MB 1120 Coming to America! Purchase, Build and Now Travel!

[VerMonsterRV]

Damn, I'm flying into Guatemala next week. I do have friends that travel there often from the USA. It might take a little time, but I'm sure we could find someone to take them to Antigua. Feel free to message me if you need help with transport.

Wow, thanks very much for the offer. I need to get on the stick and contact the Mercedes dealership here. I haven't seen any LN2 cab over trucks (seen lots of others that use the LN2 cab with a hood tacked on) so they might not be familiar with the spring mechanism for the cab lift. Wouldn't want our truck to be their first.

 

[where_the_heffalump_roams]

I've def seen MB trucks down there, but older models. This was several years ago in San Mateo Ixtatan. There were several there.

 

[VerMonsterRV]

I've def seen MB trucks down there, but older models. This was several years ago in San Mateo Ixtatan. There were several there.
View attachment 774288

There are LN2 derivatives here, same cab but with a hood. When I went into a local parts store for the primer pump I said it was for an older Mercedes, he responded with OM366? So they seem to recognize the engine. Since our truck is a single cab it has the torsion "aka arm strong" cab lift. This is different than trucks with the hydraulic lift and I suspect makes changing these bushings a bit more time consuming.

 

[where_the_heffalump_roams]

Gotcha. I don't know where in Guatemala you are. But sometimes my friends will cross at the border south of Chiapas, Mexico for their 3 month exit. I used to bring in parts my old VW van through that route into Momostenango. That might be an option if you are having trouble getting your parts to you.

 

[where_the_heffalump_roams]

Wow, thanks very much for the offer. I need to get on the stick and contact the Mercedes dealership here.

My friend that picked me up from the airport works for a soda company and services their work trucks. He stated they MB trucks were not as common but were here and might be able to direct us to a dealer for parts. I was wondering if you find a line on ordering parts yet?

 

[VerMonsterRV]

Jeez, been a bit since I have taken a minute for a trip update. Been busy moving south and we are currently in central Honduras. Our time has been being taken up with Mayan ruins, indigenous villages, paddling, hiking and diving.

This is Chichicastenango, an indigenous village known for its local market. We visited here about 15 years ago when we were sailing. Still much the same except that most people now have cell phones.


Getting on the boat for the ride to the Mayan ruin Yaxchilan. This has to be our favorite ruin as it is about a 45 minute ride each way. We got a private boat before the typical tours start so we were the first tourists there. Very cool to walk around a ruin in the jungle with howler monkeys roaring from the tree tops.


Then there was an overnight hike to watch Acatenango volcano. Very cool to watch and hear the rumble from the volcano. We got to camp in a small cabin that was just wide enough for 3 cots lined up side by side.





And a couple of small tourist attractions, a sunflower farm and a macaw recovery center (they also have a few other species of birds, the toucan below being just one of them).




And we spent 6 nights on Utila Island doing a bit of scuba. It is not the best diving we have done but it was really good to get back in the water for a bit. Now we're trying to plan the next scuba stop in Panama.


There has been much more but these are the highlights. And with any luck we'll be meeting up with another Portal member in the next few days!

 

[RoamIt]

So very cool! Thanks you for sharing your adventures with us!

 

[VerMonsterRV]

And it has been a few days since it all happened but we were fortunate enough to celebrate @Neil 's birthday while in Nicaragua! We've been planning meeting up as we head south and they head north and with a bit of luck it all worked out. Fun couple of days and hope one day to meet up with them again. And Pat found a great place to celebrate that cooked us up a delicious meal.

Plus there were some very friendly monkeys around that decided to check out the truck.


We've moved on and are now enjoying Costa Rica. I'll admit it is a bit touristy but it is very clean and organized. Plus they are protecting the jungles and it shows with the wildlife.


Here are a few bird pics,









And of course frogs




Continued in next post due to 10 attachment limit.

 

[VerMonsterRV]

And more frogs


And what would overlanding be without a night time photo of the truck?


And I almost forgot, here is a pic of the camp spot where we celebrated @Neil 's birthday.
That's it for now, we're trying to schedule up our shipping to South America. Once it is scheduled I'll post an update.

 

[RoamIt]

And Happy B-Day Neil!

 

[VerMonsterRV]

At times overlanding can be a little challenging. Like driving up a very steep road in 1st gear and having the engine start to sputter then die... Luckily about 50m down the hill was a drainage cutout that we could be relatively level in, so back down the hill without an engine, babying the brakes to not bleed off too much air and fighting the non-powered assisted steering. I got lucky and backed in far enough off the road. It was late afternoon (we were heading to a campsite), I ended up pulling off the engine mounted fuel filter and sure enough it was empty (I manually refilled it with fuel). I struggled with it a bit without luck and since we were safely off the road, called it a day. The next morning I messed around a bit more with it, but decided to take the filter housing back off and try the manual priming pump to make sure fuel was flowing. And sure enough it wasn't. Our fuel pump has the glass bowl with the small screen filter in it which from the outside looked clean. So I removed it and reached up inside the pump for the gasket and sure enough it was torn and distorted. Luckily when we had all the fuel issues when we originally bought the firetruck I ordered a spare glass bowl/screen and gasket. Put it all back together with the new parts, pumped to prime and was finally able to get all the air out and get the engine running. I also have to say the Victron house to start charger I installed saved the day, letting me crank the engine to get the air out.

So, if anyone has this glass bowl on their pump (some engines don't have it) and haven't changed this gasket I would recommend it. It takes just a few minutes and could save you some frustration.

 

[Neil]

Must look at mine.
I am guessing its the original one being 35 years old .
I do carry one , just on case

Neil

 

[RoamIt]

Glad it was a relatively easy fix. And certainly encouragement to be well stock with spares.

 

[Iain_U1250]

I wonder how it managed to get distorted, glad it was an easy fix although rolling backwards down a steep hill would not be fun. I carry a complete lift pump assembly with me, and a new set of injectors.

 

[VerMonsterRV]

My guess was it was age and heat, it's a flat rubber washer. The rubber was distorted where the glass bowl didn't contact it, and it jeventually cracked. And it was a bit stressful backing a 20,000lb truck with no power down a very steep hill. Luckily it went well.

I have added a complete lift pump to my buy list. I already have 2 primer pumps sitting at mom's house awaiting our next visit. Plus, I didn't mention but we toasted another alternator. I am guessing the original battery cables aren't up to the task, causing heat. I'm a bit nervous upgrading them as one post on the starter is a bit shaky. I bet if I messed with it I would be also replacing the starter.