1992 Hiace 4wd RZH119 ex-Firetruck (1 Viewer)

[flx]

To do the insulation of the left side I have to first remove the EP, which is relatively easy to disconnect exactly for this kind of need or any maintenance.

Most difficult was to find some space in my garage to store it

Again I need to remove the wax covering the internal wall

I was hesitating to do behind the rear washer tank, not that easy to remove when full (and as it's huge it's not emptying quickly ).

The upper filler is not easy to disconnect (or reconnect) hidden behind the metal...
and there is the lower connection for the breather and level...

Fits back nicely

Off course I waited to have put back the metal plate to test to re-fill the tank.... to discover it was leaking t the 2 connections points -_-
Luckily those cavities are designed by Toyota to leak out any liquid that gather at the bottom.

And I'm done with Armaflex for a little while...
(slide doors and hatch will still need to be done later)

 

[flx]

Then I trimmed and reinstall the side panels.
It needed to be trimmed for letting the electrical wiring out and for the thickness of the flooring that was added.

Also before reinstalling the left one I had to deal with a spinning rivnut (with a crossthreaded bolt inside).

I tried all the tricks on the Internet to get it out but none succeeded and this one is one of the few that is completely blind and I can't access the other side...
So after pushing this for long I now had to use some destructive means.

Tried to drill between the bolt and the rivnut... and that wasn't a good idea, happy I had the protective glass on for this one...

Ended up nasty with the cutting wheel

Not my proudest result but at least it's out...

Was even able to fish it out of its cavity

And right side

And then went to re-supply in plywood to make the next furnitures.

 

[flx]

Electrical Panel back in

Put the bed back in.

The final bed won't be made like that at all (floating structure and rock'n'roll type) but makes a good template to build the other furnitures around, particularly the sideboard cabinet that will contain the electrical, all plumbing (including gray water tank), and wardrobe.

 

[RevISK]

Your sketchup game is strong

 

[flx]

Your sketchup game is strong

Thanks, I would like it to be way more to be able to have all the internals of the cabinets and the construction details in a reasonable time

 

[Govwike]

Yes they are very Japanese, kind of cute, lol..

 

[flx]

Started working on the side cabinet, still a very "early" version of it but at least the Electrical Panel will be slightly protected.

Then removed it to assemble it outside.
And now that I have the exact outside shape of the cabinet I built a cradle for the battery. Horizontal was a bit tight with the lower ventilation (that was the firetruck watertank overflow... and in the future will be use for the heater) so I ended-up putting it vertically.

Used inserts so everything can still be removed if I want to used it as a van.

Put an extra cork layer in the cradle to limit vibration of the battery and also cold transmission through the floor.

A little tight on the wiring in this position but works.

 

[flx]

Back to assemble my furniture...

Adding an access hatch for battery and lower EP.

That will be the only one for now, more will be added later obviously but for some I'm not sure of the available space before to have the final bed... and also I'm a bit short on time and that took me forever and I will need to find better hardware and method for the next ones.

As I have the one piece bed in the van currently I can't just bring the cabinet in one piece in the van and I have to assemble it in.

Bolted through a chassis bolt (will add later a 2nd holding point on the red upper bracket you can see in the rear of previous picture).

Perfectly fit with the bed in width, which will be very important for building the floating bed after.

Access hatch

 

[flx]

In the middle of all of that I added an OEM Pintle to the Hiace, so if I get stuck on the track next week I can be pulled easily

Built a temporary charging station with left over pieces, as I don't have a countertop yet.

Not the cleanest but works well enough to charge my phone during nights.

The switch is to activate the external Anderson plug. For now it will be used to plug my air compressor but in feature it will also be used to plug the external heater and maybe an external charger.

Store in the cap of the weatherproof enclosure... that is fixed to the hitch.

Was hopping it would hold right in place like that a little better but the weight of the cables alone tend to pull it a bit so not confident to just let it like that. Want to keep the ability to have a moveable connector to go plug into things (and not just a fixed connector) so I need to find a trick so it remains secure and protected (so even if the hitch is touching the ground the cable is not).

 

[flx]

Added Anderson plugs to the ARB compressor to use it with the external plug (but kept the option to plug it to any battery).

And filled the Hiace... going to the 40 series meetup for the long WE next week, will be the opportunity to test it a bit.

 

[flx]

A few pics from last WE.

 

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This was in potato country, flat and soft ground everywhere, but still managed to play a little bit offroad with the Hiace.

Overall the Hiace really has a great traction and surprised many people in where it was able to squeeze through. But the big limit remains the ground clearance which is pretty bad... It requires good placement to always keep the wheels outside the ruts or you can ends up hanged-up quite quickly.
Last sequence of the inside view video is an example where it was impossible to offset myself to keep the wheel out of the rut created by far bigger wheels. Got hanged on the leaf springs plates on both side and couldn't move anymore... (see the 2 black traces on the center ground).

Always knew that a skid plate would be really necessary in the front to avoid to act as an anchor (and to risk do damage the steering).

Hard to see but leaves plates are full of ground

The good news is the front bumper never touched or scraped the ground, even attacking some very steep inclines. With the long front overhang I was really thinking it will be the first thing to hit... but no.

Where I was more surprised is the gearbox...

Was expecting a bit more the transfer to touch as it's lower but not the gearbox to scrap that much... probably while passing the top of an incline. I think it happened (at least) while passing 1:21 in the 2nd video.

