So...practicality (and being a family man) wins out, after all. Turns out, we
WON'T be building a 45 pickup with 8 cylinders. And it won't be having four doors, either. But it will be having six wheels.
Phantom II isn't going to be a rock crawler, or a pavement shredder, or a mud-basher, after all. It's going to be...a caravan. Think of it as an RV40, rather than an FJ40.
In discussions with "The Team", we've chalked out a basic plan of action...
1) Purchase a derelict / donor FJ40, with a decent frame, front, doors, windscreen frame and bumper.
2) Extend the wheelbase to approximately 120 or so inches.
3) Add a pair of diff-lockable 40 series axles.
4) Extend the rear frame by about another 50 odd inches. For the rear caravan-space, this should give us about 15-16 feet length. Possibly, 7ft or so width.
5) Add another 'dead' axle aft of the rear live axle.
6) Mount wheels and tyres, all round.
7) Add a 1HZ / 1KZ engine, with the choice of either auto / manual transmission
8) Build the remainder of the cabin around the frame, joining the cabin and the rear living area. This should incl insulation against cold and heat, a loo, a kitchenette, a water-reservoir, a sewage tank, a crawlspace sleeping area, seating area, heating, air-conditioning, LED-based lighting, an invertor-based source for electricity, a small portable generator-set, TV / Mobile Theatre, storage spaces, and whatever else comes to mind.
I go to purchase the donor car from the Sacred Graveyard of 40 Series Trucks (also known as City Saddar Road, Rawalpindi) on Saturday. Wish me luck, everyone!
