Builds The "Red Rocket" Troopy (4 Viewers)

[theglobb]

Back to the red rocket Happy birthday theglobb!!! My garage is totally open for you when/if you get the 3b. Plenty of room for you and your friends to do the install. It'd be honored!!! I have a compression tester you can borrow as well.

Thank you! I feel like an old man being 20 which I bet sounds silly to many of yall. Just feel like I'm 17 forever. Your help is so appreciated, hope to repay the favor someday soon.

I am enjoying this thread simply to see the cruiser family come together to help out 'the globb' and his troopy. Nice to see, and I am sure the globb appreciates it too! Glad to see you have made a decision and are working to a solution. For the price, I would likely do the same in your shoes. I say this to myself as much as to you, but try to enjoy the journey, arduous as it is.

Oh I'm trying my best to enjoy it all. At this point its just an annoying and somewhat stressful financial setback, but compared to before when I was pretty much destined to be car-less or troopy-less I really wasn't enjoying it much. Next up on the adventure...

We get to find out if this 1997 Tacoma with a blown head gasket and a rotted-out bed will make it 1,600 miles! My bets are on, proballyyyyy?
Truck is rust free, no frame, no body, but my neighbor left fertilizer in the bed for who knows how many years and its just gone...

Put down some marine-grade plywood and it holds weight as good as new! Test fitted/rode around with my old 3B in the bed just to see how it would do, seems fine.

Worst scenario, the truck spontaneously combusts... 2nd worst scenario, something major does go wrong and I then have to rent a U-Haul to tow it back. I have faith in this neglected Japanese steed though. Leaving early Tuesday morning will keep yall updated if the truck spontaneously combusts or not

 

[prwillard2]

Thank you! I feel like an old man being 20 which I bet sounds silly to many of yall. Just feel like I'm 17 forever. Your help is so appreciated, hope to repay the favor someday soon.

Oh I'm trying my best to enjoy it all. At this point its just an annoying and somewhat stressful financial setback, but compared to before when I was pretty much destined to be car-less or troopy-less I really wasn't enjoying it much. Next up on the adventure...

We get to find out if this 1997 Tacoma with a blown head gasket and a rotted-out bed will make it 1,600 miles! My bets are on, proballyyyyy?
Truck is rust free, no frame, no body, but my neighbor left fertilizer in the bed for who knows how many years and its just gone...
View attachment 3038592
View attachment 3038593

Put down some marine-grade plywood and it holds weight as good as new! Test fitted/rode around with my old 3B in the bed just to see how it would do, seems fine.
View attachment 3038588
View attachment 3038589
View attachment 3038590

Worst scenario, the truck spontaneously combusts... 2nd worst scenario, something major does go wrong and I then have to rent a U-Haul to tow it back. I have faith in this neglected Japanese steed though. Leaving early Tuesday morning will keep yall updated if the truck spontaneously combusts or not

As a former poor college kid, glad you're getting to do this. Shoot me your paypal/venmo and I'll send ya some gas money!

 

[robmobile73]

Thank you! I feel like an old man being 20 which I bet sounds silly to many of yall. Just feel like I'm 17 forever. Your help is so appreciated, hope to repay the favor someday soon.

Oh I'm trying my best to enjoy it all. At this point its just an annoying and somewhat stressful financial setback, but compared to before when I was pretty much destined to be car-less or troopy-less I really wasn't enjoying it much. Next up on the adventure...

