Mazda B-serieses. The year of the minitruck.

[Dez]

Jun 23, 2024 17:14:08 GMT slackerTHEpinstriper said:

You could have called into my unit while you were at Joe's, literally 5 mins away.
I think I helped him get the red truck back to his after it had been at our yard for welding??

I bought it off his mate Scott so it’s a local truck. It needs further welding to be right.

[Dez]

Glovebox lid fitted up so that’s one glaring omission sorted-


Light grey sill plates and door bits-




Swapped for dark grey-




Much better. In the medium term the door cards and seat will be getting retrimmed, so I’m not too concerned about those for now.

Floppy plastic rear window-


Swapped out for a glass one stolen from the other truck. Always stressful fitting such a large flat bit of glass, especially knowing the last owner broke the last one trying to refit it, but it stringed in ok.


And you’ll also notice the bed has been fitted. Not bolted down yet, but it’s more for me to assess condition and start welding and dent knocking.
Disappointingly unlow to say it’s already lowered around 4”, but I’ve got the suspension to swap over yet.




I quite like how the stainless exhaust has been made
To enter one of the cutouts for the US spec rear step brackets.


I’ve got a rockauto order in for some brake parts and a few other sundries/fancy bits, but I cant put off the impending welding for much longer now…

[mylittletony]

90s graphics please!!

[Davey]

Well this will be good. Shame about the 13b but different floats and all that. Down for the ride.

[Dez]

Jun 24, 2024 8:53:28 GMT mylittletony said:

90s graphics please!!

I have a graphics idea (a long way away, paint won’t be for a while) but it’s not 90s style. I don’t like graphics that ignore the existing body likes like the 90s stuff does.

[Dez]

Jun 24, 2024 11:56:06 GMT Davey said:

Well this will be good. Shame about the 13b but different floats and all that. Down for the ride.

I don’t really get the rotary hype tbh. I understand why it ‘works’ in this, but if I want a bigger engine in one a small block Chevy is the better choice every single time. I may take it that far, but tbh they’re not really for going fast in.

[Davey]

Jun 24, 2024 14:44:55 GMT Dez said:

Jun 24, 2024 11:56:06 GMT Davey said:

Well this will be good. Shame about the 13b but different floats and all that. Down for the ride.

I don’t really get the rotary hype tbh. I understand why it ‘works’ in this, but if I want a bigger engine in one a small block Chevy is the better choice every single time. I may take it that far, but tbh they’re not really for going fast in.

I am the type of person that buys an engine for the noise it makes alone. Rotary, Good. SBC, GOOD! However as always whatever you do will far outshine my limited inspiration.

[mylittletony]

Jun 24, 2024 14:43:12 GMT Dez said:

Jun 24, 2024 8:53:28 GMT mylittletony said:

90s graphics please!!

I have a graphics idea (a long way away, paint won’t be for a while) but it’s not 90s style. I don’t like graphics that ignore the existing body likes like the 90s stuff does.

I think I got my decades mixed up after some google-ducation - 80s graphics please!

Also, 6 wheeler, double cab, removable targa top while you're in there

[Tylerman]

I had a wee B2200 years back, bought from my mother-in-law’s neighbor who had a career as a ships engineer in the navy, and as a result the underside of the hood looked like a handwritten novel for all of the maintenance notes he had written on it. Sadly I lost it to a drunk driver who ran a stoplight and hit me so hard it bent the frame.
Good luck with this one.

[Dez]

Jun 25, 2024 2:20:35 GMT Tylerman said:

I had a wee B2200 years back, bought from my mother-in-law’s neighbor who had a career as a ships engineer in the navy, and as a result the underside of the hood looked like a handwritten novel for all of the maintenance notes he had written on it. Sadly I lost it to a drunk driver who ran a stoplight and hit me so hard it bent the frame.
Good luck with this one.

That’s a fair old whack, there a pretty tough frame for the size of truck.

[Dez]

Today I did some wiring.
I started by testing everything obviously messed with because trust no one and especially not the work they’ve done on a car.

All the obvious stuff heading to the fuel shutoff solenoid tested ok for continuity so I reconnected it. Still no power to it though.
I then started at the other end and dropped the column plastics off to test the function of the the ignition switch, as they are a known fault on these. That tested ok too.
So next I determined where the wire in the engine bay loom ran back to, I could see it went through the firewall so the options without unwrapping the entire loom were either to the fusebox or up to the dash loom. I figured the former was more likely and found a wire the same colour off the back of the fuse labelled ‘engine’. Hmmmm.
This looked suspect as it had some *mystery wiring* that went to a light on the dash and then disappeared down under the floor mat and along the sill. I still can’t quite figure out what it was for as it wasnt switched at least as far as the back of the cab.
I removed it anyway.


I still had continuity as far as here so I pulled the fuse out just to check. I mean no one would unwrap half the engine bay loom looking for a fault without checking the fuses first, right?


Well yeah it turns out they would. That and the ‘heater’ fuse replaced and it has power to the solenoid, oh and the glow plugs have magically started working (funny that…) so it starts instantly. It runs like a different truck. Absolutely unbelievable 😂

With that lot sorted much quicker than expected I did the stereo wiring.
It had the usual rats next of crimp connectors, half of which had pulled out-


I wired in an ISO, all soldered and heatshrinked, with a new earth fly lead to run up to the mounting bracket.


I noticed this a couple days ago. Those who know will know that that’s a DAB aerial.


