[Ron R]

Have only been reading this without any comment.
Enjoy it very much. Just want to say how much I drool over it.
Very nice build, think you cannot wait to leave...

[gilghana]

Thanks Ron!
well a good while ago I ordered a 70 series "Turbo" badge from our local Toyota dealer - now most times they are pretty fast at getting more normal parts, but this one I guess was a bit tougher as it took over three months. Now it's crazy I know, and on ebay any turbo badge will cost a couple of quid/bucks whatever, but I just had to have an original red turbo emblem! Too cool
thinks I have lost it - first of all ordering it, then waiting three months and then taking a picture of it on the sofa at lunchtime to put on the internet!

[Phil in BC]

Gil, your wife is not the only one who thinks their man is a wee bit off........

[gilghana]

Originally Posted by Phil in BC

Gil, your wife is not the only one who thinks their man is a wee bit off........

Suspected as much Phil
Actually some stuff here on 'MUD she really admires - she really likes Soenke's hybrid 40/80 in "Traveling Cruisers" on the Expedition side. And the guy who is covering his 40 with camouflage vinyl!

Anyway just back from a quick "fix" with the good old cordless drill:

[Ron R]

Hmmm, if I would be driving around like that (with the high-jack on the front side) I would be pulled over by the first policepatrol car I met.
Guess you won't have that kind of problems over there

Was just wondering about the rooftoptent. It's just sitting on two crossbars. Ain't you afraid the struts will break? During a trip in the Sahare one of the members of the group had even more struts. But eventually they all broke. See my page here
(sorry this is in Dutch only), about three quarters down the page. Hoover over the picture.
It was not so much the movement across the vehicle, but the acceleration and decelleration from bumps that make them break.
These struts are much longer than yours as far as I can see from the pictures, but he had a kind of diagonal struts between the crossbeams in forward aft direction. We had to take it off. Luckely one of us was towing a trailer and could carry it for the remainder of the trip.

[gilghana]

The roofbars are actually very strong - and the tent is well within their loading limits. I know two look a bit light, but the old tent (fairly similar weights) gave the bars a good beating with no issues. My terrain here is only gravel roads and potholes, so you get a feeling for what will take it and what won't. Worst case I stick another bar under it... I could have fabricated a serious duty roofrack as I had on the old Defender, but I wanted as little weight up top as possible while still using a RTT.

Anyway yesterday I had a feeling that in our store were some spacers - ordered by my predecessor who in his quest for bling ordered 4 daft shiny rims for a 105 series... Only he knew not a lot about cruisers and ordered for an IFS 100 series! So spacers were bought but never used 'cause he left and when I got his car the first thing I did was get rid of the alloy rims and homemade spacers and put it back to standard. So these H & R 30mm spacers have sat there for 4 years. I decided to utilise them as IMHO the '78 can always do with a slightly wider track, and well they are there! The issues of flares and so on might have to be crossed - but not now. I know there a lot of fors and againsts with spacers, but 30mm is not that big a deal and German TUV approved so they must be half decent - certainly pretty pricey on the web, so I feel compensated for spending $30 on a plastic badge!!

[Ron R]

Oh man, what a pity you had to put these old things on your rig

[gilghana]

Yesterday I tackled the handbrake cable - when I fitted the underbody water tank it is no longer possible to use the original handbrake cable so I got one for a 79 pickup which is slightly longer. It was a bit of a race against darkness to drop the original fuel tank and get the cable installed so no pictures! Only one with the troopy on a 4 post lift, and basically yes some fender flares are going to be needed... I am off on last leave next week to Germany and UK, so am putting together a last list of stuff - including flares, better water hoses and valves.
Oh the new cable worked perfectly

[Entaran]

Hi gil, was reading your thread and I like the buildup. When you come to ordering another vehicle for work maybe you should give a bit of thought to http:/www.multidrive.com.au/ ... they do some pretty specialised stuff that could be exported to you easily. You'd obviously have to work out the LHD/RHD thing tho

