1985 UK RHD V8 b2000 single cab

So as you may have guessed from the title this is the start of the rebuild of my 85 b2000 with already fitted juice and 3.9 v8.

The plan -
2.5" Body drop
3 or 4 or 5 bar link
Fresh paint
Fresh interior
Ranger headlights etc etc etc

There are a few issues I have already come a across, the main one being I'm a few hundred miles away in the UK and that stretch of water between us means most things will have to be fabbed up by myself or modified to work without the feasable use of ready made parts (financially restrictive).

There aren't any other bodied mazdas on the scene over here at the moment so I'm limited to using pictures and write ups on here as a bible.

I have worked out that keeping my heater (an absolute must over here in cold damp blighty) may work out to be a real pain in the ass because of my v8's large gearbox being in the way.

I guess the "issue" list could go on and on but I'm going to simply get stuck in and cross each bridge as I come to it.

Here's how it was a while ago on full drop



Here's how it looks in my workshop today

















As you can see there's a slight rust issue, some shocking previous frame work and nasty wiring to go with it.

The aim is to get this done before aug 2014 so I can be taken to my own wedding in it...... Oops!

I will be updating this as often as humanly possible and asking for advice if I get properly stuck!.
Thanks for looking and thanks in advance for any help you may or may not be able to offer.

Thats gonna be rad!

Oooh I like the look of this truck, the wheels look right at home on it.
I had the same rust issue on our project truck.. and posted a lot of our progress with pictures in my build thread on here that may be able to help you out. We cut the cab when we body dropped it to keep the heater box but we have the stock mazda engine and the firewall was stock when we started.

I did spend a couple of hours reading your thread last night and have to say the work you have done is top notch.
I noticed the long cut you made on the tunnel so I might try something similar to keep the heater. If I can't get the drop I want doing it that way I will find a heater matrix from a hatchback or saloon to fit in the gap.

Managed a few hours on the old girl today.
I wanted to see how much tin worm the cab was suffering from before doing the body drop and wanted to cut and weld the pinch off to allow the max drop.

Once the cab was off we set about cutting the old ram mounts off with a petrol disc cutter.
My new bottle of argoshield should be with me tomorrow so I can cut the pinch off.

Moving right along. Now is a good time to strip that frame down and paint it

It helped a lot to have the cab on the back like that when we did our body drop to cap all of the holes that were left to the inside of the cab after cutting for the body drop, much easier than laying on your back trying to weld over head.
Also it might be easier to cut your firewall for the wheel tubs when it is off the truck... just a couple tips that may help. Oh and I like the term "tin worm" I may just have to use that one from now on

Cheers lowlyfe, I started cutting the tubs out today whilst the cab's on its back I can definitely see how its gotta be easier to do it this way.

So... After finally managing to find the time to pop round the local welding suppliers and pick up a new bottle of gas ($300!!!) I managed to cut the pinch off today and seam it up. It seems as though I may have a few issues with the welder though (budget SIP mig) so it's going in to be sorted on Monday.
Even though I'm not at all happy with the look of the welds its still penetrated well and is solid enough to put the cab back on ready to do the cut for the bd next week, providing of course I can get the frame to lay flat first.
There's not much to show but here's what I managed today

Looks like this is going to be an awesome truck! Definitely loving the right side drive, I know that is normal for over there, but us in the states would die to have a right side drive vehicle. Question on the cab, to remove your cab, did you just cut the front section off?

Yes the front end was cut flush with the cab, I wasn't sure where the cut will be when I do the bodydrop so figured it would be easier to keep it in place till its ready to cut.

Small update
All the original rear suspension has been cut off and the front torsion bars removed so its sitting pretty much on the floor now. It's got the usual quarter of an Inch gap on the front of the frame due to the x member but I'm really not overly worried about it.








You can see how close the sump is to the x member in that shot which could be an issue as I have to drop the motor a good 1.5 - 2" lower to fit under the hood.

This last shot is of the lowering blocks fitted to the lower arms. I only remembered having them after reading the "how to flip your balljoint" thread and thinking "yeah il go and do that now" lol.




Cab will be back on tomorrow so I can start dropping it over the weekend.
I do have one question if one of you could answer for me please, with the front part of the frame not quite reaching the deck do you prop the front of the cab up so it matches the frame height on full drop or do you run a slight gap all the way along the cill so the frame hits just before the body hits the floor??

Well today was an eye opener.
I thought "just cut it up with the air saw and angle grinder, how hard can it be?"
Cutting through those body mounts was a complete c#*t! I must have snapped 30 blades and worn out 5 cutting discs!!
Still... its done now thank fuck

Snags so far are
I didn't cut the floor close enough to the edge of the cill and I'm getting some fouling against the body mounts.
The gearbox is too tall to allow fitting of the original heater box
The clutch master cylinder wedged itself between the brake servo and engine rocker cover so it will need to be re mounted somehow
apart from that it was nice and easy, lol