Well the body swapped trooper has been on the road for a few months now and I have some updated pics and stuff..





So far its been pretty reliable (and remember this engine was sitting for 3 years). I had to adjust the wheel bearings, do some ghetto exhaust repairs to make due until I get a custom setup, and most recently the timing cover gasket.. put in a new timing set, water pump, and radiator hoses.



Then some guy flies right into me on his bicycle..



That kind of body damage isnt very cool.. but anyways, here is the scene in the garage:



The frame im on right now has rot, so im gonna clean this one up and rustproof it the best I reasonably can, and build it from the ground up.. wanted to mod my 2.8 to the hilt just to see how long it would last, but I decided to just go for the 3.4 while I have the body off one more time. Im thinking 33's on stock gearing with the 3.4 will be fine.

So basically I have a stock trooper thats running good, I had to worry about that before I could think about the mods too much, and its gonna take some time to get all that stuff together. But im wanting to do some light wheeling in it now, maybe some MN people could show me where the zu's gather around here <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Since he hit you on the passenger side, were you moving?

More importantly, did he stop and offer to pay for the damages, or did he ride away?

insane bicyclist .... Sounds like a trend. A couple weeks ago an insane bicyclist, riding fast on the sidewalk slammed into the side of my RS. I was pulling out of a drive thru, saw him thru the store windows, stopped with only the hood and front fenders past the store. He slammed into my front tire, put a minor ding in my fender. He bent his front wheel severly, he is ok. No body damage to him. His fault he admitted it, I feel sorry but nothing more I could have done. He was late and on his way to rehab counseling. The state doesn't let him drive a car anymore.

This guy was coming out of the sidwalk or some other illegal location after I completed a left turn onto a one way (so I was in the far left lane). The guy hurt himself pretty bad, so I'm not bugging him for money right now, but the prospect of painting a door and fender myself doesnt sound too fun. I've just decided to think about the mods for now to keep my mind off the looks.

Nice work,prong, looks dang factory! I'm looking forward to massive transplantage on my '88 Troop, and gettin the pieces together now.
If you ever decide to have a garage sale let me know, looks like a pot O' gold layin around in there!

Since I didnt just do an engine swap into the red trooper, the good frame is sitting here to work on so it'll look factory, if it came from the factory with a 3" lift and 33's <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

I'm looking to get rid of the 2.6 auto trans and tcase, misc 2.6 engine parts (the engine itself is toast), but im keeping the axles and suspension stuff etc, sorry

Hey, you did a frame-off..it looks great, take some credit. You've done a fine job and dad-gumm I for one am proud of the functional resultjavascript:void(0)
<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />
By the way, if some of the not-needed parts include the exhaust mani for a 2.6 I'd be pleased to give it a new home.
I'll do a retro someday, but gotta say this ole '88 has good stones now (but eh mileage), like these tales of sucess!

Actually I'm glad I went that route.. when I started this project I was a newbie mechanic and all I knew was from what I read.. I didnt have the knowledge to rip out an engine and fab crossmembers etc, so I got into the nuts and bolts of the body and frame.. and either way it required swapping stuff under the dash so it wasnt much more work. Now I have the confidence to work on every area of the truck, and a chance to update/replace everything on the other frame, so its even better in the long run. How many miles on your 2.6? this 2.8 has about 180,000 give or take a few (broken speedo drive gear) and its still running great, but it just makes sense to put in the 3.4 while I have the chance..