Builds Portland Troopy Build

[umpqua]

I haven't had much to post lately but the build continues. The truck has been at Willamette Blvd Auto for the last couple of weeks. During that time the 4wd was hooked up, AC is now charged and working, kill switch installed, air compressor installed, Scheel Mann seats are in which was a super easy install thanks to Toby at Scheel and the seat brackets from 425 motorsports. For the price, they SHOULD be a huge upgrade from the stock seats and for the limited time I sat in them they felt really, really good. I've already put a seat cover on the drivers side and will soon on the passenger as Dixie insists on riding shotgun. The ARB front bumper and Come Up 12lb 24v winch is in position to be put on the truck. The setup is heavy as hell and we lost 3/8" on the lift during the test fit. I'd sure hate to be on the receiving end of whatever this thing hits. I thought Josh was his usual creative self with the air compressor install. Space is at a premium inside so the compressor was installed under the truck on a bracket that he made. He ran the air intake up to the engine bay to insure that water is not an issue. Oh yeah, the Espar heater is working. Blows hot air, has a thermostat and I was really surprised by the quiet operation. Winter camping will be a different experience. The rear lights are in the stock bumper and that bumper will soon go away. The truck came with some sort of Euro spec rear body lights that made no sense to me so I bought replacement body lights from Joe K and they are now fully US Spec functioning in the body. Nice to be legal and not draw attention....as much as that's possible. The dual fuel tanks are now both working which will give the truck super long range at the average 22mpg that it is producing.

Still need to install the water tank and get the hot water thing figured out. Lockers front and back are in waiting. Will see about getting plumbing to an outdoor shower. I have a quick pitch shower awning and max trax table coming from Nick at Backwoods Overland.

I'd say the truck is about 75-80% complete. Maybe.

Some random pics.

 

[umpqua]

Here are a few pics from a Thanksgiving weekend trip that I made to Kalaloch Beach in the Olympic National Park. I camped right on the beach and a pretty good storm rolled in Sunday night. High winds and a driving rain. The inside of the truck with the tent up was.....bone dry.

 

[umpqua]

A rear shot of the winch. I've heard it somewhere before but damn that thing is big.

 

[AndrewHadji]

awesome pics, i need to get more of your interior

 

[NookShneer]

Coming along nicely!

 

[The Jade Bean]

Looking soooo good!!! What slides did you use for the seats?

 

[umpqua]

Looking soooo good!!! What slides did you use for the seats?

Scheel Mann. The Scheel guy is local and had them in his inventory.

 

[umpqua]

Does anyone have an extra TEQ sticker to replace the ARB sticker? The mud vendor is out of stock.

 

[AndrewHadji]

Scheel Mann. The Scheel guy is local and had them in his inventory.

I need more info on this one! Do you have a part number? did you have to drill to find the "hidden nut"?

 

[umpqua]

I need more info on this one! Do you have a part number? did you have to drill to find the "hidden nut"?

The installation of the seats could not have been easier and there wasn't any "hidden nut" that I know about. I have attached a pic of the brackets that were made by 425 motor sports in Bellevue, WA. The seat bracket attaches to the seat with 4 bolts. The rails themselves came from Toby Pond at Scheel Mann USA. There were like 8 bolts that attached the seat to the rails. We used the existing 4 bolts that were on the old seats to attach the new.

Hope this helps.

 

[AndrewHadji]

The installation of the seats could not have been easier and there wasn't any "hidden nut" that I know about. I have attached a pic of the brackets that were made by 425 motor sports in Bellevue, WA. The seat bracket attaches to the seat with 4 bolts. The rails themselves came from Toby Pond at Scheel Mann USA. There were like 8 bolts that attached the seat to the rails. We used the existing 4 bolts that were on the old seats to attach the new.

Hope this helps.

View attachment 1857067

Thanks!, did you have a bucket up front for passenger or the bench? Apparently there is a hidden nut for the bench when converted to single seat.

 

[divemedic]

I keep giggling when I read hidden nut... I know a lot of growing up to do.

