Building the Ostrich (BKCowGod's Mod Thread)

[BKCowGod]

It all started when we realized the F250 was a teensy bit big for us. So we sold it and bought this 1995 Isuzu Pickup, because ya gotta have something for the dogs. It was only after we got under it that we realized we had stumbled into a bargain. What we bought as a beater turned out to be mechanically perfect and cosmetically above average. We dropped some old cracked A/T's on it and found a camper shell for $50 on craigslist.

Then we went camping. My girlfriend had never been, and I have always been more of the little tent on the ground type, so we settled on an air mattress under the camper shell. One week in Death Valley and we knew we were hooked. We agreed that the only solution was to customize every aspect of this truck so that it perfectly matched our needs and desires, building a truck that was ideally suited for our hectic lifestyle.

The goal:
To build a truck that could easily stand moderate off-road travel and was completely self-contained for trips of up to two weeks, while still meeting the requirements for a secondary commute vehicle (20+mpg, 85mph cruise, quiet, comfortable). Additionally, all of this had to be done on a budget that would make a shoestring look luxurious. I allowed myself a whopping $1500 for the entire build. (Not including consumables such as tires). Oh, and I had one day per week to perform the modifications.

Phases:
1 – sleeping
2 – roof rack
3 - carputer
4 – cab (coming soon - BMW 325iS seats, 12v fridge, custom carputer mount...)
5 – suspension (coming soon - 1.5" lift on KYB shocks)
6 – aux gas tank (coming soon - rodeo tank, for 27gal/450mi range)

 

[BKCowGod]

Phase 1

Phase 1: Sleeping
The camper shell was a very lucky find. It is a rare Six-Pac insulated aluminum shell with dual sliding side windows and a sliding front window. The rear door doesn’t pivot up but instead rotates into the cab, minimizing bumped heads. The best part – no tint!

A sleeping platform was built consisting of a 40”x72”x7.5” box with two hidden storage areas in front and two that are open to the rear. One of the rear compartments contains a sliding Rubbermaid container while the other holds two folding chairs and a folding table. The space to either side holds camp stove, utensils, and an ice chest quite well. There is also a pair of Osram Copilot map lights, one on either side. The box is carpeted, and there is a removable pad of memory foam on top.

Cost: $150 (lights were sitting in my garage, they’re $30/ea)

 

[BKCowGod]

Phase 2: The Roof

Phase 2: The Roof
In anticipation of the secondary gas tank, I had to figure out where to put the spare tire. I dreaded the inconvenience of a swing-out carrier, so I decided to just make my own. I took three 4’x2’ pieces of grid (from a store display, sitting in my garage) and used two 6’ L-brackets to hold them together. All of this is bolted rather than welded for ease of adjustment in the future. The spare tire is mounted with two long bolts and some washers that are JB Welded to slot through the grid. There are a total of ten lights mounted to the rack: Two each on left, right, and rear of compact 50w floodlights and four Hella 530 55w front mounted driving lights. The rear lights are controllable from the cab or the rear, the fronts from the cab only, and the sides from the rear only. The whole unit is mounted by Yakima to gutters made from scrap aluminum.

Cost: $200 ($100 worth of lights and switches and wiring, the rest is hardware)

 

[BKCowGod]

Phase 3: The Carputer

Phase 3: The Carputer
The goal of this unit was to provide entertainment (MP3's and DVD's) and information (GPS, wireless internet). I used a little known Fujitsu that was originally developed for UPS. The Stylistic LT-C500 is mated to Microsoft Streets & Trips and a wireless card, mounted so as to be easily removed and hidden. Driving directions are provided by voice connection to the Alpine stereo, as are MP3's.

Specs on the Fujitsu:
500 MHz Celeron® 128 KB on-chip (L2) cache 100MHz bus speed
256MB ram, 6gb shock mounted hard drive
One Type II CardBus PC Card slot, One Type II Compact Flash slot
Active Matrix (TFT) SVGA TFT Backlit LCD , 8.4"/800 x 600
9.6" x 6.3" x 1.6" (244 mm x 160 mm x 40 mm), 2.5lbs

My impressions so far:
I like this unit. Mounted as you see it, I can still make out the directions even in direct sunlight. I actually spoke with the head of the design team, and the two major goals for it when they built this unit were durability and sunlight visibility, so I guess I stumbled onto the right thing. It came refurbished from the generically named Product Resale Company and cost under $300. My only gripes concern the need to unplug and replug the USB cord every time it wakes from sleep (a Microsoft problem) and a tendency to run a bit hot.

Cost: $400

 

[ZooJunkie]

Nice!

 

[durango_60]

I love it... I really enjoy learning from folks who really know how to make the most out of a budget, I have so much to learn...

 

[offroadchef]

Great job. looking foward to more updates.

 

[blupaddler]

Very Nice and well executed!

We just need to see the doggies and where they ride!

:jump:

 

[Scott Brady]

Great progress. I love builds that feature the owners innovation and fabrication skills.

 

[BKCowGod]

boring thanksgiving... the aforementioned doggies...

 

[bootzilla]

This is a great budget project - I always wanted one of those Isuzu P'ups!

And my girlfriend went nuts over your puppy!

 

[Brian McVickers]

Sent you a PM on your Fujitsu...

Can you tell us more about it?

Where did you find it?
Cost?
Memory?
Touch Screen?
Processor and other specs?
Color or BW?

Overall performance so far???

Thanks!!!

Phase 3: The Carputer
The goal of this unit was to provide entertainment (MP3’s and DVD’s) and information (GPS, wireless internet). I used a little known Fujitsu that was originally developed for UPS. The Stylistic LT-C500 is mated to Microsoft Streets & Trips and a wireless card, mounted so as to be easily removed and hidden. Driving directions are provided by voice connection to the Alpine stereo, as are MP3’s.

Cost: $400

 

[BKCowGod]

your wish is my command... i just updated the section on the carputer. It is a color, touchscreen, WinNT computer with a PCMCIA wireless card that has a roughly 300' range. Eventually I may get a booster antenna for that one.

 

[BKCowGod]

Feeling a bit nostalgic - this is the first build thread I ever created, on the first truck I ever expo'd, and this post is my 1000th post, almost exactly 4 years after my first camping trip with the (now) wife...

A few stats for the last 4 years:
1 Isuzu
3 Jeeps
1 Mercedes
4 BMW's
1 Porsche
1 Nissan
2 Motorcycles

1 girlfriend who became 1 wife
tons of friends
1 dog

6 states/provinces
2 countries
1 breakdown (vapor lock)
40+ nights in the back of a truck
1 heart attack in the field (dad, not me)
5200 injections of insulin, many in the field

Thanks for all the laughs and all the help and all the memories, y'all! Here's hoping for many more.

 

[jim65wagon]

Happy 1000th! Happy Expeditioning! Happy Life!