it again.

This thread will probably be pic heavy, as I love photography and I will probably ask a lot of quesitons! Hope everyone enjoys

when I first got her home

got it in the shop & started the tear down












then we got started on the cab













1st measurement, goin a little lower


rockers cut & plated laying flat on the ground now, trans hump raised, firewall, and steps welded & sealed. cab undercoated

then cut out the stock bedfloor to get an idea of clearance and bed mount issues, oh yeah BMT lol





ended up having to cut into the tubs that were already in the bed to allow notch clearance.



gonna end up having to widen the bed a bit too. searched on the forum and found a method using a scissor jack gonna try that, open to other ways too.

front is also gonna be tough, this truck has a hellacious bd going so far into the rockers and cutting over what they had already re-welded


ended up making a junkyard run and while there scored a b2600i hood for $37!!!


after a little clearance mockup, and putting frame horns back down got front lined up


damn carb hit with no air filter even on it!


cut out a good bit of bracing and got clearance for carb, top of engine, and fan blades




still haven't figured out what kinda air filter to put on this weber that'll fit under the hood....but oh well.

new problem, will be "notching" a curve in the front frame for lower radiator hose


and that's it for now, back at it tomorrow hopefully

Another little update, got the back wall 100% DONE today. Buddy got it all welded up that curve is annoying as hell but it looks good! Gonna throw some undercoat on it today after class.


Also, front end mocked up..frame horns tacked..then welded in
Notches for radiator lower hose as well as damn drain plug. Gussets to be added for reinforcement after class too




So now the only things left
-make bed mounts
-relocate clutch cylinder into cab (really dreading this)
-REASSEMBLE!!

i tried searching, but not sure what exactly to search....

but for you guys laying body..(this most likely only applies to those who drag)
what did you do with the bolts at the bottom of the front fenders?
sure i can run it back in there..but as the truck drags, it's just gonna drag right thru there. thinking we'll have to fab up a mounting tab to run back upwards on the inside..

any chime in on..anything..would be helpful. this forum seems pretty dead compared to some others i'm on, but it's all good!

Cool build so far. Sorry I dont have any reccomendations for ya about the fender bolts since we're not there yet on my brothers truck, but we will be before you know it.
Also I know it's your truck but please dont tear it up by dragging!

I am going to weld on a piece to be able to bolt the bottom of the fender up in towards the firewall/wheeltubs.

Truck looks nice!

lowlyfe, thanks man. It's been fun so far, problems here n there but it's goin good!
and I have no intention of destroying it as much time/work we've put into it.

My buddy working with me has a baremetal bodied s15. we're jus gonna do a lil dragging. quality build so it'll hold. he's doing all the welding on it, not me.. then we'd have a problem lol


mymmeryloss, that's what we plan to do too. thanks for the compliment. more updates tomorrow hopefully

That S15 looks badass bare metal like that. Ive always wanted to do that to mine but worried about rust catching up with me.
How is it holding up and does he do anything to prevent it?

yeah, it's sick as hell. he's done a lot to it.
well it depends.. rust is starting to catch up to his, but that's cuz he only put one coat of clear on it then had to get it to a show. with multiple coats of clear you can protect it easily. it's badass tho

well, got more updates before class today!

got the rest of the cab & welds all undercoated



^that looks spotty, but it's undercoated from horn to horn haha

that means this weekend, work on the clutch cylinder relocation and make some bed mounts and it's just small stuff after that.


wheels back on, plenty of room for more inches!


then bolted core support, fenders, and hood back on


thought i had a problem here with front being misaligned...but it's just the passenger fender sagging out cuz it's not all bolted in place. gonna have to do a little shimmying to line it up tho



damn near perfect


how i left it for the day.

and another pic i shot of my buddy's truck haha