 

[umpqua]

Bucket for both seats.

 

[AndrewHadji]

Bucket for both seats.

sorry, i feel like im not being clear which is wasting your time apologies.

Did you previously have the bench, then converted to bucket? If it was already bucket, can you take a quck pic of the pass side front and rear mount? It would be supremely helpful to get both front mounts in one pic and both rear ones. No worries if you dont have time, we are all busy, tis the season and that crap The bench seat inner front and rear mount next to the handbrake, the single seat has them quite a ways away, wondering if you had to drill for the new mounts or the fabled "hidden nut" was used

 

[umpqua]

sorry, i feel like im not being clear which is wasting your time apologies.

Did you previously have the bench, then converted to bucket? If it was already bucket, can you take a quck pic of the pass side front and rear mount? It would be supremely helpful to get both front mounts in one pic and both rear ones. No worries if you dont have time, we are all busy, tis the season and that crap The bench seat inner front and rear mount next to the handbrake, the single seat has them quite a ways away, wondering if you had to drill for the new mounts or the fabled "hidden nut" was used

It's likely that I have reading comprehension issues. I want to help.

As far as I know the truck never had the 60/40 split. It had two buckets seats when I took possession. The truck is at my mechanics but I will ask for photo's. Not sure that I will see it again before leaving for Mexico at the holiday. We didn't drill anything. It was a "super" easy install. Do you have the 60/40 split?

 

[AndrewHadji]

It's likely that I have reading comprehension issues. I want to help.

As far as I know the truck never had the 60/40 split. It had two buckets seats when I took possession. The truck is at my mechanics but I will ask for photo's. Not sure that I will see it again before leaving for Mexico at the holiday. We didn't drill anything. It was a "super" easy install. Do you have the 60/40 split?

I blame my esl Yea i have a 60/40... ill keep digging to discover the secret sauce on swapping the 60 side out with a bucket

 

[coldtaco]

I blame my esl Yea i have a 60/40... ill keep digging to discover the secret sauce on swapping the 60 side out with a bucket

I found the "secret" hidden nut on my my ute. I tried guessing I think using measurements from the single seat. Started off with a small drill bit. then opened it up.

 

[gilmorneau]

Hopefully I can be of some assistance here as Umpqua bought his Troopy from me. Here's the long, convoluted story on the front seats: When the Troopy was new, it came equipped with two bucket seats from Toyota, but by the time I took possession of it, the previous owner (in France) had swapped the original passenger bucket seat for the 60/40 bench. Story I got was he did this so his dog could more comfortably lay down on the seat (lay on the seat and chew on the shift knob, but that's a different story). The driver's (left side) seat was still original when I got the Troopy, and when I sold it to Umpqua.

Luckily, the PO had kept the original passenger side bucket seat and included it in the sale. When I got the car, I wanted to return the car to as original as possible, and so re-swapped the 60/40 passenger side bench back to the original bucket seat. I don't remember the procedure in super precise detail, but all the holes and captured nuts were already in the body, and all the brackets from the 60/40 bench swapped over to the bucket no problem. I just unbolted the tracks and rails, etc. from under the bench and bolted them onto the bucket. Then bolted the bucket to the floor. Easy peasy.

 

[gilmorneau]

I found the "secret" hidden nut on my my ute. I tried guessing I think using measurements from the single seat. Started off with a small drill bit. then opened it up.

Ah....I think by "hidden nut" Andrew means a captured nut under the floor for which a hole was not drilled (through the floor) by Toyota? I encountered a couple of these when I put the rear "troopy seats" in my Troopy that was not originally configured for them. I measured and figured out which ones were the ones I needed, then drilled from under the car using a smaller drill bit. With that small pilot hole drilled, I could enlarge the hole through the floor from inside the car until the nut was accessible, but not foul up the threads. I ran a tap through it to clean up the threads, too.

Umpqua's Troopy didn't have this dilemma, since it had at various times already been equipped with both bucket and bench seats (i.e. all the holes were already there).

 

[SNLC]

I only have one thing to say, armrests are a go.


Cheers