Builds The "Red Rocket" Troopy (11 Viewers)

[jblueridge]

Some of the roof gutter repairs look like good places to use body panel adhesive.
sem adhesive

 

[robmobile73]

This past Saturday there was the "biggest party in Boone" called Thaw Out massive event, more than 10,000 kids, and the main source of transportation for the event were 2 short buses ( powered by 7.3's) run by my buddy who owns the Boone Party Bus business. AND the Red Rocket of course. I drove for 14 hours straight, fueled by a Bojangles Cajun fillet biscuit and a couple of protein bars.

Ended up making close to $900 in one day which wasn't a bad run at all! Myself along with the 2 party buses had police escorts into and out of the event every time we entered to drop off/pick up more kids. The Red Rocket did amazing, full throttle, fully loaded, in a mountain town, full of stop-and-go traffic. It was actually the first time I've ever overheated my brakes, no matter how much engine braking I did I was still stopping the troopy with an extra 2000lbs in it over and over again. Took a 10 minute break and hit the highway at 75mph to cool them down some. I was too busy driving to take any photos so here's the only events I have documented of the day.

Picture I took 30 minutes before all hell let loose and the calls for pick ups started coming in
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Had to rescue one of my best friends from the event who had a bit too much to drink as to where she couldn't even walk
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This was what the line was like when you didn't have a police escort into the event, half a mile line
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It was a good time! By the end of it my right arm and left leg were shaking from all of the shifting I had been doing, ontop of having no power steering.


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Now for the heartbreaking news for me but amazing news for the troopy. After about a whole month of deliberations, now it's pretty set in stone. My last post mentioned I was hired to work on those old steam locomotives. Well, I was hired by my boss who was a great guy, genuinely the first boss I have had that wasn't shady, like trying to steal money from me or this past summer when my last boss was shorting me half my paycheck and then tried to fistfight me over it... that's a story for another time.

However after a week or so after I was hired, the windowlicking smoothbrain that runs the HR dept did a background check/search on me, and came across a news article about the Isuzu Trooper explosion that I had almost burned to death in. Obviously they had questions as the article was last updated the night that it happened, didn't say that I wasn't at fault, and also said that the investigation was still ongoing. So I went in and explained everything that happened but that wasn't enough. My boss and I fought very hard to keep me employed there. I got a great recommendation from my landlord saying how my actions saved the entire house from burning down, went to the papers to have them update the article, and went to the fire marshall to get the entire written report saying I was not at fault for anything and it was a freak accident. No matter what I did or how much effort I put in the absolute child running the HR dept wouldn't change her mind, let alone even respond to my emails or calls about the issue. She finally did and just shut me down once more without giving me any reason or chance to meet in person about anything, couldn't even spell my name correctly in the email which is honestly the part that pisses me off the most. It shows how much she didn't care about anything and how I was just an annoying fly in her ear. This was all after $550 had been spent on safety toe boots required for the job, beating 22 other applicants for the position, and months of waiting to hear back from them from when I even first applied for it.

This is the end of my rant/update. Sorry to end it on a negative note, its just insane how much effort I put into righting any issues they would have had and felt like I was dealing with someone who has the maturity of an 11-year-old girl.

This means I will be using all of my anger I have for the waste of oxygen that is running the HR dept, to fuel my passion to do rust repairs, pop top install, and a repaint of the troopy this summer. Probably even more such as a properly sized turbo for the 4BD1T, rock sliders, clean up the wiring, etc etc. It's gonna be a GOOOOD summer for the troopy. Try to get it looking nice, all the dents out, and really transform it into what I've always wanted it for, being able to live out of it. Might even add power steering who knows!

Keep pushing forward man. You are smart, resourcefull, and adventurous amongst other things. Many HR are programmed to only want "good quiet submissive worker bees". You are likely destined for greater things. Many of us on here envy you. Good luck!.-R.

 

[theglobb]

Went to the 4WD beach today as one last hoorah before work on the troopy starts for the summer. Pop tops will be arriving in LA around July 4th and then will arrive to the east coast probably near the end of July... dang I'm gonna miss driving this thing around for the whole summer again. Will be totally worth it in the long run though.

Heres a video I got during sunset here in Wilmington while I had my buddy drive it on its last drive to the shop.

Keep pushing forward man. You are smart, resourcefull, and adventurous amongst other things. Many HR are programmed to only want "good quiet submissive worker bees". You are likely destined for greater things. Many of us on here envy you. Good luck!.-R.

