78 Series Troopy build up

[gilghana]

Hi folks,
I have had this thread up on IH8MUD for a while, but thought that people here would also appreciate a cruiser you don't see every day in North America!
Hope you enjoy:
never done a thread like this - always tended to be more a Q&A type. Anyway, I am currently in the process of a total interior re-modeling of my troopy so thought I would start with what has been done to the vehicle so far, and then document the interior stuff which is being done over the next weeks as I build it and as parts arrive in from South Africa - which could take a while.

Firstly the interior on the day I got it (getting on two years now)

Living in Africa good driving lights were first on the list, in fact I bought them in Europe in readiness of getting the car. Output is fantastic, seem pretty damn tough. Only thing is the beams are a bit narrow which a filter on one will cure.

As the vehicle was going to be carrying some weight the next thing was some firestone airbags for the rear - nice easy solution pending heavier springs. Dead easy to inflate. Fitting was not the easiest, ended up cutting the exhaust out as a side exit pipe was in the near future. Around the same time a longranger (from Oz) 180L rear tank was fitted which was located where the spare used to hang. Fitting was fine although blanking plug for the sender took a bit of messing around

and so it goes... The spare had to be relocated so I got IEF Engineering (South Africa) to supply a double spare bumper replacement - very solidly made, but measurements were a bit off and it took a bit of bending and shimming. Routed the valves for the airbags to the bumper and recently installed a 12v CAT flood light for camp set up

I was lucky enough that we had 6 steel wheels from 105 series cruisers lying around - vehicle originally came with splits and sand tyres, so 4 MTs and 2 Dunlops (OEM 105 series) as spares. CAT worklight has outstanding brilliance!

 

[gilghana]

Then came a need for power! The 1HZ is a sweet motor as you all know, but for relaxed travel a turbo was really wanted. Got it from All American Imports in Holland who really know their stuff - all genuine toyota stuff too. Fitted a boost compensator and pyro/boost gauges at the same time.

I had experimented with a home made side exit exhaust, but to be honest the noise was too much - GF couldn't open her window any more on boost! I had planned a side exit so as to fit a water tank in all the wasted space, so Tourfactory of Germany supplied a beautiful SS piece which sounds JUST right and seemed to make it pull even harder!

It's not cheap, but Helmut from Tourfactory makes some really great kit for 78/79s

At the same time I got him to supply a 100L SS water tank - really his version of another fuel tank. Not such a clear picture but you can see how it makes use of all the dead space where the huge muffler was and under the prop shaft. Only thing is I now need a 79 handbrake cable as the 78 one is too short with the tank.

To fill and draw water from the tank I fitted a glind (again Oz) shower heat exchanger and flojet pump - fantastic! Hot water on demand, and with the help of two ball valves and by using push fittings on the bumper (which you can see on the lightforce snap) I can either draw from the tank, fill the tank or just shower from a bucket. Contemplating making it so that I could also recirculate water while driving and heat the tank - why not! Will probably get a General Ecology Filter so as I have no problems with the water being completely potable. The heat exchanger hose routing was not entirely finished when this one was taken:

Then the cheap SAGA EGT gauge packed in, so Thermoguard from Oz shipped a digital EGT which just happens to fit exactly under the radio in the spare DIN slot. Below the dash you can see another temp gauge which is going to probably check the water tank temp, but is currently bolted to the head. Again an Oz device designed to protect against overheating. On one of the blanks above and to the left of the temp gauge you can just see an LED warning light, which is a low water alarm plumbed into the radiator top hose. This I fitted after a head gasket failure on my old Defender 300Tdi, and because I wanted to be safe rather than sorry after cooling system modifications... If coolant level drops the LED comes on and a LOUD buzzer. These Ozzies really think about this stuff! The headunit I replaced with a Blaupunkt plus amp, speakers and sub. The factory unit has to be probably the worst OEM sound system fitted to a modern production vehicle!