So I had a look on eBay as to my options. You can buy a DAB radio for like £30 now. This as good as the only radio station I’ll actually listen to these days is absolute ruddy radio.
But, because I was born in the last century I also quite like to be able to use CDs now and then, as I have loads of them collected over the years. But all the cheaply headunits are mechless.
So random searching lead to find a now discontinued pure model that fulfilled all connectivity and media format criteria without looking aids, and I found one for £45 delivered. I bought it and it turned up next day. Just as I’d finished fixing the wiring funnily enough.


Turns out the whole two speakers I have are upgraded FLI items, which work a lot better if they’re actually screwed to the dash rather than just rammed behind the speaker grilles. I’ll add two more in the optional extra positions in the B pillars at a later date.

[Dez]

Me being me and always thinking 15 steps ahead, I’ve already bought some wheels.

I happened upon them by chance on eBay. 16x8 proper 3 piece splits. When they turned up they’re a bag of curse word with one being cracked and all the ‘legal’ tyres not being very good, but the wheels themselves are perfect in terms of fitment and quite rare in such a size , so i elected to keep them and have them repaired.
I decided right at the start I had to have 16s for the look I want, and I need at least 8” for the tyres to sit right. Not that much tends to come up in that size so for them to be so and actually in a design I liked I jumped on em.

Cracked face on one wheel-


Free nail-


Tbh there’s 3 usable cooper discoverer in 265/big r16 if anyone wants to sort that nail, the 4th is a nankang that’s a bit scrubbed on one edge. But they’ll be cheap.
Obviously the massive tyres are no use to me, so I removed them and tried a wheel on for size.




Offset is pretty much perfect, that little bit of poke will tuck as the camber comes in once lowered.

So I set about splitting them for refurb. Amazingly I didn’t snap a single bolt.


I don’t actually know what they are, other than Japanese made 3 piece splits. They’re nice quality, they have a hint of works or rays about them but aren’t labelled as such. Even the pcd sticker on the back is wrong?!
I think I calculated that the offset is wrong too, it’s more like 20.


This is now at the wheel welder-


The barrels and faces are at the sandblaster. I’ve told him to do the barrels satin black and I’ll paint the faces myself. Then I’ve got to polish the lips, a fun job that I’m really looking forward to 🤣

[75swb]

Missed this: I'm in for the ride. These are still pretty popular over here in NZ, actually, the whole minitruck scene is (albeit with no silencers and over fuelling aplenty), so there's plenty being wrecked if you need smaller parts finding and posting.

[adam73bgt]

Those wheels certainly have a bit of the rays volk racing look about them, 6 stud is handy because there's quite a lot of cool looking splits that seem to come here on imported hiaces and the like but they don't generally command the same silly prices that 5x114.3 stuff does these days

Bookmarked in for this build 😁 if I didn't already have an engine for my MGB I would have been tempted by the 13b 😂

[redratbike]

what sort of power does a standard 13b make??

[rodharris83]

Jun 27, 2024 11:17:23 GMT redratbike said:

what sort of power does a standard 13b make??

Anywhere from 135-280 BHP depending on spec.

Good write up on them here:www.drifted.com/13b-engine/

13B Engine Specs:

Manufacturer: Mazda
Production years: 1973-2011
Block material: Aluminum
Engine weight: 330-337 lbs (150-153 kg)
Displacement: 1,308 cc – 1.3L (79.81 cu in)
Engine type: Wankel rotary engine with naturally aspirated and turbocharged versions
Power: 135-280 hp
Torque: 130-231 lb-ft (180-314 Nm)
Oil change intervals: 7.5 months or 7500 miles (12,000km) (whichever comes first)

[giuliettaevo]

My Work wheels had what seems like exactly the same stickers on them🤔

But that could offcourse be an universal export practice, Japanese script would not be very practical outside of Japan.😅

[Dez]

Jun 26, 2024 23:45:54 GMT 75swb said:

Missed this: I'm in for the ride. These are still pretty popular over here in NZ, actually, the whole minitruck scene is (albeit with no silencers and over fuelling aplenty), so there's plenty being wrecked if you need smaller parts finding and posting.

I’ll bear it in mind, thanks. Tbh up to now I’ve been incredibly lucky finding what I need very locally!

[Dez]

Jun 27, 2024 7:06:31 GMT adam73bgt said:

Those wheels certainly have a bit of the rays volk racing look about them, 6 stud is handy because there's quite a lot of cool looking splits that seem to come here on imported hiaces and the like but they don't generally command the same silly prices that 5x114.3 stuff does these days

Bookmarked in for this build 😁 if I didn't already have an engine for my MGB I would have been tempted by the 13b 😂

6 stud used to be a great source of cheap cool wheels the. Just throw some adapters at them. Not really the case anymore though. They’re not quite 5x114 prices but you still need about 500 for something decent. 10 years ago we were buying them for 50 quid a set!

I reckon the wheels could be part of the raguna/D works stable. I can’t find the exact same model but the details of the bolts and wheel backs make me think this.

[Dez]

Jun 27, 2024 12:11:54 GMT rodharris83 said:

Jun 27, 2024 11:17:23 GMT redratbike said:

what sort of power does a standard 13b make??

Anywhere from 135-280 BHP depending on spec.

Good write up on them here:www.drifted.com/13b-engine/

13B Engine Specs:

Manufacturer: Mazda
Production years: 1973-2011
Block material: Aluminum
Engine weight: 330-337 lbs (150-153 kg)
Displacement: 1,308 cc – 1.3L (79.81 cu in)
Engine type: Wankel rotary engine with naturally aspirated and turbocharged versions
Power: 135-280 hp
Torque: 130-231 lb-ft (180-314 Nm)
Oil change intervals: 7.5 months or 7500 miles (12,000km) (whichever comes first)

I think this one is about 130-140hp. Nothing spectacular, but double the stock power for the truck…