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
|
|
Sept 17, 2015 21:13:42 GMT
|
well, i ended up in the situation of needing another temporary vehicle as id sold my current temporary vehicle and only working car to buy something else id seen (all will be revealed on that front soon). ideally i was after another pickup, and as some bloke i know called david keeps banging on about 2015 being the year of the minitruck (kinda like the RR equivilent of chinese new year i guess- but with types of car rather than random animals), i decided it was high time i got me another mazda. this will be the 5th one ive had. i specifically wanted a 1985-1998 mazda B series, as I'm familiar with them and they make damn good minitrucks, even if they do have a penchant for dissolving a bit in the body department. except when i went to look at buying one, they were either all the expense, or knackered, or both. (not that there were many to choose from) that and the exporters fight over them and theyll buy any old sh1te so any that come up invariably end up in a container on the way to africa in short order. i kept an eye on ebay, and all i can say is i got lucky. a scruffy but basically ok (cough) late model with the big engine and facelift front, 3 months ticket and only 8 miles away. i got on the phone and did a deal for cash outside of ebay then hot footed it down there this morning to collect. if i hadnt have turned up he had the export guy coming that afternoon! although it has the later bumper/grille/headlights, and the larger 2.5L engine, everything else about this truck is identical to all other B-series back to '85! this is all the pickup truck you can get for £650 these days- no bed floor to speak of, a rad held in with straps, cosmetically challenged and a duff starter motor. but mechanically perfect with a new exhaust and 4 new tyres. he was even nice enough to deliver it to mine on his trade plates if i dropped him back. not that he was desperate to get it off his forecourt or anything. it appears to have lived in felixstowe all it life, which explains a few things... the full horror of which i will reveal tomorrow!
|
|
Last Edit: Sept 17, 2015 21:17:40 GMT by Dez
|
|
|
ckerr
Part of things
Posts: 257
|
|
Sept 17, 2015 21:17:22 GMT
|
Come on... More photos Doesn't look bad
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
Sept 18, 2015 8:51:21 GMT
|
the sides are actuslly pretty straight, if scruffy. theres primer patches and some holes and gaffer tape on the passenger side, but only a couple of small dents. tailgate is the worse panel as youd expect, but it still hinges and latches ok. even the handle works. the rear valance is only a bit bent on one side, the other is ok. bench seat is a bit collapsed on the drivers side so needs attention. the rest of the interior is just filthy, a good clean needed! its mostly dusty dirt so hopefully it will clean ok. under the bonnet. all looks in good condition, and the engine is amazingly quiet for a commercial diesel, not clattery at all. the bonnet catch cable is broken so that involves going in through the grille so i need to repair that. i took the starter motor off and bench tested and stripped it to find a burnt out terminal, which had a new peice of copper soldered in and now it works perfectly. took about an hour and cost £0! the first sign of any bodges is this holding the rad in- thats because this bit isnt really there anymore- i considered buying a full slam panel/rad support panel and just replacing the lot, but i cant find anywhere that does em so its likely to end up a bit of box section. the other major horror lies under this- which had been suspiciously patched up with fiberglass and wood, and screwed down well. i noticed when giving it a quick check over before purchase that there was quite a bit of floor missing, and the last mot had an advisory for 'rear floor rotted' thats because underneath, it looks like this- thats after id jetwashed all the mud and curse word out of the crossmembers and stuff so i could see what was going on amazingly the rot doesnt seem to have spread into the crossmembers much if it all. i'll get the air chisel out and remove the remains when i get chance, then once its all cleaned up it'll get flat skinned back in.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sept 18, 2015 9:07:11 GMT
|
11 hours and it's still not on the deck???
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sept 18, 2015 14:44:27 GMT
|
If that's £650, I should be thankful that any 2wd pickup is £2k up here!
*n
|
|
Top grammar tips! Bought = purchased. Brought = relocated Lose = misplace/opposite of win. Loose = your mum
|
|
tdipd
Part of things
Posts: 121
|
|
Sept 18, 2015 15:08:45 GMT
|
only one solution for that rear tray.... rip it off and flat deck I drove a '94 ford courier 2.2 crewcab for a few years, absolutely loved it even though it was a ball of dung. We trashed it everyday doing heavy civil works and it just came back for more. It would not lay down. I actually removed the sign-writing as it was so rough it was making the company look bad haha Even got off parking tickets regularly as someone had stuck a Holden badge over the ford, so anytime we got a ticket it was written for a "Holden courier"... when we go to pay it the council says the ticket is invalid as the "warden has written the vehicle incorrectly, no such vehicle exists"
|
|
Last Edit: Sept 18, 2015 15:13:44 GMT by tdipd
|
|
|
|
Sept 18, 2015 19:21:13 GMT
|
compare that to what caddy you'd get for the money, you can see where the smart money goes
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
Sept 19, 2015 9:40:19 GMT
|
i hate traybacks. i know they're an aussie thing, but to me they just ruin the long, low lines you get when one of these is dropped on the floor. and are far less practical as you have to strap anything you put on them down as theres no bedsides to hold it all in.
its not dropped yet for a few reasons- 1. its not insured. 2. tons of customer work. 3. I'm pretty sure that up at my parents i have a set of balljoint spacers for one of these, which gives you a couple of inches of drop without effecting shock travel, and really i need those on there before it can be lowered properly. 4. i want to be all sensible and do the rust repair first.
i was just pleased to have secured it and got it back to the workshop, so when i do need to start using it in a week or two its ready and waiting.
|
|
|
|
kevfromwales
Posted a lot
the conrod's REALLY out the block now!