I won't always be in potato land with only soft ground, so will need to consider a bash plate for this part also but that quite a more complex piece (will need to drop down from the chassis to pass under the gearbox, transfer will probably remain protected by its own OEM mini bas plate).

 

[flx]

When you thought you got it all off and you find some more

Otherwise I dismantled the fixed bed, it had its last use previous WE.
Couldn't get it out in 1 piece with the side cabinet and my next step will be to start the build of the floating bed.

I also needed to put it back in utility van mode (in the future the floating bed will remain easy to pull off to a similar convert while keeping side and front cabinet installed).

Next WE I'm helping friends moving some stuff, and in 2 weeks I'll expatriate myself and most of my tools/materials to the south of France for the summer, I'll keep working on it from down there.

Even reinstalled the cargo separator.

And sourced a NOS mount to replace my cracked one ^^'

 

[flx]

It's been a while I haven't updated this thread but quite a few new progress on the setup.
Also the first real test trip is now planned, it will be Morocco in October for a full month... So now I really need to finish a 1st version of the setup.

Built my sliding kitchen:

Had to manage the gearbox access door, neither on the horizontal or vertical part it's flat... so it's intruding on whatever you want to build there.

Shifting the slider install to fit both horizontally and vertically.

Then built the drawer

Building the trunk part around

It's made to be mainly used as an outside kitchen but as a backup everything stored in is accessible from inside (just have to imagine all the doors missing)


Despite my best measurements I had to make a little ajustement so the door stopper of the sliding door would fit... I was hoping to relocate them higher but actually they aren't installed with screws but proper bolts and captive nuts.
We will say it's a feature so the trunk really can't move xD


I still need to make the 3 access doors of the trunk (waiting on the proper hinges for that), 2 folding tablets on the side and back to deploy outside and have some cooking space (also waiting hinges), and to bolt the trunk to the vehicle, I'll do this one to the kind of rear vertical firewall so it will be really secured directly on the vehicle. And I already have 4 holes there dating of the firetruck setup.

 

[flx]

The new bed

Starts by building side rails

Previous bed top still fits

Cut in 4 parts

As you may imagine, just the plywood with a 120cm overhang in the air won't cut it for 2 humans laying on it.... So to reinforce it but not lose any vertical space (under for storage, over for headspace) I used U shaped stainless profile on each end of the 4 parts. I simply glued them with neoprene glue.

Then I installed the piano hinges between the parts

Drilling around 50 holes in the 1.5mm thick stainless was an absolute pain without the proper equipment for that....

Can all folds over themselves and be quite compact and removed as one.

Currently each of the 4 parts have 1 corner not supported in bed mode... I will enlarge the right side rail so everything is supported at all time and is solid. I will then lighten the bed by making holes in it... So the mattress can aerate also.
Need to make-up something to block it in both positions so it doesn't rattle also.

 

[flx]

Some little various things:

For water filtration I will keep it very simple for now, drinking water will be stored in my 2 Dometic jugs and I bought an Hydrapak 28mm inline filter (made for water pouched normally). Works great with the Dometic pump. Can probably filter only a limited amount a water but those filter are cheap, small and can be backflushed.
They are 0.3µm filter so they don't filter viruses but anything else. I don't plan to take water from pounds for drinking, it will be local tap water or source water so it should be enough.

I will have a separate reserve of water for other usages (shower, dish washing, etc.), in the long run it will be a tank with a pump and even an electric water heater but not sure I'll have them for this year trip... Otherwise I have a 60L waterbladder + a 20L solar pouch that will do for now.


Parked in the street for exactly 1 night and it seems someone thought my mirror could be used as a standing post.........

Hopefully I was able to source a replacement but a bit of a pain to replace. I hope it's the last time.

Finally found the battery cover that was missing on mine

A friend was getting rid of 6 of these wheels that I happily took. This model of rims equipped in Europe the Hiace 4x4 from 1993 but also the Hilux and the narrow body base spec 80 series, they are 16x6 ET30.

So now the 4 winter tires I got with the van are back on wheels and I can use them when conditions are appropriate.

Oh, and I added some luxury to my driving seat

 

[John Young]

That piano hinge idea is very interesting. Taking note as I'm looking at doing my troopy this winter. I'd been thinking about honecomb panels:

They seem affordable on alibaba. I like your piano hinge idea and I'm thinking I could bond same to the edges.

 

[flx]

That piano hinge idea is very interesting. Taking note as I'm looking at doing my troopy this winter. I'd been thinking about honecomb panels:
View attachment 3974358
They seem affordable on alibaba. I like your piano hinge idea and I'm thinking I could bond same to the edges.

I'm not very knowledgeable in the different build materials so could not say what is best/lightest but I have no doubt that there are things better than plywood in modern materials.
Went with plywood because it was easy to work without knowing anything (I wouldn't know how to screw in those honeycomb?) and that I could easily buy it locally in different shape and thickness without managing a delivery of big items in the middle of Paris.

The stainless U in the edges make a huge difference in stiffness, without that I would have needed to go at least 50% thicker and a lot heavier (or have a middle support).

For the piano hinge it feels very light duty when you manipulate it and to have screw flush there are very thin 3mm which don't holds that well by themselves... but as you have like 15 by side all forces are quite well distributed and even torturing/twisting a bit the panels it seems to hold well. On large panels like the bed it needs to be well aligned so everything works properly when folding, that's the part that requires the most patience and precision.

 

[flx]

Some WE progress