I’ve been using this forum for quite a while and first up thanks to everybody who has helped me out.
This truck has been in the family since 94 when it was imported with 50ks on it and was my dads upgrade from a Subaru Leone (the one with button height adjustment!) It was too good to get rid of when he upgraded to a 3.1 bighorn so my mum drove it (yes lol) and I have taken over it in the last few years. The 3.1 bighorn was sold with 230ks on the clock and it was pretty shagged (old man upgraded to a 4.7 V8 grand Cherokee with fancy electronic diff locks etc), but the old 2.8 with 340ks on it is still going strong and has too much sentimental value and is also not worth enough to sell
I decided to mod it into something that was a bit more capable a few months ago as figured it would be a good starting truck and would be cheaper than buying something else, and I would learn along the way.
One thing I learnt from 4wding in both trucks was that the 3.1 bighorn was much more capable just because it had a rear LSD, so that was my first mod. Working on this has been part restoration part upgrade. It was used on the beach and obviously not washed properly. I actually learnt to drive in it there. I have had to deal with rust in the entire roof sills, rear door arches, below the rear number plate, front body crossmember below the radiator, front wheel arch, also in the chassis below the driver’s seat.
I have done everything as cheaply as is possible, but I still aim to make it last. It is not a show truck and never will be. I have never worked on a car to this degree before so I’m learning heaps as I go and asking lots of questions. Before I started I had done work on mountain bikes, motorbikes etc and consider myself reasonably mechanically minded.
I’m moving to Wellington for work in January 2011 so hoping this truck helps keep me busy in a new town. Also aiming to get most of the major mods done by then as I wont have such a array of tools/space/time/friends & neighbours with metal work businesses you get the idea. Plan to join a club and get out as much as possible, also get back on my mountain bike cause I got bored of mountain biking around Auckland and hear there is lots down there.