Posts: 3,909
|
|
Sept 19, 2015 11:04:13 GMT
|
Dude, let me know when you go to your parents, we can do that collection job then maybe? Northern swap weekend??
|
|
Almost on the road: b11 sunny breadvan, e36 tds, 325i skidcar,
nearly there: ford f250 tathauler, suzuki alto, u11 bluey
not for a while: ford pop, 32 rails,
not in this lifetime: ruby, '29 hillman
''unfortanatly I'm quite old and scruffy and in need of some loving. my drive shaft needs a new boot....''
|
|
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
|
|
Sept 19, 2015 12:03:43 GMT
|
Dude, let me know when you go to your parents, we can do that collection job then maybe? Northern swap weekend?? When is that kev? Not far off what I was thinking, I want to go up in this so I can bus a load of other tat back down here to be sorted through/sold. They've only been nagging me about it for about 8 years now....
|
|
|
|
|
kevfromwales
Posted a lot
the conrod's REALLY out the block now!
Posts: 3,909
|
|
Sept 19, 2015 12:53:50 GMT
|
25th october, at magna where it was last year in sheff
Come up sat, trade with us sunday, go home?
|
|
Almost on the road: b11 sunny breadvan, e36 tds, 325i skidcar,
nearly there: ford f250 tathauler, suzuki alto, u11 bluey
not for a while: ford pop, 32 rails,
not in this lifetime: ruby, '29 hillman
''unfortanatly I'm quite old and scruffy and in need of some loving. my drive shaft needs a new boot....''
|
|
|
|
Sept 23, 2015 9:42:36 GMT
|
do you know what I have sitting for one of these. a full set of wider 4x4 bodywork off a b2000 I imported years ago from America. wings, bonnet, bed sides (shortbed as they all are), front clip/slam panel, and a straight rust free tailgate. ive kept them these years in case I took the notion to build another, but I cant see me having the time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sept 23, 2015 9:57:13 GMT
|
looks like it may well have been owned by a fisherman at some point in its life.... they throw loads of boxes in the back covered in seawater, then act all suprised when they rot out after a few years.....
Ill watch this with interest, my current work truck (soon to be replaced, and therefore possibly available to me for another project i have in mind) is a 52 plate 2wd ranger, which i believe is basically exactly the same (i know they're the same as a mazda, its the age difference I'm not certain about.)
|
|
Current fleet: '58 A35 (half mine) '67 11 window splitscreen vw (half mine) '77 mini 1000 (not quite 1000 any more!!) '86 Armstrong MT500 '89 XR4X4 '94 Corrado VR6 Some sort of sevenesque kit car (no age yet!!) '01 Mondeo estate 2.0 (engine eventually destined for kit car!) - scrapped, engine only left! '98 E300 estate, rusty but seemingly reliable, fast-ish tat hauler. eventual engine donor A35 van, or whats left of it after it lived in a field for many years
|
|
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
|
|
Sept 23, 2015 10:10:17 GMT
|
do you know what I have sitting for one of these. a full set of wider 4x4 bodywork off a b2000 I imported years ago from America. wings, bonnet, bed sides (shortbed as they all are), front clip/slam panel, and a straight rust free tailgate. ive kept them these years in case I took the notion to build another, but I cant see me having the time. Now that could be interesting. I assume you're mentioning this as you're thinking if selling? Drop me a PM with your price and location.....
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
Sept 23, 2015 10:16:15 GMT
|
looks like it may well have been owned by a fisherman at some point in its life.... they throw loads of boxes in the back covered in seawater, then act all suprised when they rot out after a few years..... Ill watch this with interest, my current work truck (soon to be replaced, and therefore possibly available to me for another project i have in mind) is a 52 plate 2wd ranger, which i believe is basically exactly the same (i know they're the same as a mazda, its the age difference I'm not certain about.) I now know the original owner(I'm only the third one so it hasn't migrated much)- a mate of a mate who runs a landscaping business in Felixstowe- my mate can remember him buying this new! '98('99MY) on is a totally different truck afaik, although from the reading I've been doing I have an oddball. Old body/chassis that runs back to the '80s unchanged, but the b2500DS had the motor that was carried over into the later ones. I think it's a Mazda WL, or WL-T in the turbo ones which apparently the Aussies like to tune for offroading in the 4x4 models.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sept 24, 2015 3:44:49 GMT
|
i hate traybacks. i know they're an aussie thing, but to me they just ruin the long, low lines you get when one of these is dropped on the floor. and are far less practical as you have to strap anything you put on them down as theres no bedsides to hold it all in. The plate on the that red thing looks like it's from NZ, but either way, I'm not a fan of traybacks either. Styleside all the way, unless you're making a trophy truck.
