Turbo Rotary Mazda B2600i Minitruck Build!

mymmeryloss

Member
:
13bT Mazda B2600i
New member here from Colorado with a build i think u guys might be interested in and be able to help me out with.

a couple of pics from throughout the build so far since i have owned the truck.

bought it stock a little over 2 years ago..

progress..
first bagged on chevy z71 wheels and painted infinity g35 blue
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then body dropped it to the rocker(yes i cut off the pinch and it lays body)
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lays hard...

then sealed with a tinted pink sealer for a sparks in the ozarks in bentonville arkansas( was supposed to be temporary but u know how that goes)

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all shaved. no gas door, no tailgate, smooth roll pan...

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and the beginning of tear down..
it all started with wiring up and tucking my city lights and wiring..

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its bagged on all four corners with Slam re7's, parker valves front back side to side. bodydropped 3 1/2 inches to the rocker. its got 08 escalade wheels on it right now and a custom back half with modified stock upper a arms.
its got a 10 gallon tank and a viair compressor with a spun aluminum fuel cell.

plans are to finish shaving the firewall and hide everything.

no brake lines visible, no power steering, no wiring, no clutch lines... nothing but plug wires.

then i am installing some trailer fenders under the hood and smoothing them into the firewall. also gonna shave the taillights and figure out some leds or something or possibly just run no taillights(i havent decided yet)..

i am running a wilwood reverse clutch and brake assembly with a master cylinder delete so i will have nothing on the engine side of my firewall.

then after the Forbidden Fantasy show in march i am doing a rotary TT or single turbo swap in it with another wire tuck.

plans after this are to do a rear cantilever setup on the rear and possibly an IRS of an rx7 also with new control arms in the front and a little more custom frame work.

then i have been planning a sheetmetal dash and center console into a speaker box in the rear with custom door panels and all the goods.

there is a lot more, but this is my immediate plans as funds provide and given time between shows..

i have also converted to rhd and am looking for a steering box from a rhd b series truck or a ford courier if anyone has means of locating one, please lemme know.
 
i shaved my winshield wipers and my vents on my cowl so its smooth, well it will be after a little more welding and some body work, but by the time its painted itll look nice..

also degreased and washed my engine with a toothbrush for about 4 hours so its ready to go back in.

also did some more welding on the firewall and cleaned and painted my frame and some of the old welds up.

i did a powersteering delete also so i have no p/s reservoir and no power steeing lines cluttering up my engine bay and i also added reducers on my valves so they drop slower.
 
my buddy cleaning up some of the edges..
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tacked into place..
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me doing what i do..
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all welded in( well the top atleast)...
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also shaved my cowl for s**** and gigs..
no more windshield wipers or cowl vents..
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and just a cool shot with the welder and my truck..
late night welding session.
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just waiting on my trailer fenders and gotta remove the whole cab to weld into the tranny tunnel. then i have to cut a hole for the steering column and mount my brakes and clutch and gas pedal and clean and paint a few things, then the engine will go back in for the time being and maybe get a coat of paint on her by time for FFF in march.
 
So weather permitting i finally got to tackle a few things i have been needing to get done that have been holding up putting the engine back in.

My plan was to tub the firewall to fit 20's and get my steering figured out...

i also have started a RHD conversion but i believe i am going to have to convert my whole steering since i cant figure a way to get my factory steering box to work with my frame. But thats neither here nor there.

on to the pictures...

flap disced some paint off to fix the rear skin that i drug off and welded her back up. just need to do a little filler and hammer and dolly to bring it back to true..
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heres the hole for the steering b4 i decided i was going to go ahead and do rhd..
it just metal, no worries
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heres the process for swapping from usdm steering to rhd using the stock linkage...
now if only i can figure out a steering box or i am thinking of going with a tacoma steering since i am planning on going 5 lug anyway. but the point is, that this can be done just flipping the stock components..

bye bye ugly ass steering box..
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unbolt the whole linkage and flip it
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now all u have to do is pull some cotter pins and take off some crown nuts and make it all fit lol :shock:

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man that thing is big and ugly.. glad itll never be used again on this truck..

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well that would almost work, except not...

gotta move some things to the back to clear for the up and downness(is that a word?)

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shaved some useless brackets off the frame to mount the steering box.. now i just have to find a steering box to work or like i said just change it out for a completely different setup, but like i said, this can be made to work..

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i thought i was going to have to swap sides for the flip, but these stay...

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i think that'll tuck 20's, now lets cap it in and tub it...

