If it was mine I'd go with putting the engine in one of the jeeps. I'd remove the drop side bed and put it on a reliable small pickup. They're really handy for easy loading things with a forklift. The rest of the truck should go to the scrapper. Thanks for the video!
That is a nice little truck, that rear deck with the sides opening is very handy. The diesel starts easy and sounds great. Great video and awesome commentary.
your voice has a hint of Hank Hill. I just found your channel while i was looking at mini truck videos. I enjoy your stuff, I'll be subscribing. greetings from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
I just bought a Mitsubishi Mini Cab that has an extremely horrible diesel swap. They put a NA 3.6L Kubota Diesel into it but couldn’t get it mounted correctly so the engine hangs down low enough to rest on the front differential. The Trans adapter is also home made from angle iron lol.
@@jeffrykopis5468 Because I can sell the motor for about 3 times what I paid for the little truck. I’m also looking into the cost of the transmission adapter kit so I can weigh my options on putting it into one of my other projects. I have an 88 Ranger and a 55 Willys Pickup that I want to put diesel engines in. I’m leaning towards the Willys pickup because I have always wanted to use it as a daily driver for work.
If you get it cleaned up and road worthy they make a great little around town pick up vehicle. The sides normally come off as well as drop down so loading and unloading is easy. They’re pretty frugal on gas and can carry a fair load so it might make a great shop truck. On the downside you need to check the price of spare parts and you don’t want to be involved in a frontal crash as there is little to no safety features. Probably safer to put the motor in the Jeep. Sold as a Suzuki Carry in Australia. Cheers mate, Stuart 🇦🇺
Suzuki Carry in the UK, too, but with a 1300cc petrol engine. I had one with full van body - 5 doors, two sliding on the side. Didn't matter how much you loaded into it, or not, it still did 30mpg. I loved it!
It all depends on how much work you want to put into the little truck. To fix the radiator, a 1992 to 2000 Honda Civic radiator should fit. It's size is 18.5 in high by 17.09 in side, inlet and outlet are 1.1 in. Fixing the windshield will take a custom glass cutter to do it. But the bones are there for a nice little work truck.
If you swapped it into a jeep, you wouldn’t have to worry about the busted windshield. I had to Google Ling Long tires and they are available in the US. You’ll make something amazing no matter what you do. Thanks for the video
Lift it and 4x4. Oooooorrrrrrrrrr figure out if you could somehow squeeze a v8 in it and then put the diesel in your jeep if you want. 🤷♂️ *What I’d really like to know more about is the 4x4 RV that I’ve seen from time to time in the Background.*
I would say the deciding factor is if it can be licensed for road use. If not, scrap it and take the parts for another project. A diesel powered flat fender sounds like a great choice.
Just looking at that mint interior, screams out to me that it should be a 4x4 conversion. I love those drop side boxes, a very handy feature. 20 years ago, that type of box, was about the only thing I saw on trucks. Adding a ram and making the box a tipper, would increase the utility.
It definitely has terrible build quality, the whole video i was like wow that thing is a PILE. While you definitely have the skills and resources to put it back on the road as is, i think your passion for old jeeps is more meaningful and you'd end up with a lot more for any given amount if work, by just snagging the engine for a swap. Im sure youll have fun regardless and as you know thats all that matters.
A 4 wheel drive conversion on that would be really cool. The box it has would make it very useful for hauling stuff around, and it would be a fun toy. I've always noticed a CR-V around, and now I see two. You must like tinkering with those as well. I've had them off and on as well, along with various Jeeps and old trucks.
Let me suggest that you make it a mini half-track. Find a pair of junk snow-mobiles with matching tracks and repurpose those. Add a boom to the back. Then paint it olive drab and add a white star to the door. Now you have a little brother to your huge half-track tow truck. BTW, love your projects and your channel!
27:30 personally i think you should cannibalize it for bits since it's a bit too far gone interior, body, brake system and sell the bed since you'll recover most of your money just on that since it'll fit on most K trucks
Cool video...I'd use that lil' puppy on the regular...This channel is a hidden gem!! Love the way you innovate to make things work. Looking forward to subsequent videos on the "King".
Hey James. Great video. You have interesting vehicles and I had to subscribe. I love the little kei trucks. The guys on Mighty Car Mods have done a couple and then used them as shop trucks, 'raced' them and taken them 4-wheelinjg/camping. They had gas engines with a turbo and at least one 4WD. A diesel would be even better for 4-wheeling.
I believe those are illegal for street use here. You most likely could not get it liability insured either. I say put the parts in the Jeep and pee on the rest for the LoLs.
Would love to see that diesel go in a flat fender. I’ve got a 3A that I want to put diesel in and would be interested in seeing how you would make it happen. Cool little truck though.
Tow it behind the 1953 bus and use it as a fun vehicle to drive into town while the bus is parked. Must fix the leaks first. I love your humor. Most people would be cursing and throwing tbings. You just roll with the punches. Great role model. Thanks.
Woah, classy vehicle. You barely had to do a thing. I like the 4WD idea,- and just use it as a compact cargo carrier with that very useful drop-side bed. Ideal for if you want to go pick-up some donor parts - couple of engines, stack of wheels, burritos...
