Pretty Ugly... 1835, The Build Begins

Madoxen

Active member
Hey all, after some delays I decided it was time to start this Pretty Ugly Build log.

The truck is a Mercedes 1835 4x4 350 Hp 16 speed, 5mtr wheel base
The truck.jpg

one of the 1st pictures I took from the 1st visit

After some deliberation and decision making we decided to go ahead with this truck and I flew out to wellington on the North Island to pick it up
p flight out.jpg

first site after the purchase was complete

pick up 2.jpg

waiting for the ferry

waiting for ferry.jpg

Loaded up and ready to cast off

p ferry 2.jpg

and the drive from Picton to Waikuku, it really did not matter if it was up or down she sat at 90 with no change

Drive home.jpg


The Plan is to build a torsion free sub frame, with Container twist locks that can be used to attach the expedition body when needed but then Hot swap the body for an actual container to be used as a work tool until we can warrant turning it 100% pleasure.
the fun body will use the frame of a standard container with some clever ways to stop the thermal bridging along with composite panels for the walls floor and roof, at the rear I would like to cut the original doors down and use as access to the garage and as they will be solid with a few added hinges I might be able to mount the spare tires onto them.

An artists rendition of what she might become, and why she has been dubbed Pretty Ugly ( Both Pretty and Ugly all at the same time )

adrv side actros1.jpg

pas side Actros.JPG


rear view ACTROS.JPG
 
Last edited:

Sitec

Adventurer
Brilliant! Loving the 'artist impressions'. Re insulating the container... could you find an old refrigerated container as a base for the living box? The insulation would be done for you. Looking forward to seeing this build evolve! I also now know what truck the muffler I bought and modified came from originally!
 

Madoxen

Active member
I also now know what truck the muffler I bought and modified came from originally!
do you know how easy they are to modify ?? My muffler exits forward and up but i need it to exit down and back or out the left side . did not want to open it up with out a little research
 

Sitec

Adventurer
Not easy... They are bloody heavy too! I bought my muffler about a year before I started the project purely because it had that modern truck look, and I 'thought' it'd look good. When I came to modify it and fit it, it wasn't really suite to the job at all! By the time I'd woked that out, I'd drawn it in place, shaped the step in the body to suit and was committed to using it. I ended up turning it up side down on the opposite side (RH) which involved removing the cover, reversing all the captive brackets and refitting the cover the other way up. I then made the inlet to it out of 150 x 75 RHS, as it had to comfortably fit through the gap between the chassis and body. The outlet was just as interesting!! It worked though, and did end up looking good. This was one of the many jobs that end up taking twice as long to do as I thought it would. You'll soon discover this too! :)

Chassis Mods 7.jpg
 

Sitec

Adventurer
And fitted!

Chassis Mods 9.jpg

Which looks great, and brings a modern look to an older truck.... but took hours, is a one off item, and not 'off the shelf'. If it breaks, I can fix it easily enough, but it's not standard. Seems to be the way with all my builds!! One thing I did consider though... Being a RHD truck, you want the exhaust outlet on the right, as you will have your living access door on the left (safe side). Nothing worse than firing the truck up on a cold morning and smoking out the outdoor setting, table etc!
 

billiebob

Well-known member
Pretty
Ugly
Build

The PUB build, pull one for me bar keep !!

Awesome looking base for any build.
The more it looks commercial sea can.... the less attention it will attract.
You bought it with the picker... ??
 
Last edited:

Madoxen

Active member
Thanks Billiebob and lol never saw the acronym but very true going to have to fit some taps to it :)
 

Sitec

Adventurer
did you open up the muffler? do u have any pics of the internals ?

I only opened the side up where the exhaust enters the box as I wanted a different inlet angle. I didn't take any pics as I only went in about 25mm. There was the usual outer sound deadening and a layer of perforated steel. I didn't get into the guts of it...
 

Madoxen

Active member
I didn't get into the guts of it...
ahhh shame as I need to take the exit from the top right to the bottom front or left, might be easier for me to find a scrapper. in the format i need or maybe take a page from your book and see if going RHS will get it where it needs to go and keep it up top.
 

sAsLEX

New member
Looking forward to your build. Starting to plan for a build myself on a smaller scale for the body in NZ as well so will watch this for some handy hints on local suppliers!

I am waiting on the book you referenced in the truck thread but this Corona has shipping taking forever!
 

sAsLEX

New member
Also I cant recall if this truck was new enough for DEF? These guys have a similar truck and looks like a good channel to follow, and this video shows how they deprogram the system -
 

Madoxen

Active member
Also I cant recall if this truck was new enough for DEF?
Hi thanks for the link, i have followed a few of their vids which i have enjoyed,
My truck is the last of the models to get away with out the add blue and def thankfully. But too new to have escaped computers lol.
Are u North or South?

Will be posting a few updates tomorrow
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,531
Messages
2,875,591
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top