At this years ZuZoo you may have noticed I didn't bring the StinkBug for the first time, and instead brought a new buggy I built with my friend Wayne. After a few days of wheelin his rig I decided it was time to build myself something a little more extreme than the current StinkBug. When I mentioned parting out my rig however I got a ton of negative responses from people who really like my rig. Truth is I agree with all of them, I LOVE my rig and I took it as a huge compliment when so many people told me they felt the same. Problem is I couldn't afford to buy all the parts needed for a new rig, and I REALLY like my current drivetrain.

Well that problem has just been solved. I've just aquired the original Super Trooper. This was one of the first troopers to get a full drivetrain and axle swap, years before I started wheeling, and its still a pretty nice package. Current specs are as follows.

'91 Chevy 4.3 V6 TBI
700R4 Transmission
Dual toyota T-cases
Rear Isuzu 12 bolt W/ARB
Front Toyota minitruck axle W/ARB

Most of that will be transferred to the new rig, some will go to the previous owner, and some will either be sold or scrapped. The plan is to build a totally new tube chassis, that will meet the 2006 W.E.Rock Modified Class rules. The 4.3, 700R4, and 12 bolt rear will remain. A Dana 300 with twinstick will replace the toy cases, and a wagoneer D44 will go up front. Basically all the drivetrain will be a duplicate of the current StinkBug. The suspension will not however. I plan on closely copying the suspension on waynes Buggy as I really liked how it worked both crawling and haulin butt. The chassis itself will be a mix of a number of rigs I've watched closely and worked on in the last couple years, but will borrow a lot from the rigs built by Jason Paule and the folks at Twisted Customs in South Dakota. No denying it, they build some of the best rigs out there and I've been lucky enough to spend a bit of time carefully examining them to see what makes them so good. Hopefully a little of that will come through in this build. The bodywork will definitely be based on the trooper, but will be shorter and narrower. I'll probably hack up and reuse the hood and fenders, but the rest will be fabricated.

So without further delay heres a peek at what I'm starting with.



It wont be lookin like that for long though. The Trooper is gonna get stripped pretty fast and about 90% of the body will be goin to the junkyard. The building of the new chassis probably wont be getting started for a while yet because of other projects going on right now, but stay tuned, I'll keep you updated as things progress.

Dallas

Bought it from Darren, eh? I woulda helped with delivery! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Good to see that truck back in Isuzu hands! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> ...even if it is gonna be stripped down pretty well.

Wayne's rig worked pretty nice, that ain't a bad thing to copy!

Randii

Actually I got it from a guy named Sebastian who picked it up at an impound lot of all places. Dont know the whole story on how it ended up there, but it worked out quite nicely for me. Wayne actually came across it one day, in the parking lot of his condo. A little wheelin and dealin, and poof, parts rig <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Dallas

Sounds cool. I'm definitely excited to see what you come up with. Checking out Wayne's buggy in person and wheelin side by side was very cool, I can only imagine how much better you'll do it the second time around!

So I take you'll be sticking with the air shocks for cost. some sort of radius arm or 4-link for the suspensions? is the chassis going to be a 2-seater? what about that engine, wayne's buggy had the turbo, i think that 4.3L needs a little help breathing! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

good luck man, keep us updated on the build!

-Rob

Yeah, what HE said... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Im thinkin syclone that 4.3... Oh yeah, twin intercooled turbos. That would be SAWEEEEEEEEET!!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/evil.gif" alt="" />
Good luck and happy bendin, tube monkey. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

Looking forward to following the build up thread. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

awesome idea. I hope you use a trooper grill to go with the fenders and hood. Good luck with it! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

I'm a big fan of reliability, and I've never had complaints about power from my 4.3 so this one will be staying pretty stock, except for the edelbrock intake and headers that are already on it. Wayne will have a little power on me, but I can live with that. As for the suspension it will be 3 links with panhard bars front and rear just like waynes, and yes Air shocks all around though I'd like to try for a set of the sway aways instead of fox. The grill will get narrowed to fit and all the stock lighting will most likely get reused. Its not gonna be much trooper, but i'm hoping it'll look the part.

The goal is to make it look like this rig, only with a trooper body instead of the ranger.



BTW if anyone needs any parts from the carcass just let me know. Otherwise its goin to the scrap heap.

Dallas

That's too weird.... Seabass must have sold it to Sebastian, I guess? Silly to leave it in impound, tho. Congrats on the find!

Randii

Here ya go.....well kinda....sorry for the crappy photo shop.. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

hahaha awesome nice look man
dallas, whatcha want for those wheels and tires?