[gilghana]

Many thanks Entaran - some super vehicles on there! 6x6 w/shop truck would be sweet... Ghana has some really funny import laws about RHD though (except when the Gov wants ex-London buses)

Well we are still on our hols, so nothing to report - although we were staying with friends in Germany, and he is also a troopy nut. They are currently about 1000hrs into a total restoration of a BJ45. Was a great evening - standing in a freezing barn drinking top Bavarian beer for an hour before more beers in the warmth. He is doing a fantastic job. I really enjoyed seeing it so thought I would share: BTW final colour will be beige (Dune beige ??)

[nickwood48]

Originally Posted by gilghana

Suspected as much Phil
Actually some stuff here on 'MUD she really admires - she really likes Soenke's hybrid 40/80 in "Traveling Cruisers" on the Expedition side. And the guy who is covering his 40 with camouflage vinyl!

Anyway just back from a quick "fix" with the good old cordless drill:

Might think about turning that high-lift the other way, I can see that handle jarring loose getting caught on the ground and either A) shearing off your bolts or B) ripping you bumper off and/or bending your frame horns. At least if the handle is up and it does come loose, it wont cause problems.

[ItalianTOY]

Nickwood,fantastic car,and fantastic place.Compliments.What you told me about your rear bumper with tire carrier?

[gilghana]

Originally Posted by nickwood48

Might think about turning that high-lift the other way, I can see that handle jarring loose getting caught on the ground and either A) shearing off your bolts or B) ripping you bumper off and/or bending your frame horns. At least if the handle is up and it does come loose, it wont cause problems.

Well, I could envisage it possibly coming loose - unlikely with a massive cable tie around it as it is, I may back it up with a 2nd one. Were the handle to come loose I could envisage the handle bending, maybe the bolts shearing, but not the bumper getting ripped off and bending the chassis. Thanks for pointing it out though.

[gilghana]

Hi folks,
well back from my leave - good one it was too - but car wise... first two weeks was a Opel Astra (yawn) and then back home in the Scottish Borders it was two weeks in a Mini Cooper S (fun little car that goes damn well). In the village that I call home they are all Landrover daft and even question why I got rid of the Defender for a LC. But then they are also unnaturally keen on sheep and dogs too

So, waiting for me are a few goodies that I collected from our shipping people. First up is a big box with a Celica air-water i/c set up I got on ebay. Unfortunately I had my suspicions about the possibility of mounting it, and yup it is not going to be doable without serious hassle. Too much hassle for a low boost expedition vehicle. I really cannot see it working. The heat exchanger and rad are both just wrong dimensions. Shame, but I am not prepared to make the changes required for a remote travel and pretty new vehicle. I will think about it more, but an afternoon head scratching tells me no!

But the second box (from Carl at JT Diffs here on MUD) will fit! In it is an ARB airlocker rear and Truetrac front plus a nice ARB compressor...

Other stuff - well I bought a LR (ducking) cargo net for hanging on the cargo barrier and stuffing odds and ends... Stupidly I left a set of lightforce diffuse covers in Scotland (doh ) Fender flares never arrived in time to take with... and we have just had a falling out with our logistics people in Germany so DHL are going to lighten my wallet. Oh and a nice iPod holder for the troopy too Time is running now (end of May is looming) so better get busy.
right, off to a welcome back party
Thanks for listening,
Gil

BTW, ItalianTOY - I am not sure if you are talking to me or Nick, but if it is me then what would you like to know about the rear bumper? Oh and if it is me then thanks!

[Clint79]

Thats a mint troopy there mate i bet with that turbo and the girlfriend bugging exhaust would have been the sweetest whistle out. how come for 78 troopy it has drum brakes on the rear i thought around 1993 they changed to disks is it a std Aus thing?

