PART 1:
It all started innocently enough. Having been a Roofer since '02, I had decided to go back to school for something a little more mechanical. And so, September '07 found me sitting in Class for an ELT Heavy Duty/Commercial Transport Mechanic Program. Since I was in school fulltime, my GF Ellen was gonna have to pick up the financial end of things for the year. This leads me to my story.
I had actually been on the waiting list for the course the previous year, so we had some time to save a bit and get prepped, and during that time we made the decision on how to reward ourselves once school was done. We were gonna go ahead with the first leg of our master plan. Perhaps a little more explanation is required.
Our "Master Plan" consists of a road trip from the Northen end of the Highway in Canada, to the Southern end of things down in Chile.
The "First Leg" was to consist of a trip from Victoria, BC to Inuvik, NWT and back. Around 7,000km total.
When we first came up with the plan, there was a lot of discussion around the coffee/dinner tables about how, what, where, the usual. SInce I was driving an '81 Jeep Wagoneer at the time, and gas was slowly climbing ever higher, we knew a different vehicle would be in order. Since I'm writing this little tale on a Toyota lover's website, I guess you can figure out which way I was leaning. Also, since I'm the one who would be handling all things mechanical, both prior and during the trip, Ellen felt it was best to leave all those decisions up to me. So, Toyota it was. At the time I had an 81 BJ60 that was under the knife and we hummed and hawed over how much work it would still need before it might be ready. In the end, it was decided a new vehicle would be needed and we could start from scratch on it.
My favourite vehicle to date had been my 85 4Runner. It was stolen, never to be heard from again. But I knew it and it's 22RE like the back of my hand. I wasn't positive about size or power, as far as carrying 2 people and a pooch and all the gear needed up and down mountains, but I had some big plans. So a bit of time elapsed as my brain went feverishly into sketch mode starting to plan how on earth all this craziness was gonna work out.
During this time, as some MUD readers may recall, I had a chance at an 86 HJ60 for free! Only problem was it was in Ontario(Other side of Canada). So briefly that was gonna be the vehicle, once we got it back. Well not to stray too far of the story, but I sold that LandCruiser to a MUD member with a cracked head(the truck not the buyer) about 400km after I had picked it up. Nuff said.
So the search went on, and around May of '07 I found her. A bone stock 1985 Toyota 4Runner with 22RE. She had been parked in the shade under some cedars for some time, and it was about a block from the Ocean. It had seen better days obviously and the owner said it needed a Head Gasket, so it didn't even run. The owner swore everything else worked fine, and at 6'5" and 210lbs, not many people get on my badside, so I figured, what the hell. I got it for $700CAD add $50 for the tow to my place, and there we were, two new loves staring at each other in the driveway.
It all started innocently enough. Having been a Roofer since '02, I had decided to go back to school for something a little more mechanical. And so, September '07 found me sitting in Class for an ELT Heavy Duty/Commercial Transport Mechanic Program. Since I was in school fulltime, my GF Ellen was gonna have to pick up the financial end of things for the year. This leads me to my story.
I had actually been on the waiting list for the course the previous year, so we had some time to save a bit and get prepped, and during that time we made the decision on how to reward ourselves once school was done. We were gonna go ahead with the first leg of our master plan. Perhaps a little more explanation is required.
Our "Master Plan" consists of a road trip from the Northen end of the Highway in Canada, to the Southern end of things down in Chile.
The "First Leg" was to consist of a trip from Victoria, BC to Inuvik, NWT and back. Around 7,000km total.
When we first came up with the plan, there was a lot of discussion around the coffee/dinner tables about how, what, where, the usual. SInce I was driving an '81 Jeep Wagoneer at the time, and gas was slowly climbing ever higher, we knew a different vehicle would be in order. Since I'm writing this little tale on a Toyota lover's website, I guess you can figure out which way I was leaning. Also, since I'm the one who would be handling all things mechanical, both prior and during the trip, Ellen felt it was best to leave all those decisions up to me. So, Toyota it was. At the time I had an 81 BJ60 that was under the knife and we hummed and hawed over how much work it would still need before it might be ready. In the end, it was decided a new vehicle would be needed and we could start from scratch on it.
My favourite vehicle to date had been my 85 4Runner. It was stolen, never to be heard from again. But I knew it and it's 22RE like the back of my hand. I wasn't positive about size or power, as far as carrying 2 people and a pooch and all the gear needed up and down mountains, but I had some big plans. So a bit of time elapsed as my brain went feverishly into sketch mode starting to plan how on earth all this craziness was gonna work out.
During this time, as some MUD readers may recall, I had a chance at an 86 HJ60 for free! Only problem was it was in Ontario(Other side of Canada). So briefly that was gonna be the vehicle, once we got it back. Well not to stray too far of the story, but I sold that LandCruiser to a MUD member with a cracked head(the truck not the buyer) about 400km after I had picked it up. Nuff said.
So the search went on, and around May of '07 I found her. A bone stock 1985 Toyota 4Runner with 22RE. She had been parked in the shade under some cedars for some time, and it was about a block from the Ocean. It had seen better days obviously and the owner said it needed a Head Gasket, so it didn't even run. The owner swore everything else worked fine, and at 6'5" and 210lbs, not many people get on my badside, so I figured, what the hell. I got it for $700CAD add $50 for the tow to my place, and there we were, two new loves staring at each other in the driveway.