4 door B tow pig.

I am about to start a second project. Well I guess since I already bought parts trucks to start with I really already started. I know that I will need a truck to tow my roadster project with so instead of buying a full size I thought why not build a Mazda that can handle towing the roadster on a trailer. So I decided to build a 4 door B series that will do the job. as many have found out getting a 4 door cab out of Australia or other parts of the world is a tall task that takes a long time and a lot of cash. So while I am am pursuing that option I am also planning on making one from available 86-93 B series parts. I have made a 4 door before way back in 1988. I stretched one for my buddy. On that one we just flipped another cab backwards and grafted them together. But on this one I want it to look more like it was made that way. So I bought a non running whole truck with a title to use as the base for this project. I also bought another gutted truck for the cab and doors. Plus I need the bed to be longer than a short bed. I looked for a long bed for a while but in Texas they are nowhere to be found. So I am going to use the front of a reg cab bed and the back of an ex cab bed. It should make a bed that is about 6" or so longer than a reg cab bed. I may even do some more fab and make it longer. I need the length of the bed to look just right.

This red truck is the truck I bought for the base of this project.

This red truck is the one I bought for the base of this project. It's a 1990 reg cab B2200. So it's old enough that it does not need to have the emissions tested.

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This is the one I stretched for a buddy way back in 1988. So I have done this before.

more photos

Now the first thing I learned on this project was that the door is higher at the back and the body line at the top tapers down at the front. So when you turn a door around you will have issues with the top of the door and the body line. Knowing these facts ahead of time allows me to plan ahead to cut doors and reverse the panels. I think I am going to cut the doors at the top and swap sides so the lines match up with the bed. I may even use bed sides to get the lines right. Either way the doors will look like they were made from the factory that way.

the next issue is the curved edges of the front and back of the doors. I want the front and back doors to be right up against each other like a true 4 door would. That means I will have to cut the front and back doors and have a straight line to match them up. The other issue is glass. I did find some glass from a 2000 model Mazda MPV van rear doors that should work fine. I will have to severely mod the window frames but it will work. I am going to pull the cab and set it on a frame table/jig and start on it before I do anything else as the length of the cab has to be determined before I do anything else. And since I can't have custom curved glass made I figure the door length also depends on the glass so i will have to make the door glass channels first, then if I need to cut the doors I will. Once I have the rear doors started I will know the cab length.

You have commented plenty on my truck...

Ya the rear doors and glass have been the most difficult for me..

I have a plan but I don't want to post until I know if it works...

I'm supposed to have a real Aussie cab in my garage soon for my friends build and if it shows up and he isn't just talk I'll take some pictures...

I thought long and hard .. I couldn't think of a way to use USA parts and not have a space between the doors..

Here is a picture of what I trying to do

Tip the front back to vertical and add to the rear so the glass can be straight. .

If done right I can just cut down my stock glass from the front doors and make it square

Tempered glass? Good luck trying to cut it.