[gilghana]

Hi and thanks Clint, yeah the 78s and 79s here in Africa (at least Ghana and other West African countries) stuck with the drums. Same with the Std (poverty pack) 105 series and all the 80s that I have seen here. Yup the whistle was great but on full chat it was needing the stereo turned up to 11.

[gilghana]

So here are the next stages. Well obviously I decided to go down the locked route... Carl from JT's here on MUD did a great job and cheap shipping - turns out cheaper to buy an ARB rear and Truetrac from NW USA than EU (also considering shipping!). Been busy like hell at work as we get closer to leaving so not much real progress this week, although our machine shop have been bribed into turning various fittings for the air system I have planned. I decided to get an ARB new type compressor when I bought the diff as I wanted to build a fairly high capacity air system and the ARB would do this together with my old VIAR that has done me proud over the last 5 years or so. It is so hard not to plan this stuff when I have access to old truck air stuff and CAT too... Anyway that comes later - although checking under the car God knows where I am going to put my receiver (unused surplus stock from a CAT 930 wheel loader).

So tonight I just did the switches in preparation and scouted locations for the ARB compressor and tank etc. Should be fun!



ARB on the right (obviously )



ARB compressor - nicely made. Fitting next to the solenoid will go to the tank with a valve so that the ARB and pressure switch control either diff alone or the receiver pressure. I will have a switch so that the VIAR will also be triggered when in air system mode rather than just diff.



Switches and front part of the loom wired in ready.

I must say the ARB stuff seems real quality (never physically seen their stuff before) and the loom makes it all simple. Tonight I am praying to Lord Bishwokarma (the Hindu God of machinery) that the diffs are the correct size as they are a long way from where they came from

[Clint79]

Those switches make me smile good stuff must be happy as .Just notied the dash having the fuel and temp gauge were the aus dash have the tacho is this a standard one and were would the sub tank gauge go if they come with one?

[gilghana]

yep - mine is (was) totally std as std can be here... on our 78 ambulance and p/ups the sub tank gauge is just under the normal gauge. You buy a cruiser here and the final spec is a bit of a lottery - door mounted spare or not... sub tank or not... rev counter or not... stupid stick up bonnet emblem or not... to be honest you sort of take what you can get! And factory lockers are basically unheard off for some reason! Thankfully the middle east spec with annoying side strip decals etc we only occasionally see.

So, ARB time... took a fair bit longer than expected! Myself and Coby (great guy and super mechanic - very skilled, I have enjoyed working with him for 14 years and will miss him). Finished the third member set up but darkness stopped us sticking it in the axle. 4 hours... however in our defense we did lathe turn a sleeve to press the bearings back and pick up a propane cylinder and sprint back to the house to cook up the crown wheel. This means we finish tomorrow and quickly do the Truetrac and partial air system - at least enough to check it works. You guys might laugh but Coby thinks I am mad for using a dial gauge and torque wrench. Here many, many things are very different. Was fun!




He reckons a dial gauge hasn't been seen on a diff for years here!

[gilghana]

Well, this was how we finished up on Saturday evening, with the ARB installed into the 3rd member but not into the vehicle.



So Sunday afternoon we were back at it again. Although the front axle is obviously more complex to strip and pull the drive shafts, other stuff went faster so by darkness we had everything installed and put back together with fluids replaced. Having a gas burner and pot in the 'shop plus our bearing press tool already made saved a good bit of time. The only thing left is to finish the installation of the loom and the compressor/airline, but the humidity is so intense that by the time it was all together I was in no mood to wire anything - the two of us got through 6 litres of water yesterday afternoon and most of that was me.



Here you can see that the Truetrac does look stronger than the original diff, although as you can see from the last picture the size difference from rear to front is substantial!





Big thanks to Carl for great service and prices.

