1990 B2200 Ground Up

I think I will start measuring the stock truck body and frame and take lots of pics. I need to settle on a frame width before I start cutting up the 90 model white truck. That truck from this point forward will be called the donor truck.

I did not get a chance to go to the pick n pull and take a look at the Sportage so I have not decided what front frame and suspension geometry to use/copy.

The donor truck has power steering with no play so the box and at least the drag links and tie rods should be good. But if the Sportage has a rack and is a 2wd suspension I may use it. As soon as I decide on that I will post an update.

On a side note I will be selling all kinds of parts from the donor truck. Because at the end of the day I won't need much of it except the sheet metal and maybe the steering. The rest will be for sale in the selling section of this site along with a link to it here.

Bought one in 2004, drove it for two years and sold it. Regretted selling that truck, just got back into it myself and ended up with two B2200's. Love the builds you did, they are just completely out of this world. Cant wait to see what you do with this one!

Thanks a bunch. I was looking for a shop truck and I just could not find a fullsize in decent shape for what I could afford. So I find the gray one in the pics above. Too nice to cut up so I found the other one. So I go from not having a truck at all to two weeks later having two Mazdas.

So these are Mazdas #3 and 4 for me. I had other ones that were parts trucks and rolling chassis and bodies etc. It certainly won't be the first time I cut up a perfectly good truck.

I just wanted to add a side note. I will be using only the sheet metal and a few other random items from this latest Mazda I bought. So everything else will be for sale. I can and will ship anything that is small enough to ship. I have a UPS account for my business.

I may use the bucket seats as they are in great shape. I may be using the power steering box. I can take more pics of the truck if anyone is interested in parts.

Ok guys here is an update. I went to the pick N pull in Dallas today.

I was there because I saw on the website that they got two more B series since my last visit.

I was there to see what they had and also to look at Sportages and other SUVs.

There were two Sportages and one was 4wd and the other 2wd. Both had the same frame. So I can't use the Sportage front clip geometry. It's 4wd style and it has a steering box instead of a rack. Not anything better than the stock B series with the exception of the control arms. But I am making my own anyway so nothing of use there.

This is a good step because it tells me I need to stick to the Mazda front suspension geometry. I would like to swap it to a rack but that can be done at any time. Just have to find a rack that is the correct width. I know they sell a Mustang II universal rack that can be made any length you want. That's probably my best bet.

I did do some more measuring on SUV rear axles. Trying to see what 6 lug axle with disc brakes will work with what I am doing. It looks like the Isuzu Rodeo is the best bet. That is as long as I can have the axles shortened. It's narrow enough as it is but for wide wheels it won't work.

Everything else was too wide. I could also use a Montero rearend as well. This one is much wider but if the axles can be shortened then I can use it.

Either way I know I can find a rearend out there. Just have to pull an axle to see which one has meaty axle shafts that can be shortened.

Now that I know what front suspension I plan to use I can start the frame build. I am going to try to use a frame width of 34" in the middle. Up front it will have to match factory Mazda. Out back it may get real narrow like on my last Mazda. Not sure yet. The back section will depend on how big of a fuel cell I run.

My next step is to figure frame length and do some CAD drawings. More to come....

Y not just go 5 lug?

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Because I want 6 lugs. It means on the wheels I get there will be 6 spokes instead of just 5.

By the way, I also did some research into front clips that will fit my son's 66 F-100 project.

The frame on his truck is 34" wide. This as some of you may know is standard width for heavy trucks, like big rigs (class and class 7 and 6 and smaller all the way down to trucks like a Ford F-650 chassis.

I heard that on an episode of fast and Loud they used a Crown Vic front subframe on a 67-72 bodystyle F-100. I don't watch the show myself but I pulled it up and saw that one episode. They used the later bolt in type because it's the same width as the F-100 frame. I wanted to see for myself how if looked in the car.

It took a while to find one as they are only in the later Crown Vics. The one I found was an 06 Police car. I took pics and measurements. Then I found one with the clip out of the car. This was even better because I was able to measure the frame and it is exactly 34" wide.

I wonder how well the rearend in that car might hold up in an F-100 with a built 460.

More to come.

I have 6 lug 5 spoke wheels. The lugs to spokes really doesn't matter.


also have 3 spoke 6 lug. (old pic but still have all the wheels just not on these trucks)

This confused me as well...


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