Nooooob here. About to de-minify a '90 Hardbody!

[speedfoos]

Howdy. My name's Clint and I bought this poor little 1990 Nissan Hardbody. Someone did a bad job of turning it into a mini-truck. She's been named "Piggy", has 176K on the dial, no dash lights (last one went out last night), and a host of other issues.

She needs some body lovin'.

I made a couple nice drag marks on little road to a dirt parking lot at an antique fair this morning. Definitely needs to be raised back up.





I'm debating on either replacing the doors or sanding them down and repainting. I'm not a big fan of the door poppers and plus the bondo and paint is all coming off were the plates were welded (hopefully) over the handle holes. Either way I will have to repaint though.





Tailgate paint and bondo is coming off really bad as well. Again, it's a debate over replace and paint or repair and paint.



Lather, rinse, repeat on the hood.



And my baller interior, with the new clutch in the passenger floorboard! $100 Advance Auto special. Lifetime warranty so I'm sure it's fine. Will probably install next week at some point. I picked up a Hayne's manual as well since I don't know anything about these trucks.





I drove it about 80 miles today with no major issues, it's just hot as **** with no AC, and it's stupid low. Still trying to figure out how old boy lowered it. I saw a shackle kit in the rear which is good, but I haven't figured out the front yet.

I don't plan on spending more than $500 is replacement parts on it. Already dropped $100 on the clutch yesterday and I'll probably just leave it alone before spending the rest of my budget at the pick 'n pull for everything else it needs. Labor is free (since I'm doing it), but I need to re-tool up since most of my garage equipment was 220V and I left it in England a couple weeks ago before moving back to the states.

Hopefully I can find a shell for new doors (shaved sucks), a new hood, front clip, tailgate and possibly a bed. We'll see. I've got time, patience, and a welder.
Modified by speedfoos at 9:25 PM 10/19/2008

[speedfoos]

It used to say "Nissan Racing" in the winder shield. But I had to scrape that off. I think I lost a good 5whp since it was a big sticker.



It also has this super sweet escape hatch behind the seat to sneak into the bed. Gah! Finish your damn projects people!!

[nsrZ32]

Looks like a fun project. Welcome to NICO

[MinisterofDOOM]

Is your steering wheel upside-down, or do you just have the wheels turned in that picture?

And Welcome!

[speedfoos]

Is your steering wheel upside-down, or do you just have the wheels turned in that picture?

And Welcome!

LOL, thanks for the welcome and no the steering wheel is not upside down, just turned that way!

Looks like a fun project. Welcome to NICO

Thanks! Should be a fun little project.

I just picked this up off a guy on Ebay for $50. Was listed on Craigslist for $75, and I popped a search into Ebay just to check to see what they were going for and saw the same bed liner from the same seller for $25 less than the CL ad! Saved me $25. I'll pick it up either today or tomorrow.

[snake240]

if your gonna have a shop do paint and body work, id have them just fix everything. buying new parts and having to paint jams and rest of stuff will probly cost more. make sure they warranty work too.

have fun w/ the hardbody!

[speedfoos]

Meh, I'll be doing all paint and body work on her myself. Once I get the parts it's just a matter of time and elbow grease to do it. Painting is easy and especially since I want to replace the doors anyway, it will be easy paint the jams. I noticed some wet on the passenger floor board today which made me nervous. If it comes down to it, I'll just jerk the whole interior out, tape off the the windshield and back glass and just de-rust, POR15, and respray the interior as well. Depends on what I find once I pull the bench seat out and pull up the carpet.

I may have a line on some '94 PF seats, instrument cluster, steering wheel, climate control pieces, and front clip as well. We'll see if dude gets back to me. If not, once the coilovers for momma's new Lexus sell (she won't let me install them!) I'll hit the pick 'n pull and get what I need.

Yeah, I'm kind of glutton for auto mechanicking and bodywork.

[NSR_s30]

I personally like the Camry floor mat. Looks like a solid project though.

[speedfoos]

I personally like the Camry floor mat. Looks like a solid project though.

Nice catch!

[SEV6]

Welcome to nico.Oem chrome bumpers ,grill, mirrors would look good with those pathy wheels. I'm not sold on those fender flares yet but there growin on me. Have fun with the D21

[speedfoos]

Thanks folks!

Picked up some factory length U-bolts, 4 new shocks and some -80W90 so it's off to go raise the truck back up, replace the shocks and change out the clutch!

[bobotech]

good to see someone restoring it back to its former glory. Should be nice once finished.

[Axel Grungy]

got your work "cut out" for ya hah

[speedfoos]

Bleh. Truck is no longer sitting on the ground, but it took me 3 hours so I didn't replace the clutch. Had to cut off one u-bolt and cut the FL shock out since things had seized. Unfortunately, the previous owner had also removed one of the leaves of the leaf springs, so I need to source some JY replacements. Morons. If you're to do something, do it right, don't do it half-assed. At least he had Toxic Shocks on it so they were the right size.

Anyway, truck rides like a completely different truck! Clutch isn't slipping as much anymore, I no longer get an awful noise from the drivetrain on decel, it's not so much of a ***** to turn anymore even w/o the power steering. I can only imaging the stress that dumbass lowering job was causing to the drivetrain. Rear transmission seal is leaking so I'll replace that when I do the clutch, probably caused by the crappy drop and odd angle the driveshaft was at. Also the drain plug on the punkin is stripped out, so I need to get a new one because it's seeping. I hope to god it's not cross-threaded.

