I've long struggled with why I'm hopelessly committed to the 1989 Isuzu Trooper RS project. I've given myself the litmus test a few times of, "Who could I sell this to, quickly?" - and I know exactly who that would be - and every time, I say, "No way."
At this point, I'm going all the way with this limited-production, short wheelbase truck. A big reason, lately, is that I finally connected with a guy who had become a bit of an urban legend. He owns a small, definitely-off-the-books operation consisting of a one-bay garage and a guy named Nelson who does bodywork for a very, very good price. And he does rust. And since I own two fairly rusty cars, it's really important that I know someone who does this kind of work and doesn't only work at a frame-off restoration shop.
Needless to say, it has given me some urgency around the other projects. I'm going to kick things off with my Eurovan, which has some rust in the driver's side lower arch behind the front wheel, and then I'd love to have multiple vehicles lined up, ready to go. But before that happens, they need to run, and fairly reliably. Which is why I called the guys working on the Trooper and the 1995 Range Rover LWB at their respective domiciles and raised the stakes: $500 bonuses if they have the trucks running and driving within three months.
Don't mistake this for some kind of newfound success in my life. It's table stakes. And a HUGE part of these projects working out financially is cheap-but-good bodywork, so they need to be underway on a far more aggressive timeline than what's been demonstrated so far. It may not work, but it's worth a shot. Wish me luck.
It will all be worth it! Just hang in there and you'll be golden.