The Blue Pig - ECGreen's '89 BII

[ecgreen]

I decided I would post a thread about my truck. The folks around here have been so awesome in helping me get this build to where it is! The least I can do is post the process so that it might help others looking to do similar things.

My intentions for the truck started out as wanting to build "stocker" rig. I wanted a wheeling rig that was minimally built. My 2015 Tacoma is fairly built at this point, and I wanted a rig to make things more difficult again. Well all of that eventually went by the wayside as I got into the build! The idiot in me took over and now The Pig is way more capable than my Taco.

In this thread I will retell the story of my build and add anything new I am up to. I grew up around mechanics and auto body men my whole life, but there where a lot of holes in my knowledge. The Blue Pig is my first build from start to finish and it filled in a lot of those hole in my knowledge base.

Here she is as she stand today!

A very partial list of what's been added

- Swapped out POS 2.9 and put in another POS 2.9 from a junkyard. When that goes I will build myself another POS 2.9 probably. Did I mention that the motor is a POS?
- 4.0 radiator to tame the HeadCracker
- James Duff Stage 1 lift
- 33x10.5r15 Maxxis RAZR MT Tires
- James Duff front and rear bumpers
- Warn m8000 winch
- D35 swap (fully rebuilt)
- Warn Manual Locking Hubs
- Ford 7.5 (fully rebuilt)
- 4.56 gears
- Aussie locker up front, Lockrite in rear -> can you say squirrely?
- Corbeau Moab seats
- Land Cruiser Snorkel
- Every leaky G.Dang seal, hose and or old freeking thing mostly replaced
- Homemade crappy storage in back.

My goal is to provide pics and an explanation of how I got here with this truck, as well as update you on current projects. The current projects are:
- M5OD swap
- Behemoth Strongbox Dual T-Case set-up
- Tuffy Console
- Lower seat height
- Fix Body Rust

 

[ecgreen]

A long time ago in a galaxy, well....right here. Here she was in all her glory. My '89 BII from Maine with a blown head gasket. She spent a lot of her years on Martha's Vineyard apparently. How she wound up in inland Maine I don't know.

That was 3 years ago...ouch its been a long build.

I played around with the engine until I had to accept that the heads where just F'd and the whole thing needed to pulled and replaced. What was the issue? Someone overheated it and the heads cracked...surprise!!

I set about tearing the truck apart and figuring out what was next.

Rust-wise everything was pretty good, but the frame needed attention. I used Eastwoods rust converter followed by a black topcoat.

In this pic you can see I installed a Rough Country 1.5 inch lift up front. In the rear I used Wulf shackles. If you are look for a cheap way to get 1.5 inches of left, that is the way to go. Eventually, I went with a Duff stage 1 as you can see in the next post.

Here are some other mods I have done along the way. Can't remember in what order.

Fuel tank access panel:

4.0 Radiator:

New tire day (and a shameless pic of my Taco):

New steering rod:

 

[ecgreen]

Since I was going to run 33s only, I decided to keep the 7.5 and rebuild it. Upfront I swapped in a Dana 35 from 92 Explorer. Both recieved 4.56 gears and lunchbox lockers (Aussie up front, Lockrite in the rear)

Donor D35:

First order of business was to disassemble...much carnage:

All parts hot tanked and painted with Rustoleum Hammered.

C-Clip eliminator:

Used a clamp to hold the spring (and no I don't remember where I got it. But it was from some industrial supply place)

Some Duff love with extended brake lines:

Need an alignment much????

On to the 7.5! Paint it boy!

When you try to stuff 4.56 gears in a tiny 7.5 axle, you are gonna have problems. Opps...pin dont come out.

A dremel and about 60 min of careful grinding solved this problem (no issues with this 1000 miles+ later BTW)

This is how much crap you need to rebuild axles!

 

[ecgreen]

More pics:

Finally, here is my advice on rebuilding a 30+ year old truck:

- EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE REPLACED! All of it! I mean it! When you buy an old rig, assume that every seal, every bushing, every bearing, every everything is TOTALLY SHOT. Don't just patch it up and "git er done". If you are in there, replace it all! I learned this lesson the hard way. If I had to do it over again, I would do a complete tear down and label everything. In the end it would have taken less time and money.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Good to see you're going to put this together here.

 

[Blmpkn]

NH plate I see..

Let's go wheeling when it's nice out. Nice rig!

 

[ecgreen]

NH plate I see..

Let's go wheeling when it's nice out. Nice rig!

Absolutely! You ever check ExploringNH? We have a forum and do runs all the time. Lots of good people.

 

[ericbphoto]

I like it.

 

[Blmpkn]

Absolutely! You ever check ExploringNH? We have a forum and do runs all the time. Lots of good people.

I don't think I have, I will though for sure! I know NH is just way better all around than maine is for wheeling. VT too...

Wouldn't be so bad up here if paper companies didn't own 60% of the state lol.

 

[ecgreen]

I don't think I have, I will though for sure! I know NH is just way better all around than maine is for wheeling. VT too...

Wouldn't be so bad up here if paper companies didn't own 60% of the state lol.

The wheeling is dang ni e around where i live. My usr name is the aame on yhe enh site. Post up an introduction on the forum and send me a pm. Roads open up june 1st after mud season.

 

[Blmpkn]

The wheeling is dang ni e around where i live. My usr name is the aame on yhe enh site. Post up an introduction on the forum and send me a pm. Roads open up june 1st after mud season.

Will do! Where abouts are you in NH?

 

[bobbywalter]

Damn fine rig ...


Looks like totalled old ride ....fomoco mofo

 

[ecgreen]

Look what arrived! Behemoth Strongbox Shorty. I would like to keep the electric T-Case I have in there now. I spent a lot of time making sure it worked properly, and I kind of like it (I understand that a manual would be more reliable). This should give me a 6:1 crawl ratio when the Strongbox is engaged! Now I need to track down an M5OD, as the fm146 I have in there now is about done.

 

[bobbywalter]

Wow .... That's gonna be seriously badass...the electric is fine. Just keep a spare harness and computer for it....along with a motor or two....where I shop that's 60 bux or less.

The lockouts are a different matter. Looks like a 28 auto lock hub in the pic.

Your potentially screwed. You triple the torque, those oem axles won't like it bound up

Going to a d35/44 hybrid or a d44 may be the smart move with a doubler..a ttb 44 with RCV shafts would be epic and allow for some fearless wheeling.







Careful driving ftw....

 

[ecgreen]

Wow .... That's gonna be seriously badass...the electric is fine. Just keep a spare harness and computer for it....along with a motor or two....where I shop that's 60 bux or less.

The lockouts are a different matter. Looks like a 28 auto lock hub in the pic.

Your potentially screwed. You triple the torque, those oem axles won't like it bound up

Going to a d35/44 hybrid or a d44 may be the smart move with a doubler..a ttb 44 with RCV shafts would be epic and allow for some fearless wheeling.







Careful driving ftw....

Those are old pics. I have a D35 up front with manual warn hubs. The first pic in the post shows the new front axle. I don't see any reason that wouldn't hold up.

And you are absolutely right. I should carry spare motors, etc. I'll put that on the list.