[greasemonkey]

Now comes the part I was least looking forward to, for good reason. This thing got ziebart-style undercoating applied several times over the years. The last time it was applied was here in Florida, and the applicator made a huge mess. This stuff was glopped on like someone using a tar mop for a roofing project. I've found that soaking parts in degreaser for a week works well to dissolve and loosen it. In the case of the underbody, I used mineral spirits to soften the undercoating. At that point, it could be blasted off with a pressure washer.
The problem is, it makes the worst mess I've ever seen in the garage. It falls off the truck and sticks to you, the creeper, the hose, the floor, etc. It's still covering my garage floor.

 

[stlswagger]

Very BIG project going on there! I'm jealous. I'm tearing down my '89 to resto my 88 LS (looks pretty similar to yours!). I'm not quite sure I'll be tearing down as far as you have but then again, I'm in a salt free area of the US. Is yours an LS too? I'm probably going to keep all my 89 cards for met 88 but if you need some interior goodies let me know

 

[greasemonkey]

Yes, this truck is an LS.
I haven't done a lot the past few weeks other than spray degreaser a few times a day to let it work into the remaining undercoating. Yesterday I used a pneumatic gasket scraper, grinder with wire wheel, needle gun, and scotch Brite pads to get rid of the remaining loose undercoating and clean the residual tar. The factory undercoating is still present in a few spots, and if it's stuck on well I'm leaving it alone as long as I know there isn't any rust under it.

 

[Tr00perN00b]

I am just now purchasing my first Trooper and it is an 88 that I plan on completely restoring/customizing. This thread is really encouraging that it's worth it and that I can do it, this is my first restoration project but I love the square body Japanese version of this kind of 80's box style SUV.

I can't wait to see more updates and how everything progresses.

 

[giusedtobe]

I am just now purchasing my first Trooper and it is an 88 that I plan on completely restoring/customizing. This thread is really encouraging that it's worth it and that I can do it, this is my first restoration project but I love the square body Japanese version of this kind of 80's box style SUV.

I can't wait to see more updates and how everything progresses.

Welcome. I have two 88's. One was a non runner I rebuilt the 2.6 but am a long way away on everything else. The other is a "parts car" that is nicer than the original in reality.

 

[greasemonkey]

Welcome Tr00perN00b. Parts are getting harder to find than they were 10 years ago. I've done a ton of research and found a lot of parts that cross over from other models. I'm going to work on compiling a list soon.

 

[greasemonkey]

Front knuckle bearing: SKF HK3016VP
Front wheel bearing seal: Timken 710168. This is the one that installs behind the wheel bearings.
Front axle seal: Timken 710516.
Knuckle seal: SKF 20875. THIS ONE IS IMPORTANT. I couldn't find this number anywhere. Every supplier lists 710527 Timken/National. This is nonsense. 20875 is the correct part number for the knuckle seal with the flanged cup. I finally found the Honda part number for a later Passport which cross referenced to this.
Rear axle seal: Timken 225230
Steering center link: Mevotech 80906. This one has 2 holes, not 3. I believe the 3 hole is used for trucks with a steering damper, but I'm not sure. You need to match what you have.
Ball joints: Moog K9042 (upper) and K9465 (lower)
Tie rods: Moog ES2953 (outer) and ES2954 (inner)
Tie rod adjusters: Mevotech MES3090S. I really only needed the left hand nuts from these, but it's cheaper just to buy the whole thing than the nuts by themselves. Note: the left hand thread tie rods come with right hand jam nuts, because THAT makes sense.
Upper control arms: RK621389 (right) and RK621390 (left) i gambled on these because I couldn't find cross shafts for my Trooper. These are listed for mid 90s Rodeos and Pickups but I found that the part numbers for the cross shafts matched up. Since I need cross shafts and bushings I bought the loaded arm. I didn't use the pre-installed ball joints, though.
Lower control arm bushings: Mevotech MK9872. These are listed for a 2000s Trooper but match perfectly AND save you money over buying the specific first gen bushings.
Steering box rebuild kit: Gates 348434. You only use a handful of o rings and seals from this kit, so it must be for multiple vehicles. It's still cheaper than buying a reman box.
Driveshaft center support ("carrier bearing"): B/A 1014241
U joints: Spicer 51515x, all 5 u joints are the same. I wouldn't recommend these, as apparently Spicer rebrands cheaper joints like a lot of brands do now. Fortunately, the GMB marked joints I received were made in Japan, so I used them anyway. They're a whole lot cheaper if you don't pay for the Spicer name though.
CV boots: B/A 1032760 and 1032761
Brake discs: Centric 32043009 (front) 32043004 (rear)
Shocks: KYB KG4613A (front) KG5534 (rear)

The rear bump stops, control arm bolts, and front axle mount bushings I got from Jerry.

I'll add more as I go, but I'm willing to bet this will help. Maybe I need a standalone post to make a sticky some day since this stuff takes a while to find.

