Princess Rig: Diesel Manual Troopy-Style Pop-top Conversion and Off to Adventure

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So a bit has happened in the last 4-5mo. Quite a lot has been tidied up and sorted out and adjusted and tweaked and generally obsessed over. (Much more than is documented below.) Added a double carton front shaft due to a vibration at highway speed. And loads of other random adjustments. Interior is "finished" for now. We'll see what needs changing/updating/redone after a few months on the road.

But I'm finally packed up and leaving in a few days for good. Or for now. Or whatever. Hitting the road in the Beast-with-No-Name (still working on that). First South (because, duh, it's bloody cold up north here) then West. Then probably North again because it will get hot fast out there. Stay tuned for sporadic updates of travel, trails, trials, and general mayhem & road life. FINALLY WOOOOOOOOO!

See y'all out there.

Deleted the arm rests in the rear and added some leftover panel to make it look presentable.
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Traction Boards on the roof.
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Some final touches to the interior.
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Custom Grill for the Turbo Diesel
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Grill on, Comeup Winch Installed with a rather oddly mounted controller due to having a front mount intercooler etc etc etc to work around, I think it came out ok. Visible but low profile.
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Looks great!
 
Cruzilla said:
Great build! reminds me of when I did mine!
If you come up through Northern Idaho, give me a shout!
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I'll be out that way later this summer. I'll give you a shout. Cheers!
 
CaptBeardilocks said:
The interior build out is … coming along. Slowly. I framed it out with extruded aluminum and my own self-fabricated aluminum fittings to try to keep the bloody cost down a bit. I've been having trouble sourcing facing material for countertop and bench. Between being landlocked here in the middle of nowhere and supply line problems… Top choices are Marineboard or architectural aluminum composite panels. But with shipping at $300/sheet or a drive all the way to the coast as my only options, I'm probably going to have to pick something more boring. Suggestions welcome.

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I've also added Backcountry 4x4 tailgate storage that I bought second hand but never installed from someone on Mud here. It's a really fantastic piece of powder-coated aluminum with well designed support that makes it very strong. But I was unimpressed with the aluminum pop-rivets that came with it. So I countersunk drilled all the holes and added my own stainless steel hardware. I'm pretty happy with the results.

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Super nice work/build, glad the tailgate storage worked out for you.
I never mounted it so not really second hand.
 
Cruzilla said:
Great! I look forward to it!
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I'll have to swing in and see @Delta VS on the way past as well. Lol.


Broski said:
Super nice work/build, glad the tailgate storage worked out for you.
I never mounted it so not really second hand.
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NOS then? haha. I meant more that I didn't get it from the manufacturer in case anyone wanted to ask me about shipping lead times or customer service. But I did end up talking to the Rugged Bound at some point and they were very helpful and friendly.
 
If you decide to drop down to the central coast to check out the Big Sur area hit me up. I would like to see your build in person and I have a large back yard for camping ;)
 
Broski said:
If you decide to drop down to the central coast to check out the Big Sur area hit me up. I would like to see your build in person and I have a large back yard for camping ;)
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Awesome. I might be headed through. I have no set route or time table. So things fall into place organically.

I will be trying to report up on here occasionally as I go so stay tuned!
 
Cruzilla said:
Have thought about seat covers for the Scheel-Mann seats,? This is what I bought for mine and they are exceptional quality! they even allow the use of the bottom cushion lift up feature so you can access things under your seat!
They even offer CUP
Cruzilla said:
Have thought about seat covers for the Scheel-Mann seats,? This is what I bought for mine and they are exceptional quality! they even allow the use of the bottom cushion lift up feature so you can access things under your seat!
They even offer CUP HOLDERS!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Haha! I do need to get a cover eventually. The truck will never be finished. Always one more thing that needs doing. I’m sure the first time I spill coffee on the seat I’ll order one. Lol.
 
Sorry for your troubles, I wish I could be of more help!!
 
I’ve been having a blast driving her and living the pop top lifestyle. Really build exactly what I wanted.

I absolutely love this rig.

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Just gotta figure out WTF is wrong with it!!
 
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