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the batteries died in the camera so no actual progress pics, but this is what i did:

i used 18 gauge for the tubs because its more maleable than the 16 ga. i used for the firewall.

i cut out a piece that was 10 inches wide for overlap and 19 inches long so i could mold it into the bottom side of the cab.

then i tacked it in a few places starting at the top and worked down trying to weld on the back side for a cleaner looking weld and less grinding.

then i used some cardboard and traced out the arch and the flat edge of the firewall to build filler pieces.

i wanted more shape to these than just flat so i cut a triangular piece to tie it all together...

here is the finished product all welded up. it was kinda pointless, since none of this will be seen when its all said and done, but i know its there, and that its done right..

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also notice the filled hole in the firewall just stitch welded as to not warp the sheetmetal..

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i had to figure out a way to tie the bottom of the firewall back to the stock sheetmetal for that clean look and also for rigidity and to seal the whole thing up tight so i scored the metal with a cutoff wheel and bent it back...

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and welded in..

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and heres my inner fender concept that i have never seen done b4 with a tandem trailer fender. 8 inches off the bottom and cut in half. now it just needs 5 inches sectioned out of it and brought all back together then they can be welded in also and boxed into my fenders...

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making sure everything still lines up and getting measurements for my inner fender tubs..

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now thats fitment... just wait till im tuckin 20's :cool:

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now whats in store for next weekend is to get all my welds ground smooth and tub the passenger(new driver) side and get the inner fenders cut and welded in and frenched into the firewall. then i have to figure out my steering and brake mounting for my pedals and clutch and then hopefully work on getting the engine lined out to go back in..

thanks for tuning in and i promise to keep updating as long as u guys r interested..

if anyone has any idea on a steering box or thinks i am missing something, please feel free to let me know..
 
well i sold my engine to a buddy so as of right now i am looking for either a s4 s5 or 13btt rotary swap since i am being forced into going headfirst into this rotary thing lol.

if anyone knows any good sites for mazda engines hit me up or if anyone has a 20b cheap i would love u forever...
 
alright, well i got a bit done today. im getting down to final details on this firewall project and we all know the little s*** is what takes the most time. and there was not enough beer or time today to get it all done, but i did make some headway.

on to pics and hopefully the last things i have to do to this firewall b4 i mount my steering and my brakes, clutch and gas pedals..

ok, so i had already tubbed the old driver side(now the passenger side, yay) so i needed to tub the new driver side and make it work to have enough room for all the pedals, which seems easy, but its not when running big wheels..

so i really didnt want to tackle this project. probably the reason i left it for last..

anywho, heres how i did it, if anyone wants to lay out on 20's or bigger on ur civic, heres how u can do it too lol..

alright, so first u will want to cut out the existing sheetmetal. in my case, this truck had already been tubbed for 18's before and i really didnt like the way that we had done it. it was pretty half assed imo.
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now i needed to trim the edge so i can turn corners when im laid out driving so i dont puncture my tires, so i took some out of it to match the other side and try to keep these things looking as close to the same as possible..
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then i put my wheel on and jacked up the suspension to check clearance. i overcompensated from my 18's with a tire to make sure a 20 with a tire will fit without any rubbing issues. then i cut out a piece of 16 ga. sheetmetal again 10"x20" and bent it over my knee and tacked it into place. whatever excess u have will later be trimmed off with a cutoff wheel or a plasma or whatever u have to get the job done..
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cradboard is a sheetmetal guys' best friend. i use it to make templates b4 i cut the metal out. so much easier and cheaper to fix cardboard than sheetmetal.
always measure and check s*** out a few times before actually cutting the metal out. and cut big. metal an always be trimmed down.
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i try to weld everything up from the inside, and i use the stitch welding method on a lot of these tubs. a lot of people will say that stitch welding is bad or whatever, but i figure that this isnt a very structural part of the vehicle, so as long as it sticks to the other metal, and i carry a few beads for rigidity it will be sufficient..

this also makes it easier to grind down and keep cleaner and i can put my seam sealer on the indide of the truck to keep things cleaner down the road. even though nobody will ever see these unless they get down on their hands and knees and look, but s*** like this is important to me.


good labeling will save u a lot of grief. a lot of these littler pieces can get sonfusing if u cut more than one at a time, so an easy number or this side up mark will make it easier.
here it is tacked into place. just need one more piece and then u can weld it all up tight.
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here it is all tacked into place. now u can go to town welding it up water tight.
now after i relocate a few things like my ecu, i will be able to mount my pedals and cut a hole in the firewall to mount my steering column.
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here it is all welded up. i welded from the inside of the can and then ran a few stitch welds on the outside to fill holes and things. also there were a few places that the grinder wouldnt be able to reach, so i filled these spots with a weld to help with he smoothing process..
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now on to the grinding. this is what takes forever and is loud and looks completely different the next day when ur sober..

passenger side gorund down and ready for filler..
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driver side ground down and ready for filler. i was more successful in welding from inside the cab on the passenger side, so there was less grinding, and will be less filler. the finished product looks a lot smoother and took a lot less time in the long run.
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now i just have to finish grinding the rest of my welds and get ready to fit my inner fenders. also i have to tuck the rest of the driver side tub to the bottom of the cab and trim the excess and weld that, but the extent of the big work is done..
 
