92 isuzu pickup budget build

[cheesefacedogbone]

forgot. After playing with the suspension some, I lowered the front a bit, and I took the grille out to see What I can do with different headlights. the front view looks a little meaner now. Ill post some pics tomorrow

[cheesefacedogbone]

well here we are. this pic is with the bump stop, torsion arm and shock removed. this is as far up as the stock suspension will allow it travel. the Lower control arm is pressed against the frame. The problem is i am still About 4 inches from where I want it to set. So I figure notching the control arm to allow it to go further up will help , but I also think a body drop is in order. Its a bit of work, but its another 2-1/2"- 3" of drop without any suspension mods. If I z the frame, its gonna put the bottom edge of the wheel 3-1/2" above the bottom of my frame rails at my desired stance. Which is a shit ton to make up for with tire size. Note: the 4" lower, is just for being layed all the way out on bags, I understand it really wont be too much drivable at that height.



lol its gonna look pretty crazy. it looks like the max I need to flare the fenders out is about 2-1/2" to have the lip flush with the top of the rim. the rear will be easy, because the flares are long and it wont be too difficult to make them look relatively natural. The front is tricky because you have such little room behind the wheel arch to flow the shape into the door. I have a couple ideas though. Also , in the pic above, notcie how the lines on the bed dont match up with the cab. this seems pretty common, if not normal on these trucks. Its just another reason to do the body drop, it would be pretty simple to correct this during that process.



got the other bed corner patch made and welded in. I also fixed the other dings in the bedside.


I primed the bedside tonight, but its dark , so no pics.

My tailgate looks pretty bad, so i decided to investigate to see what I was up against.



lol. well I knew it was pretty well fucked, there are rust holes inside in out but somebody had done somthing to the bottom of the outside and I was curious as to what.

lol. I have no idea what this patch panel could have came off of. Its barely welded at all which probably led to all the rest of the rusting. So oh well, I guess my tailgate is junk and I need another..... At least I learned somthing....

[TrailerTrash]

[StocktonMk3Golf]

I need MOAR .

[cheesefacedogbone]

a couple updates.... I did a lot of sanding on the truck truck the other day, and wanted to get something on the bare metal spots before it had to deal with rain. So, 75% of the truck is one color now. Still need to patch the other corner of the bed and fix a few dings on the other bedside before I prime it.



note: the flat white is only for construction purposesonly and not the color I intend on keeping it. I have 3 or 4 gallons of the stuff. Im just using it to get the truck all one color and keep it that way throughout the build. That way if I do some work to the fenders or anything, I can just respray them and and it wont be a hodgepodge of primer spots and old paint.

and then this



Im pretty stoked about the wheels. now I can use it to figure out ride height, setup the four link, flare the fenders , and pretty much get this thing really started. I just bolted it up today for a quick glance at how much fender work needs to be done.(oh jeesus)

[cheesefacedogbone]

well my headlight bezel failed. I overheated it while annealing, and now its got some holes in it. so back to the drawing board.

on a positive note, my wheel might show up tomorrow. im excited to see how it fits and how much work needs to be done

[cheesefacedogbone]

Started making the new headlight bezels this morning. I built a hammerform out of wood to get the outer egde shape into the peice, and then used various round things to help me shape around where the lights would go. Its have a lot of smoothing left, but i need to trim out all the excess where the lights will be so It will be easier to work with. I also need to come up with some sort or radiused dolly so I can tuck it in the curves to smooth everything out. The center section between the lights will either be slotted, or cut out. I accidentally cut one edge of it when I was trimming the peice down. so its needs welded up.





I want the truck to have more of a classic look. the bumper will get a redo and probably some sort of lower valance. I havent really had any real good ideas as far as tailights go.

Heres the basic idea for the front. the grille is a HHR bumper insert. It was free, but not really big enough. big and little lights, and some sort of grille in the center.

[cheesefacedogbone]

got the bodywork pretty much dialed in. Still got some wobbliness especially right above the exhaust. Ive gotten so used to using my DA for bodywork, that I cannot stand hand sanding anymore lol. It's supposed to rain tomorrow though, so I wanted to get something on it. I fixed a couple little dings on the rest of the bedside, and sprayed it with my white epoxy primer. I might have to spring for a flatter white. Its too shiny for my taste, but its still tacky so it may dull out some. Its almost a waste of materials though, because Im gonna have to sand it all off when I bring the flares out. oh well. When I spray primer on the rest though, Im definately gonna do it in the paint booth at work. My compressor blows.

[cheesefacedogbone]

woohoo! a wheel is on the way. I could only afford one at the moment but for right now, even if I had 4 I couldnt really run them until I do the suspension and flare the fenders. this wheel will be used for the mockup. It should be here between Wednesday and thursday. We cleaned up the shop today at work and I ended up with some freebies. Ill post pics tomorrow

[cheesefacedogbone]

Got it welded up. I decided to weld up the seems on the back too. They seem relatively unnecessary. Got started on the body work after some more hammer and dolly work.

[Doughroller_13b]

I just scrapped one to a u-pull-n-pay. Tacoma rear end 5 lug swap, pinto shocks, lowering blocks and all.

[baggedisuzu]

let me see if I can make a matching one for the other side first, lol. It wouldnt be much if I made them to sell. I actually built a planishing hammer about 5 years ago, and it wouldnt take much to get it going again, and that would make them go so much quicker. If I get that up and running they should be really quick so I would be able to hook you up. Where abouts are you from.? I see you are in Kentucky. Im in Indiana about 10 minutes from Louisville.

Sweet man, just be sure to let me know! And pikeville ky, I'm about 4 hours away for louisville. I'll get you some pics of where mines dented and PM them to you and see if you can help me out man. I appreciate it!

[cheesefacedogbone]

I got the patch tacked in and also the patch for that side of the bed made and tacked in.



hopefully I can finish the welding tomoorw, and that side will be ready to finish the body work

[cheesefacedogbone]

Haha, man it happens! Mine had one also and I bought a seal and replaced it. I was going to ask you also, how much would you charge to make me some patch panels for underneath taillights like you did yours? I need both sides! My truck use to have a rat rod theme and I'm trying to make it decent again, and I need alot of patches. Only beds around my area are like 600$ and rusted super bad. If you can make me some man I got the $

let me see if I can make a matching one for the other side first, lol. It wouldnt be much if I made them to sell. I actually built a planishing hammer about 5 years ago, and it wouldnt take much to get it going again, and that would make them go so much quicker. If I get that up and running they should be really quick so I would be able to hook you up. Where abouts are you from.? I see you are in Kentucky. Im in Indiana about 10 minutes from Louisville.

[baggedisuzu]

Thanks. Im not sure what brand mine is. All I know is it leaks like crazy. lol. It rained the other day, and I went to the bank and set my wallet on the counter. When I picked it back up, it left a wet mark. That chick probably thinks I have the sweatiest ass ever.

Haha, man it happens! Mine had one also and I bought a seal and replaced it. I was going to ask you also, how much would you charge to make me some patch panels for underneath taillights like you did yours? I need both sides! My truck use to have a rat rod theme and I'm trying to make it decent again, and I need alot of patches. Only beds around my area are like 600$ and rusted super bad. If you can make me some man I got the $