The San Diego, Ca. To Ushuaia, Argentina portion of our trip took 4.5 months, was approximately 13,000+ miles, and 13 countries. However, it took over a year for me to leave Bariloche (Patagonia) Argentina, where my wife is from.
Yup- kinda liked it!
A) Did i wish it was a diesel? No
B) Did i wish it was an 80? No
C) Did i want to trade for a 105 in Bolivia? No
But i must admit we were impressed by a twin turbo diesel,v8, 200 series that passed us going 120 m.p.h.- he had the hood up with a worried look on his face at the next service Station though.
Sounds like an epic trip. Your post made me curious about the drive to South America. I found this guys blog about it. http://drivetosouthamerica.com/photo-journal/
I had no idea about the Darien Gap, and all the hoops you must go through to make this journey possible. Since your wife is from Argentina, I'm sure that helped you considerably with regards to language barriers. So you made it down there with Zero mechanical issues?

back and forth over the Andes from sea level to 16,200 ft.- to many times to count.