4x4coaster
Adventurer
Thought it was about time I started a thread for my project.
I purchased the 2008 Isuzu NPS300 from Pickles Auctions in Dubbo in May 2014.
We took the extra days between Easter & Anzac day which gave us about 10 days to meander up to Dubbo from Geelong, check out the truck, and meander home again via the eastcoast. The auction was a couple of weeks later and I requested to have someone bid on my behalf while I was on the other end of the phone which they agreed to.
They rang me about 2 minutes before the lot was scheduled and it was all over in about 45 seconds, I was the proud new owner of an Isuzu NPS.
It was used as a utility vehicle by a power company erecting or maintaining power lines, it had a crane on the back (which was removed before auction) lockers down each side, ladder racks and a 24v warn winch in the rear and factory alloy bullbar and only had 85k on the clock. The Interior was in pretty good shape so all in all it was in good condition.
I scoured the for sale sites for months and it was rare for any NPS's to come up in Victoria at all and the single cab ones are a lot harder to find than dual cabs, so Dubbo was about as close as I could find to pick one up at a reasonable price.
It took about 2 weeks to get the truck transported to Melbourne and it had current registration so I drove it home from the transport depot in Melbourne to Geelong.
Since then I have removed all the hydraulic related equipment and rear winch and sold them. I then sold the tool boxes and eventually the tray as well. The only thing left is the ladder racks. So now I have a bare cab chassis to start on.
Here's the catch, I need to sell my previous project to help fund the rest of the conversion on the NPS. So the 4x4 Toyota Coaster, which is my avatar pic, is for sale in Gumtree, Trading Post online & caravancampingsales.com.au
The Coaster is a very capable vehicle and is getting 15.5 L/100k which is about 18MPG (imp) and can cruise on 110k easily on the freeway with its cummins 6b and 5 speed auto.
Since selling off the tray I have started preparing for the conversion, I cleaned all the chassis down, sprayed it with ‘Fertan' which is a great rust treatment, and then hand painted the chassis while it was easy to get to. I sourced a second fuel tank, exactly the same as the one fitted, from a wrecker in Melbourne for a very good price (taken off a new truck for CFA conversion) and it included the chassis brackets. Only thing missing was the fuel sender so I just bought a new one for about $100. I decided to put the fuel tank beside the existing one so had to get some exhaust mods done to clear the tank brackets and move the exhaust brake forward a little.
I also removed all the cabin seats and floor covering and rear wall trims then cleaned everything and fitted resomat to all the floor and rear wall up to the glass. I also added some additional carpet underlay besides the original before re-fitting all the vinyl mats and seats. Even though it wasn't overly noisy on the road, it still made a worthwhile difference to the noise level. You can barely hear the engine running while just sitting idling and the windows up.
My 2 projects!
I purchased the 2008 Isuzu NPS300 from Pickles Auctions in Dubbo in May 2014.
We took the extra days between Easter & Anzac day which gave us about 10 days to meander up to Dubbo from Geelong, check out the truck, and meander home again via the eastcoast. The auction was a couple of weeks later and I requested to have someone bid on my behalf while I was on the other end of the phone which they agreed to.
They rang me about 2 minutes before the lot was scheduled and it was all over in about 45 seconds, I was the proud new owner of an Isuzu NPS.
It was used as a utility vehicle by a power company erecting or maintaining power lines, it had a crane on the back (which was removed before auction) lockers down each side, ladder racks and a 24v warn winch in the rear and factory alloy bullbar and only had 85k on the clock. The Interior was in pretty good shape so all in all it was in good condition.
I scoured the for sale sites for months and it was rare for any NPS's to come up in Victoria at all and the single cab ones are a lot harder to find than dual cabs, so Dubbo was about as close as I could find to pick one up at a reasonable price.
It took about 2 weeks to get the truck transported to Melbourne and it had current registration so I drove it home from the transport depot in Melbourne to Geelong.
Since then I have removed all the hydraulic related equipment and rear winch and sold them. I then sold the tool boxes and eventually the tray as well. The only thing left is the ladder racks. So now I have a bare cab chassis to start on.
Here's the catch, I need to sell my previous project to help fund the rest of the conversion on the NPS. So the 4x4 Toyota Coaster, which is my avatar pic, is for sale in Gumtree, Trading Post online & caravancampingsales.com.au
The Coaster is a very capable vehicle and is getting 15.5 L/100k which is about 18MPG (imp) and can cruise on 110k easily on the freeway with its cummins 6b and 5 speed auto.
Since selling off the tray I have started preparing for the conversion, I cleaned all the chassis down, sprayed it with ‘Fertan' which is a great rust treatment, and then hand painted the chassis while it was easy to get to. I sourced a second fuel tank, exactly the same as the one fitted, from a wrecker in Melbourne for a very good price (taken off a new truck for CFA conversion) and it included the chassis brackets. Only thing missing was the fuel sender so I just bought a new one for about $100. I decided to put the fuel tank beside the existing one so had to get some exhaust mods done to clear the tank brackets and move the exhaust brake forward a little.
I also removed all the cabin seats and floor covering and rear wall trims then cleaned everything and fitted resomat to all the floor and rear wall up to the glass. I also added some additional carpet underlay besides the original before re-fitting all the vinyl mats and seats. Even though it wasn't overly noisy on the road, it still made a worthwhile difference to the noise level. You can barely hear the engine running while just sitting idling and the windows up.
My 2 projects!
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