This is my first post on here so I will start with a quick introduction - my name is David, a british expat living in Brisbane, Australia.
I am in the early stages of planning an 18 month trip starting in South America, heading up to Canada, the going from the UK down to South Africa, aiming for 2015/16 start with the goal of raising money for and visiting projects of a yet to be decided charity.
As the 1st stage of the preparations I have just taken delivery of a 1992 civilian variant of the 'Perentie' (Australian military) 6x6 defender, it was originally a tour bus in Darwin and the idea is to turn it into an off road live-in camper for the 'big trip' as well as short and medium breaks in Aus in the meantime.
I settled on the 6x6 as a good compromise on size between a 130 and a Unimog and it could also help gain public and media interest, being a unique/interesting vehicle, rather than an off the shelf Unicat or Foley defender (not to mention cost), this should help with the charitable fund raising! Plus it happened to come up for sale at the right time for a good price!
The chassis and driveline appear to be in very good condition (chassis came out of the factory galvanised), the body is in need of some TLC with a bit of rust and a some minor damage to be delt with, and the interior virtually needs gutting.
The first job is to scope out the extent of the rust etc and tackle all the time consuming/cheap jobs whilst saving the cash to swap out the ford 302 V8 back to a isuzu 4BD1-T (no idea why that was swapped out in the 1st place!!!) and sort any other mechanical issues. Once that is sorted I will get to work on the camper side of things including electrics, fridge, water system as well as table, bed, storage etc etc.
The intention is to have it as a 4 seater with fixed bed for 2 and occasional sleeping for 1 or 2 (might end being a roof tent).
Off the top of my head the jobs include:
Mechanical:
Engine swap
Recon of anything / everything that might need it: Brakes, diffs, steering box, gearbox, transfer case (inc 6x6 system), fuel pump, UJs, bearings, brake pads/drums/disks etc
New shocks
Springs if needed
Seating whilst driving
Raised air intake with prefitler
Respray – probably yellow for ease of painting/non military look and to keep it as bright and offensive as possible.
Steering guards
Diff locks
Also considering some form of ROPS (have access to commercial work shop with lots of pipe bending and fabrication gear). Extra weight justified?
Anti-theft security (retina scan/voice recognition – or just keep it simple with a hidden cut-off switch J)
Electrical
Stereo / speaker system
Dual/Tri batteries
Solar panel
Fridge
Led interior lighting
Maybe LED light bar? Really needed or just begging to be stolen?
Maybe winch? Really needed or just extra weight?
Several 12v ports
Camper/comfort
Double Bed
Storage – (under the bed, kitchen, wardrobe, misc)
Kitchen – LPG burner, fridge, bbq for outdoor cooking
Awning
Outdoor table
Indoor seats/table (converts to bed) – ideas to utilise the 2nd row passenger seats both as a seat at the table and as part of the ‘occasional’ bed by having them swivel.
Black out limo tint on rear windows
Security mesh on all rear windows (these are slide type and not very secure) maybe some security film on front windows and windscreen.
Sound/heat proofing
At this point I am thinking I wont bother with hot water, auxiliary heating, internal shower or toilet. All added cost/weight/complexity I can live without. We intend to chase the summer through northern/southern hemisphere.
I have not figured out exactly how most of this will work, I am still at the stage of random ideas floating around in my head, so any advice or input on the truck or the trip will be greatly appreciated!
I am in the early stages of planning an 18 month trip starting in South America, heading up to Canada, the going from the UK down to South Africa, aiming for 2015/16 start with the goal of raising money for and visiting projects of a yet to be decided charity.
As the 1st stage of the preparations I have just taken delivery of a 1992 civilian variant of the 'Perentie' (Australian military) 6x6 defender, it was originally a tour bus in Darwin and the idea is to turn it into an off road live-in camper for the 'big trip' as well as short and medium breaks in Aus in the meantime.
I settled on the 6x6 as a good compromise on size between a 130 and a Unimog and it could also help gain public and media interest, being a unique/interesting vehicle, rather than an off the shelf Unicat or Foley defender (not to mention cost), this should help with the charitable fund raising! Plus it happened to come up for sale at the right time for a good price!
The chassis and driveline appear to be in very good condition (chassis came out of the factory galvanised), the body is in need of some TLC with a bit of rust and a some minor damage to be delt with, and the interior virtually needs gutting.
The first job is to scope out the extent of the rust etc and tackle all the time consuming/cheap jobs whilst saving the cash to swap out the ford 302 V8 back to a isuzu 4BD1-T (no idea why that was swapped out in the 1st place!!!) and sort any other mechanical issues. Once that is sorted I will get to work on the camper side of things including electrics, fridge, water system as well as table, bed, storage etc etc.
The intention is to have it as a 4 seater with fixed bed for 2 and occasional sleeping for 1 or 2 (might end being a roof tent).
Off the top of my head the jobs include:
Mechanical:
Engine swap
Recon of anything / everything that might need it: Brakes, diffs, steering box, gearbox, transfer case (inc 6x6 system), fuel pump, UJs, bearings, brake pads/drums/disks etc
New shocks
Springs if needed
Seating whilst driving
Raised air intake with prefitler
Respray – probably yellow for ease of painting/non military look and to keep it as bright and offensive as possible.
Steering guards
Diff locks
Also considering some form of ROPS (have access to commercial work shop with lots of pipe bending and fabrication gear). Extra weight justified?
Anti-theft security (retina scan/voice recognition – or just keep it simple with a hidden cut-off switch J)
Electrical
Stereo / speaker system
Dual/Tri batteries
Solar panel
Fridge
Led interior lighting
Maybe LED light bar? Really needed or just begging to be stolen?
Maybe winch? Really needed or just extra weight?
Several 12v ports
Camper/comfort
Double Bed
Storage – (under the bed, kitchen, wardrobe, misc)
Kitchen – LPG burner, fridge, bbq for outdoor cooking
Awning
Outdoor table
Indoor seats/table (converts to bed) – ideas to utilise the 2nd row passenger seats both as a seat at the table and as part of the ‘occasional’ bed by having them swivel.
Black out limo tint on rear windows
Security mesh on all rear windows (these are slide type and not very secure) maybe some security film on front windows and windscreen.
Sound/heat proofing
At this point I am thinking I wont bother with hot water, auxiliary heating, internal shower or toilet. All added cost/weight/complexity I can live without. We intend to chase the summer through northern/southern hemisphere.
I have not figured out exactly how most of this will work, I am still at the stage of random ideas floating around in my head, so any advice or input on the truck or the trip will be greatly appreciated!