 

[gilghana]

At first my thinking was that the interior I would do so that everything could be put back to 13 seater standard. National Luna SS fridge I got from a mate in South Africa and it is the biz! To run it and various accessories I installed a home made battery box with a CAT 100ah calcium cranker connected to a Sterling Battery to Battery Charger (very clever device) and a Clipper Battery monitor. These all work very well, but is not really space saving:

The battery monitor is great - designed for boats, big backlit display showing current battery voltage and charge as a bargraph at the side, as well as A/hrs used and time remaining on the battery at current use. Would really recommend this.

Anyway, space is at a premium as we don't really do this packing lightly thing:

And I never intend to be putting the vehicle back to 13 seats. Right now we only need two seats and maybe later a small bench behind the front seats. So everything came out and the interior lining was ripped out. Amazing how much space is in these panels:

The beginning is to replace the panels with 8mm custom pressed marine plywood (Mahogany) with the Battery stuff, amp, subwoofer, compressor and some hatches for recovery gear etc. Here's last night cutting up the custom ply (there are a few advantages to working in timber...). The wood stuff I leave to Julia as she is way better with power tools than me!

The plan now is to semi finish the panels, fit all the stuff behind them and a milford cargo barrier, then wait (impatiently) for the African outback drawers that are in a container as of tonight in Durban. Ghana customs permiting there should be a set of Dobinsons heavy duty rears and lighter duty fronts (no bar and no winch and no intention of fitting) in our store this weekend.

Here's our other two - 105 series company car and GFs company Golf:

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I live in the wilds of Western Ghana in the forest. Now Yotas are common here - we have 4x 75/79 work trucks and 8x 105 series. But modifications other than bush repairs are totally unknown, and parts supply is a nightmare. The tank was fitted 6 months after being bought! Luckily we regularly have containers from EU and ZA being shipped, but even simple stuff like a small ratchet strap needs some forward planning. Of course the 'pro' to the cons is that tomorrow I can jump in the 105 and go check a forest Op in the rainforest, 4x4 for 6 hours and get paid for it!

 

[datrupr]

:drool: Thanks for sharing. Keep posting up your progress:drool:

 

[gilghana]

Well, like so many things it often takes longer than planned, and I don't have much spare time, 12hr days and half days Sat&Sun doesn't leave much time for Toyota stuff... However I got the first two panels done with everything placed behind. The right hand one has the amp (sticking out for cooling) and the subwoofer behind a lot of holes. Sounds great and I am really happy to get all this stuff tucked away:

Behind the left hand one is the Sterling battery to battery charger and the serious duty wiring prepared and ready for the second battery(s). The next left hand panel will have the shunt and battery monitor plus a couple of 12v sockets, the fridge connection and my compressor. There will still be space for the jack, wheel brace, air hose. On the right hand side I will leave it free for a few lesser used tools, ropes and straps.

I will need to wait for the African outback drawers to arrive so I can be sure of final second battery location and then the cargo barrier. Speaking of batteries, some advice would be good...

Okay, I have a CAT cranker and a Deltec deep cycle on the way. The CAT cranker I bought as a second battery simply because there was no locally available deep cycles. Looking at the Deltec battery BushPower - Products it looks even like the same casing as the CAT (both are same A/hrs). Now if I wire them both in then it gives me a pretty serious power supply. I also "found" (in the store, gathering dust.....liberated!) a couple of solar panels. But back to batteries: I am a bit concerned that the fact that the batteries are not completely identical might have an adverse effect over time? The sterlings charge program matches both batteries (sealed lead acid) so I can't imagine too big an issue?

Dobinsons heavy duty springs, shackles and bushings arrived over the weekend as well, Koni shocks are in an airfreight consignment tomorrow, so I have plenty to be getting on with for a good while! Funnily enough I couldn't see the Dobinsons leafs 'handed' in any way like stamping etc. Compared them side by side though and one is higher, so marked it ready for the drivers side. Heavy bloody things. Happy to have some lifts and willing helpers in our workshop for those!

 

[gilghana]

Well not going as fast as planned (of course)! We were away for three days at the coast - Ghana has some great beaches, so the battery and fridge got thrown in again and tied down. Then got back and had a dose of malaria (like flu here....). Anyway, back to business!!!

Well obviously with all this not much got done to the troopy. However all sorts of goodies arrived over the last two weeks. Firstly the Dobinsons stuff:

Will get cracking on it tomorrow afternoon. I will use the workshop and a couple of our mechanics.

