Here are some detailed pics after the clean up. There's some rust, but overall it's what I expected for a 24.5 year old ex-NGO/Diplomat/Workhorse 70 series. Considering the price we snagged it for and what parts we can sell and what parts we'll actually be using, I think we made out pretty well with this Troopy. It'll be better than new when we're done. Far better actually since we're using the 80 chassis and an enormous V8. I keep telling myself I don't want to do a nut/bolt restoration but I get a few whiskeys in me, head over to PartSouq, and start ordering s*** like crazy. I've already ordered a stupid amount of parts. Including a damn windshield, thank Makers Mark for that purchase.
Either way, I'm happy with it. It's going to be phenomenal when it's 'done' (is any project ever done?)
The only bummer being, the other day I got a phone call saying I might be headed to Korea in March. So I'll return from the middle east around Jan, then get ready to leave again for a year. It's all hearsay right now as I haven't gotten an official notification but we'll see. I'll try and push my departure date back to April if I can so I can at least get to drive the damn Troopy before I leave.
The Good; it's definitely a Troopy:
Party bus
The OK:
Already ordered everything to spruce the dash back up. Basically everything you see is getting replaced except the dash shell. I might try to snag a gauge cluster with a tach too. Parts for these things are dirt cheap;
The parts that need work:
The rear crossmember is toast (already ordered one).
The floors look ok, a couple patches will probably be needed but overall pretty solid. I think most of the 'rust' is just scale surface type. After we blast the shell, if it's just scale, we'll roll on some POR15 and call it good.
If this roof spot is bad after blasting the body, I'll just chop the roof and get an Alu-Cab.
