Woohoo! A necrothread!
Several years ago when I first was driving, I wanted an AMC Eagle 4 dr sedan really badly.
My dad thought 4x4s were of the devil. More specifically, they were just a waste of money and expensive to maintain, constantly breaking down, etc.
We ended up having a cool neighbor move in and he was into early Broncos. After spending some time helping him and wheeling with him, I was hooked.
Fast forward a few years and my first truck purchase was an 85 Dodge W350 srw long bed. Purchased from a different neighbor. Mopar 360 with rochester Quadrajunk, np435, np208, D44/D60 4.10 gears.
I installed a 4" rough country lift (I was on a budget and this rig was my classroom I would cut my teeth on). I did everything to this truck. No shop did any of the wrenching. My neighbor with the Broncos was a machinist and would assist with any welding activities I required.
The front axle wasn't engaging. That is where I cut my teeth on the CAD systems. I ended up locking it in for the moment, later swapping to a non-CAD axle when I regeared to 4.56s and added a detroit truetrac to the front and Powrlok rear differentials.
It got new body mounts, a rattle can repaint (though I did take the body to the metal when I did it along with actually buying a gallon of matte clear and spraying with a compressor), a honking huge front bumper, a Warn industrial 12000 hydraulic winch, engine mounted pump actuated via an electric clutch (like an A/C compressor) all operated via in cab controls.
I later would swap the very tired original motor with one from a 91 D250 found in a boneyard. This netted me throttle body efi.
This beast was unstoppable except in the fight against rust.
Ended up selling it after 11 years to a former coworker. I had just bought the Jeep and welcomed the change to something less extreme.
The coworker had inherited his late grandfather's D150 that they had built together and installed a Mopar performance crate engine into. He always said his only wish is that his pa's truck was a 4wd.
He swapped bodies between my old truck and his grandfather's rig and got the truck he always wanted, so win-win.
Rebodied with coworker's Pa's pickup
Oh, and the car that started my thirst. Wife and I finally found one. An 84 Eagle wagon from SC. She loves her first 4x4.