Project Alpha Bound II: Electric Boogaloo

[Ruined Adventures]

Pretty excited to see what direction you go with the 80 series! Now that I've got 2 more passengers you've got me really curious how you go about sleeping 4. I know the CampTEQ opened up a lot of possibilities, but I'd love to see what you did.

I'm a little jealous! Daily driving my 4Runner has definitely taken it's toll over the past few years. I can't wait to get a beaterto get me to work and I can finally afford to work on this thing again. I've got a long list of stuff to tackle on it someday but I look forward to getting my kiddos involved when they're old enough to help.

 

[ab1985]

Now that I’ve got 2 more passengers you’ve got me really curious how you go about sleeping 4. I know the CampTEQ opened up a lot of possibilities, but I’d love to see what you did.

This isn't a great picture, but it should give you the idea. You've seen the bench/box I have on the PS. DS middle and rear seats fold up so we can sleep one on the floor, one on the bench, and two up top. It's fine for sleeping but terrible for getting up in the middle of the night. We only did it a few times before my wife threw in the towel and said she wanted a ground tent. So we use her Subaru for family trips now.

 

[landlexus]

Did you ever mount the Alu-Cab Shadow awning to the Campteq?

 

[ab1985]

I didn't. I had a hard time finding a local company who could handle the mounting, but Campteq is doing a new run of tops and I'm sure he could build custom mounts like he did for my Hannibal.

 

[Rezarf <><]

Just read every word, great build. Very inspiring.

 

[ab1985]

Glad you enjoyed it. I wish the pics were still up

 

[marshal]

are you in Louisville still?

 

[ab1985]

Not any more. Moved to Nashville a few years back.

 

[Imagary]

Awesome thread brother! Read every word. I just drove home my new 1997 FZJ80 from San Diego and am really enjoying these forums to see what other's have done. I look forward to see what you're up to next!

 

[ab1985]

Photobucket finally pulled their heads our of their @ss, so pics are back up. I parked my 80 out at my brother's shop this time last year when I started a new job that required a smaller commuter vehicle. I picked up the 80 over the Christmas holiday, started cleaning it up, and driving it back and forth to work and now I'm hooked again. I moved it back over to my place and have started tinkering with a few things.

First thing up was replacing the fuel line a mouse chewed a hole in. Next up was finding the mouse...

 

[ab1985]

GSMTR is in May, and we're planning on taking the 80 for our annual CO trip this year. Last two years we flew then rented a Sportsmobile and an RV. Both were fun experiences, but I really missed having the cruiser. Plan as of now is for me and the dog to drive out and pick up the girls up in Denver. Oldest says she'll probably ride with me, but wife and youngest have no interest in spending two days on the road and I'm fine with that. Wearing them out on the front end would just make the rest of the trip more stressful. My wife has really come around on these trips (not really a camper), so little things like this go a long way.

Work list for the next couple of months:

- Sound proof the interior
- New speakers
- Fix slow windows
- Powdercoat wheels, front bumper, and sliders
- New seat covers
- Redo interior storage (reconfiguring to add full 2nd row back in)
- New bedding
- Monstaliner top
- New rear awning
- Move fuel under the truck, move water to interior of truck, move fridge to rear bumper (still thinking through all these details)

 

[ab1985]

I've been tinkering with a new interior configuration that will accommodate 2 adults, 2 kids, and a dog. It's going to be a challenge, but I think I'm getting closer.

I really wanted new leather seat covers from LCH, but after reading all of the stories on lead time I think I may just go with some covers over the existing leather. Most pictures I've seen show loose fitting seat covers that don't look great. Wet Okole's are really the only ones I've seen that I liked. I had some swatches sent in the mail. These aren't an exact match, but they will be close enough:

 

[NM-Frontier]

Truck is still looking good! Interested to see the new layout with the seats back in.

I must say I really like my SOR covers and glad I did not spend the money to redo the leather.

Keep it up, still one of my favs.

 

[thelal]

Good to see some progress (even if mouse ejected!)

 

[ab1985]

We're a little over half way through a two week CO trip. I've done several things to the LC partially in prep for the trip and partially in prep to drive it more daily. I'll post some pics of the work at some point, but upgrades/maintenance include new leather upfront, new cooling system, new alternator, new batteries, and new fridge & slide.

Arriving in Lake City after a long drive:




Exploring bottom of Engineer:



Just past Cinnamon:




Camped above Ouray:



Playing in the snow up towards Black Bear: