OzWagon - HZ75 series Troopie

[1leglance]

I am doing things a bit different with this build thread...
there are parts that are worth standing alone so others can search & find...
this seat/frame setup by Travis of Safari Pacific is one of those.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/70-series-tech/477677-75-series-troopie-gets-custom-seats-frames.html

 

[1leglance]

One of the great things about summertime is my son & I have been able to tackle some fun mods on the Troopie getting it ready for getting into the dirt.

Most kids I hear about these days are more into computers than cars, into online games instead of how things work in the real world and since my younger son is interesting in becoming an engineer I figured taking the time to teach while we did the mods would help us both (I get free labor out of the deal

Huge thanks to Travis of Safari Pacific for building the custom dual battery tray, a very nice dead pedal for my fake leg and installing the Extreme Outback Air compressor setup under the rear doors.

Here are some pics other mods....

First off I got some great red LED lights from Travis & combined those with white LEDS I had to give me light on each rear door and inside the rear.

Using the National Luna Dual Battery Kit from Equipt gave me plenty of cable to run a heavy line to the back which will power the Extreme Outback compressor and a fuse block for lots of other goodies.....most important will be the National Luna Fridge!
Oh and the relay is for a reverse light I had laying around.

And that free labor I mentioned comes in real handy when it comes to teaching about the importance of prep work before applying sound deadener & insulation

Those LED lights are gonna work great shinning down on our new rear door panels with pockets & drop tables...here you can see Martin building away at our first attempt.

Some stuff has just been silly fun, like finding a use for this long LED string, it makes a great under hood light.

And that killer nice heavy duty dual battery tray combined with the compact Odyssey batteries (wired up perfectly with the NL kit) means we had room to add an ammo can for storage of something, we just don't know what yet

Some projects had been more for teaching than anything, like painting the grill. Sure it shows off the "diesel" well but it was a chance to teach about prep/paint on a small scale before we get to the inside of the rig.

I will try to snap some photos of the air compressor mount, spring shackles and other stuff Travis did, all top notch!

Upcoming....well that is a long list but we are having fun!

 

[lulo]

Nice...

 

[1leglance]

So continues the saga of working on the 75 series Troopie with my 13yr old...

One of the things I love about the rig is how basic & utilitarian it is, however that also translates into noisy & a poorly insulated.
Since rattles, shakes and temps can lead to driver fatigue and overall spousal disquiet I figured Martín & I could spend some time stripping the interior and slapping on some layers.

Step #1 was clean, sand & prep the interior metal surfaces, no pics of that as it was boring and hard work.
Step #2 was using a product called Hy-Tech RC#233 , this is a much cheaper ($40gal) version of the LizardSkin coating. The same micro spheres that create a barrier to sound & temp. It goes on THICK, more like working drywall mud. And once we had a few coats on you could already tell a difference.

Step #3 was to slap on the FatMat, this is the Dynamat style asphalty type dampeners with an alum layer for temp control. Since the Hy-Tech paint has such a rough surface we used landau top adhesive to help secure it. You don't have to cover every inch, just slap on big bits to control vibration.

Step #4 was Reflectex from Home Depot, this is an alum coated bubble wrap type product. Once again the vacuum chambers help create the sound & heat barrier. This is worth putting on as a cover for as much area as possible.

Step #5 was the headliner material, Martín really enjoyed getting to use the spray gun and since it works best to cover both surfaces he got plenty of practice. This was actually a 2 person job as he would spray an area and I would smooth it in place. We had a good time.

We still have to do the side panels & floor in Reflectex, then carpet the side compartments to gain more storage space, then prime & paint the new side panels, finish the 2 rear door fold down tables and then get out to Utah in a week or so to enjoy it all!
Stay tuned for feedback on if was all worth the effort

 

[1leglance]

Well with my son out of school and me having some time off of work we dug into the front end.
Of course thanks to this forum, videos I found, the factory service manual and other web references
found I figured we could stumble our way through the front end rebuild.

I started this because of an ugly noise out of the left wheel and it didn't take much to figure out the cause.
My wheel bearing was TOAST
Here is a pic of the hub and what was left of the bearing.

My birfeilds didn't look too good, one side looked like it had gotten pretty hot in the past and the other
just looked like crap!

The web references & videos all showed how to take a pipe and drop the birfield into it letting gravity do the work.
Well since I didn't have a pipe I used the "field option" I read about which is making use of the cross member tube.
This worked on the long axle but not the short.

On the short we even tried clamping it in the vise and using a brass drift, small sledge & large sledge...still no go.


The good news is that everywhere I looked folks talked about how Longfield birfields & axles where the way to go...and
when I called Longfields a gentleman named Bobby was super helpful and the prices were reasonable enough to make me
go for a set of axles & joints. Can't wait to get them in and bolt all this fun stuff together.

As a side note I am also replacing the disk rotors, one of the hubs (as soon as I track that down somewhere) and I need
to find a left side free wheel hub assembly.
There a few other bits I would like to get if I can like cone washers, studs, and any thing else folks recommend.

 

[1leglance]

Time for an update....and the theme of this update is............

Two Gimps Garage builds a bumper

Colorado Bill (a member here) lives in Pueblo and offered to build me a swingout rear bumper after I drooled all over his and Larry's (another forum member) on our Moab trip.
Well with the temps still over 100 in Phoenix I took a long weekend and went to play in Pueblo.
Bill has Spina Bifida & is a para (pretty much life long) but since he comes from a family off outdoor folks (his sisters have their own 4x4's) it is a tough love situation and he doesn't slow down for anything. He is a great fabricator and if you get a chance run some trails with his Ramcharger, it is a beast.

75 series Troopcarriers come with a 60/40 rear split barn door and I wanted to be able to open/close the smaller door without the swingout in the way.
Also I wanted to be able to use a receiver style folding step under that door.
Lastly I wanted a smooth top surface to use as a step /seat / platform to set things.

The following shows what we got done in 2 full days of fun.

We got the old bumper & hitch out of the way to see what there was to work with. Also to figure out how much of the old we could re-use.
And as you will notice Bill spends almost as much time out of his wheelchair as in it

Who says amputee's aren't useful to have around? I may not be able to weld but I know where to step if something needs to be held down

When he does work from his chair, Bill has the garage setup up at a great working height for him. And he has figured out what tools & techniques get the job done.

Bill wanted to stop here with the swingout. But I wanted to get my big propane tank out of the cabin, have a place for my shovel and mount the cb antenna.

So an extension was added above the tire carrier. Now of course these build pics never show the number of times you install & remove to test fit, the number of times you measure & re-measure or the laughing breaks you take along the way.

Sometimes a man just needs to stop and ponder a moment. Now you would never know Bill was in a wheelchair from the quality of his work...which is why I tell people that being disabled is more in your mind than your body....you are only as disabled as you let yourself be.

Final mockup before the detail work.

 

[1leglance]

And here she is all pretty and installed.

Plenty of clearance between the body and the swingout. My long handle shovel will fit down that upright tube and I will install the cb antenna somewhere on there.
And I will drill a hole for a padlock to secure the propane tank.

This is the nifty latch we used. I didn't like the one most people have and wanted something easy & different. I really think it will work great as it actually has no load on it, it would take a crazy lateral force to shear the pin and the lock lever makes it secure against accidental opening.

We did goof a bit on the choice of strut. Bill mentioned his were not strong enough and in my normal "overshoot the mark" style I got 100lb struts. Bill didn't believe me when I said it nearly pulled me out of my leg, until he tried it and it pretty much tugged him & his wheelchair sideways.
I will be swapping that out for an 80lb maybe.

We cut up the receiver hitch that was on the rig and re-used the mounts so I figure it is plenty strong to tow or recover as needed.

All in all it was a ton of fun to learn from Bill, watch him work and spend time with his parents and sisters. The fun run we had on Sunday to "test" the bumper was worth the hard work since the Aspens were changing and the weather was perfect.
Huge thanks to Bill for doing this project and for letting me crash on his couch

 

[crushers]

i am enjoying this build, congrats.

handicapped IS in the mind not the body,
a few years back i hired a one legged individual, i never knew he was gimped for over a week of work. he came highly recommended and when he started i thought he had hurt his foot. he wore long jeans so unless you were paying attention you wouldn't really know. i came into the shop the one day and he had his leg off adjusting something and it was "WTF"?
he told me later that a lot of people prejudge what a one legged man can do so he showed me that he can do the job very well. he was with me for quite a while. sadly it wasn't his handicap with the leg that got him can'd, it was his handicap with the bottle that did.

this taught me not to judge what others can or can not do.

congrats.

 

[PhrogsPhorever]

I had met up with Andy and looked at that truck in Miami a while back before I settled on my '97, great to see it found it's way to a Mudder.

It is turing out very nice

 

[1leglance]

crusher, thanks for the peg leg comment, I used to wear long pants all the time for the same reasons until I figured screw it let them think what they want
Now I am an ICU RN and have to wear scrubs, I get to play lots of fun jokes on the new residents & interns.

Alex glad to hear you got a 97, these are great rigs.

Next week my 13yr old son & I will be running some trails & camping during his fall break and I am sure we will come up with more things to do to this rig.