1990 B2200 Ground Up

How big of a body drop? Gonna be hard to clear 4" rails on a stock floor.

Well that is kind of hard to answer. I am not using a regular stock cab. I am building everything from the ground up. So the floor will certainly not be stock but it will be raised. Since this one will have doors I have moved the frame rails in to a width of 34" which should allow me to slope the floor a little to the side. This one will not be doored like the last one ws though so it will give more room.

I am not set on one specific way yet. So I guess I will decide that as I start measuring the frame in relation to the floor. I have to use 4" because as heavy as this truck will be I don't think 3" would do it.

I am starting on cutting steel for the frame tonight or tomorrow so we shall soon see where that ends up being. I will post some pics here in just a bit with some examples on what I am thinking on this.

Sounds good.

Ok so the Sportage I drove from an hour away, mostly highway. It runs strong. I guess I will be doing a timing belt and gaskets on this thing as well as paint.

It appears I may have to do something to the oil pan. It hangs lower than the trans pan. Looks like it will clear the crossmember I am building but I do not know for sure yet. I'd like to get the engine in as far down and back as I can get it.

I have the B2600i front frame clip up on the frame table for measurements.



Here is the Sportage I bought last night. I got it for a lot less than I thought it was going to cost.



And here is the engine in question.



And here is the steel I bought for the main frame rails. I already have some 2"x3" and some 2" square.




The 2"x3"x3/16" is for the frame. The 2" square 14 gauge is for coffee tables. lol

I am going to the Pick n Pull in the morning to get a Trooper rearend I spotted last weekend. Then when I get back I am going to start with the engine crossmember. Pics to come.

So i had some free time today. Reread the first couple pages.

Ive always loved the 2nd truck. And i realized i hate you. That is all.

Carry on...

Why?

Im jealous, mad, sad and jealous all in one.

Lol. I wouldve killed for that truck! Pretty much getting at that its an honor to have you on the site!

Ok im done leg humping...

I really appreciate it. The motivation to do this all this time comes from people who appreciate things that are built and not something that was made with kit parts and brand name parts all over it.

The goal with that truck was the same as this one. Build everything by hand. No kits, no machined parts and use as much factory mechanical pieces as possible.

The frame was built first with the intent that everything bolted down to the frame and that the truck could be driven with the body off. In this pic you can see that the floor structure also bolted down to the frame. The floor structure also contained the front and rear firewalls.






You can see the body had 2" square x 1/8" tube in the sides for safety. and at the bottom of the body you can see a lip with holes. The matching lip is on the side of the frame. Between the floor structure and the frame was a 1/4" thick layer of Teflon.

The brake booster (Geo Metro) was in the back and operated with a rod. The pedal arms were hand made and the oval foot pads were aluminum and screwed in with stainless button heads. That's another thing not mentioned. All the bolts were stainless allen or button head. I had about $600 just in bolts.

All the lines had standoffs on the frame because no holes could be drilled in the frame. It was the air tank. And all the lines has the billet specialties aluminum line clamps. brakes, fuel, vacuum for the booster and air bag feed lines. Wiring ran through a tube inside the frame.

There are some more pics from this same show in the May 2002 Issue of MT but I don't think any others exist of it with the floor on but body off.

I started on this truck in 1998. It was a project that spanned 4 years and a divorce. This is the reason I am building the project I am currently building. Because I never finished this truck.

I can't go into the same amount of detail as that truck and frankly I overbuilt a bunch of it but I will stay true to the theme.

Once again I appreciate your comments. People like you keep me motivated to continue.

It really is impressive. I feel like i am pushing the limits quite a bit on my build but in a different way than you are.

I have stared at the front end of that truck throwing around the idea of moulding the front end like that.

Mad props and i cant wait to see what you do with this one.

Yea I just started reading your build thread. Lots of great ideas there. I cant wait to get farther into it.

Update on this build. I got a 1989 trooper disc brake rearend today. The cool thing about this rearend is it's narrower than the stock Mazda. Plus I got an extra left side axle, the shorter one to narrow it even more if I need to. It should be least an inch shorter than the other side. If this thing is not short enough overall I will send the axles to moser.

**The disc brakes on this rearend also have just discs. None of those rear discs with the drum E brake built in. These are 100% disc only and have a special caliper that makes the E brake work. I did get the line that goes up to the body, the clip for it, the yoke from the driveshaft and the E brake cables and the one that joins them both.

I also picked up a kia sportage tube exhaust that only came on the 95 thru 97 trucks. I also got a right hand side fender so I can cut it up. Pick n pull hit me for $48 for the fender. I guess that covers all the bolts and nuts in my tool bag.

I ended up going to three different Pick n pull yards and there was a Mazda in only one yard. From that Mazda I got the fender mentioned above and every bolt I thought I might need.

I helped my brother get stuff for his son's Mustang and we headed home.

If it was not over 100 degrees outside I would go ahead and pull the axles from the rearend to see how mucyh shorter the short one was but I think I will get cleaned up and play some GTA-V multi player and chill till dinner time.

Gotta try out that new flight school download.