[gilghana]

Last night I got the compressor wired in and the airline rigged temporarily - just enough to drive home in lashing rain with everything working as it should Tonight I finished the line installation properly and tracked down some leaks... a fair bit of PTFE thread tape helped! The compressor was cycling a lot more than it should, but all good now. My CAT air tank is not doable - there is literally just no more room underneath (by a few inches), but an old CO2 extinguisher I reckon will be the biz...

Last and biggish project is home made slider steps and underbody coating - then it is all just tidying up loose ends, and the fender flares are en-route. Belive it or not we have a IKEA kind of hanging shelf type thing to go in also... tried to point out it is a bit "soft" but hey

Rains are building so due some locker testing too! Fun thing now is looking around for material and planning slidder step type things. Starting to get really excited now (work is gradually easing off and handover taking priority) as things like shipping, dates, paperwork etc get finalised. Also planning a 6 day trip with a group through the Namib desert - a personal dream of mine... Our last two weeks here our troopy mad friends are coming for a visit so we will maybe delay shipping for a week to head North - or maybe just pile in the 105 for a last spin, but I know he would be disapointed not to try the 78...

Will get up some pics of the compressor etc and slider fabrication. Also have to post the really sweet NPT brass air fittings our w/shop have made. I LOVE african ingenuity! These blue lights on the ARB switches are great as the troopy/plans evolve into the end game it is hard not to talk about it.......................................... got a whole stack of guide books to fill the net on the cargo barrier!
Gil

[gilghana]

Well a big part of this thread has been how things take a long time to reach here - funnily enough as it gets to the end things go faster... I spoke to my Dad yesterday morning and he scheduled DHL to pick up my box with fender flares in a tiny village in the Scottish borders. Picked up at 10.30am - by 4pm today the said box is sitting in Accra awaiting collection.

Gobsmacked! It will take longer from Accra to here than it did from Scotland to Accra

[gilghana]

Here is the compressor installation - in the battery box on the hinged lid. This afternoon I didn't do so much.



I just sorted out the second line and valve coming from the ARB compressor. Here's the fittings we made up:



The receiver I made up from an old CO2 extinguisher is way smaller and will tuck in beside the chassis rails or just under the rear bumper. It's really just there to give a blast of air for cleaning stuff or the initial oomph to re-seat a tyre. Cost nothing so why not. I also found a small regulator/water separator which I may as well stick in the line.



Will tackle the mounting when the slider steps are finished - they are under construction at the moment. The plan is to get them painted up and fitted during the week, fit caster correction bushes and then clean and prep for underbody sealant, spray and then fit fender flares which will be here next week, tidy up the water system - not happy with the hose and valves. Just measured a 20' container and compared to the troopy - gonna be tight with that tent up top

[gilghana]

Today was a bad day in the bush I arrived at the workshop and parked my 105 in the usual spot. Two hours later I got a text message that the car had been hit by a truck... A Tata 3.5 ton truck had a starting problem a good 100m from the 'shop. They had raised the cab and bridged the starter, only problem was that it was in gear. It shot off towards my car and hit it side on. amazingly the 'B' pillar and the sill are totally undamaged. The whole of our workshop - including the manager that "supervised" the Tata are highly embarrassed - so much so that they had paint on the road from a major city within half an hour and the front door whipped off and beaten pretty straight by lunch!




While I had the camera out in the shop I thought I would take a picture of my old GX 105. This poor car I really drowned in a water crossing gone badly wrong. Drying it out turned out to be impossible, despite us sticking it in a wood kiln for about a week. The dampness corroded the hell out of all the dash wiring (water was at windscreen level), and a year or so on the electrics were causing havoc. The local dealer wanted $4,000 USD to re-do everything, so our guys are slowly getting there with a multi meter! I am frankly astounded by how much stuff is under there - remember this is a basic 1HZ vehicle, so all the gizmos are just for heater controls/AC/windows/interior lights/etc etc. People are starting to talk - the predecessor to the GX got a tree felled on it by accident - unfortunately no pictures, but it was something to see believe me (it was just a green lump as the whole crown of the tree got it! It's still in service though, although in other places it would have been a write off).

