Due to the various reasons above... the troopy hasn't really been worked on all that often.
View attachment 3934995
Below the A pillars, where the doors mount to were rotted out due to there being 3-4 layers of sheet metal all crammed up next to each other. I fixed it but don't have any photos at the moment
View attachment 3934996
And my floorboards were rotted out, replaced with 16-gauge steel that'll do just fine.
View attachment 3934997
Lots of other little bits and pieces here and there that I have tackled but I haven't spent a full day on it in a month or so. I have fully finished all of the welding on the driverside of the vehicle, now I just need to get it running again, kinda braking again, and then turn it around under the temu carport to tackle the passenger side A pillar, floor pans, and whatever else there is to do.
I found an old 80's Nissan Pathfinder in a junkyard, pulled the front bullbar off of it for $40, and welded it up onto my tweaker truck for some added protection and to take away from the "totaled" look it had prior.
View attachment 3935008
Got offered to take this rotted out Tacoma from my co-worker's yard. Parted out the doors, hood, bumper, axle, and 3RZ that was in it for some decent side $$$$
View attachment 3935009
2 weeks ago, I got offered a free FJ60... how am I supposed to turn that down?!?!?!? Went down to Wilmington last weekend to retrieve it, give it a once over, make a parts list for it, and went back to Boone. This coming Sunday I'll catch a ride back to Wilmington, replace some parts here and there, fix some vacuum leaks, change all of the fluids, and limp it back to Boone on some backroads. So pumped to have a DRIVEABLE Land Cruiser back in my life!
It is CRUSTY!!! I never want to tackle any sort of serious sheet metal welding on a car again, I've grown from disliking it to just despising it. The frame seems to be ok on it. For the time being I'll drive it around here and there, it'll be the perfect winter beater, then a year or 2 down the line once this troopy stuff is hopefully sorted, find a somewhat mostly rust-free body and swap it.
Ha! Life is pretty great at the moment.
I have dedicated the past 3 summers of my life trying to make the troopy just work. Finally I got it working, drove it for 9 months, and then spent another summer dedicated to fixing the rust. I love it, but I have spent so much time during my summers of my peak years slaving away on it, and I have had diminished returns. I don't regret it, it's not wasted time, I have learned an immense amount about anything and everything automotive during that time spent. But now in my life it's just not worth it to be the #1 priority of mine. I will carry on! Just at my own pace which will likely be slow, I just hope I don't totally burn out on it.