Mods
Swapped a 1985 Mitsubishi 4d55t diesel motor with 220k into my 1991 Mazda B2600i 4x4 pickup
Build story
So... In November of 2018 I bought a 1991 Mazda B2600i 4x4 for $600. I soon realized it had no heat, and I discovered this was due to no thermostat. After I installed a thermostat I quickly discovered there was a crack in the radiator. This led me to look further, and find out the head gasket was bad. So after having the machine head shave it(despite them advising me it had already been shaved too many times) I reassembled it and... It was never proper. I learned the earlier b2600s were Mitsibishi-powered. Which meant I could bolt up one of their diesels. So at this point I have $700 into the pickup and radiator. In December of '18 I found a 1985 Dodge Power Ram 50 with 220k miles on it for $900. After realizing the previous owner was running 12v straight to some 6v glowplugs, I threw in a new set and it fired right up. Which led me to decide to forgo a rebuild, which was my original plan, and jump right in to my build. I found a Mitsibishi-powered Mazda oilpan and bellhousing(the 2 oem parts I needed to do this)online from a junkyard and started taking apart my Mazda. I had a core transmission lying around, so I threw the Mitsubishi bellhousing on and attempted to bolt the motor to the transmission. I found out that the input shafts of the mazda-powered trucks were 14mm longer, and the bellhousing was 14mm deeper. I decided rather than tearing down the transmission to have the input shaft shortened I would cut the back out of my mazda-appropriate bellhousing and make a spacer. It had the machined side to seal the transmission and the boss for the input shaft seal. I documented my freehand machining and included those pics. After Dowling the 2 bellhousing pieces together, I bolted the transmission together. \r
Then I had to make a custom oil pickup tube before sealing the motor up with a new gasket set and Bolton it to the transmission with a new clutch installed. Once the engine was bolted up I made some motor mounts out of 3\\16" angle iron. Then I made some custom radiator hoses with exhaust tubing and radiator hoses, then I made adapters to use hydraulic hoses I could have made locally for power steering hoses. For 9 months I ran straight exhaust that dumped right under the passenger seat. I finally made me some custom exhaust to dump just before the rear wheels. I started driving this truck in late February early March of 2019. After buying both pickups($600 and $900), selling the shell of the Dodge for $300, buying new clutch, radiator, gasket set, glow plugs, tires, and countless $50 trips to Napa, I was into the project for $2100. In August I decided to turn it into my service truck for my small motor repair business. $300 for toolboxes and metal, $100 for graphics, and my grand total was $2500. Subtract the $ I made last year with it and I paid myself $500 to build it. Lol #filthy
Then I had to make a custom oil pickup tube before sealing the motor up with a new gasket set and Bolton it to the transmission with a new clutch installed. Once the engine was bolted up I made some motor mounts out of 3\\16" angle iron. Then I made some custom radiator hoses with exhaust tubing and radiator hoses, then I made adapters to use hydraulic hoses I could have made locally for power steering hoses. For 9 months I ran straight exhaust that dumped right under the passenger seat. I finally made me some custom exhaust to dump just before the rear wheels. I started driving this truck in late February early March of 2019. After buying both pickups($600 and $900), selling the shell of the Dodge for $300, buying new clutch, radiator, gasket set, glow plugs, tires, and countless $50 trips to Napa, I was into the project for $2100. In August I decided to turn it into my service truck for my small motor repair business. $300 for toolboxes and metal, $100 for graphics, and my grand total was $2500. Subtract the $ I made last year with it and I paid myself $500 to build it. Lol #filthy