We get to find out if this 1997 Tacoma with a blown head gasket and a rotted-out bed will make it 1,600 miles! My bets are on, proballyyyyy?
Truck is rust free, no frame, no body, but my neighbor left fertilizer in the bed for who knows how many years and its just gone...
View attachment 3038592
View attachment 3038593

Put down some marine-grade plywood and it holds weight as good as new! Test fitted/rode around with my old 3B in the bed just to see how it would do, seems fine.
View attachment 3038588
View attachment 3038589
View attachment 3038590

Worst scenario, the truck spontaneously combusts... 2nd worst scenario, something major does go wrong and I then have to rent a U-Haul to tow it back. I have faith in this neglected Japanese steed though. Leaving early Tuesday morning will keep yall updated if the truck spontaneously combusts or not

Planning routes, coordinating with people, figuring everyones budgets for time/money/effort, putting all the effort in to solve issues. Weighing and taking calculated risks.....You learn alot doing this sort of thing. Alot more than just paying money for people to do it for you, or just giving up................Have a backup plan on what you will do if that PU dies. A small uhaul trailer one way for is about $45-$65 and they'll give you 2 days to get to destination for that price. If you had a friend or family member with a good MPG car with a trailer hitch I'd consider that with the trailer. It might be cheaper/more reliable than gas for the pickup that might break. Maybe even a friend with a trailer? Good luck!

 

[Gun Runner 5]

As a former poor college kid, glad you're getting to do this. Shoot me your paypal/venmo and I'll send ya some gas money!

An excellent idea.

 

[LuckyDevil]

I have a trailer you could borrow.

 

[FJBen]

Mini epic trip before the trip. I like it. Looking back now as I'm older, I would have been all over this trip as a youngster. Throw some stop-leak in and plow on.
Figure it out on the way.


Setbacks are just a part of it all. I think this is a good route to go for you right now. A lot of cruiser guys are able to spend A LOT of money on rigs. At your age there is no way I'd be able put the money I have into my cruiser now. I certainly didn't have anything near as cool as a Troopy.

 

[theglobb]

As a former poor college kid, glad you're getting to do this. Shoot me your paypal/venmo and I'll send ya some gas money!

If you seriously insist... then I'll accept it as a birthday gift lol. God I love this community

Planning routes, coordinating with people, figuring everyones budgets for time/money/effort, putting all the effort in to solve issues. Weighing and taking calculated risks.....You learn alot doing this sort of thing. Alot more than just paying money for people to do it for you, or just giving up................Have a backup plan on what you will do if that PU dies. A small uhaul trailer one way for is about $45-$65 and they'll give you 2 days to get to destination for that price. If you had a friend or family member with a good MPG car with a trailer hitch I'd consider that with the trailer. It might be cheaper/more reliable than gas for the pickup that might break. Maybe even a friend with a trailer? Good luck!

My friends dads diesel f250 might be available but the dates don't exactly line up with when we could take it.. plus $6 for diesel getting lets say 20mpg would be $500 when this little pickup would be around $275... if it breaks then I guess the price will even out by having to uhual it home. I'm pretty confident in it though.

Mini epic trip before the trip. I like it. Looking back now as I'm older, I would have been all over this trip as a youngster. Throw some stop-leak in and plow on.
Figure it out on the way.


Setbacks are just a part of it all. I think this is a good route to go for you right now. A lot of cruiser guys are able to spend A LOT of money on rigs. At your age there is no way I'd be able put the money I have into my cruiser now. I certainly didn't have anything near as cool as a Troopy.

That's the plan!! We will figure it out no matter what. I gotta try my absolute hardest to be able to pull off the Montana trip. This is the last summer we all wont have internships and other responsibilities, got to make it count.

 

[flx]

If the Tacoma fails you'll find someone along the road to give you a Tacoma engine and you'll do the swap before to continue your journey to swap your Troopy xD

 

[robmobile73]

If the PU dies on you: Car dolly's are cheap to rent at uhaul as well Last one I rented was maybe $29. It's much cheaper than towing. Recomend disconnecting the rear driveshaft before using a tow dolly if you are not positive on how the Tcase works and that it will be OK if you put the Tcase in neutral. If you put the truck in 4L 1st gear the starter has enough power to motor the truck onto the dolly or off the road(if it doesn't have the modern safety features that prevent the starter from spinning without pushing the clutch).

