I would chop the cab and maybe run a chopped front clip just to keep the Mazda soul.

Well, I've hit a really good point and a stumbling block. Today I got all the wiring harnesses unhooked and off (for sale now) and the radiator off... Basically everything is unhooked, so I'm ready to pull the engine out and away to the dark depth of the garage. It's done it's time, time to give it a rest.


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Also, goodbye bed!!! It's already off and hauled away to the scrap yard. It was way too messed up to ever sell. At least I got enough for a pack of smokes.

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So here's the stumbling block I've hit. I have two roommates, one doesn't know a spark plug from a monkey wrench, my other roommate is just as good with mechanics as I am, but he's in Vegas celebrating his 21st for a few more days. I need his help to lift the cab off the frame (getting the bed off and in the bed of the Ranger was a PAIN IN THE ASS alone, I imagine the cab is a lot heavier.

Tell them to make a trip around and its yours.

Its a shortblock. Needs a rebuild, it will not run at all right now (hole in piston)

No oil pan, no heads, no timing cover but its a std bore block and a crank. And its free if you can get them to swing on back down for it.

id do a 302 bored to a 306 and stroke it into a 331. thats what i want to do to my mustang next winter. that way its still the same size as a 302 and relatively easy to install in a ranger.

So far that's exactly my plan. Roomie is back in town now.

Does anyone in the North Texas area have an engine hoist I could borrow for a day or so? :biggthump

Ok, I've decide dthat I'm going to chop the cab and use it while I look for a proper tub to use. And If I like the B3000 cab, I may just use it. Here's the thing, do you guys think the back of the tub should have a little lip to it, or keep it the same height as the walls?

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Lip or no?

why cut the cab? or did I miss something?

:hug:

resize your pictures, they are REDICULOUSLY LARGE.

IMO....If your goin for the rat rod look def need to lower it and do a body drop. I would have kept the front end and bed and just had shaved alot of thing, BUT then this is yours and your tastes just throwin in my 2 pennies..lol. i would do the painted steel wheels w the moon caps on them. def. in the modern rat rod family!!

Needs a SFBD, roof chopped down a few, 32' Ford 5-window glass made to fit the extended cab sides and rear, filled in body line, shaved mirrors & handles, Ranger styleside bed shaved & narrowed and classic/trailer style fenders over rear wheels, front clip narrowed with older Ford truck (like 39' pickup) front grille or Model A (or a Peterbilt 359 grille narrowed). A 289/302 with pipes through the hood or behind front tires.

Either way, it looks interesting.

^ i agree

love the idea... sounds cool...

Right now I'm planning on chopping the top off the B300 cab all the way around and doing some bondo / fiberglass work over the gaps to make a nice bucket, picking up a 30's bed and throwing it on, shortening the frame in the front, moving the cab back, picking up a 302 and rigging it all up, getting it running and driving so I can enjoy it, in the next month or so. Then as money comes I'll lower it, get a 30's Ford 5 window and possibly a bigger motor.

I am so glad you're keeping the b3000 cab

I thought you said you were gonna keep the 3.0 for senamental values?? Though i think the V-8 swap would be better.

good luck

I really fought for it but it's just way too much hassle for what it's worth. I was trying to think of a way to carb the 3.0 so I could get the clean look, but I'd be forced to run the fuel injection which means wires and crap running everywhere, plus all the crap from the computer, ect ect... A v8 is just more feasible.

sounds like a better idea to keep the cab, then it really is still a mazda...
then you can drop a v8 in it and will be bad ass, i liked the idea of the 3.0 but all rat rods have the power to lack the beauty that there missing...

i think rat rods are sexy though that just me... or it could be the rockabilly girls that come with them....

This project is officially on hold indefinitly thanks to this:

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https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ad.php?t=79233

as long as she has insurance you shouldnt pay for anything

I'm probably going to have to pay for my truck, because there was some b/s and dropped emails and unbeknownst to me my truck wasn't added to my policy, and so it's not insured and past the 30 day limit.

Interesting, I now have offical sponsorship on this project. My friend own a body shop and he is going to help me bag the truck, even chip in on the cost, so long as I advertise the shop somewhere on the finished truck and let them drive it once in awhile :-p

sweet deal!