But the real PORN is the Koni Heavy Track "Raid" shock absorbers.... These arrived today What can I say. They are bigger than the shocks on our trucks
When I saw them I just had to whip off a front wheel and take a picture

I knew they were larger than stock, but not that large!

 

[gilghana]

Well today things went a LOT faster. I asked a couple of our mechanics (Vincent and Simon) if they wanted to help out so we got cracking in the workshop. These guys are doing leaf springs every day, but I was surprised at their speed... Believe me they don't work like this when it is company stuff! We met at 2pm.

First we basically stuffed a 2 post lift (it is pretty much on the way out, but we didn't help) bolts are coming out of the floor! But we managed to get it high enough to pack it safely and get full droop and more...

The front springs and shocks were done within the hour:

Vincent was pretty pleased with getting pictures taken of his work - first time! It's not often a camera is seen in the workshop

Just behind him on the wall is a home made safety sign. Very cool - shows a guy sort of exploding under a pick-up as he didn't use proper packing!

So these are the rears before:

We had to drop the 180L rear tank slightly to get the old shackles off. When fitting the tank Longranger recomend turning the shackles so the pins can be withdrawn from the outside in the case of future suspension upgrades. Glad I didn't bother as it is way less hassle to drop the tank a bit then turning the shackle!

And that was us done by 5pm. I was pretty happy at 3 hours for complete suspension change. I have kept the air bags on and will see if they are needed. For sure they would seem to limit rear axle articulation, but I am not too bothered as the car is not a mud or rock beast but a tourer as the title says. Will get some pictures of flex this week at some stage.

Now the drive home is all of about 10 minutes, but it is corrugations and a sprinkling of potholes... The ride felt fantastic - major improvement. To be honest one of my fears was that the heavy duty Dobinsons (they don't make heavier!) would be too stiff, but I was really pleased. Okay about 80 litres of water and twin wheel bumper is on, but the Dobinsons felt great. Cliche I know but I felt it rides better than the coil sprung 105 GX (which I have actually never liked compared to a std 105 that I had before. No idea why!?!). So next one is fitting a handbrake cable from a 79 series as mine was too short when the water tank was fitted. Lift is not much (also happy as I did not want big height) 2 inches max. Didn't measure before or after, as I say the objective is not clearance but load carrying - and this it can do!

 

[gilghana]

Okay, well I learned today that my African Outback drawers, deep cycle battery and roof tent are in a container, sitting on our truck down at the port - was loaded last night, but customs won't allow it to move until Monday morning ggggrrrrrrrrr! Oh and our MD has flown in for one of his rare visits, which means several weeks of meetings now leaving sod all time for cruiser tinkering Anyway the cool thing is that I told him our decision to hit the road in six months with no real plan other than see more of Africa for a good long while. We see where we end up. I have been here 13 years and worked up to GM from a junior manager out of college, so it is a big step to jack it but my girlfriend and I are getting very little satisfaction from long hours/high pressure jobs with little reward (apart from financial) in a place where there is zero free time, bugger all social life and a whole bunch of new expatriate managers targeting me and my jobMMMMMMMMMMMM. they are *********g welcome to it in six months. We see, and if things go pear shaped I can always come back. Not in current position but probably in a more fun one! Okay, rant over.

Back to Cruisers. To keep the interest levels up! Well I mentioned that I never really liked the GX 105 series. I always felt it heavier, looser and more "unsolid" than my previous 105 Std wagon. I really don't know why - checked everything. The previous Std however ended up with a tree being felled on it And African hardwoods tend to be big (no pics unfortunately due to a hard drive issue). So, as I am the boss (well for six more months) and we have a very nice 105 Std that we use for managers/customers traveling to the airport airport etc . So executive decision made - swap!!!

Took the TJM 13 bar and the winch (comeup and mine not company) off the GX and put some spacers (hacked up conveyor belting) in the front coils to compensate for the weight. Stuck on a new set of General AT2s and result!
- wind up windows
- manual mirrors
- 'hose out' interior
- no side steps
- sub tank
- not even free wheeling hubs!
- part time 4by

Now the managers can fight over who gets to travel in the GX with the chrome and I get to play with a stripped out bush wagon that matches my troopy.

