I've decided to edit this thread to include a little history about my truck. A prequel to what it has become.
I'll start with a little history about it. It's a 2002 Isuzu Rodeo that I purchased used in 2004. It had less than 45000 miles on it then. I paid approx $15500.00 for it at Carmax.
My first mods were simple inexpensive ones. I put 31" tires on with a simple t-bar lift and valley spring works springs. the Yakima rack was added around the same time. I had some old 31" Firestone MTs from an old Pup that I ran for a while too.
Roof rack installed
31" TOYO ATs with shiney 15" snowflakes
Then I got some wheels off a wrecked Vehicross
Got an OEM brush guard on Ebay
Took it wheeling on several occasions:
Badlands in 2006
Exploring The Adirondacks in 2006
Philadelphia summer of 2007
Louisiana fall of 2007
Camping with Father N Law in 2009
I did a few other mods in this time:
I made a custom skid plate out of a thick piece of aluminum. It has held up really well and gives me more coverage than stock.
Rancho RS 5000's and some lift pucks were added after I fatigued the Valley Spring Works springs with a heavy load of landscape rock.
Post install
Hard mounted power inverter on passenger side
CB
Used it for a mobile office at work a time or two
It was my daily driver for most of that time period but was idled from about 2007 to 2010 while I was on the west coast for work. It's primary duty then, was dog hauler.
Although idled, it wasn't forgotten about. I had researched, planned and dreamed of what I wanted to do with this truck. Inspired by this picture and several builds on this site, I started planning for the mods.
Even tried out different color scheme ideas
And in time, found several e-bay and classifieds deals which I stockpiled for a later install. Then, I was finally able to make it happen!
See original post below.
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Now that I'm actually closer to home, I was able to get some time to work on it. For the conversion, I wanted to make it a Vauxhall but I didn't want it to look like a re-badged Rodeo. That became a reality when I was told about a TJM bumper in Atlanta. (Thanks to Jesse and this forum!)
To do the conversion, I started with the bumper 1st cause if it didn't look right, what would be the point. Being made for the Australian Rodeo, It wasn't an exact fit. Apparently the Rodeos (4 door trucks) over there kept the 1st gen frame a bit longer. To make it work, I had to notch it and redrill it to fit the American Rodeo. Once fitted, I was good but the grille did not match up. it didn't look bad but it didn't look right either. There was a large gap between the two. Luckily I had some scrap aluminum lying around. I sized it to fit under the grille. Hella fog lights were hooked into the factory wiring to complete the look.
Original bumper (picture courtesy of Beagler)
Test fitting
Areas that needed notched ( I also had to remove the bullets on from of the frame rails)
I took apart the bumper to paint match to the Rodeo. Before reassembly, I repainted the grille to match the filler pieces and bumper since the color wasn't an exact match. And since I was in the painting mood, I also painted the black trim pieces on my rear doors. I'd been wanting to do that for a while!
Final fitment after the bumper was painted and reassembled.
Some time ago, I had gotten some tail light guards. They were used and had been collecting dust so it was time that they were installed. The drivers side was broken and needed a little work, not having welding skills or a welder, I made a bracket to sturdy up the guard. The bracket looked funny so I figured it may as well be functional. So I made it capable of mounting a CB antenna to.
I damaged my OEM factory roof rack. Rather the fix the old, I decided to remedy the situation with a heavy duty rack that will support more than 100lbs. I used a few pieces of pipe and some aluminum grab bar ends. They needed some adjustment to fit correctly but looking at them, you wouldn't think they were originally meant for a bathroom. I painted them to match everything else. Xterra cross bars complete the look and fix the Yakima rack to the rails. Fearing that a lot of white might be too much of a good thing, I kept the rack black.
New roof rail mount
New rail with Vauxhall badge on door
Lastly was the Vauxhall Badges. They took a while to find, I had gotten them one by one over the course of a coupe years. I had three different types, one large, three mediums and two smalls. I put the mediums in place of the Rodeo badges and the large on the front bumper. The chrome griffin went on the rear, the black and chrome on the front.
Vauxhall Badge collection
Rear Badge
How she looks now
To complete the detail of the conversion, I blacked out the Isuzu center caps. The only other give away to the true identity are the airbag and radio. I have a Vauxhall airbag and can black out the cover on the radio. The only problem is my Vauxhall airbag is black. My next plan is to swap the brown steering wheel and column cover with a black one, but to look right, I'll need to put in a black console, get black seat covers and trim, install black carpet and get some door inserts made. That's for a later update.
All and all, it may be a bit blingy, but I'm overall pleased with the look. Now to get some better tires and get it out on the trails.
