Builds The "Red Rocket" Troopy

[onemanarmy]

^Yea...I think that company is in Atlanta?

that one posted has nicer wheels (not NATO spec) nd a snorkel already...and not armored

but you're right

 

[theglobb]

Thank you everyone for all the replies and tips for welding sheet metal, I've read it all. Just been busy finishing building a garage and all the other stuff that happens over a break when all of your friend's are back in town, barley have time to check mud lol

All bodywork being done to the troopy took a halt, got 240 hooked up to run the plasma cutter off of and decided to have some fun with the box truck. Getting the box truck to the concrete patio was the hard part... after a year of sitting the driver rear wheel froze SOLID, wouldnt budge, tore up half the yard. Took about an hour and a half to make it to the start of the concrete and another hour to get it up ontop of the pad. Rammed it about 15 times with the troopy, was such a pain. Would've been done in 10 minutes if that wheel hadn't froze up.

 

[onemanarmy]

all for scrap? thats a nice flatbed for someone.

 

[theglobb]

all for scrap? thats a nice flatbed for someone.

You’re welcome to have it if you’d like, or know anyone who does. Might list it on marketplace and see if anyone wants. Wood is old

 

[onemanarmy]

too much flat bed for me!

 

[theglobb]

It's been a successful winter break for me! Spent the majority of it finishing working on and moving all the stuff into my dad's newly built shop, making me jealous I don't live at home anymore.

the Red Rocket just fits in

Slow process of getting one of the 55's into it

Troopy things

Finished welding up the rear section of the troopy I had cut out, not good by any means but its better than rust! Also don't get a headache and sore throat from swallowing diesel fumes coming back up into the body of the troopy from the hole that was there before!

 

[theglobb]

Finished cutting the box truck up. Been a week-long event of cutting, hauling, and cleanup.

Then had to haul the stuff. 2800lbs of scrap on a 2500lbs trailer... the 4BD1T did NOT CARE... that's a bit exaggerated it was obviously slower but really was much faster than I thought it would have been, brakes worked great aswell. My first time hauling a heavy bit of weight with the troopy.

The box truck engine swap hasn't set my pockets back much, with the scrap metal money along with selling the transmission... I have a pretty dang cheap and efficient engine swap. Feels good, much better than forking up 8 grand for a 15BT

 

[theglobb]

Every new year's eve my friends and I gather up all the thrown-out Christmas trees we can grab and have a massive bonfire

This was taken near the end of the fire, was much bigger. Wish I would have snapped a picture of it at its peak

And today we finally got our last cruiser out of the elements! Not like this one really cares if it is or isn't, body is so far gone but its got great bones!

Instead of struggling with the come along winch like we did with the first 55 we decided to make it easier on us and just jump the starter and power it up the hill.

 

[FJBen]

Every new year's eve my friends and I gather up all the thrown-out Christmas trees we can grab and have a massive bonfire

View attachment 3527682
View attachment 3527681

This was taken near the end of the fire, was much bigger. Wish I would have snapped a picture of it at its peak
View attachment 3527676


And today we finally got our last cruiser out of the elements! Not like this one really cares if it is or isn't, body is so far gone but its got great bones!

View attachment 3527674
View attachment 3527672



Instead of struggling with the come along winch like we did with the first 55 we decided to make it easier on us and just jump the starter and power it up the hill.

When my dad was growing up, the town used to pile all the old Christmas trees in town for some animal habitats or something. Well my dad decided it would make an awesome bonfire and lit it up. Not sure if they ever knew it was him, but your pictures reminded me of that.
That’s the milder of his shenanigans.

 

[Tigris]

When my dad was growing up, the town used to pile all the old Christmas trees in town for some animal habitats or something. Well my dad decided it would make an awesome bonfire and lit it up. Not sure if they ever knew it was him, but your pictures reminded me of that.
That’s the milder of his shenanigans.