I've come to realize that... after being stepped on by power hungry bosses because I was the "good quiet submissive worker bee" I am done. Finally found a boss who is a great guy andddd the HR then stepped on the both of us lol. I'm over it (mostly) I'm really excited for what this summer brings for all of my mechanical endeavors

 

[Rigster]

I'm over it (mostly) I'm really excited for what this summer brings for all of my mechanical endeavors

This is the attitude that will carry you through to success when life throws you curveballs like this. It will happen time and again, but keeping a positive attitude is so important to keeping you moving forward. The moment you allow this stuff to take root and have resentments/bitterness build up and you will be stuck. Do not let them have that kind of power and control over your life.

I look forward to all you (and we) will learn while you make improvements to your troopy.

 

[theglobb]

Some decent photos from yesterday from my old beater camera that managed not to melt inside the trooper. Still takes pretty great photos!

Picking up a topper for @svsisu that was local to me. The Zupup is a taddd too small, had to make a homemade "flatbed"

One last photo I got of Jon's Alternator and Starter before I left Boone

 

[svsisu]

Some decent photos from yesterday from my old beater camera that managed not to melt inside the trooper. Still takes pretty great photos!

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Picking up a topper for @svsisu that was local to me. The Zupup is a taddd too small, had to make a homemade "flatbed"
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One last photo I got of Jon's Alternator and Starter before I left Boone
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Is that my alternator on the bench! Thanks for everything man! Especially yesterday, and indulging my harebrained purchases. I don’t care what that HR person says, you’re alright.

I still think tha top looks good on the zupup

 

[theglobb]

Well, the grinding and cutting began... Probably 20 lbs of bondo in this roof I've had to remove and still have more to go. The more I dig my anger towards the HR lady fades and begins to circle itself back to whatever french bozo did some bodywork on this before me. He went in, found the rust, slapped some metal on top of it with a couple of tacks and tons of bondo to cover it all up.

Once I had everything ground down around the roof I then cut into it

Well now that I can have a solid look at everything going on underneath... its looking like I'm gonna have to rip out all the rain gutters and make new ones from scratch. FUN!!! In all seriousness, there isn't as much rust as I was anticipating which I'm very thankful for. I was tempted to grind all the rust down on the gutters, rust convert them, paint, etc etc. However I started digging a bit and its all rust behind it. I'm already in here, I'm not gonna be some half-assed Frenchman, going to do everything properly, especially so it won't come back and bite me in the butt a couple years down the line.

Also looks like they brazed it at some point? Correct me if I'm wrong

I'm breaking it down into 3 main sections, the longest will be what I'm working on now. about 80 inches on each side of the Red Rockets roof, repairing the rain gutters, welding those in, then grinding down any rust on the inner layer of the roof, and finally welding in new metal on the outer layer of the roof. That I will then eventually cut when the pop top arrives. Then the 2nd section will be the same but just the part of the roof that is slightly angled downwards towards the windshield. Then the final thing I will tackle will be repairing the windscreen, and A pillars of the troopy. I think the last one will be the most difficult by far due to the amount of bends I'l need to somehow remake.

If anyone has any tips or tricks on remaking rain gutters or just any tips on anything please feel free to share!!!

I look forward to all you (and we) will learn while you make improvements to your troopy.

I do too!! Its gonna be a good and very sweaty summer, I need to get a fan for this shop lol

 

[gilmorneau]

Some decent photos from yesterday

The last of the "before" photos!

any tips on anything please feel free to share!!!

You've probably already seen it, but @TonyP has a thread called "93 Troopy Hodgepodge" or something like that, where he and @SNLC go through all, and I mean all, of the typical Troopy rust repairs in great detail. The Troopy they started with seemed way worse than yours. It's a long thread, but I think the metal repair stuff is around the middle of it somewhere. It's educational.

Also, go on Partsouq and take a look at the parts diagrams. There is still a fair amount of sheet metal available new for Troopies. It could save you a bunch of fabrication time.

 

[prwillard2]

You may also be able to source new roof rails from Australia. Not from Toyota, but a metal dealer. Depending on length they could send you them in a long cardboard tube.

 

[FJBen]

Not sure if there is any good info here or if it’s full on bogan. He’s got like 4 episodes.



And a patrol, but might be helpful

 

[jfz80]

Remember. No one likes a half assed Frenchman lol ……. Or an HR lead on blind cruise control that won’t even try to see the big picture.

