It dawned on me earlier today: I never made a build thread for my Trooper!
Let the games commence! It'll take me a while to catch everything up (I think I've owned it for 5 years now), but we'll start with a photo of it as it sits right now. Some of the early photos are stowed away on a spare hard drive, so it might take me a while to dig them up.
I've always been interested in this. Partly because I don't know much about them, and partly because I always wondered how and why you ended up with it. I keep envisioning a standoff in the Suddard driveway, you pulling up in your new Trooper, smiling, proud. Your dad comes out with a sad look of disapproval. You stop and yell, your voice full of angst "you don't understand me dad, I don't want to drive a sports car!"
A slammed door and an attempt to put an exclamation point on your feelings with a big smokey burnout as you drive away. Alas, you're about 100 hp short, and you pull away with a hushed roar and excessive body roll.
Is it bad that the first thing I thought when I saw this thread is, "How much does he want for it and how bad will my wife kill me."
A build thread is cool too.
Seriously though, if you ever decide to sell it, drop me a line. It's one of my favorite vehicles in the Suddard family.
Voted up Mazdeuce's post, not because that's what happened, but because that version is so much cooler.
Reality started with the twin beagles, Tim and Tom, investigating Trooper for sale that was "priced right," which means it's coming home no matter what because, duh, priced right.
Ensuing years included lots of parental head-shaking, some "he likes it, so..."s, and a couple of spectacular stucks for the Trooper.
All in all, we've gotten our money's worth. Out of the Trooper as well.
Margie
As an owner of two Monteros so far (and less relevant: 4 XJ Cherokees) I happily endorse this thread.
mazdeuce wrote: You stop and yell, your voice full of angst "you don't understand me dad, I don't want to drive a sports car!" A slammed door and an attempt to put an exclamation point on your feelings with a big smokey burnout as you drive away.
Not really relevant, yet appropriate:
i miss my 91 rodeo so ill keep an eye on this. what driveline is in it?
I went looking for the build thread I thought was here about 6 months ago. My crystal ball's timing belt must have slipped...
Okay, let's start things off. I'm sitting in the Atlanta airport, so photos need to wait until I have faster internet. But I can get the text done, at least.
It's the summer of 2011, and I'm about to be a senior in high school. At this point, I'm into cars, camping, mountain biking, and fishing. My steed for all of this? An STX-prepped E30 with a roof rack. Yes, I carried around an 8' boat and an outboard on my E30. No, it wasn't fun.
It dawned on me: sports cars are awesome, but no matter how many times I said it, they aren't the best tool for every job. I needed a vehicle that better fit my life.
So, like any good GRMer, I started looking at wagons. Volvos and BMWs mostly, but then my search strayed towards Subarus–after all, wouldn't all-wheel-drive be nice for those sand boat ramps and tough-to-reach trailheads?
Of course it would! I shopped Foresters pretty hard, but then it dawned on me: If I was going to buy an SUV, why not get one that would tow a car, too? Heck, if I was going to get one that could tow, why not get one with enough room to actually haul some stuff, too. And, you know, if I'm going to have the weight and complexity of all-wheel-drive, why not get something with a solid axle and a real low-range transfer case, so I can have some fun off road.
So, I started shopping anything that wasn't an Explorer (they're bad), with about a $2k budget. Jeeps. Monteros. Land Cruisers. Outlanders. Sorentos. I looked at all sorts of stuff as far away as Michigan.
Then, my dad was driving back from lunch, and gave me a call: "There's a nice first-gen Montero for sale around the corner from the office."
We went to look at the Montero, and it turned out to be my Trooper. I hadn't even considered them, but after a quick look, I went home and did some research.
It was one step up from the base model (XS), which meant a split rear seat. It was also a second-gen Trooper II, which meant a stronger drivetrain and more aftermarket support. And, it had a 2.8-liter V6 and the automatic transmission, which meant a towing capacity of 3500 pounds.
The best part? Original paint, a remarkably unmolested interior, and just enough problems to justify beating down the guy's price. I bought it for $2300 with a dead battery, an exhaust leak, a broken heater, an idle issue, torn CV boots, and a bunch of gigantic metallic stickers stuck all over the exterior that said things like "AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL" with giant eagles.