I have yet to meet a boy who wasn't a complete pyromaniac

I think my 10 year old is a straight up fire worshipper

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Every new year's eve my friends and I gather up all the thrown-out Christmas trees we can grab and have a massive bonfire

View attachment 3527682
View attachment 3527681

This was taken near the end of the fire, was much bigger. Wish I would have snapped a picture of it at its peak
View attachment 3527676


And today we finally got our last cruiser out of the elements! Not like this one really cares if it is or isn't, body is so far gone but its got great bones!

View attachment 3527674
View attachment 3527672



Instead of struggling with the come along winch like we did with the first 55 we decided to make it easier on us and just jump the starter and power it up the hill.

The duct tape hood repair is mint. All jokes aside I cant wait to hear more about the 55 series! I love those things.

 

[robmobile73]

Every new year's eve my friends and I gather up all the thrown-out Christmas trees we can grab and have a massive bonfire

View attachment 3527682
View attachment 3527681

This was taken near the end of the fire, was much bigger. Wish I would have snapped a picture of it at its peak
View attachment 3527676


And today we finally got our last cruiser out of the elements! Not like this one really cares if it is or isn't, body is so far gone but its got great bones!

View attachment 3527674
View attachment 3527672



Instead of struggling with the come along winch like we did with the first 55 we decided to make it easier on us and just jump the starter and power it up the hill.

Enjoy those bonfires while you can. Wilmington used to be full of vacant land owned by real estate investors that could care less if you went riding on it. There were huge swaths of vacant land between river road and 421 from monkey junction to the beach. People would come from all over town to run the hills in the Pits and later on the mud bogs back in the interior..............development comes, people come, etc.

Yall have a plan for the 55? I've seen some "Rat Rod's" at car shows where they rust converted the rust and then clearcoated over it and the old dead paint and patina. It held up quite well.............Back in the day in Okinawa I had a rusted out deuce and a half trailer loaded with high explosives headed to the demolition range. Team leader asked me: "Are you sure that trailer is going to be OK" My reply was "don't worry that rust is alot stronger than you think".... He gave me alot of crap for that comment sounding ridiculous, but we made it to the range all was well, mission accomplished, and I was right. A rat rod type fix up of an old rusted LC could be interesting.

 

[theglobb]

Finally got enough stuff on a partsouq list to place an order, New fuel sending unit is in and works correctly! The old one would read empty all the time and then would read 3/4 of a tank when it was nearing empty lol.

Took me an HOUR of fiddling around and shoving the connector up underneath my floor squished between my gas tank to finally get it out and near the trans to hook up with the rest of the wiring harness. Was almost thinking I'd have to drop the tank...

Hmmmmm wonder why it wasn't reading properly

When my dad was growing up, the town used to pile all the old Christmas trees in town for some animal habitats or something. Well my dad decided it would make an awesome bonfire and lit it up. Not sure if they ever knew it was him, but your pictures reminded me of that.
That’s the milder of his shenanigans.

That's awesome, sounds like a great dad. Wish there could be a video of that

Enjoy those bonfires while you can. Wilmington used to be full of vacant land owned by real estate investors that could care less if you went riding on it. There were huge swaths of vacant land between river road and 421 from monkey junction to the beach. People would come from all over town to run the hills in the Pits and later on the mud bogs back in the interior..............development comes, people come, etc.

Yall have a plan for the 55? I've seen some "Rat Rod's" at car shows where they rust converted the rust and then clearcoated over it and the old dead paint and patina. It held up quite well.............Back in the day in Okinawa I had a rusted out deuce and a half trailer loaded with high explosives headed to the demolition range. Team leader asked me: "Are you sure that trailer is going to be OK" My reply was "don't worry that rust is alot stronger than you think".... He gave me alot of crap for that comment sounding ridiculous, but we made it to the range all was well, mission accomplished, and I was right. A rat rod type fix up of an old rusted LC could be interesting.

We do! It's sad to see all of our high school mudding spots get sold off and BOOM apartments. This place is about the only decent place left, we went to scout it out a week before new years and there were no trespassing signs splattered everywhere "it was a common mudding hole and burn pit" by some shear chance of luck one of our friends is good friends with the land owners grandson, so with his permission we were still able to go out there and do our annual thing.