 

[svsisu]

What, a 3B won't fit in @Shyrock's nice prado ? Sounds like an epic trip, and no worries that tacoma will make it; just don't put the whole soccer team in the cab... or the bed. Wow, that bed!

 

[theglobb]

If the Tacoma fails you'll find someone along the road to give you a Tacoma engine and you'll do the swap before to continue your journey to swap your Troopy xD

haha!! engine swap within an engine swap. Kinda like those "swapping an engine in the walmart parking lot" youtube videos

If the PU dies on you: Car dolly's are cheap to rent at uhaul as well Last one I rented was maybe $29. It's much cheaper than towing. Recomend disconnecting the rear driveshaft before using a tow dolly if you are not positive on how the Tcase works and that it will be OK if you put the Tcase in neutral. If you put the truck in 4L 1st gear the starter has enough power to motor the truck onto the dolly or off the road(if it doesn't have the modern safety features that prevent the starter from spinning without pushing the clutch).

Thank you for the helpful tips as always that you wouldn't know unless you have experience. Always got something helpful to say. This taco has a "clutch start cancel" button to disable that safety feature.

Drained the coolant, looked horrid. Neighbor was driving it around for a while with the blown HG, just didn't know it was blown.

 

[joekatana]

Reality check from the hive mind, please...

I've offered to sell @theglobb the 3B out of my '87 Troopy and I want to make sure I'm giving him a good deal because:

1) Cruiser Karma
b) I'm making him come pull it himself
III) I want to see the Red Rocket back on the road so I can live vicariously through this thread

What I know:

24v Euro 3B Troopy.
Odometer says 390k kms.
Seems to run good, though I've only driven it about 20 miles.
No major leaks. (none bad enough to drip onto the driveway)
No water in oil or oil in water.
Tried to do a compression test, but my Harbor Freight tester quit after 2 cylinders.

I gave him a price of $1500.
What do you think?

View attachment 3036857View attachment 3036858

This X2 is the best path for now I think . Later in life you can always swap something in it with extra ponies if needed.

 

[Shyrock]

J left for Memphis around 6:30 this morning. Hoping for safe travels for him and his buddy.
He will reach out if help needed. Thanks to all for the wisdom & guidance provided.

 

[theglobb]

Making it. About 30 minutes out, been driving for 16 hours straight at this point.

Truck is running fine. The check engine light that has been on for 15 years went out and hasn’t come back on… maybe just the bulb went out lol. Getting 24mpg at 70-75mph. Pretty good! Glad I went this route so far vs that diesel pickup. 6 states, this part of the USA kinda just all looks the same haha.

 

[Tigris]

@theglobb
These things happen but they still suck..
I wish I could lend you a hand but I'm overseas surrounded by 70s yet away from my own back home.

Send me your PayPal. I would like to help with what I can.

For the rest of the community: folks we all remember when we were broke young kids... Let's help our friend back into the saddle.

Cheers!

Moe

 

[Bama4door]

@theglobb Let me know if you guys roll through Bham and need anything.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

I for one highly encourage the PayPal route. Even a small amount will help.

 

[Irish11]

@theglobb shoot me your paypal as well. You helped me out in Nov, its time for me to return the favor. Good luck on the trip!

 

[Shyrock]

@theglobb shoot me your paypal as well. You helped me out in Nov, its time for me to return the favor. Good luck on the trip!

His info is johnathan.ciarrocca@gmail.com

 

[nuclearbeef]

@theglobb and one friend rolled in last night at about 10. I got held up at work and didn't make it back to Memphis until about 11 this morning.
By the time I got here the two of them had the engine removed and loaded up in the truck.
They pulled out of here about half past noon headed back to the Carolina coast.

Well met, and good luck on the drive back!
I hope the engine proves a strong one and that it lasts until it's replaced with something better.

BTW, Johnathan drove my N/A 3B Troopy and decided it has more pep than his turbo did before it blew up.