I'm a fairly prolific critic of the later 3100/3400 but i actually think a tbi 2.8/3.1 is a fantastically simple/reliable/easy to repair engine. I briefly had a 3.1/5spd Rodeo and it was a great vehicle (that i picked up almost by accident and had no reason to keep in spite of its goodness). Only thing I had to do to it was replace the flywheel when the ring gear broke loose, and it was easy.
I know you haven't got to that part of the story yet but i also did a 2.8 > 3.4 swap in an 85 GMC Jimmy i was ressurecting for a friend. I also had a '95 3.4L Firebird for a short time.
Even though they don't make any power, i almost enjoy working on the old all-iron engines.
In reply to Vigo:
Do you still have the silver Montero in the lower left of that picture? I think I kind of want one and this thread isn't helping.
I'll try to dig up some proper "before" photos, but for now here's what it looked like after a few days.
First things first: A CB radio, roof rack, used stereo, and driving lights, all pirated from my collection. I also ran it through the detail shop, and amazingly the paint buffed right out and the giant stickers weren't hiding anything. I also ran by the junkyard and found a trailer hitch–it's just a class 1, but that's good enough to start off.
My dad was kind enough to weld up the exhaust leak, and he gave me a leftover battery from another project. I was officially in business!
Next: I towed something! 
Wow, wow, wow it was slow. At this point, the 2.8 V6 and 4l30e, sourced from GM due to a weird marriage that Isuzu and GM had, were well worn at 130,000 miles.
I also treated it to fresh CV boots, and a few other maintenance needs.
From there, the Trooper became my daily driver. It was great being able to take one car whenever we wanted to go anywhere.
I also started learning how off-roading worked. And, uh, wow–I had a few EPIC stucks (yes, I'll dig up the photos). Then, after a few months, General was kind enough to send me a new set of tires.
The size? 31x10.50R15. I needed wider wheels to handle them, so I hit eBay and pieced together a set of 5 "Snowflake" wheels that would have come on a different Isuzu.
Awwwww yeahhhhh. Much better!
Do you still have the silver Montero in the lower left of that picture? I think I kind of want one and this thread isn't helping.
I do. I will trade for your manual trans FJ Cruiser if you like. I've had a 2nd gen Monty as well and once borrowed a 2nd gen 5spd trooper to tow a car a few hundred miles and i like all those. I've never driven a 1st gen Trooper. I prefer the 2nd gen Trooper over the 2nd gen Montero, however, due to the fact that they're semi-easily found with a manual trans. The main reason i went from a 2nd to 1st gen Montero was to get a manual, but I also prefer the 80s looks on the Montero (but prefer the 2nd gen 90s looks on the trooper!).
I approve. Your truck is the closest thing I've seen to an aussie-style four-wheel-drive vehicle. Makes me nostalgic for my oft-lamented truck that I sold when I left my homeland. Keep the updates coming!
I also shopped Troopers before getting my Land Cruiser. I couldnt find a manual Trooper and could on the FJ60. There are a few REALLY nice Troopers up here.
I actually think the auto in the 1st gen Troopers is more uncommon than the manuals. I hardly ever see an auto 1g Trooper. With both the Trooper and Montero the autos are definitely more common in the 4dr, though.
I almost ended up with a trooper, but this came along at a good price. Count me in for the 4wd SUV bandwagon!
Built a bed in the back for camping trips:
Shot from Colorado trip last year - at 10k+ feet with the 33" tires, she is SLOW! I need a turbo but my fab skills are lacking
Did young Master Tom abandon this thread already? 
Yeah, can we at least talk about the engine swap?
YOUNG PEOPLE THESE DAYS
I've been busy with other stuff, like real work and projects that I haven't finished yet!
Anyway... back to it:
The Trooper became the official vehicle of stupid ideas and troublemaking:
Somewhere along the way, I pulled the dash apart and rebuilt the heater control box. Lots of grease/cables/levers, but after about 4 hours I had hot heat and cold A/C.
Then, after a few exceptionally bad nights stuck in the woods, I built a winch mount with my father's help:
For some reason, I can't find more photos of it. But basically, the winch is mounted in a homemade tray between the two frame horns, with the bumper draped over it. The result is a clean-looking installation that's been exceptionally strong, even after 4 years of abuse. Yes, that's a 9,000-pound Harbor Freight winch, and it's been bulletproof. I added a front receiver, too, to help move trailers around.
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