If the 55 was mine and solely mine I would get it road worthy and just drive it around, its so cool. The rust is almost comical. However its my dads along with his other 55 which just so happens to have a blown up 1F and a 3spd, while this pig has a running 2F (not at the moment) 4spd, and front disc brakes. Will probably be a donor rig, the entire interior is also mint, was restored very well before the PO let it just sit and rot.

 

[prwillard2]

Finally got enough stuff on a partsouq list to place an order, New fuel sending unit is in and works correctly! The old one would read empty all the time and then would read 3/4 of a tank when it was nearing empty lol.

View attachment 3531277

Took me an HOUR of fiddling around and shoving the connector up underneath my floor squished between my gas tank to finally get it out and near the trans to hook up with the rest of the wiring harness. Was almost thinking I'd have to drop the tank...
View attachment 3531276
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Hmmmmm wonder why it wasn't reading properly
View attachment 3531274View attachment 3531273

I need to replace mine as well. Gas gauge bounces all over the place and I have to determine how full my tank is by the trip counter. That and my speedometer cable need replacing.

Glad to hear it is working better now!

 

[theglobb]

it snowed! much more than we thought, been snowing for the past 2 days straight pretty much. Sadly as of 3 hours ago I think the voltage regulator or something on the troopy is malfunctioning, it occasionally charges at the usual 28.2v but started to drop in voltage to 26v and then 24v then back to 28 and eventually back to 24-25. Not enough juice to start the troopy anymore, had to pushstart it the last time I parked it. Getting down to 4 degrees tonight so I don't think it'll push start... due to that I have resurrected the Zupup

 

[robmobile73]

When running a 4bt on 6:2 mix of waste vegetable oil and gasoline it required some extra heat when parked overnight below freezing. Putting an electric space heater under the hood for 15 minutes while I ate breakfast worked. Pouring a kettle or pot of boiling water on the injector pump also worked. Something like this is probably a much better solution to being able to start your diesel when cold: YOTNUS Engine Heater Oil Pan Heater Pad Replacement Block Heater, 140W Silicone Heating Pad for Cold Weather with Heat Protector Cord Length 5.6Ft Amazon.com - https://a.co/d/1Gm2z4r

 

[theglobb]

Video below explaining my issue. I don’t know if it’s a charging problem or not? Maybe 2 things tied together. The voltage was low and irregular when shut off but I’ve been able to spin the starter with ease down to 25v before. Now with each battery having power sent to it it just clicks and seems like all electrical on the truck shuts off immediately, until I let off the key. Any ideas what’s going on?



I despise anything and everything electrical when it comes to working on. Hopefully it’s a decently simple fix

 

[theglobb]

When running a 4bt on 6:2 mix of waste vegetable oil and gasoline it required some extra heat when parked overnight below freezing. Putting an electric space heater under the hood for 15 minutes while I ate breakfast worked. Pouring a kettle or pot of boiling water on the injector pump also worked. Something like this is probably a much better solution to being able to start your diesel when cold: YOTNUS Engine Heater Oil Pan Heater Pad Replacement Block Heater, 140W Silicone Heating Pad for Cold Weather with Heat Protector Cord Length 5.6Ft Amazon.com - https://a.co/d/1Gm2z4r

Thanks for the link and heads up. I got a block heater installed and a anti gel in my fuel tank.

Also there is a “fuel enrichment” lever on my IP to help majorly with cold starts that I don’t have anything hooked up to. I bet it would do a lot better if I ran something to that

 

[sark]

Video below explaining my issue. I don’t know if it’s a charging problem or not? Maybe 2 things tied together. The voltage was low and irregular when shut off but I’ve been able to spin the starter with ease down to 25v before. Now with each battery having power sent to it it just clicks and seems like all electrical on the truck shuts off immediately, until I let off the key. Any ideas what’s going on?



I despise anything and everything electrical when it comes to working on. Hopefully it’s a decently simple fix

From what I learned, multiple clicks with no start is a starter issue.

 

[theglobb]

From what I learned, multiple clicks with no start is a starter issue.

I am running 24v to a 12v starter… hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Possibly fried the solenoid to just the whole thing