With the opening of this new off topic forum, I couldn't help but wonder how many of you H.A.M.B. members were once, or still are into the Minitruck scene. I was raised around muscle cars, but the minitrucks is where a got my start. I always wanted to cut, hack and build something, and I felt that the minitrucks were a great canvas without a big investment. I finished this one in 2009. Life happened and I sold it a few years back. Sometimes I still miss it. Anyway, if there are any past or present Minitruckers out there, make yourself known!
I bought a new S10 in 95. Had plans modify, but the four cylinder engine was a dog. I traded it for one of those sport compact jobs.
Mine, 4 cylinder 5 speed, yeah it isn't fast but it has dual strait pipes and what it lacks in speed it makes up for it with noise!! And it practically makes gas.... I bought it new...
Not anymore. Bought a new 78 Toyota and a couple of S10’s, a 82 and a 86. Finally realized a small truck couldn’t do what I needed done, haul and tow heavy loads. Went to an 84 F150 4x4 with a 351w, have had a V8 Ford truck ever since. Small trucks are OK if you don’t have to haul a lot of weight, but you can’t beat a full sized for all around performance.
I sold this one last year. The guy I bought it from begged to buy it back. He bought it new and sold it to me when money got tight, so me being the nice guy I am, sold it back to him at a loss. It all worked out.
I grew up drawing slammed minis on all of my book covers in the 80s/90s. I always wanted a slammed mini truck, but never got one. I have daily driven the last of the true mini trucks for the past 12 years... my 2001 Tacoma 4x4. 250k miles, never any hiccups, and still on the original clutch. It is the best truck ever and I will never sell it. I would like to find a single cab 2WD version, lower it down and put some big & littles on it.
I had this '95 SS - 2nd owner with only about 10,000 miles on it when I got it. Was my daily for years before the lowering...
Yup. Bought a new 81’ Isuzu when I was a senior in high school. Bright yellow from the factory, and I two toned it and did graphics. Tonneau cover, wheels tires, and moderate lowering. I used it to tow my raceboat, so it couldn’t be slammed like many were. Kept it 12 years and flat wore it out. Kept it around for dump runs and the like. When a job change meant moving to another state I didn’t want to deal with it. Not worth anything, but I thought since it started life in a high school parking lot, it should go full circle. So I donated it to the high school auto shop program. I heard later they restored to just like I built it as a year long class project. Then one of the kids bought it, and drove it to school senior year. Kinda fitting.
I played with a 1980 Ford Courier after I decided I needed a driver that got better mileage than the Camaros I cut my teeth on. I lowered it about 5 inches with blocks and cut coils, louvered the hood and tailgate, shaved the tailgate latch, emblems, front bumper bolts, bed tie downs, side marker lights and front turn signals. I added a rolled rear pan, knock-off Porsche mirrors, and screw-on Moon discs, then I painted it all monochromatic Porsche guards red. What can I say, it was the 80s. I had pictures of it somewhere, but I can't put my hands on them, but I did find a pic of the engine after the rebuild. And since I can't find any actual pics of the truck, here's a PhotoShopped image of what it basically looked like (with. the addition of shaved mirrors, wipers and door handles.
I built this a little over a year ago, dailyed it for a good while then sold it last year. '92, 4.3 and 5-speed. I fixed nearly everything on it, but wasn't about to put an engine in it and it smoked a LOT. It was a lot of fun though.
My late youngest son and I started on a V8 S10 for him. Square body 85 IIRC, nice single cab truck. He had a 2500 given to him that was used on a farm, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a rustier truck. It had hauled fertilizer its entire life, it was so bad one of the rear wheels the rim separated itself from the hub when we were dragging it home on a tow dolly! Had a great running 350/350 in it, something like 60,000 miles. We got the dead motor out of the S10, and pulled the 350 out of the 2500. We went ahead and put front and rear main seals in just to be safe….turned out to be a four bolt main block! One of his buddies got wind of the four bolt main block, and made him a good price on it, way more than he had in all of it. I think he traded the S10 for a 54 Chevy one ton with a 235 in it, but that was a long time back…
My wife and I are looking at doing some property refurbishment, flips, etc. If that happens there might be a '90s Japanese 1-tonne pickup in my future.
You know a small block fits in a 4.3 truck really well and they become quite the handful. Just keep a stupid quiet muffler on it and you can hand a 5 series entitled BMW his ass by giving him a what for on a on ramp.
Not one most forum members would recognize, a South African Ford P100 I had when I lived in the UK in the early 90s. Pic is not mine - I've lost the ones I had during a move from one country to another But it's a good approximation... Mine had the 2L Pinto engine, I was going to convert to a 2.8L Cologne V6 with a 5sp from a British Granada but someone made me an offer on it I could not refuse, so off it went...
Bought this truck off a Napa counter guy in 2000. It was formerly one of the Napa "ball-cap" trucks. I put a 283/th350 combo in it and drove it about three years like that. The 283 had smog heads and wasn't setting the world on fire so I built a 355 with Vortecs, Edelbrock Air-gap, Comp XE250 cam, and flattop pistons. Big difference. Ran 8.7s in the 1/8th mile, got good mileage on the highway, and with the 1,000lb optional rear leafs was very handy doing truck stuff too. Tree branch squashed the cab a few years ago. Swapping the driveline into a much solider '84 I found on marketplace eventually painted it solid red
Son’s full size LS powered Chevy…most think it’s a mini-truck, and actually it is compared to the “new” pickups!
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