I'll start with a little history about it. It's a 2002 Isuzu Rodeo that I purchased used in 2004. It had less than 45000 miles on it then. I paid approx $15500.00 for it at Carmax.
My first mods were simple inexpensive ones. I put 31" tires on with a simple t-bar lift and valley spring works springs. the Yakima rack was added around the same time. I had some old 31" Firestone MTs from an old Pup that I ran for a while too.
Roof rack installed
31" TOYO ATs with shiney 15" snowflakes
Then I got some wheels off a wrecked Vehicross
Got an OEM brush guard on Ebay
Took it wheeling on several occasions:
Badlands in 2006
Exploring The Adirondacks in 2006
Philadelphia summer of 2007
Louisiana fall of 2007
Camping with Father N Law in 2009
I did a few other mods in this time:
I made a custom skid plate out of a thick piece of aluminum. It has held up really well and gives me more coverage than stock.
Rancho RS 5000's and some lift pucks were added after I fatigued the Valley Spring Works springs with a heavy load of landscape rock.
Post install
Hard mounted power inverter on passenger side
CB
Used it for a mobile office at work a time or two
It was my daily driver for most of that time period but was idled from about 2007 to 2010 while I was on the west coast for work. It's primary duty then, was dog hauler.
Although idled, it wasn't forgotten about. I had researched, planned and dreamed of what I wanted to do with this truck. Inspired by this picture and several builds on this site, I started planning for the mods.
Even tried out different color scheme ideas
And in time, found several e-bay and classifieds deals which I stockpiled for a later install. Then, I was finally able to make it happen!
See original post below.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Now that I'm actually closer to home, I was able to get some time to work on it. For the conversion, I wanted to make it a Vauxhall but I didn't want it to look like a re-badged Rodeo. That became a reality when I was told about a TJM bumper in Atlanta. (Thanks to Jesse and this forum!)
To do the conversion, I started with the bumper 1st cause if it didn't look right, what would be the point. Being made for the Australian Rodeo, It wasn't an exact fit. Apparently the Rodeos (4 door trucks) over there kept the 1st gen frame a bit longer. To make it work, I had to notch it and redrill it to fit the American Rodeo. Once fitted, I was good but the grille did not match up. it didn't look bad but it didn't look right either. There was a large gap between the two. Luckily I had some scrap aluminum lying around. I sized it to fit under the grille. Hella fog lights were hooked into the factory wiring to complete the look.
Original bumper (picture courtesy of Beagler)
Test fitting
Areas that needed notched ( I also had to remove the bullets on from of the frame rails)
I took apart the bumper to paint match to the Rodeo. Before reassembly, I repainted the grille to match the filler pieces and bumper since the color wasn't an exact match. And since I was in the painting mood, I also painted the black trim pieces on my rear doors. I'd been wanting to do that for a while!
Final fitment after the bumper was painted and reassembled.
Some time ago, I had gotten some tail light guards. They were used and had been collecting dust so it was time that they were installed. The drivers side was broken and needed a little work, not having welding skills or a welder, I made a bracket to sturdy up the guard. The bracket looked funny so I figured it may as well be functional. So I made it capable of mounting a CB antenna to.
I damaged my OEM factory roof rack. Rather the fix the old, I decided to remedy the situation with a heavy duty rack that will support more than 100lbs. I used a few pieces of pipe and some aluminum grab bar ends. They needed some adjustment to fit correctly but looking at them, you wouldn't think they were originally meant for a bathroom. I painted them to match everything else. Xterra cross bars complete the look and fix the Yakima rack to the rails. Fearing that a lot of white might be too much of a good thing, I kept the rack black.
New roof rail mount
New rail with Vauxhall badge on door
Lastly was the Vauxhall Badges. They took a while to find, I had gotten them one by one over the course of a coupe years. I had three different types, one large, three mediums and two smalls. I put the mediums in place of the Rodeo badges and the large on the front bumper. The chrome griffin went on the rear, the black and chrome on the front.
Vauxhall Badge collection
Rear Badge
How she looks now
To complete the detail of the conversion, I blacked out the Isuzu center caps. The only other give away to the true identity are the airbag and radio. I have a Vauxhall airbag and can black out the cover on the radio. The only problem is my Vauxhall airbag is black. My next plan is to swap the brown steering wheel and column cover with a black one, but to look right, I'll need to put in a black console, get black seat covers and trim, install black carpet and get some door inserts made. That's for a later update.
All and all, it may be a bit blingy, but I'm overall pleased with the look. Now to get some better tires and get it out on the trails.