1990 B2200 Ground Up

Coming along nicely!

Looking good! Can't wait too see more progress!

Didnt work on it yesterday or today. I went this morning to horrible freight and got a concrete mixer. Big sale this weekend. They had the price down to $209 regularly $399 and I had a 20% off coupon. So I took it home for $182.

I set up some forms and got some concrete mix. I have to pour a small slab where my lathe is going in my shop then form up 10' squares after that. So tomorrow I will get the rebar in and pour it.

Then I have to change the muffler on my 91 mazda shop truck and change the oil plugs and filters so it will pass inspection. If I get all that done then I will work on the frame.

I did see something at HF that I am going to buy tomorrow. That would be the gantry crane. Its sweet. I was going to build one but they are on sale for $699 and with a 20% off it will be hard to pass up. Its adjustable height up to over 12' and I already have a trolley and electric hoist for it.

Then I will be able to easily pull the FE3 from the sportage and the B engine from the project truck. I will also be able to easily pull the bed and cab. Plus I will be able to lift the frame im building. More to come tomorrow.

I was thinking of getting that cement mixer. Let me know if you think it's worth it!

If only i had a shop or a bigger garage...

It's worth the $182 I paid for it. However if I were buying one to use in a business every day I would get a much better one. I read all the reviews and everyone that bought the smaller one wished they had bought the bigger one. So I got the bigger one for less than the regular price of the smaller one.

I will be pouring small sections of slabs in my shop area and under my awning and some new sidewalk pieces with it and we shall see how it holds up. It seems beefy enough in the right areas like the bearings and the motor. As long as I don't over load it I'm sure it will be fine. If you go this weekend it's on sale and they have a 20% off coupon.

I am going to pour a section that is 36" wide and a little over 8 feet long in the morning. It's 4.5" deep and one end and tapers up to the original driveway. I am pouring right over the original part of the driveway where it comes up to the house. We live on a hill and the house was sliding down hill so we had to get foundation repair and it raised the house about 4 to 5" in that area.

I don't have a shop or a garage. I cut my two car garage in half and made a bedroom for my youngest kid when we moved in. The other half, basically 10'x16' is where I do my woodworking. That's where my table saw, SC miter saw is and my dust collector. Not much room in there to do anything except that.

Now outside of the garage I built an awning that spans 16' out from the house and it's 36' long and goes from the back of the house out to the front. That's where I do most of my woodworking finish work. I also have a 10'x20' EZ up outside of that where I do glue ups, staining and clear coating for my work. This is the area where my frame table is. I actually use my frame table for glue ups etc. Then I have a long driveway out front and 2 rock circle driveways where the wife and kids park.

I am going to start adding posts where the driveway goes along side the house where my awning is right now. It's about 30ft from the house out to the edge of the property. The neighbor's drive is next to that and his property is a foot above mine and he has an 8ft fence on that side. So when it rains the driveway floods and brings mud from his place. And the water pools close to the house because it has been raised. This floods my shop area and I have mats I walk on when it's wet.

So I plan to build a building right where my side drive is from about a foot and a half from the edge of the property all the way over to the house. But I have to do the slab in sections of about 10' square at a time. I will have to put posts in the ground along the side and also where the awning is now, then trusses and a roof first, then the walls and then the slab last or mix some of the slab in while doing the rest.

I am outside the city limits so I can do whatever I want. But I also have to work in this area while I build the building. It takes a lot of room to do woodworking and it has to be under cover or in doors. So my first priority is to get a roof then a slab. Where I'm working is 90% concrete already but as I said above it floods with rain and mud even with the smallest rain shower.

Some of the area where the awning is now will be hard to get to with a concrete truck so I will have to pour it in small slabs. The one I'm doing tomorrow will be just so I can bring home my lathe. After that I will have to do some more small sections along the side of the house until I get about 8 feet out. The rest I can do in larger sections. But since I have to work in this area and run a business there I will have to work around these sections and pour them as I have time.

This all affects my truck build. But I won't be putting it off until the slab or building is done. I've already put it off too many years. So as the days roll by there will be a little progress almost every day.

Now I'm sure you all have tired head from reading all this. Pics and more to come Sunday.

Ok, did not work on actual truck pieces today but I did go get pieces. Here is what I got.



And I got this on the way home.




The second pic is the HF gantry crane. It goes from 8ft high to 12 ft high and has a crank to raise and lower it. It also has 9 positive stops. Found it on sale and got 25% off.

My rhd box may be up for grabs soon if youre interested

Yep I am. The next part of the front end will involve the steering box mounts. They are the same for either box but in my case I will have to make a custom drag link either way.

I got the ganrty crane assembled today and added my trolley and my electric winch. I used it to put the two rearends sitting in my driveway, into the back of the project truck. I also got the muffler changed, oil changed and air filter changed on the shop truck so I can get it inspected.

I poured the slab this morning (36"x103"x4.5") in the shop for the spot where the lathe will go. Now I have to make a new stand for it. For some reason my brother threw it away or gavfe it away or something. Either way I need it to turn bushings and other pieces for the project truck. So sometime this week I will be going to get it.

Now that I have the crane up I will start taking apart either the shop truck or the sportage. It's so hard to cut them up as they are both running driving vehicles. Oh well. can't make a cake unless you break a couple eggs. more to come.