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Nov 11, 2017 21:12:05 GMT
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I continue to have a truck shaped itch to scratch.
Been looking at a few ads for Ford Rangers and Mazda B series trucks.
Not interested in 4x4 or long double cabs.
Extra cab or maxi cab tupe stuff is good.
What to look out for.
Petrol or Diesel ?
What mileages do they self destruct at or start to cost silly money?
Where to find them being sold at sensible or even cheaply.
Gazillions of questions I know.
Thanks in advance.
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Nov 11, 2017 22:07:36 GMT
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I believe Dez and KFW know a fair bit about these, not sure you will see many petrol variants.
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,712
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Nov 11, 2017 22:47:50 GMT
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Ford ranger and Mazda b2500/bt50 are 100% the same truck bar a few bits of trim. Petrol b2500 don't exist, it's named after the fact it has a 2.5l diesel in it. To be petrol it would have to be a b2000 or b2200, but I've never seen one of those after about 1996/7 when they face lifted them. The b2500 didn't appear until 1996 with the facelift, it was required to get the tall motor under the bonnet. There was a b2200D as well as the b2200 before that. They were horrendously slow! I'm not sure when they officially dropped the petrol models though. Ranger didn't appear until 1999, it's just a badge engineered b2500. B2500 was renamed BT-50 in 2007 I believe, to coincide with the new facelift and revised common rail powerplants.
They're largely bullet proof. My current one is knocking on 350k at 10 years old. They don't care about milage with servicing and replacing wearing parts. The chassis is almost identical 1984-2011. Power plants changed, as did gear ratios, Spring rates, arbs and PAS options, but that's it really. Torsion bar front and leaf rear so easy to lower. 6 stud J/American PCD so easy on wheels. Only real place for chassis rot is bottom of rear Kickup near front Spring hanger.
Body's rot, and pretty well. Prime areas are the bed floor, tailgate, cab mounts, bottom of rad frame, front wings. Largely non-structural though and it's still possible to get a legit MOT on one with quite a bit of rot because of the Separate chassis.
You'll likely end up looking at a diesel. It's the Mazda WL, popular in oz but less so over here. Have a reputation for poor heads(they go porous), but I've never experienced it myself. I don't think it's possible to get a turbo 2wd pre-2007. I've certainly never seen one. Possible to do with parts or an engine swap from a 4wd though. Post 2007 like my current one are the same basic engine, but upgraded to turbo and common rail- the power doubles over the earlier idi non-turbo! They were fully Mechanical pump and veg friendly up until mid 2001. After that up til 2006 they were electromechanical idi with built in immobiliser which can apparently be problematic. Decent 5 speed box, the newer ones especially drive like a modern car.
Fairly easy on parts and not too expensive for a commercial. Some body parts can be pricey though.
Any 2wd truck in MOTable state for less than a grand is cheap. Because they're workhorses they Hold their values. They start to get tidy in the 1500-2000 bracket.
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Last Edit: Nov 11, 2017 22:57:10 GMT by Dez
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Last Edit: Nov 12, 2017 9:18:57 GMT by grizz
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driven a few and they are properly utilitarian. if you need a workhorse they are a good truck but you wont get the "smiles per miles" that you do from the berlingo!
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'80 s1 924 turbo..hibernating '80 golf gli cabriolet...doing impression of a skip '97 pug 106 commuter...continuing cheapness making me smile!
firm believer in the k.i.s.s and f.i.s.h principles.
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Dez & grizz: Thanks both. My needs are steering me towards a double cab due to family needs. Theses seem to command a significant premium (for obvious reasons I guess). My parents have a single cab 4x4 back in SA, and my in-laws have a double-cab. Both circa 2002 & both Mazdas. They seem robust from afar, but I havent had much chance to experience them myself. I wonder how different (or not) the SA version is. I'll keep watching the market, as it seems that the nice'ish double cabs available for sub-£3k seem to all have serious cosmetic or mechanical issues.
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,712
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Nov 13, 2017 10:00:12 GMT
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Afaik Mazdas are the same worldwide, bar powerplant options. Rangers are obviously totally different vehicles in some markets, the one we have that is the badge engineered Mazda is generally listed as Europe only.
I didn't find that 2wd double cabs were any more expensive, I actually had a choice of two when I bought mine but I wanted a single. They were both sub-2k. They are far less common though.
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Last Edit: Nov 13, 2017 10:01:23 GMT by Dez
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Nov 13, 2017 10:45:49 GMT
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voodoo57
Club Retro Rides Member
That's not 2 metres! come a little...Closer!
Posts: 2,753
Club RR Member Number: 137
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Nov 13, 2017 11:40:06 GMT
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The hardest part to find panel wise and at a fair price are the tailgates! I have straightened mine out as best i can, and it works, but most places want £150 for a new one or around the £100 for a 2nd hand one with dents or some corrosion! i don't know if any other models fit, obviously the Ranger but again there are the hinge and the cable opening type, but i guess these are changeable with the bracket at the side where the door drops down. I have a 99 model, and had a terrible time with it and after it turned out to be the swarf filter! runs like a dream now, and even better since i now add 2 stroke to the fuel! faster, responsive, and i love driving it! had a lot of problems with rot, but all the underside has been re-welded and under-sealed. the early models the same as mine are quite limited now due to a vast amount of them being exported, but i look after this one, it gets more than a regular servicing and attention, single cab, and puts a smile on my face all day long, before the 2 stroke treatment it was plodding along at 65/70, now i can stay at 85 comfortably! now going to treat it to a lil' paint job, look for some better/possibly wider wheels, lower it a tad and leave it like that!
