Project $3k BII Official Prebuild Thread

[superds]

Thanks for the information, Richard. That's a lot of good stuff there.

Maybe I could put my 32" tires on this thing and instead get the 35"ers I've always wanted! Probably not, as mentioned I still have about a $0 budget for my own vehicles.

The doubler is a possibility, I have an extra 1354e sitting on my garage floor I could buy a Shiftster for $55 and put on there (and keep it in low range most of the time). I think I need to research this option a bit more. I looked at gears and they ring in at about $700 including the master install kits for D35/8.8 for 4.88 gears. Yikes!

I just wish I could get my hands on the BII I'm going to be building so I can get started! I feel like a kid standing outside a candy store, looking in the window. I want to go in!

 

[4.0B2]

Hmmm...How much lift would one get out of those? Drop brackets aren't the end of the world if I can do it economically.

idk for sure, i know escort_gts had them on his first ranger he sas'ed.. and since i was gonna do the d30 sas, i bought them. then decided to do xj coils.

they are 22" uncompressed tho. and A LOT softer than my RC coils lol. idk, i'm still debating on which coils to use.. the xj's are softer, but may be to soft for my dd'ed b2 lol. nah, i'm using the xj coils lol.

$100 shipped
pm me if you're interested. i have a pic somewhere

 

[superds]

4.0B2, I'll keep that in mind that you have them available but don't hold them for me. I'd like to get the vehicle before I start purchasing parts. It's been really tempting. A guy had a set of 33" Firestone MTs that looked like they had lots of tread left for $250 on CL, I really was hoping no one would buy them before I got the BII, but alas, they were gone in just a couple days.

 

[superds]

Well, small update on the vehicle search, my dad came across this today and apparently it's for sale, according to the shop owner that it was parked near. We're waiting to hear back from the owner but my dad was able to talk to the owner's brother. It's not running, looks like it needs a fuel pump and a battery (and probably some fresh gas) and obviously, a paint job. Other than that, the body is fairly rust free, only some small patches of surface rust, none of the body panels have been permeated by rust like the few others we've seen.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, it's either an '84 or '85, the guy didn't know for sure.

 

[superds]

On second thought, it also needs running boards removed, a lift, some new wheels and tires, Explorer axles...

 

[superds]

Well, my dad bought this one today:

I never got a chance to look at it in person, just the pictures my parents sent me. I have to pick it up this weekend and drag it home. It's got good and bad:

The Good:
$200
They were able to demonstrate that it runs by pouring gas in the carb.
Only surface rust, nothing too serious. I almost feel bad about cutting up the fenders to fit big tires, but I'll get over it.

The Bad:
Apparently needs a fuel pump.
Also it looks like it needs a slave cylinder at the least. You press the clutch pedal down and nothing. Doesn't even spring back into place.

The Ugly:
The 80s paint job burns my eyes.

The clutch doesn't bother me too much, I told my dad I would upgrade to a 4.0 clutch for him anyway.

 

[Sunk]

Looks like a good place to start!

 

[superds]

Thanks, I think it'll do the trick.

I have a good idea what parts I want to buy for the clutch and it's a pretty simple job (I just did this last winter on my Ranger).

I think the first thing after I get it running is to do the body lift and replace the body bushings at the same time. I'll probably pick up both from James Duff, seems like they're reasonably priced. Next, I'll move on to the body trimming and cheap suspension lift. Then tires/wheels. I've decided to leave the stock axles in place until they blow up. This will get him on the trail quicker and figure out what he does and doesn't like so I know what to upgrade next. I'm going to start looking at what other people have done for bumpers to get some ideas.

 

[jhammel85]

I like the bug deflector that matches the back end.

Looks like a great start if you ask me. You're saving an old BII..Awesome.

Looking forward to your build! If you have any questions about the BL, let me know. I just did mine. It's fairly simple, even on an old truck. I had to make my own sleeves because the stockers had to be cut in half. I used some conduit piping and that was that....Just keep an eye out for a brake line junction that's welded to the frame on the driver side. I didn't see it and broke a brake line when I pulled up my body.........

 

[superds]

I like saving old vehicles. I think they still have a place in this world.

Thanks for the heads up on the brake line, I'll watch out for it.

 

[4.0B2]

it has manual hubs!! i kinda like the paint... lol

 

[superds]

I'm more into solid colors myself for paint jobs. I'd really like to eventually paint it Blue Flame (the newer F150 color) or maybe a dark green. But I'll leave it up to my dad to see what he wants.

I forgot to mention, I think that bug deflector is gonna last about 12 seconds before I rip it off.

 

[superds]

Well, got it home last night without too much trouble. I towed it on a tow dolly pulled by my 99 Explorer. I only went about 65 mph with it, towed ok for the most part, a little sluggish getting up to speed and I was going a bit faster than 65 but the transmission kept wanting to downshift if I even sneezed in the wrong direction. So 65 ended up about the speed I could go without the tranny downshifting constantly and pushing the RPMs up. I ended up getting about 13 mpg. Not too bad considering I get 15 mpg normally, I guess it just can't get much worse than it already is!

The BII is lacking a battery so I went out and got an AGM battery from Mill's Fleet Farm for $125. It should work pretty good. I still need to fix the clutch and fuel issue but probably won't have a chance to work on it until next week.

 

[superds]

I've gotten the white/blue BII running, replaced the fuel pump. Still working on fixing the clutch issue on it. I've replaced both the slave and master clutch cylinder but I'm still working on finding a hydraulic hose to go between the two. I've talked to several hydraulic hose shops and several auto parts stores, nobody can make it and nobody lists it in their books!

BTW, I picked up another BII for $600. 1985:

Bonus: Already has a V8 conversion with a C5 and the discontinued Advanced Adapters kit to mate up to the stock tcase.

As an added bonus, it came with this one, 1984:

Please note the "Save" written on the side. It was slated to be picked up by the scrap man but I rescued it from certain demise.