 

[gilghana]

Well, two massive boxes were pulled out of a container a few days ago... and I didn't even get to open them until tonight. What would you rather be doing - meetings about world Mahogany markets or rooftents and drawers? Exactly! So we got the boxes home and started unpacking this evening.

Firstly the drawers. African outback, 1.3m long, full steel construction. Damn solid. The AO system is such that on top of the right hand drawer is a full length sliding top for mounting the fridge (pictured here on the right).

The only parts not sheet steel are the fronts of the drawers and the tops. Yes I have access to some amazing timber and machine shop etc but when I see these and bearing in mind I got a GREAT deal thanks to a plummeting Rand, I don't regret it at all! I paid the same amount of cash for the tent and drawers and battery as I would for only the tent back home in UK.

Here is the frame:

And some frame detail:

 

[gilghana]

Now the roof tent. So first the biggest cardboard package I have ever received!

Package opened and the roof tent popped open in the middle of the living room. Very cool piece of kit - gas struts and a very simple mounting system to bolt onto roof bars. Built in National Luna strip light. Ahhh, the damn thing is great! We were so excited we were thinking of sleeping in the tent in the living room tonight, but decided better the bush first!

Now, we have a Hannibal conventional roof tent (which is going to be getting shipped to my folks now) which we love, but this just takes thing to a whole new level of speed and ease. If you have ever packed up folding rooftents on the 1st of January under a desert sun - late morning - after far too much red wine then you will know EXACTLY what I mean...

So the plan is to use the winch on the 105 and a tree to make for some easy roof tent mounting tomorrow! Can't wait and should make for some good photos.

 

[gilghana]

Well, we are supposed to be moving into the dry season in West Africa, but murphy's law dictates that when you want to fit a rooftent on a Saturday afternoon it lashes down. Rain here is like a shower - really, really hard tropical rain. Anyway I decided to go for it. I positioned the 105 so that with the help of a tree and a snatch block I could use the winch as a hoist. This really helped a lot.

So, old one comes off:

The mountings for the hannibal Impi are simplicity itself - some aluminium tracks are on the bottom of the tent, into which you slide 4 pieces of flat bar each with two bolts welded. You then tighten down a small piece of drilled flat bar on each of the four mounts, effectively clamping the roof bars.

What I really like is that the tent is relatively narrow - 1.3m. This means that unlike some others it doesn't overhang the sides of the vehicle.

I will get some pictures of it opened out tomorrow as well as the interior. Darkness and rain stopped anything else this evening. Raining so hard now we can't even think about trying it - just getting bedding from house to car it would be soaked! In front of the tent is going to go a solar panel replacing the old bit of plywood I had up there before.

 

[gilghana]

Well, first dry afternoon here for over a week, enabled me to pop the tent for a view of it up:

 

[gilghana]

So then onto the African Outback Drawer System. Damn heavy stuff it is. The installation was fairly straightforward, although I did change the installation slightly. Instead of drilling the floor I utilised some VERY strong mounts which originally lock the side bench seats to the floor. The drawer system is not full length (originally designed for a troopy 'RV') as I wanted to maintain the possibility in future for a small second row bench seat. Immediately in front of the drawers are going to be the two batteries, and immediately in front of them is going a full height Milford cargo barrier for two good reasons:
1) You can then pack up bags etc on top of the drawers
2) I do not want a fridge behind our heads with nothing holding it down other than the usual straps or turnbuckles...

Basic drawer installation is completed, tomorrow afternoon will tackle properly bolting down the top covers etc.

The right hand cover is actually the fridge slide, also running on roller bearings like the drawers. The system is really well designed, with stoppers that stop the drawers coming out and act as anti-rattle devices when the drawers are closed. The drawers lock too.

Will keep them coming as I progress!
Gil

 

[Mumbaki1037]

:wavey: :smileeek: :drool: :bowdown: Truly one of the best platforms for expedition travel. It breaks my heart that we can't have these in the USA

 

[mountainpete]

Great job! Love it! Keep posting pictures of your progress please! :wings: