78 Series Tourer

[gilghana]

Well, the last couple of days have been hectic - I got sick on Monday/Tuesday and that put a serious blip in the prep... however we are there!
Spare filters, belts, hoses, fluids, tools and loads of camping stuff is stowed aboard. The contents of the kitchen drawer is laid out ready for tomorrow. Last minute prep is done and container test fit (tent will have to come off ) done. Coolant changed (it was a dodgy mixture...). Tested everything - but unfortunately the real shake down test couldn't happen.

So tomorrow we take the car down to Takoradi and stuff it in... Gulp! My brain is fried - after 6 months of planning it's so last minute now I am wondering what 'vital' thing is forgotten... Oh well I will have 30 days (hopefully!) to think about it!

So the last Ghana pictures will be container loading after the w/e, but in the meantime here is our last minute fabrication. The BBQ grid I am really pleased with Okay the shower curtain will be put on a sliding rod that goes into a roof bar. Otherwise here are our last prep pictures. It has been a blast, and iH8MUD has made the whole thing even more pleasureable. Thanks for all the interest/appreciation and encouragement. The thread will continue in a few days, then a bit of a break and then we will resume from an internet cafe somewhere in Southern Africa!

 

[cicak]

Dude have a great trip and drive safe haha as one can in Africa

Your prep reminds me of having my vehicle prepared for me by mates in OZ when I was working in HK and coming back and litterally packing it and driving off on holiday.

anyway safe trip to you all and if you ever head over this way im going to take you to the jungle also and a few beers.


love the BBQ location does it drop down for instant use?

 

[Phil in BC]

Have a good trip Gill. Tale loads of pictures.

 

[JuanJ]

Hello Gil,

Have a good trip. And keep us posted.






JuanJ

 

[soenke]

My brain is fried - after 6 months of planning it's so last minute now I am wondering what 'vital' thing is forgotten...

don´t worry, Namibia and RSA will be comfortable travelling with no real problems of supplies...
things will come together being on the road

wish you a good time

maybe you manage to visit one of our favorite areas, south of Caprivi and Linyanti Swamp (outside the hunting season)

 

[gilghana]

Many thanks guys - appreciated! I will definately get some pics, and will see your area Soenke! The BBQ grid just pulls off the tyre ready for action... the 4 legs are a nice tight fit, and I welded a nut on each leg to bungee it behind the tyre.

So here's the last Ghana pics. As I speak it is hopefully being put on a boat... Now I know why Ghana has a bit of a problem as a drugs transit hub We loaded the car, messed around lashing down and securing the tent and then sealed the container ourselves - no one, not one security/customs check... I dunno what temp was inside the container, but crawling around with container belts was HOT. Believe it or not I had to dismantle the rear tyres and mounting hubs on the carrier to get the tent in behind the truck.

Our friends who are restoring the BJ45 were a bit peeved as they saw so many touring mods that they want to do... And after a quick blast in the troopy he is not going to be happy until the 3B is at least given a turbo. I actually don't know if Martin follows MUD (he and Marina I have lent the HZJ105 to get 5 days touring the National Parks of Ghana in) but if he does...

After the container stuffing we left to our favourite beach spot for a couple of days of this:

Thanks for stopping by!
Gil

 

[gilghana]

just an update...

So an update on what is happening:

well we spent a few weeks in Andalusia putting a Suzuki Jimny hire car through it's paces. The tracks there are great, and one memorable one was an very unknown old mule track up and over and down a 5,300 ft pass. Fantastic. The Jimny is actually perfect for that area - in fact anything larger than say a BJ/HZJ 73 I would not have wanted to be in at some points (when I went off on my own and found some pretty hairy tracks, some of which petered out to impassable perched on the edge of mountains - a wheel placed wrongly would actually mean you will roll about 1000ft. A few butterflies were in my stomach I must admit!). But in general great fun.

So, back to the trip...
Well in Spain my 'net access was zero, so got to Germany last Sunday evening and started chasing down shippers etc. Here I got a bit of a shock - the car went from Ghana - Las Palmas - Capetown without a hitch, and arrived on the 16th in CPT. However it appeared to miss an MSC vessel the following day and now MSC say the next vessel is the 17th of July. "Fantastic" So our flights (which can't be changed) are the 5th and a tour from Luderitz to Walvis Bay (6 days of super remote dune driving!) on the 12th would be screwed.

So "Plan B" was to arrange for the vehicle to be discharged and cleared in Capetown - this would have meant we would fly Munich - Windhoek - Capetown, pick up the car and bomb up to Namibia to (hopefully ) meet our fellow tour members in Luderitz... Well, with two trans-shipment points I always knew it was a bit risky, but to be honest when it reached CPT so well it looked like things were on course!

However, we have been pestering MSC who are now trying like hell (their CPT manager seems like a good bloke) to get it on a feeder vessel (Ocean Africa) that would ETA Walvis bay on the 4th or so... which would be doable. The vessel was originally fully booked, but in our favour my (ex) company does a lot of biz with MSC so they are trying pretty hard... and say they can find space due to a cancelation. All going well the container should load tomorrow and we join it next week in Walvis Bay (fingers triple crossed).

 

[gilghana]

Yessss !!!!!

Just got an email from MSC Capetown that the container is on their vessel "Frontier" busy steaming away from Cape Town. We fly out Sunday.

Here she is:

 

[lulo]

Yessss !!!!!

Just got an email from MSC Capetown that the container is on their vessel "Frontier" busy steaming away from Cape Town. We fly out Sunday.

Here she is:

Beware of pirates!!!

 

[fexlboi]

Great post gilghana! Took a while to read everything, but it was worth it for sure
Have you done any more mods since? How was your guided trip?
https://forum.ih8mud.com/members/gilghana.html

 

[gilghana]

First internet for 1 month +

The guided trip was AMAZING. Will get some more pics and words up tomorrow, 'til then:

 

[roscoFJ73]

Thought you had dropped off the Earth

 

[gilghana]

Thanks Rosco! More details:

Things worked out (just!) with us collecting the vehicle and getting at put back together in WB (Walvis Bay) in a container yard and with malaria (not fun)

Luckily the only damage was my 'helpers' that assisted in putting back the roof tent - the paintwork has a "bit" more patina now!!!!

It was then 3 days to get down to Luderitz and on the way testing a lot of things
We had hoped to have a final shakedown trip in Ghana, but that was not to be so a few issues had to be sorted out sharpish on the road. Heading south we stayed in Hauchabfontein for two nights and spend a day sorting out the car and packing arrangements as well as a mysterious electrical fault. Hauchab was great - very nicely laid out site with great ablutions and a real friendly owner.

From their the next stay was Namtib Farm - great place too, but the weather was more like my home country of Scotland, with us waking up to driving rain. Anyway at least we know the Hanibal Impi is relatively weather tight!

From Namtib it was then on to Luderitz where we stocked up on beer, water and firewood for the next 6 days and met our group at Obelix Guest House (where we also stayed). A great bunch of people comprising a group of South Africans who all go on trips together:
3 x 80 series 4.5L Petrol
1 x 105 series 4.5L Petrol
And a German/Dutch couple in a rented 4.0L Petrol Hilux....

This petrol bias coupled with a few sardonic groans when the troopy was mentioned got me thinking! Okay the mention of the turbo seemed to satisfy them a bit Our guides were driving (surprise) 4.5L Petrol cruiser p/ups. So to sum it up we were the heaviest car with the least power - and a LOT of the weight (longranger, IEF bumper, two tyres, fridge etc...) either just on or behind the rear axle.
To sum it up the trip was really, really something! The dunes were huge and despite our weight and power we were not the most rescued car. The group gelled so well and we made some real friends. For us the most frightening was going up the dunes - most times Julia was reading and calling the EGTs while we absolutely thrashed the old 1HZ to make it up. The only time we really got stuck we were REALLY stuck... 3.5 tonnes, lockers and 0.6 bar means "proper stuck"!
One of the most amazing driving experiences was Len (lead guide in white 70 series) taking myself and Julia for a blast in a huge 'bowl' for fun in his cruiser - 140k per hour and weightless on a dip was amazing... I have scared myself silly in fast road cars and bikes but NOTHING compared to the 20 mins with Len. Utterly addictive!

Airing down as we hit the sand. I was very apprehensive on the first day... the weight, the self done mods, the turbo (and EGTs!). If you have a problem out there that you cannot repair then you are in for a VERY long and VERY expensive recovery - remember this is 650kms of dunes with no roads, no exits and no way out... I also had absolutely minimal sand experience - plenty of everything else, just no sand! Anyway we soon found our way and got into a bit of a grooove.

The guides (Len and Piet) were excellent, and they and their helpers did a fantastic job of guiding, recovery as well as meals!

Ottmar and Christine in their hired Hilux did really well. Their vehicle was probably the most suited to the trip, being a 4.0L and very lightly laden... Certainly power was not lacking and it did sound good howling up the dunes!

The petrol 79s really impressed me (not just the adrenaline ride with Len!), but also their ability despite carrying BIG weight. I worked with cruiser 75 & 79s for years, but they were all diesel and hey there's no sand in Ghana. Having said all this, the turbo troopy did really well, and we only got really stuck the once.

After the first day we were moved to the spot immediately behind Len in the lead cruiser. This was a good thing (previously we had been at the very back) as the sand was not so churned and in general the pace was a lot faster. As we gained experience and confidence (in the car as much as ourselves) it was fun to chase him, especially as he sometimes got a bit exuberant!

As I said we did get properly bogged the once Strangely Piet the night before had mentioned we as a group were not getting stuck enough. Hopefully this one made up for that!

We had seen Namib dunes before, but never imagined driving them... absolutely fantastic.

The trip was nicely broken up and planned, with it not being full on dunes and adrenaline the whole time. For a few of the group this was a good thing, I am not saying people were not enjoying it, but for some of us it was enough slip faces by the end of the day! We had the opposite problems in that we were relishing the slips and dreading the climbs. Often we were shouting at the troopy and delighted to reach the top, praying for hard sand. Many times I must have turned and said "we are not going to make it up that one" Surprisingly we mostly did, however without an EGT I suspect the troopy might still be there! Utterly essential...

But this meant that at times we could relax and enjoy the scenery, the sights and the wildlife. Utterly captivating.

Of course soon it was back to dunes

All too soon it was drawing to an end. Every night was a great laugh with fantastic company and food. Julia also loved every minute of it, and in fact the only time she got a bit stressed was because I wanted to drive and she also did She was banging the troopy over the dunes no problem. In fact after the trip we both felt really sad it was over. The next few days we were a bit flat and down that such an experience was over.

Anyway we soon consolled ourselves with the thought that this was only the beginning of the trip for us So since then we have done a lot more, but that's for more reports later.

In summation - absolutely amazing and Uri (Len & Piet & Seth and Johnny) did an absolutely fantastic job.
Gil

 

[Gib009]

Great pics. Now they are some serious sand dunes

 

[Clint79]

absolutely amazing, check all those cruisers 2
how much extra fuel was takin for the trip in each vehicle, in dunes like that my petrol 79 would get about 12 km per tank

 

[roscoFJ73]

Fantastic story and pics
Were you happy with your choice of tyre in the sand compared to the others.?
Hiow come your troopy was heavier,presuming everyone had the same needs?
Im also curious about your fuel consumption compared to the others

 

[lulo]

AWESOME Pics

... and nice story


More pics, pics pics pics


Congrats mate



You can do it my dream

 

[prado t]

Thanks Gil for the story and trip pictures. Truly an awesome trip.

 

[kelso]

Hi gilghana

I have been following your thread since January and its really awesome

I myself have been doing a couple things to my 2006 TD 78. Including replacing all the card panels with marine ply, inserting a back bench seat and so on.

My next project is getting a bed suspended on a pulley system that will stowaway against the roof when not being used.


Keep up the good work

 

[gilghana]

Thanks - glad you liked them!
So to answer the questions...

Well, my Grabber AT2s did fine in the sand, most of our group were on AT (BFG) and we were all on low, low pressures. The lead guide Len's FZJ79 was running 285 BFG MTs (mix of old pattern and new) and that vehicle was very very impresssive. The other guide Piet was running old Michelin LTX IIRC - a tyre which I fitted in Ghana and was amazed with by durability if nothing else! Len claims the BFG MTs are the absolute best he has used in the Namib desert. However I have to say that otherwise I am NOT impressed with the General AT2 - the way they have chipped and lost tread is frightening... After 10,000kms in Namibia they are frankly about stuffed, and the sidewalls are very weak - in fact I have lost all confidence in them and am now looking at alternatives here (tyres are shockingly expensive here . Whatever I buy I am going back to MTs.

Consumption. Well, this has been an eyeopener with extremes at both ends of the scale! In our first two days here I honestly thought that with our electrical problem (more on that later) that the fuel gauge had been damaged... Then when we filled up we recorded 10L/100Km Amazing. Ghana I never recorded less than 17 after the turbo was fitted. The difference is the good, graded gravel roads. We tend to travel between 70-80kmph and often we are in 5th for a long time!

But then came the dunes Well no-one was carrying less than 250 L of fuel, and our guides recommended that all of us carry the same - FZJ, HZJ and the 'lux. When we all filled at the end of 647 kms of pure sand and LOTS of dunes I recorded 29.5L/100km! This was marginally better than the petrol 80s, but to be honest we are only talking about 29.5 Vs 30.... The lightweight 4.0 'lux was actually marginally better than mine

Interesting.

as for the weight, well yes we were all carrying the same fuel, but we have a lot more 'stuff' as the other trip members were either locals or in the hired 'lux, so this means we have just more kit. The guides were no doubt as heavy as us, and in fact Len's 79 was remarkably similar - front bar, 180L longranger, IEF twin bumper etc. The other tour members had no rear bars, plastic fuel containers... In other words their vehicles are basically lightly modified trucks that can go back to normal between trips.

I would absolutely LOVE to do that trip in something like a supercharged FZJ79 with a couple of bedrolls and a bunch of jerry cans - it would be such a blast!

Anyway, thanks for the interest, gotta go and check tyre prices etc (gulp) and I will get up some more pictures of tamer but also nice stuff tomorrow!
Gil