Looking forward to the new addition but gonna miss seeing the red rocket around Boone. Have seen you on the last two trips that way but a taco in that town doesn't garnish a lot of attention

 

[svsisu]

That’s more extensive, but doesn’t look too much different than mine did. This I why I recommend anyone putting a poptop on to dig into the seam sealer in the gutters, and see what’s hiding. I’m pretty sure that is where all the roof rot starts. Lots of good info on this, and fabricating new gutters in the 60 section. Anyone with a 70 series should be reefing out the rain gutters to check, and resealing.

Great job, and remember most of your work doesn’t need to look pretty as it will be hidden with the top, except for the gutters.

You’re crushing it!

 

[Broski]

Great work and one of the best threads on mud !

 

[gilmorneau]

dig into the seam sealer in the gutters, and see what’s hiding. I’m pretty sure that is where all the roof rot starts.

It can start where the seam sealer in the gutters is compromised, but Troopies can also rust from the inside out from condensation, etc. It's a peculiarity of the way the roof is constructed.

 

[gilmorneau]

BTW, another way rust can start on the roofs/gutters of these trucks is if there's been a roof rack or other load attached to the gutters. The weight can shift, twisting the body a little, and it'll fatigue the seam sealer that runs along the bottom of the gutter. Check for cracks there.

 

[theglobb]

Dug some more into it back on Saturday. Sadly the 2nd layer of the roof has rotted through in the front... the hardest part to repair/fabricate. I'll get it done though. A couple other spots on the 2nd layer were pitted with rust, I didn't even want to chance any thin kind of metal that may be slightly rusty in there so I've cut it out, will weld new bits in, and go on my way. Will have to take the glass out soon, never done that before so hopefully all goes well.

Soooooo, I was gonna get more work done on the troopy but the firewall exploded on the Zupup. Since they were all made of recycled beer cans and the master Isuzu engineers didn't reinforce the firewall where the clutch assembly and cable mount to, this leads to the firewalls breaking open. Mine had already done it in the past, been "fixed" which just spread the load out further on the firewall and caused it to shear in half 10x the usual amount. Globbed it back together with my welder, then made a massive reinforcement plate that has an angle bracket to bolt into the side of the Isuzu firewall, thus giving it much more reinforcement. May not be pretty but it'll hold well! Not too shabby for just an angle grinder and a welder haha

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The last of the "before" photos!

You've probably already seen it, but @TonyP has a thread called "93 Troopy Hodgepodge" or something like that, where he and @SNLC go through all, and I mean all, of the typical Troopy rust repairs in great detail. The Troopy they started with seemed way worse than yours. It's a long thread, but I think the metal repair stuff is around the middle of it somewhere. It's educational.

Also, go on Partsouq and take a look at the parts diagrams. There is still a fair amount of sheet metal available new for Troopies. It could save you a bunch of fabrication time.

I've read through a couple pages on that thread and seen it but had no idea that it had detailed rust repairs!! Awesome thanks for the heads up. Ill follow the partsouq lead aswell

You may also be able to source new roof rails from Australia. Not from Toyota, but a metal dealer. Depending on length they could send you them in a long cardboard tube.

Noted... wonder how much shipping would be. My dad and I might try just making a DIY sheet metal break to bend metal with easily

Not sure if there is any good info here or if it’s full on bogan. He’s got like 4 episodes.



And a patrol, but might be helpful

Just watched all of them, plenty of good info thank you!

Remember. No one likes a half assed Frenchman lol ……. Or an HR lead on blind cruise control that won’t even try to see the big picture.

Looking forward to the new addition but gonna miss seeing the red rocket around Boone. Have seen you on the last two trips that way but a taco in that town doesn't garnish a lot of attention

Awesome you've spotted me! If you ever see me stopped you should say hi!

That’s more extensive, but doesn’t look too much different than mine did. This I why I recommend anyone putting a poptop on to dig into the seam sealer in the gutters, and see what’s hiding. I’m pretty sure that is where all the roof rot starts. Lots of good info on this, and fabricating new gutters in the 60 section. Anyone with a 70 series should be reefing out the rain gutters to check, and resealing.

Great job, and remember most of your work doesn’t need to look pretty as it will be hidden with the top, except for the gutters.

You’re crushing it!

100% support this, I'd bet even the "rust free" troopies out of the Middle East still have a little bit of surface rust beneath them... eventually turning to ROT years down the line

Great work and one of the best threads on mud !

