no name B2

[CheapThrillEX]

Queen Bee2

haven't got a name for her yet but this is what i got so far

D44 HP w/3.54 open= will be shortened on the pass side with Chrome moly EB shaft

1986 B2 Frame

you might remember this frame from its previous life

and the 1987 B2 Body

Progress so far i have modified the firewall to work with the pedal assm and the dash from a 91 Ex as well as i installed the heater assm inside and outside of the firewall. Gonna start stripping the frame here the next few days as well as get the drivetrain out of the explorer

 

[410Fortune]

Nice!

Why shorten the D44? I would leave it full width myself

My truck does not have a name and I have driven her for 13+ years......just never happened

 

[CheapThrillEX]

alot of the trails we run are to narrow for full width, and i wanna keep my 8.8 out back being i just geared it to 4.88 (may have my D35 w/ 4.88's and an aussie up for sale soon) and got disc brakes for it, i'll just put some wheel spacers/lug conversions on it to match the frt 5x5.5

 

[CheapThrillEX]

well after alot of thinking, measureing etc...i have decided to just go Full width on my B2........

with that said heres an update

got the frame seperated

got a bunch of the barckets and what not removed from the frame

explorer getting stripped

my new D44, the other one was a f250 8 lug and had a broken Right axleshaft, picked this one up for $150 and it came with good shafts, the arms, well you can see it for yourself.........i plan on reusing the stock radius arms with the b2

 

[CheapThrillEX]

mocking up the frt axle for now, gotta reposition the coil buckets yet and getting my bushing kit for the frt axle from broncograveyard tomorrow

those are not the coils i'm using, the red ones on the left are the coils that i will be using

i also got a good core support and fneder support from another donor, so i ended up drilling 100 spot welds twice today......that sucked

 

[rookieshooter]

This is going to be good.

 

[CheapThrillEX]

donors gettting loaded and off to scrap

fender and core support removed

fender and core support from donor cab

got the old 87 style dash and seats out and installed dash and seats from a 91 Explorer

 

[CheapThrillEX]

short on funds so i thought i'd do the grunt work thats time consuming and cheap

its a real PITA cleaning off 21 years of Michigan

 

[CheapThrillEX]

frame is painted, starting to do final mock up of the axle and getting the susp squared away

i alos got the top end of my motor torn down and will be reassm. this weekend and getting that on the frame

 

[rookieshooter]

Lookin real bad already! Those coils look really huge in diameter of coils.

 

[CopyKat]

Looking good Jon.

Those the Sj 8" coils you were running on the explorer?

 

[CheapThrillEX]

Looking good Jon.

Those the Sj 8" coils you were running on the explorer?

yeah the red coils are 8" SJ coils, gonna use them for now, and later after i get most the bugs worked out of the truck i'll get some XJ coils so it will flex

taken a break for dinner and a little interent time.........heres what i am working on tonite

nothing is finished, still in the design process

 

[CheapThrillEX]

forgot a pic a few steps back

had to repair the body mount holes on the rear four.........very common in MI B2's that i have owned/ workerd on

 

[CheapThrillEX]

the steering linkage is just their to keep the tires apart and so i can roll it around, i cut the end off at the pitman to attach a normal style tie rod at the pitman so it would bolt up, just for moving around purposes only, i plan on using the steering set-up from a 78-79 FS bronco in the long run,

the radius arms are at the stock length for the stock truck, it puts them right where the tranny x member will be, roughly same length as duff arms

the radius arm mounts are in no way even close to being finished, i need to get the trans and tcase in to see where my driveshaft will sit

i may redo the coil spring mounts all together, but if i don't i plan on runnning truss's on the three sides not currently supported

NOTHING is even close to being were it will when i am done

 

[410Fortune]

hell yeah keep it up.

What is the fix you are talking about for the rear 4 body mount holes?
All I see in an upside down truck???

 

[CheapThrillEX]

sorry wrong pic lol..........

the holes get opened up and the metal surroounding them gets very thin and weak, so the body mount can slip through the frame rail, no real support

 

[CopyKat]

had to repair the body mount holes on the rear four.........very common in MI B2's that i have owned/ workerd on

Michigan isn't the only place that is common with that problem

The only set i didn't have to do were the two rear ones.

 

[MoabB2]

Tuning in...

Looking good so far!

 

[CheapThrillEX]

all my mount brackets were like that, but i had another frame here that came on a parted out truck that had all good brackets (frame came from southern Indiana, they must not have that problem) so i stole all the brackets from that frame and put them on mine(minus the rear two of cousre)

Got my rear brake line ran, got the fuel lines run, radius arms and trans crossmember finished for now (i'm sure i'll change it again later)

the Steering is set-up,

i still need a gas tank, front carrier (3.90+) axle shafts, need to shorten the frt driveshaft, and get my wheel adapters for the rear and a lot of other loose ends to tie/buy up

 

[CheapThrillEX]

yeah i was gonna wait till saturday to put the body on.......i just can't wait to get the rear tires on with the wheel spacers to see how it really looks