86 B2 Swapeverydamthing!

[bobbywalter]

1200 right now..

 

[deathbypsi]

Todays progress was dropping out the trans and tcase,pulling wire harness out and the huge heater box.

Did a little more odds and ends on motor.




I also started pulling the dash apart and took the stupid wood grain instrument bezel out to figure out the new lay out. Im using textured ABS black plastic over top of it with my switch panel mounted to it and 3 Speedhut gauges. My buddy took it all back to his shop to do the lay out then will cut it all out on his CNC. Here is how we laid it out.

 

[mavereq]

That dash will look great

 

[deathbypsi]

Picked up the dash bezel today. Just need to pick up some black socket head screws, black out the original bezel,install the turn signal and brights indicators and hopefully any day now get my Speedhut tach.


I also modded a non a/c heater box for valve cover clearance and got it installed.


I got everything cut off the frame rails and now have the Duff coil buckets and shock mounts on.



Then my buddy and I sanded and prepped the roof,cowl and hood for paint. We laid down 2 coats of epoxy primer and will wet sand then shoot some satin black over it on monday. Im digging the look with the original paint on the sides. The patina is to nice to cover the rest

 

[Jim Oaks]

Looking good....

 

[deathbypsi]

Been busy last couple days and I scuffed and cleaned the floors from rear up to where I gotta cut floor pan out and sprayed down bedliner.

I mocked up my bumper ,which needs to be lowered and trimmed off bottom edge of front fenders



and some poser shots with the fresh paint and wheel.....lovin how its lookin.

 

[deathbypsi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0v0i_8YXO4

I have made a few vids of the truck since I picked it up. I decided to take vids of the swap for the hell of it. Might help somebody else down the road lookin to do the same swap.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Coming along good.

 

[fangotango306]

Nice build man. Your not to far from me i think.

 

[mavereq]

That paint looks great

 

[deathbypsi]

Nice build man. Your not to far from me i think.

Thanks, Im down here in Temperance.

 

[deathbypsi]

Well today the motor is officially in!




Here is the clearance to the heater box.

And the Canton oil filter adapter is dam close to the steering box but it fits.


So to get to this point I had to throw the James Duff instructions away and figure it out on my own. They want you to measure off existing holes in the crossmember to drill new holes for the v8 mounts. The driver side kinda made sense since there is only one hole for the original motor mount stud. The passenger side however has like 5 different holes and they dont say which one to measure from.
Well after hanging the motor in place I decided to not drill the holes where they wanted them because it looked like the motor would be to far back. On the driver side I removed the track bar mount bolt that went through the original 2.9 motor mount hole and bolted the v8 mount through that hole. Done.
So on the passenger side this is the original mount hole that I assumed they wanted the measurements taken from.

This where their measurements got me and the hole I was suppose to cut.


And instead this is the hole I drilled. Its 2" down and 1" rear of the original hole.

I then slotted it upwards another 1/2" so I could have some wiggle room.
This is where they ended up.


So not where Duff intended I dont think but motor sits in there perfect. The oil pan sumps are centered over the cross member also so we will call it good.



So now this is where I am as of tonite.....



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcBNpQTV9jU&t=30s

 

[mavereq]

Looks great Brian

 

[deathbypsi]

Good day today.

After rolling the axle under truck I could clearly see the engine cross member would need some trimming. Handled that today by chopping off most of the two lower lips then cut a plate out of the old tcase skid plate to box it.




Then I bolted up the arms and started measuring for the frame brackets



Got it on the wheels! Holy shit its tall....but, no interior inside, no trans,no tcase,no bumper,etc. Im sure it will drop as I keep adding more weight to it so no worries. Coils are pretty soft and I can lean on it and drop it 2-3"

 

[RangerSVT]

Nice work. Ive got a 90 B2 i got a couple months ago. Still trying to decide what route i want to go with it...

SVT