Thank you!!! Means a lot, half of me wishes it wasn't in the 70 series section so it would get more attention. But then again, I kinda like the somewhat secluded 70 series/true cruiser fan community that views my thread. Its been a good 4 & 1/2 years

BTW, another way rust can start on the roofs/gutters of these trucks is if there's been a roof rack or other load attached to the gutters. The weight can shift, twisting the body a little, and it'll fatigue the seam sealer that runs along the bottom of the gutter. Check for cracks there.

Can vouch for this aswell. My roof was already long rotted before it ever was imported to the states but the new seam sealer they put in when they "repaired" the rust was all cracked and messed up from the roof rack I've had on it!

 

[robmobile73]

Dug some more into it back on Saturday. Sadly the 2nd layer of the roof has rotted through in the front... the hardest part to repair/fabricate. I'll get it done though. A couple other spots on the 2nd layer were pitted with rust, I didn't even want to chance any thin kind of metal that may be slightly rusty in there so I've cut it out, will weld new bits in, and go on my way. Will have to take the glass out soon, never done that before so hopefully all goes well.

View attachment 3631416View attachment 3631415

Soooooo, I was gonna get more work done on the troopy but the firewall exploded on the Zupup. Since they were all made of recycled beer cans and the master Isuzu engineers didn't reinforce the firewall where the clutch assembly and cable mount to, this leads to the firewalls breaking open. Mine had already done it in the past, been "fixed" which just spread the load out further on the firewall and caused it to shear in half 10x the usual amount. Globbed it back together with my welder, then made a massive reinforcement plate that has an angle bracket to bolt into the side of the Isuzu firewall, thus giving it much more reinforcement. May not be pretty but it'll hold well! Not too shabby for just an angle grinder and a welder haha

View attachment 3631414View attachment 3631411View attachment 3631413


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I've read through a couple pages on that thread and seen it but had no idea that it had detailed rust repairs!! Awesome thanks for the heads up. Ill follow the partsouq lead aswell

Noted... wonder how much shipping would be. My dad and I might try just making a DIY sheet metal break to bend metal with easily

Just watched all of them, plenty of good info thank you!

Awesome you've spotted me! If you ever see me stopped you should say hi!

100% support this, I'd bet even the "rust free" troopies out of the Middle East still have a little bit of surface rust beneath them... eventually turning to ROT years down the line

Thank you!!! Means a lot, half of me wishes it wasn't in the 70 series section so it would get more attention. But then again, I kinda like the somewhat secluded 70 series/true cruiser fan community that views my thread. Its been a good 4 & 1/2 years

Can vouch for this aswell. My roof was already long rotted before it ever was imported to the states but the new seam sealer they put in when they "repaired" the rust was all cracked and messed up from the roof rack I've had on it!

Last week I talked to a Safelite window glass repairman who works mobile out of his van at peoples home or business about: How to remove a old school "rope in" windshield without busting it. Told him I had a old landcruiser with a rotted frame that needed to be replaced. He told me: "As long as you aren't trying to re-use the old gasket you can just cut it up with a razer knife and pull it out. You can get the windshield out easy. If you're trying to take it out without damaging the old gasket that is very difficult."

 

[AirheadNut]

Yep, I’ve removed windows with the old style seals on air cooled VW’s and it is quite easy if you cut the gasket. Reinstallation isn’t too bad either using a cord to pull the window gasket in.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Last week I talked to a Safelite window glass repairman who works mobile out of his van at peoples home or business about: How to remove a old school "rope in" windshield without busting it. Told him I had a old landcruiser with a rotted frame that needed to be replaced. He told me: "As long as you aren't trying to re-use the old gasket you can just cut it up with a razer knife and pull it out. You can get the windshield out easy. If you're trying to take it out without damaging the old gasket that is very difficult."

Id replace the gasket anyway while its out. I think i saw it was sanded some. Happens and I have been there. I know a big issue with first gen tacoma windsheild gaskets in the same area cause rust in the corners because dirt and in our case sand gets behind the lip of the gasket and starts rubbing and rusting. Just saying better to see whats hiding behind that gasket. Keep up the good work @theglobb Remember if you need a break catch the ferry down to Ocracoke (I guess up from you)

 

[Felde]

Gasket is available, just cut the old sucker.
Still some steps away for you, but when putting it back in, remember to put some putty under the gasket lips after install. FSM explicitly states this, but many shops and people don't know/do it and wonder about rust to show up shortly after a windshield swap.
Well, I guess, our community will need to provide some mental support once you get started on the windshield frame anyways.
Keep it up! We all admire your dedication.
Cheers Ralf