Howdy from North Haltom City

Hi folks,
My name is Mike and I've been away from 4x4's for 20 years. My last 4x4 was a '68 Scout with a 345, 4 spd, about 10" lift (no body lift) and 38" Monster Mudders. I sold it many moons ago to help pay some property taxes.
My dream 4x4 build even before then was to take a little Morris Minor panel truck and make a mini-monster out of it. Well I just bought the body and getting ready to start it. I still have to come up with the running gear but the project is now official.
The restored Morris pic is just for reference for those that don't know what they are. I have to pick up the cab tomorrow

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Welcome to the club.

That is a cool project, what are you gonna use for running gear?

at the moment I have my eyes on some diffs from a mid 80's Suburban. A friend is trying to dig out a a 4 spd that all he knows is it's a toploader and was hooked to a transfer case before he got it. I've located an NP205 for it that was mated to a manual.
I wanted to run a 392 International but as inexpensive as a small block Chevy can be built with all the aftermarket stuff that is the most likely motor. I'm making about a 5" extention between the cab and cargo box to make room for side pipes to come up and over the cab there.
This is a crude concept drawing of what I'm shooting for. Fortunately a good friend of mine has a paint shop in Boyd and I'll be able to do the entire build there.

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That would be a cool Delivery truck. 

I dig it, should be a very interesting build! Welcome me to the site, hope to meet you sometime soon.

Cool! Welcome to the club =)

Welcome - What size tires are you planning to run?

thanks for the many kind words guys. I want to run at least 35's on it. I decided the best way since I need an entire running gear is to find a 70's to mid-80's Chevy/GMC 4 spd truck. By the time I pick up the parts separate I will have more into it I believe. I can always go through everything and I'm planning to fully rebuild whatever motor I get anyways. If any of you see something wrecked or rusted that looks like a good donor please let me know.

Dont forget pictures as it progresses! Would be cool to see how it's coming along.

welcome. cant wait to see it rollin. are you going for street legal or trail buggy?

It will be street legal but I'll be spending a lot of time playing with it and taking it to local car shows. I'll be posting the build as well as videos and once finished I'll bring it out to the events you guys have as well.
Here is a pic of the awning I made over the door of my shop with a Morris hood 

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one more

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That awning is fantastic!

Thanks. It has a bronze basecoat and sponged on the gold for an antique effect

if it pans out I located a running gear from a '85 Chevy 3/4 ton with a toploader 4spd and 8 lug wheels. The owner has no idea what any of it is as far as brands/models so I'm hoping Dana 44 and NP205.
Here's a question, how hard is it nowadays to get 16.5 tires at least 35"?

Tires should be easy to acquire, are you looking for aftermarket tires or old military ones?

awesome project! maybe start a build thread in the shop talk section and i think more people will check it out and give a little input more often there rather than in this thread.
 
The scout sounds awesome as well... got some pics of it before you had to sell??

i5sfe


Something like these? - http://www.100dollarman.com/tires.html

 
hmmm.... I didn't know the military tires are 16.5. That 37" is the height I'm looking for. Sourcing some local for $100 a pop would be really nice.
Thanks for the headsup on that guys, great info