What was your very first Overland Rig?

[PatriotT4R]

My wife sent me a picture of my very first Overland Rig while rummaging through the family albums. This is how the story went my brother-in law Jay's very first car was also my very first car! That's right a car not a truck! Back in the day we wanted cool cars while in High School. Did I mention I knew my wife in High School but we never dated back then just friends! Obviously growing up in Mason NH was cool with a population of just under 900 people, in the middle of nowhere! The car was a 1970 Chevelle Malibu that myself and my buddies would ride on anything that seemed to resemble a road. Photo was taken in 1984.

 

[Dilldog]

My first overland rig was also my first car. It was a 1980 Chevy LUV 4x4, that my dad bought new in 1979. When I was 15 my dad told me if I helped rebuild the engine I could have it. So I did and drove it while I was in high school, I did some 4wheeling and exploring but not much. When I came back home after basic training my dad signed over the title to me and thats when the real exciting stuff started. I fabricated my own 2" lift so I could clear 30" tires, I also had a custom camshaft ground for it (it already had the head milled, intake, header, and Webber 32/36 carb on it from the rebuild). I then started looking into traction adders. I found the the front differential in these little guys was the same differential the first gen Isuzu Impulses ran, so I found one of those and swapped the third members to get a limited slip up front. I also found out that the rear differential is the same was the front differential for the 90 and up Isuzu Trooper, so that gave me access to lockers. I then fabricated a winch bumper for it and just ran a Mile Marker 4500lbs winch (full tank of fuel, trail spares, and me the pickup weighted 2800lbs, so the little winch I felt was plenty). I unfortunately dont have any pics of it, and dont own it anymore. It was a great rig but due to parts availability (or lack there of) me and the old Chevy badged Isuzu parted ways about 10 years ago...

 

[PatriotT4R]

My first overland rig was also my first car. It was a 1980 Chevy LUV 4x4, that my dad bought new in 1979. When I was 15 my dad told me if I helped rebuild the engine I could have it. So I did and drove it while I was in high school, I did some 4wheeling and exploring but not much. When I came back home after basic training my dad signed over the title to me and thats when the real exciting stuff started. I fabricated my own 2" lift so I could clear 30" tires, I also had a custom camshaft ground for it (it already had the head milled, intake, header, and Webber 32/36 carb on it from the rebuild). I then started looking into traction adders. I found the the front differential in these little guys was the same differential the first gen Isuzu Impulses ran, so I found one of those and swapped the third members to get a limited slip up front. I also found out that the rear differential is the same was the front differential for the 90 and up Isuzu Trooper, so that gave me access to lockers. I then fabricated a winch bumper for it and just ran a Mile Marker 4500lbs winch (full tank of fuel, trail spares, and me the pickup weighted 2800lbs, so the little winch I felt was plenty). I unfortunately dont have any pics of it, and dont own it anymore. It was a great rig but due to parts availability (or lack there of) me and the old Chevy badged Isuzu parted ways about 10 years ago...

Great Story Brother ... Wish I could have seen the final picture thanks for sharing!!

 

[Dilldog]

Great Story Brother ... Wish I could have seen the final picture thanks for sharing!!

It was a great rig, I put 230K on the engine I built, I abused that truck like no other. I honestly hold that Isuzu pre GM take over had the best mini trucks. They weighed nearly half what the Toyotas and Nissans of the day did and still didnt seem to ever break. I will say however that the body work and interiors were straight up garbage, more like a military Jeep than a civilian pickup. But having owned post GM Isuzus it really disappointed me to see the engine build quality and how it seemed to go down (the 4Z series of 4 cylinders were good but couldnt take a fraction of the abuse the G series engines could, and the C series diesels in naturally aspirated form were about as reliable as an engine could be but when they put a turbo charger on them they started flat spotting crank shafts and simply put destroying themselves, then the V6s had such oil consumption issues that Isuzu said that up to 1 quart per 1500 miles on a new engine was normal. I dont know what happened, but they went down hill fast and as an Isuzu enthusiast it really made me sad).

 

[ArkansasDon]

ground up build in 1984 on 1946 Willy's CJ2A . Basically stock flathead 4cyl., Rancho Suspension, Ford Brakes, overdrive. (1st photo)

1990 I done a ground up build on a 1972 Suzuki LJ 20, water cooled two-stroke, 359cc, solid axles front and rear, a two-speed transfer case: high is 1.714:1 and low 3.013:1, a four-speed manual transmission (2nd photo)

Funny thing is back then overland or overlanding wasn't ever mention, you heard "jeep jamboree" were we all got together whether trailering or driving our jeeps to the locations for a off-road adventure weekends.

 

[Arepas]

1995 ford bronco (4x2)

 

[Steve]

Here's a thread on several members' first adventuring vehicle: https://overlandbound.com/forums/threads/what-was-your-first-vehicle-you-took-exploring.1772

And here's another on previous adventuring vehicles: https://overlandbound.com/forums/threads/post-up-the-rigs-you-had-in-the-past-pics.969

And another showing our first vehicle: https://overlandbound.com/forums/threads/first-wheels.626/

;)