Our panel beaters get a LOT of practice. Almost every week something happens to something!



Side steps are coming on nicely, will get some pictures tomorrow when we offer them up to measure for brackets etc.
Thanks for watching,
Gil

[Grolar]

Great setup, great rig and great location. Which countries have you been travelling, besides Mali (and Burkina Faso, I assume?) Do you have pics of those trips in here?

[gilghana]

Thanks Grolar - well my traveling has been all over Ghana, many many times! Great country. I have been to Mali (Dogon Country) a couple of times, and I absolutely love it - unique and really fascinating place. Especially when you just head off the main known tracks. From there Timbuctu and the fringes of the Sahara but Timbuctu itself is not that great - although crossing the Niger is fun! BF is in my opinion fantastic - despite being one of the world's poorest countries the people are proud, upstanding and just decent! Cote d'Ivoire I have been but not seen much really. Namibia I went to last year and it left us with a burning desire to go back...... so we are! Counting the days - plan is Namibia, ZA, Botswana, Zambia, probably Malawi and Mozambique. We see - no fixed plan (the way I like it) and no deadline - within reason! I don't have pictures up here but will get some up soon. We have a lot of friends and ex-colleagues down there, and while West Africa has been great - 14 years in a tough place is a long time.

Tonight I did castor correction bushes and measuring up sidesteps for mounting. Unfortunately the camera battery was dead when I pulled it out. Not much to report other than the steps are really coming along nicely! Hopefully weekend will see them done and some progress on fender flares and maybe the air system will get finished. It's almost there!

[gilghana]

So here are some travel photos:

Somewhere in Mali 2004 - Christmas trip with us in our Defender 300Tdi and friends in their HZJ80. The 80 we had to temporarily abandon in Mali with two of the girls after it dropped a valve! Took us 10 days to sort out a used engine/fitting.... it then only made it to the Ghana border - and a flat bed home! Expensive trip for my friends! The Defender broke down numerous times, but I could always get it back on the road.

Door in Dogon Land (traditional animist tribe who resisted a lot of attempts at being converted to Islam or Christianity). Amazing place.

I think we were getting hexed here!

Baobab tree - this is a small one

The 80 struggling up a hill - pump was shot, consumption through the roof... it was a liability waiting to happen

One of many breakdowns - I ended up going mental at the guy in the pink beanie who claimed to be an auto electrician - actually he was just a thief!

We had the rooftent, our friends had to make do... they also didn't believe it would get cold... we were snug in big blankets - they were literally shivering.

Mopti on the banks of the river Niger - full on place. Not for me. Give me the wide open spaces any day! The blocks of salt come down by camel train from the North (still!)

Check out how to transport goats - incredible. Stops them running around that's for sure!

Waiting for a sunset crossing of a tributary of the Niger (heading to Djenne)

The famous mud mosque of Djenne (I didn't take this one as I was adjusting the LR wheel bearings for the zillionth time)

Hey - what a surprise! The long and dusty road to Timbuctu wouldn't be complete without removing and stripping an alternator on New Years Eve....

"Okay - I am going to sprint back to a bearing shop - will take the 80 and I promise you after this we buy a Landruiser... no really we will"

We made it (after leaving the 'Rover in the care of a friendly farmer as there were some serious trust issues by now)

Tourist trinket sellers hassles and Landrovers. My two favourite things as you can see


I will get more up soon.

[nate dogg]

Beauty pics! I really miss Africa, although those areas look so different than Liberia. Keep them comin'!

[Grolar]

Thanks for the pics, it's always great to see rigs in their natural element. Was in BF in 91 and Hiluxes had just started taking over ol' Peugeots.
How are you reaching Namibia? By land I heard it's a quite hairy road through Nigeria and DRCongo among others.

[roscoFJ73]

Great pics Gil. How long did you have the Defender for?