also, if a mod could put all my posts into one so far and put this in the right section.

after i posted this, im thinking its probably in the wrong spot...
 
ya, i am at a complete standstill until i get my engine in, and i wont order it for a couple more weeks: taxes. u know that old chestnut. lol.

i am planning on doing some body work and relocating some wiring and such and repainting a few things.

i have a big show in cali in march and the truck will probably go rolling chassis to it, so no rush really.

idk, it just eats at me that its just sitting and wants to be driven so badly and i have so many parts just waiting to be mocked up.

but it is on the ground again laid out with the full front end on, so like i siad, i need an engine badly..

thanks for all the good comments guys!
 
Nice build. I had an old '86 Toyota Pickup and I was thinking of going this route with a 2JZ motor. Well that never panned out, now I have a '09 Tacoma and I'm going the opposite direction.

So what are you looking for in the engine department? Being an RX owner myself I'm curious.
 
well, i may have complicated things a bit much, but being a fabricator, i want to make it work.

the truck is converted to rhd minus the steering box which i am trying to source and everyone keeps telling me i cant go rhd with a 13b turbo because the turbo mani is in the way, but i believe there is a way to accomplish this, but if not, no sweat.

anywho, the plan is a 13b of some sort.

right now i am thinking an s5 turbo II engine, but i really want to figure out a way to put the 3 rotor 13bTT in there out of the fd.

either way i know im going to have to make a custom turbo mani since the camber issues on the front wheels are probably going to sit too close to the turbo, but like i said i wont be able to tell until i totally decide on an engine and actually get it micked up in the bay.

any suggestions?

i am going to be running a brake booster delete with wilwood clutch and brake setup that runs the m/c and clutch m/c inside the cab and will ease the complication of the rhd conversion quite a bit i believe, so thats one step in the right direction on that and all my fuel, brake, and clutch lines as well as my wiring will be tucked and hidden out of the way, so i shouldnt have to worry about heat on these parts.

i just need an engine, and firstly to decide on which one i want to get.

2 rotor or 3 rotor. single turbo or twin. and which generation engine also.

like i said, i am leaning towards the s5 swap.

any pros or cons to anything mentioned would be greatly appreciated.
 
Okay, well first, a few clarifications:

2-rotor engines:
13B = N/A 6-port engine out of S4/S5 (FC)
13BT = single turbo 4-port engine out of S4/S5 (FC-TII)
13B-REW = twin turbo 4 port engine out of S6+ (FD)
13B-RE = twin turbo 4 port engine out of JDM Cosmo
13B-MSP = side port 'Renesis' engine out of RX-8's

3-rotor engine:
20B = twin turbo engine out of JDM Cosmo (option)

20B's are expensive. Swaps into RX-7's edge upward of $20k without including labor. As for the other motors, there are slight variations between S4 and S5 turbo and non-turbo engines, S5's making the greater power in both forms. The RX-8 engines are only naturally aspirated but make more power then any FC engine and are capable of spinning 9k+ RPM.

Plenty of options to consider. What are your goals for power, torque, etc?
 
Okay, well first, a few clarifications:

2-rotor engines:
13B = N/A 6-port engine out of S4/S5 (FC)
13BT = single turbo 4-port engine out of S4/S5 (FC-TII)
13B-REW = twin turbo 4 port engine out of S6+ (FD)
13B-RE = twin turbo 4 port engine out of JDM Cosmo
13B-MSP = side port 'Renesis' engine out of RX-8's

3-rotor engine:
20B = twin turbo engine out of JDM Cosmo (option)

20B's are expensive. Swaps into RX-7's edge upward of $20k without including labor. As for the other motors, there are slight variations between S4 and S5 turbo and non-turbo engines, S5's making the greater power in both forms. The RX-8 engines are only naturally aspirated but make more power then any FC engine and are capable of spinning 9k+ RPM.

Plenty of options to consider. What are your goals for power, torque, etc?
well god knows i would love a 20b swap, i mean who wouldnt. but its just not in the cards.

the goal here really inst power, just something extra for people to look at and be like wtf kind of motor is that? is that stock, ya know?

i think i will be happy with the stock numbers for now, but i am one of thsoe people that cant leave well enough alone ya know? so it will probably be upgraded eventually. i just want to get it in and running first.

i am leaning towards the 13bt out of the fc turbo II, but i would really loveto go TT. any suggestions on that if it will work or what i would have to do with a turbo mani or if it would work with the rhd conversion or not?

Can't believe I missed you posting this up over here...good to have you here...
hey buddy. ya, this place seems cool.

how often u on here?
 
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