 

[greasemonkey]

Rear shackles are factory height heavy duty shackles from Independent4x. Leaf spring bushings and sway bar bushing kit are from Energy Suspension for an '88 Trooper.

If you go bolt shopping, get very familiar with JIS fasteners. Everything on a Trooper is either JIS or fine thread metric. Most of it you can't source from a hardware store. Belmetric.com is where I sourced bolts, nuts, washers, drain plug gaskets, bonded seals, even screws and zip ties. I spent a lot of time and money with these guys. They ship really fast and have good products.

Fuel and brake line are from inlinetube. The clamps I used on the lines are also from them.

Soon to be exhaust is a bunch of extra stainless tubing I have already in the garage, plus a universal Catco catalytic converter and a huge Walker Quiet flow SS muffler sourced for a Dodge truck. The dimensions are almost spot on for a factory Isuzu muffler so I bought it.

 

[greasemonkey]

I started on the exhaust today. Factory exhaust is 2 inch. This one is getting 2.5, because that's what I have in the garage as leftover from another project. I buy mandrel bends, cut them up, and weld them.
The factory pipe that attaches to the manifold has 2 bends, and is crush bent. The two pipes that Y together are 1.5 inch, and merge into a single 2 inch which is probably closer to 1.75 or 1.875 where it is crushed. I hacked the 2" pipe off and used a mandrel bend 2.5. The best way I've found to do this is clamp the end of the pipe in a vise and oblong it little by little until it fits over the 2 smaller pipes.
I haven't made it very far, but it is progress.

 

[greasemonkey]

Continued.

 

[greasemonkey]

I wrapped up the exhaust today. I ran it similar to factory but altered the exit. I'm interested in seeing how it performs compared to the very restrictive exhaust that came off.

 

[greasemonkey]

Finally tackled the rear body mount captured nuts. At first, I cut a hole from the side of the crossmember to see if I could extract the nut and cage from the side. Nope. So then I just cut out the bottom of the piece it's attached to, cut the cage off, extracted the broken off bolt, retapped the threads, hammered the sheet metal flat, recaged the nut, and welded the cage on all 4 sides rather than just 2. Then the whole thing got welded back in. I didn't want to go this route, but it was better than drilling holes through the body from the passenger compartment.

 

[paulevans76]

Nice. I went wild cutting holes in the floor and then welding them back up. That undercoat is nasty stuff! Should have done it your way! :blackeye:

 

[andy_sykes]

Any chance we can get an update? - Sorry, ignore that - my computer showed me I was on the last page, but was in fact still on the first page... That's a bit embarrassing

I'm thoroughly impressed with your progress!

 

[greasemonkey]

Sadly, I don't have a progress report. I've been working long hours 6-7 days a week and haven't had time to work on the Trooper. Maybe I'll get something done Sunday.

 

[giusedtobe]

You are going to have a brand new Trooper when you are done. You have to be the only one that's done a complete frame off restoration of one of these. Very impressed.

 

[greasemonkey]

We finally got the body back on the chassis. I've been working the past few weekends but finally had one off and we got to work.
I left the well-stuck factory undercoating alone and sprayed Rusto undercoating over the top of it. In hindsight, I probably should have tried to remove all the factory stuff because it's kind of unsightly with the nice smooth black sprayed over, but it'll do the job. I also didn't want to spend a lot of time under the truck when it was on the cinder blocks and wood, but now that it's back on the chassis, I don't mind rolling around and doing a little more finish work.

Body on but torsion bars loose-

Torsion bars cranked to roughly ride height, and started plumbing the engine bay. Power steering, wiring, and cooling system are done. I'm working on the fuel lines in the engine bay, but my el cheapo flare kit just doesn't make good bubble flares and I don't trust my new hardlines to hold the rubber hoses without a good bead at the end of the tubing. I have a new kit ordered from Cal-Van, it's not the fancy hydraulic kit but looks like it'll work well in tight spaces.

Ignore the disaster in the garage. I made an absolute mess with the undercoating floating all over the place, so once I get the fuel and brake systems functioning, I'll be able to get the truck out of the garage and deep clean it.

 

[giusedtobe]

Lol what you call a "Garage Disaster" I call a clean garage.

 

[greasemonkey]

I worked 3 out of the last 4 weekends, so this is my tiny amount of progress. My freshly restored steering shaft:

 

[greasemonkey]

Some more progress and some more derailment. Trooper is back up and running well although I need to bleed the brakes for a 3rd time.
I stripped the interior (mostly) and found some rust. The front floor has surface rust that I'm working on wire wheeling and acid treating. The rear had what appeared to be mostly surface rust between the wheel tubs and floor. Further investigation revealed significant rust where the bed floor, wheel tub, and brackets meet. I started drilling out spot welds after stripping the factory seam sealer. I also stripped the underside of the wheel wells and found more rust.