so ive been debating making a thread since i started the build back in september but never got round to it. i come on the forum very often to look at other build so though i may aswell just do it, plus its always nice to hear what people think. i bought the car back in march 2016 and it sat on my drive for 6 month doing nothing before i finally started wokring on it. originally it was a mazda b2500 diesel n/a was soo slow but it did a bit of a burnout and was pretty good for £500. i stripped it over a weekend and began working on what i thought wouldnt take to long but how i was wong. i bought the full running gear from an e36 for £80 and began trying to make it fit i then bought an m52b25 and tried to make that fit so here we are the bmw running geared mazda pickup (just a random collection of pictures i have). will hopefully keep this as updated as i can. {} {} {} {}
 so got a few things done this weekend made an adapter to move the shocker closer to the wheel so it didn't fault the chassis rail. Also started the removable front end. {} {} {}
Not to throw a giant kink in your plan or anything, but the wideblock(I believe) 4g63 motors can bolt right up to these trucks. In any case keep going, I strongly support drift truck action
I didn't know that would have been pretty cool to run a 4g63 but there pretty expensive compared this m52 I payed £150 for and complete running gear cost me about the same. Joys of knowing a BMW breaker I suppose
lost alot of motivation recently so things are going pretty slowly. removed all subframes so that i can clean them up and pain them and also finish some welding off. spent a whole night lying on my back with tig welder was the least fun thing ive ever done but is finished now. ive managed to secure the lights to the front bash bar and fitted some led colour changing angel eyes. tubbed the front end and also finished my bulkead. ive made the bulkhead removable so tha in the future if i ever need access to the back of the engine which is now about 300mm further back than the original one i can easily do this just by removing the bulkhead. also ordered the pain for the front end and some components so ill get it all painted next time the weather is deecent. the list of stuff to get done is slowly getting smaller but i think i just need a kick to keep myself going. my goal is to get a pedal box made and mounted by the 1st of may {} {} {} {} {}
So finally getting somewhere now. Starting to finish everything off and put it all back together and tick the last few things off the list but here's some pics of it recently. Sadly my phones camera is rubbish and I'd be better off taking a photo on a potato {} {} {}
Good attempt at a home build and a lot of work there. Does look like cardboard though when it comes to final finish. Great stuff none the less
Hi bud, building some tube frame bits at the moment, what're you using to bend the tube and any problems with it kinking if it's a cheaper bender? Ta!
just got a bender from machine mart believe its a clarke one. does kink slightly so you just have to make sure that you don't do too shape of a bend but its all trial and error
So shes pretty much done. Powersteering installed radiator bled up had her idling for a while so thought she'd be all got for the first test drive. Half 1 in the morning on Friday I drove it for the first time and I was over the moon almost a year of non stop work is coming together drive pretty good brakes need a bleed but they worked. Reversed it back into my drive and stalled it. Now it won't start and can't figure it out for the life of me any m52 gurus on here able to lend a helping hand as I'm lost now {}
Not posted on here in a long time so thought I'd update the truck. was my daily for 6 months found a lot I wasn't happy with. So it's had a complete new rear end in December 2017. It then did a season of Buxton when I decided to get a 2200 front end which looks alot better in my opinion. The bonnet had a hole in it from the previous owner so I put in a bonnet vent. When I swapped the front end over I also re did the font top mounts and cage, also changed the bulkhead so i have more leg room. {} {} {} I also machined some billet duel caliper brackets. {} Next thing on my list is to get the suspension set up better as the rear is very soft and think my front shocks are going. Going to try and weigh it and then ring driftworks to sort some hsds out.
