this is what i'm starting with

 

this is what i've gotten done so far. after a good sand blasting and some help from a friend that's good with the paint gun.... gloss black in the engine bay with plans to do a flat white exterior.

 

Any news on the project?

 

got a couple of little things done on the truck. got the headlights back on. all of the little screws holding the light in place were rusted into place. had to use a vice grip to remove them. found replacement screws then cleaned, rust treated, and painted the backing plate that the headlights bolt to. i also got the mr2 seats put in place.... sort of. got all of the fastening hardware fabricated but couldnt weld them in place cause the mig was out of gas. i got the door panels and dash pad dropped off to the upholstery shop to get redone in black.

 

and these are the wheels that are going on the truck. 17x7

 

Slick rims. Looks good so far

 

Looking good.

 

got the front suspension out. not sure if i'm going to clean it up and replace all of the worn parts and paint it or try to put the rx7 front suspension i have sitting around under the truck.

 

Is that a mgb notch back you have sitting next to your truck

 

why yes it is. my buddy, who owns the shop i'm working on my truck at, has maybe 8 mg's. they are all in different stages of restoration.

 

How difficult will it be to use the rx7 suspension and what are the benefits?

 

These suspensions are awesome. They can be modded for bigger brakes, and handle very well with the arms aiming up from the crossmember

 

i'd have to narrow the rx7 sub-frame about 4 inches and make a few points to bolt the sub-frame to. the hardest part will be making the mounting points for the struts. been throwing around the idea of a cantilever(sp?) setup. rx7 suspension has aluminum arms, and over all much lighter. it comes with 4 piston calipers. it also has the steering rack in the front which will be helpfull when i wedge the v8 into the engine bay. the ls oil pan sits low in the rear and the stock steering will be in the way. i'm sure people have gotten it to work but i'd like to put it as low and far back as possible. if anyone has pics or a link to pics from underneath of a v8 in one it would help me make up my mind.

 

picked up the door panels today. still need to paint the handle and window crank but will get that done soon.

 

Looks nice. Post some installed pics later.

 

No work done in the truck in a while. I have been collecting parts though. I got a t56 transmission, the v6, and fuel management system I'm my possession. Next on order are head studs and gaskets. One those are in I'm going to refresh the engine a bit and put it in the truck.

 

finally got a little time to work on the truck. got the motor pulled from the donor vehicle. chevy vortec 4.3l v6 from a 2000 blazer. bolted up the transmission and set it in the truck to see what needs to get done to make it work. i will have to do a few trans tunnel modifications. i put the mighty max springs in. put the wheels on for fitment. 17x9 up front with a 245/40 and 17x10 in the rear with a set of 315/35. going to need to make some sort of flare. the front will settle in a little bit more once the motor is complete and the rest of the front end is back together. once i figure out what the ride height will be in the front i will get a better idea on how much to lower the rear.

 

That's awesome. It should boogey down the road pretty quick. How close is the inside of the rear tire to the wheel tub or frame or whatever is closest? Looks great tho.

 

Almost no room at all. So when i put the 8.8 rear axle in it i plan on making it maybe 2 inches wider than the stock axle. I am also going to put a panhard bar to prevent any side to side movement.

 

Sweet setup. Should work really well. I found out that addco makes front and rear hilux sway bars. Front is larger than stock. I also found rock auto to have poly sway bar mounts and a few poly bushings. I bet with all that itd be on rails with enough tire. And you have that