|
|
|
|
Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,513
|
|
Sept 24, 2015 7:57:55 GMT
|
Ha, that bed floor is comical! Deffo needs a base box with big tubes through the rear window.
|
|
Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
|
|
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
|
|
Sept 26, 2015 21:29:57 GMT
|
well, its insured. brentacre again. currently tooling round in it wi me dags, looking like a right caravan dweller. not quite the look I'm going for.... a session with the air chisel saw pretty much all of the bed floor and most of the crossmembers out and in the scrap pile. got to the point i darent cut any more out 'til ive put something back in, which is what is on tomorrows agenda. here i am getting papped by a mate so he can take the curse word out of me on friendface, doing a few repairs to corroded wires that were broken during a further jetwashing session to get all the dirt/rubble/soil/salt/rust/rodents etc. out of all the orifices. its currently just got the bedliner chucked back in until i start on the new bed floor tomorrow. it has to be said though, it goes really well for what it is. that extra half a letre displacement makes all the difference over the earlier models, it actually feels powerful and quick, low down the rev range at least. just needs a turbo needed to sort the rest out i do appear to have picked a well maintained example, apart from the bodywork! i did get a knock from the gearbox mount under some 'spirited testing', but otherwise its faultless. only the yanks could call this a 'minitruck' though, it feels massive especially threading it through the lanes, but that may just be down to the vehicle ive come across from.
|
|
Last Edit: Sept 26, 2015 21:32:59 GMT by Dez
|
|
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
|
|
Sept 28, 2015 8:23:34 GMT
|
so, time to get serious. got up nice and early to get a good day on this. went to workshop, realised id forgot keys, had to break in. moved one car out, went to drop ramp to move other car off it and compressor wont work so no air to drop it. after quite a while i figured out the plunger in the 'new' pressure switch is sticking, but it works when poked with a (fully insulated!) screwdriver to get it going. even worse, the kettle was on the blink!!! and i had to replace the power cord for that. so my nice early start was wasted and i didnt start on this until about half 10. oh well... onto the actual truck. id already decided i was going to go for a full smooth bed, as it was easier and quicker than doing any patch repairs to any of the existing. the design of the bed had so many water and dirt traps built in its not surprising they rot out. so, on with hacking stuff out. i cut out that remaining rear crossmember behind the wheel tubs- thinknig the rearmost one at the end of the chassis rails would support things until id got some metal back in. not so- as you can see the bed sides rapidly made a break for the floor. so i tack on a coule of bits of box to the remaining crossmember, which also highlighted just how much it had dropped- then jacked the bed back up and welded it on at the tailgate frame bit to hold it up temporarily- it was at about this time things went a bit nuts- yeah, thats the entire inner bedsides removed as well.... a lot of bashing, crashing, measuring, cutting and welding later, along with a healthy dose of measuring, headscratching and tea drinking to plan head to make sure itll all work as intended, ive made up these simple frame to support the bed. they have a 2"x2" bottom rail (more or less same dimension as the stock crossmembers, they were about 55mm) and then have 2"x1" uprights that run up and sit inside the top rail or the bedsides. these will bear the weight from the top, and also be the basis of the framework to attach the new flat/smooth inner bedsides to- you can see here how they tuck insode the double-skinned top rail area- you may also notice each new crossmember sits on a little (2.5") spacer block, that wasnt there before- there is a very deliberate reason for this. thinking ahead 3 or 4 steps, i added those so if i do end up bodydropping it in future so the bottom of the sills sits level with the bottom of the chassis so it can fully lay out, all i have to do is remove those spacers to drop the bed i dodnt know if i'll ever get round to doing that, but if i do a little extra work now had saved me tons of work in the future. then, as the bed was held up by the two centre frames each side of the wheel tubs, i cut out the remaining rear one and its temporary bracing- and replaced it with a third identical frame and spacers- and thats were i ran out of time. the frames arent welded in yet as next in need to drill and tap some plates to go in them as captive mounts so they can be bolted down to the mounts. i also need to order the steel to skin it now ive measured up how much i need, and the steel trailer mudguards to make the arches, now i know what size they need to be.
|
|
Last Edit: Sept 28, 2015 8:24:57 GMT by Dez
|
|
Speedle
Posted a lot
Need a Country Rock band in the Hampshire Area? https://www.facebook.com/DirtRoadDiaryUK
Posts: 2,221
|
|
Sept 28, 2015 10:18:39 GMT
|
Great choice of truck, I see now my ranger isn't as bad as it could be. Glad I've sealed and waxoyl'd the sh** out of it now. On the plus side your chassis rails look solid as they do love to rot there so that's a bonus Bed's are easily replaced or in your case, chopped and modded Look forward to seeing what you do with it. Totally want a front bench seat like that for mine! I shall have to keep an eye out for one now!
|
|
|
|
|