1996 FG 639 dual cab tidy up

[canter tourer]

]So this was the start of the journey 6 years ago, bought sight unseen, flew to Tamworth and met by the owner, then a monster drive back to Melbourne in what can best be described as a slightly tortuous trip, the chinese tyres were not particularly round and the ride rough as guts!


The best laid plans get put on the backburner, so 3 girls later I'm only just getting around to doing what I always wanted with the old girl. I initially started building a slide-on camper and got to the frame stage before daughter number 2 arrived and nothing got done from that point on. That effort is going to be recycled into a mobile chook house in the near future, nothing goes to waste.


Then moved home and bought a small farm, now I finally have the space and shed to get stuck in. Few shots of the girl in the paddocks.


Got it off the back of the truck and sitting on some drums in the shed, but since lowered to the ground to get stuck into the inside

So time to pull the truck off the road and get stuck into the job of ripping the tray off, sorting some rust and general clean up of the chassis and interior.


The catalyst for all this action is a trip to the Flinders Ranges with family in September, so I gotta get my finger out otherwise were tenting it, which the boss has said absolute no to, so the pressures on.

 

[canter tourer]

As you can see, the first thing I did was fit some of Alan's alloy wheels and 35" tyres, this is the single biggest improvement to the ride and well worth the money. The springs are going to be fiddled with once the final axle weights are known when the body is fitted.

 

[canter tourer]

Started stripping the interior in readiness for some proper sound deadening, hopefully won't need earplugs for highway driving in the future.


Found me a little rust in the floors in the front, otherwise the cab is pretty good.

 

[canter tourer]

Found the panels in the rear footwell to get to the otherwise hidden bolts so that I can tilt the dual cab over to get better access for the engine tidy up and body deaden the floor-pan.

 

[canter tourer]

Hmmm, that's enough for tonight, I'll upload some more of the story so far once I work out how to upload some more pics??

 

[kerry]

Are you going to fabricate a cab tilting mechanism or is the tilting just a one time event?

 

[Fugly]

G'Day! Canter Tourer,

Looks like the pressure is on...
Tell us a bit more about the ambo box...
Lookin good so far with the bling wheels...
Hope you aren't going to paint it beige ....😀

Cheers Fugly

 

[canter tourer]

Are you going to fabricate a cab tilting mechanism or is the tilting just a one time event?

No, nothing that involved, just to get better access for the floor repairs and degrease/clean up of the engine and chassis, just using a chain block to do the lifting.

 

[canter tourer]

G'Day! Canter Tourer,

Looks like the pressure is on...
Tell us a bit more about the ambo box...
Lookin good so far with the bling wheels...
Hope you aren't going to paint it beige ....��

Cheers Fugly

I am your typical procrastinator, but when I put an end date on something it's the only way to make sure it happens, although I'm not sure if I've bitten off too much than I can handle yet.

Hmmm, if it was resprayed then beige probably wouldn't be on top of the list, but the desert sand or and old landrover colour would do nicely, but that's not on the list this time round, I've just gotta get it liveable for a couple of weeks worth of travel, with more to happen down the track.

The ex ambulance body is off a Victorian ambulance and originally fitted to the GMC's in the mid to late 90's http://colacambulance.com.au/ambulance%201991%20-%202000.htm, full aluminium frame insulated body which will hopefully sleep us all. I'm planning on 'popping' the roof and having 2 bunks and a single bed for the 3 girls and a slide out double bed that will pull out the rear once the back door is opened. All makes sense in my head, but what actually eventuates time will tell.

Dave

 

[canter tourer]

So it was tray off



bullbar off and that sucker is not going back on again as it weighs a tonne and the old girl doesn't need that making the ride and springs any flatter than they already are





Some time ago I fitted the second tank but this is now off for good as it doesn't fit with the ambo body and the step in, i'll fab up some jerry can holders for when the extra diesel is needed.

 

[canter tourer]

Fitted up a temporary air cleaner, gives it the race look:victory: just to move it around when needed, the original air cleaner had been moved from the chassis by the previous owner and was fitted to the rear of the tray, that's another job to do and refit it back on the chassis.



Knocked up some temporary mud guards for the short road trip coming up to weigh the truck and initial chassis clean.



I didn't realise there'd still be any factory black paint left on the chassis given how crusted on the dirt was, this was just a carwash blast, I'm still to get a hot pressure washer and degreaser and will go over it again when the cab is tilted and then repaint the chassis

 

[canter tourer]

And who couldn't resist taking it for a spin with the fancy mudguards and race filter, so off to the local, or not so local weigh bridge to find out what this thing weighs. Should've let some pressure out of the tyres as it was a horrendous drive, nothing over 60kph or it was going to buck itself off the road, but at this weight it certainly goes much better and can easily keep up with the traffic, going to have to seriously look at a turbo for the future.

The weights are without rear seats or floor mats in, no jack tools etc, no tray and no bulbar. Still, it leaves me with a fair bit of room to move when putting the body on and staying under the magical 4495kg de-rated limit.

The main reason I weighed it now, is I haven't been able to find out exactly what the ambo body weighs, other than despite being aluminium it's bloody heavy, so once it's fitted I'll re-weigh it and have my answer.

But for that to happen, I've got to make up a couple of rails to join the aluminium bodies chassis to the truck, so that's one of the next jobs along with a long list of others!

Dave

 

[canter tourer]

Little bit of work tonight, removed the aftermarket air-con condenser from the rear wall of the truck, lucky me, a little more rust to fix thanks to the aftermarket support brackets corroding the body. Funny how the Mitsubishi steel is pretty good, but anywhere it touches aftermarket brackets it rusts. Ah well, one more thing to add to the list to fix.

Now the fact the condenser is stuffed was not a complete surprise as the air-con was not working when I bought it 6 years ago, despite being given the impression it did, such is life, so the decision will need to be made whether to delete it all together and remove the rear aftermarket evaporator and go back to standard and get a factory condenser for the front.

Can anyone give me some idea of the performance of the factory air-con? is it ok in the heat and does it adequately cool the rear of the cab? otherwise I may reinstate the aftermarket unit, Cheers in advance.

Lastly, I tilted the cab a little, yes very exciting I know, had to stop as I need to disconnect the air-con hoses to the evaporator in the rear of the cab, time permitting that's a job for tomorrow and I will take more pic's as I go as the only pic's I've seen of a dual cab tilted are engineers and I love pic's.

 

[Amesz00]

Factory AC in the crewcab is NOT GOOD! It's identical to the single cab, but has double the volume to cool. If I were you I'd avoid going back that way if at all possible...

 

[Fugly]

canter tourer,
Was only joking about the paint .....
Thanks for the info on the ambo body......

Cheers Fugly
Jim