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voodoo57
Club Retro Rides Member
That's not 2 metres! come a little...Closer!
Posts: 2,753
Club RR Member Number: 137
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Nov 13, 2017 11:42:30 GMT
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Then, after going thru my junk, i had a thought/idea, but decided not to continue with the said idea as i thought it just didn't look or wouldn't look right?
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Nov 13, 2017 19:33:53 GMT
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Nov 13, 2017 19:37:21 GMT
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Then, after going thru my junk, i had a thought/idea, but decided not to continue with the said idea as i thought it just didn't look or wouldn't look right? Yup.... Agree with you.
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Nov 13, 2017 19:43:19 GMT
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Typical of me, my next thoughts have turned to modifying one of these trucks. Dez probably has a realistic opinion and insight into my next question. Would a Lexus V8 or similar transplant be feasible, affordable (we know anything is possible, with budget and want-power) and with a useable end product. I guess a modern hotrod really. And of course the consideration of both the Law and DVLA expectations.
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Nov 13, 2017 19:58:32 GMT
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not looked under the bonnet of one of these in quite a few years but I would have thought a hot straight 6 would be the way to go? every time I flip the seats forward to check the levels on the mrs' bongo I think the same...the 2500 is a big old lump!
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'80 s1 924 turbo..hibernating '80 golf gli cabriolet...doing impression of a skip '97 pug 106 commuter...continuing cheapness making me smile!
firm believer in the k.i.s.s and f.i.s.h principles.
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dazcapri
North East
Enter your message here...
Posts: 1,056
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Nov 13, 2017 20:23:45 GMT
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I'm sure pneuma has a video on his YouTube channel off his mates V8 Ranger might be worth a look
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Mk3 Capri LS
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,712
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Nov 13, 2017 21:06:19 GMT
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A straight 6 would be fairly tight in the bay I think. Lots of minitrucked b2000s with v8 swaps in the states, SBC is more or less drop in with just some basic mounts to make IIRC. it's a wide, V-shaped engine bay with the steering in front of the axle so there's plenty exaust room, so they lend themselves well to it. Certainly one of the easier engine swaps you could do, in packaging terms.
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Last Edit: Nov 13, 2017 21:07:38 GMT by Dez
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voodoo57
Club Retro Rides Member
That's not 2 metres! come a little...Closer!
Posts: 2,753
Club RR Member Number: 137
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Nov 13, 2017 21:59:17 GMT
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A few guys are dropping Mercedes diesel lump in various trucks and cars, 250+ brake monsters!Power to ratio in one of these would be ridiculous!(but stay out of the Low emission Zone! (unlike me!)
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voodoo57
Club Retro Rides Member
That's not 2 metres! come a little...Closer!
Posts: 2,753
Club RR Member Number: 137
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Nov 13, 2017 22:02:30 GMT
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go onto google images and simply type in modified mazda b2500 truck so simple yet very impressive!
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Nov 19, 2017 10:26:20 GMT
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Afaik Mazdas are the same worldwide, bar powerplant options. Rangers are obviously totally different vehicles in some markets, the one we have that is the badge engineered Mazda is generally listed as Europe only. I didn't find that 2wd double cabs were any more expensive, I actually had a choice of two when I bought mine but I wanted a single. They were both sub-2k. They are far less common though. Thanks! The SA Ranger is also the badge engineered Mazda. It's more the question of the power plants that I was wondering about. My father-in-law's double cab has relatively low mileage on it, my mother's single cab is quite high and has need a suspension rebuild front and rear. But both are going well otherwise (oh, and both 4x4's). C
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Nov 19, 2017 11:46:58 GMT
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we had a couple - impossible to say which MY as our reg numbers are based on import, not manufacture, but i'd say that the first was a MK1 which we then replaced with the next generation.
earlier truck felt much more robust, simpler inside (less to go wrong) and we did manage to keep it in service longer. ours were all derv but i honestly can't remember which power units.
we did discover that although they're essentially mazdas, parts interchangability wasn't wholly straightforward. as examples, when the bed rusted out on truck 1 we replaced with one from a mazda. it fit OK but we had to re-drill a few fixings and bodge a couple of bits. also, we had to swap in a mazda fuel tank during this refurb which, for some reason, wouldn't communicate with the ford loom so we had to go and retrieve the ford bits before we got a working gauge. we couldn't, for some long forgotten reason, swap front seats straight in either. nothing more than marginally bothersome but surprising.
performance not an issue on our roads so probably entirely "adequate" elsewhere. good load lugger when going north with up to 10 sets of dive gear and 20 tanks.
will be getting another - i'll be sticking with what i consider to be the "first" generation.
paul
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