Pics tomorrow after work. I'm bushed.

[speedfoos]

As promised, pics of Piggy with her new stance! I still need to replace the leaf springs since each one is missing a leaf. Once that's done and I get stock profile tires on her - she's got 190/60/15s and needs 205/65/15s - I'll re-adjust the front, measuring everything out. Then it's alignment city!

I like it better with the Pendliner truck bed liner and not that big fiberglass lunch box as well.

[karism]

Welcome to Nico!

Nice progress you have made so far!

Good luck for the rest

[Rev_D21]

I have the same set of wheels waiting for tires in my basement.

[speedfoos]

Welcome to Nico!

Nice progress you have made so far!

Good luck for the rest

Thanks!

I have the same set of wheels waiting for tires in my basement.

Yeah, Piggy needs some rubber. Probably going to get the Wal-mart specials for her this weekend while I get the rest of everything sorted out. We just moved back to the US from England, so premium rubber is not a priority right now.

[notslow]

Welcome to Nico, good job unscrewing up the pickup so far.

[hannibal]

LOL at the escape hatch. WTF was he thinking??

Good luck getting her back to good...

[Ajax]

That almost looks like my friend's truck from college, except it was purple and had bullet holes in the tailgate (not the stickers, actual bullet holes). We called it the sliding purple grape.

[speedfoos]

LOL at the escape hatch. WTF was he thinking??

Good luck getting her back to good...

I think he wanted some mad beatz and boomin' tunes. "Wir brauchen bass, bass!" Sorry. I lapsed into bad German techno there.

That almost looks like my friend's truck from college, except it was purple and had bullet holes in the tailgate (not the stickers, actual bullet holes). We called it the sliding purple grape.

There's a good chance there are bullet holes hiding under the bondo somewhere. I won't know until I start taking the paint down this winter to give her a better look.

I pulled the tatty chrome molding off the fenders tonight. Excuse the really bad camera phone pic, but you get the idea. I was detailing the interior (as much as possible) and let time get away from me. It was dark before I knew it.

[EW]

Yes, it was a bed cut for bass but it looks like they cut it out with a hammer instead of an air saw. The proper gasket material can be found at a place that sells bed covers, camper shells, etc and then you only need an amp, box, subs to finish it up.

[eds13]

your a terrible person for raising it back up. :tsk

[speedfoos]

Yes, it was a bed cut for bass but it looks like they cut it out with a hammer instead of an air saw. The proper gasket material can be found at a place that sells bed covers, camper shells, etc and then you only need an amp, box, subs to finish it up.

I know. But like you said, they did a really poor job of cutting it. $30 freaking dollar for an electric die grinder at Wal-Mart would have done a better job. Either way, it's getting welded closed soon. I'm past the age where I need bangin' bass. I pulled the system out of my Honda as well to save weight. As it is I'm probably just going to replace the bed with one that hasn't had the gas filler shaved, and the bumper replace with a roll pan that was molded to the bed.

your a terrible person for raising it back up. :tsk

Cars are for lowering, trucks are for haulin'.

Piggy got new shoes today. And I found out all four wheels are bent. If I see the previous owner again, I'm going to punch him in the mouth. Moron.

Here's why I needed new tires. Right rear.

[speedfoos]

Did some more work on Piggy over the past few days.

Replaced the leaky rear transmission seal this morning and changed out the transmission and diff fluids. Oil is changed, new tires, rewired the stereo and some misc. stuff on the inside. Here's a better pic of her without the chrome molding on the fenders.



And as of today, Piggy is officially kickin' it old school. I was at Vatozone looking for a steering wheel cover and picked this up. It cost $30 more than the cover (with the install kit) and looks much better. It's gonna look sweet with the Hurst shift knob I have in my household goods! I love parts store parking lots. I installed this in about 15 minutes in the Vatozone parking lot!



Random shot. This 8th gen Civic was parked next to me at work. Ugliest factory Honda wheels ever.

[D-Maxima]

Nice! that new steering wheel looks good! I also prefer it without the chrome fender covers.

looks so much better high up. as for needing new tires...mine was in worse condition...then it blew out while i was at work so lucky i wasnt driving though

[speedfoos]

Thanks! I was surprised at how good a little $30 steering wheel looked. It was time to get new tires when the *** end slid out from under me on dry pavement. I just noticed that big gash at the tire place. I'm glad it didn't go because the truck does not have a spare!

[speedfoos]

We just moved into our new house so I haven't been working on her much lately. Got Piggy's new interior goodies the other day. Most of that awesome marble-effect garbage is gone.

New instrument cluster fascia. Still need a new cluster. Replaced all the bulbs and only two still work and intermittently at that. Turn signals no longer light up on the cluster now... I need to either find an ashtray or make a little pocket for that spot. I will probably do the latter since I don't smoke.



Baller new visors. It's as close to burberry chav plaid as I could get.



Actually it was what was on Ebay and I really don't care what color they are since I probably need a new dash anyway (vents are all fukkered up). We'll see on the dash.

Was inspecting the front clip and saw that mouthbreather had used 1.5" wood screws to secure the headlights to their housing. Sigh. So I pulled them out and gave Piggy a BOH! Headlight surrounds were all rusty anyway.





Not much of a BOH, but it's the only paint I have right now and it is better than rust.

That's all for now. My welder is here so I just need to get a new helmet, find some steel and start sparking on the escape hatch!

[speedfoos]

Found this little guy while unpacking today. Much better than the scratched up stocker.