If it was mine, I would go ahead and put that Diesel Motor in one of the Jeeps and convert the King into an Electric Vehicle. That way you can eliminate the Cooling system all together and the Wonky Gear Shit Transmission since Electric motors have so much torque you won't need a Transmission at all. Now you'll have some room to get the Brake Parts to work together and you'll only need a push button to start it. I know... Awesome Right?! You can thank me later! lol
I would keep it as a movable work bench. I have a bunch of trailers, one has the wheels under the deck and the trailer is the best work surface. As small as that thing is you could use it inside and take it outside to the larger projects. I have a 1997 Micro van...mine is badged Cushman...don't know who made it. Mine has a trans where they locked out 4th and 5th gear.
Ling long tires have been in the US a long while. I used to work at a Tire Factory in the mid aughts and we carried them. They were fine. Really inexpensive. Never had any defects come through our shop That's was in Washington state. Don't know if the chain is anywhere else.
A 1.9 turbo diesel out of an earlier VW Jetta (up to 2003) makes a much more suitable engine for any of your Jeep. That small diesel engine is just not powerful enough to drive the diesel Jeep on highways.
Seen a lot of videos lately about the micro van/truck. Not for me unless I needed a golf cart or grocery hauler. Suspension is garbage. Parts are hard to come by. Idk me I'd go with the jeep idear. 4x4 diesel jeep always wins in my book.
Fix it up and use it, assuming you can easily get parts for them. The JDM versions have great parts availability but that one is Chinese version and they weren’t particularly the best quality and parts can be tricky. (We sold them for a min years back)
In 1985 I was stationed in Japan. There was a lot of trucks like yours. I love it!!!!! It needs a lot of love. A lot of your projects needed lots of work so I think it is within you skill level. There are places here in the states that buy these old truck and resell them. Well good luck and I can not wait to see you give it new life.
I work on those chinese minitrucks but i have never seen a diesel one like this one, nice find, that engine looks to me like an Isuzu knock off, if you need parts for it check any isuzu store it's probably a 2.2 o 2.8 or check the engine in a 53' refeer trailer
Man, I really want to see something fun out of this, but you can get kei trucks from Japan with long cabs for not a lot of money that is incredible amounts better than this, and already 4wd with lockers. Use the engine for a jeep. It's probably been done before.
*- I don''t like the "feel" of this thing, James...except for the Easy Starting Diesel.* *- The Flat Fender engine swap feels like a Build Idea to me...not a aggravating jury rig fix-it idea.* *- Could you weld the flatbed frame into the middle of the Flat Fender Jeep?* *- Now THAT would be unique and a very smart project in my mind...and useful for town shopping.*
The off-road tires are awesome 👍 and yeah definitely turn it into a little camper too just build an actual camper on there with a bed sink stove etc. I forgot what those campers are called but you get my drift lol but i surely would make some design improvements you can surely install A/C after its all said and done but personally if i had that truck i would improve the bad engineering install an A/C system then build a camper for it not a camper top but one if those campers with a door on the back or hell just get a small pop up camper and slap it on top lol
I think a diesel jeep is the way to go. Use parts off this thing to get a jeep running, and it will be more fun in the long run. If this thing was in remotely decent condition it might be worth using but given all of the work it will take to make even sorta right - even assuming you can find a source for parts...that sounds like no fun. Fix a jeep.
First off, your definitely one of my favorite channels. We think the same. As much as I hate to cut a vehicle up, I think this would be a pain to find parts for. Glass, door latches, brakes, I sure you've been there before. However a flat fender jeep would be awesome! I have a 68 gladiator I'm looking for a diesel to drop in. So my pick is diesel jeep
Put the diesel in a jeep. The transmission appears to be one of many a problem as is. A little jeep with a diesel would make a nice rock crawler...lots of torque.
Pull the motor and put in a jeep. You can get those mini trucks in 4x4 variety for relatively cheep that are in way better condition then that one. Just my two cents
I would definitely make a diesel willys before putting time and effort into a very beat kei truck. Somebody will buy the roller for parts. Show us how u make a custom adapter setup to the t90 out of recycled junk.
Love these micro vans and definitely want one in my fleet one day. I ran a couple when I managed the car parks at Heathrow. So handy for just running around in. The Chinese vehicles of this era are often licensed rebadges of western vehicles so you might find that it’s a Suzuki or similar. Keep up the good work 👍🏻
I vote for doing the Diesel swap into a Jeep. The rest of that little flatbed is so poor, it's probably not worth much. Can you even get a windshield for it?
My mower is a 1975, my Corvette is 1985, and my Chevy blazer is 2001. When you said it's the newest thing you own I laughed and felt your pride! I buy nothing unless it has a throttle cable and hydraulic brakes. Nothing new junk for me ..
I say you swap it to the jeep. The build quality and the amount of parts that you would need to make that decent to drive in the end would not be worth it. You would still have a dong.
The cassette player says something about how vintage this car is. Probably made somewhere in the early nineties of lthe previous century. It's amazing that engine still runs as well as it does if you consider how neglected this vehicle was.
Watching it a second time, your face when it doesn’t turn off with the key! When I wasn’t in sick bay, my professional occupation involved a lot of marine diesels and those usually don’t turn off with the key. So, before starting any diesel, I always check to make sure I know how to stop it. If I can’t find a way, I’ll usually have something I can use to block the air intake, just in case.
You Sir, are a man after my own heart. I have been trying to talk the wife into getting one, I had one on Okinawa for a while, and they are great. Wife is pretty much a no go what with the RHD. Maybe I will show her this video and let her know how cool they are.
