My Mullet Truck build

[Protour_Pinto]

That afternoon I got the frontend together and it hit the ground for the first time.

[Protour_Pinto]

I moved it to another place on Sunday, I will have to get everything braced and gussets made.

I will be adding parts as time and money allow but at least now I have a roller to look at and one big step in the right direction.

[Protour_Pinto]

And if anyone wants to know where the money is, I will tell them its in the Steel plated gold tube!

[Centerforce]

That afternoon I got the frontend together and it hit the ground for the first time.

We love toyota pickups. It probably still runs like that, too ^^^

Well you already have a hybrid of 3 different cars so far, and were tuned in to see however many more will be added in!

[Protour_Pinto]

I could hook up the battery and cross a couple wires and it would fire right up.

I am looking for a couple sets of S-10 stepside fenders so that would add another moniker.

We love toyota pickups. It probably still runs like that, too ^^^

Well you already have a hybrid of 3 different cars so far, and were tuned in to see however many more will be added in!

[Restomod]

Looks like a great project but that Toranado was pretty nice looking to bad .........

[Tincup]

I like it....

[nathankershaw]

Loving the build. Can't wait ti see more progress.

[Protour_Pinto]

Looks like a great project but that Toranado was pretty nice looking to bad .........

with 7 years of back fees and 200k miles it was pretty beat. Just made all the Eldos worth that much more!

Give me a sawzall and nothing is sacred.

[Badbowtie383x]

What brand clamps are those?

[Protour_Pinto]

What brand clamps are those?

I picked up a milk crate full of them from a yard sale years ago, The clamping part of it has the Vicegrip brand logo on it.

[Badbowtie383x]

I picked up a milk crate full of them from a yard sale years ago, The clamping part of it has the Vicegrip brand logo on it.

Awesome thanks keep up the good work.

[Protour_Pinto]

Just a little update.

With work, health issues, taking care of a friend with pancreatic cancer and limited funds its been slow going.

I did get it moved over to the bands account garage. I have been working on the rear of the chassis since thats where most of the changes have been needed.

I first wanted to get the steering locked down.

I removed all the factory Cadillac steering and went with some 5/8 heims and just replaced what they had. It seemed to keep the bump steer at a minimum.





And while doing that I noticed that it had a mix of upper control arms. The early Eldos has a balljoint with 3 bolts holding it to the control arm, The later ones has 4. I hunted down another late model arm and put it on.

The hubs needed to be redrilled for the Ford bolt pattern since I decided to go with Mustang Knock Offs.When reinstalling the bearings I went to the late model double bearing rather than the single so that meant I had to get the matching knuckle on the side that had the older control arm.

Handled that.



The wheels came in so I turned down the hub to match the smaller bore of the mustang wheel and mounted them up





Got some new axles while I was at it. The stock factory units had a big dampner on the passenger side and the CVs had seen better days.



The tires came in so I stretched them on the Mustang wheels. I was hoping for a warm sunny day but lately its been cold and rainy so I had to just get it over with. Broke a few tire irons putting the rears on but they made it.



The rears are 33X12.5/18 on 10.5 wide wheels, the fronts are 30X10/17 on 8 inch wide wheels.

Now that the wheels and tires are on I can make the rear suspension. The fronts had plenty of room.



I had tossed around the idea of just pushing down on the upper control arm but thought it put too much pressure on the arm and balljoint since they were not designed to have those pressures on them,

I thought about using a sprint car setup with torsion bars mounted across the front of the engine from frame rail to frame rail but it came up to be a bit more than I wanted to spend.

I also thought about making a shaft that went into the original torsion bar mounting on the lower control arm and mounting a coilover on a arm about 14 inches back but i was trying to keep that space open.

So I went with pushing against the lower control arm.

I was just going to go with one coilover but I figured it would twist the arm so I went with one in the front and one in the back.

I cleaned off the old shock mount and put a 2X.250 sq tube across it







Came up with some upper mounts







So with this done I can finally set it back down on its wheels.



At this time I am figuring the bottom of the frame will be 10 inches from the floor, In this picture its at 9, the truck now sits at 12.

I have to bring the front down a couple inches, the coil springs on the front wouldnt go low enough so its a little high in this picture. I will also go with Steeda X2 ball joints and that will bring the geometry back to where it should be. I will be running the stock Mustang GT sway bar and will try with nothing on the rear as I think it will be front end light.







I still have to clean up the lower mounts but I am thinking about maybe putting a second set of holes for a little adjust ability but most likely just cut them off and tune with springs.

That is it for now. Im tired of the ass end so I spun it around and will work on the front end for a bit.

Plan is to close in the crossmember to frame
Get a new close ratio rack
Mount the Saturn Vue electric assist
New bushings and balljoints in the arms

Also figure the exhaust out, I do have a set of block huggers that I can run upside down. I have a set of C5 Corvette mufflers I plan on running but also a set of C6 if I need to run a muffler with the entry/exit on opposite ends.

[Ffdawson]

This is so badass. Props to you for the imagination, and the skills to pull it off. Cant wait to see it continue.

[jlcustomz]

For many of us, everything seems to get in the way of our visions & project progress. Glad to see some progress & enjoy seeing something different.

Sometimes a picture from a friend can really jumpstart a project.

[Protour_Pinto]

Since the Band is on Spring Break I have had a couple weekend days to tinker with the truck.

I had picked up a set of S-10 big block chevy headers and managed to cut the flange off and weld on ones for a Caddy. I figured I will run them upside down and forward since I have pushed the clip as far back as I could.





I also figure the C5 mufflers are the way I am going to go. I will just have to extend the outlet pipes to the edge of the bed. They will be easy to plumb once the stock cross members are out of the way.

[Protour_Pinto]

Progress has been slow here lately. I had picked up an LS to use for the project but the crankcase and the diff were trying to take up the same real estate so its back to the caddy.

I had Thanksgiving afternoon off so I took the bed and body off the frame and gutted the interior. Hopefully I will get some time off on Christmas and I will start with putting the cage in.