24/9/2015 - All major mods nearly all complete now... (Bumper bar, side protection, bash plate, IP68 spot lamps, awning, etc)

Well everyone, my massive number of planned mods for this baby is coming to a close.  After too much spent on the mods (all well worth it!), I am happy to say the only real mod left is to upgrade the shocks to handle this much heavier than factory van for prep for a very long off road trip.  That upgrade can wait for a month or two so I can save some $$$ to pay for it.   ;-)

New custom bumper bar with side protection & bash plate.  New IP68 (fully submersible and dustproof)

A few minor things I need to grab at the nearby stores like:
a) camping food - cans of food, basic pasta, spices, misc camping stuff...
b) Pour and Go - water purifier to help my water filter to a better job (40L fresh water)

New custom bumper bar with side protection & bash plate.  New IP68 (fully submersible and dustproof)

Now is the time to start to prep this expedition van for some road trips and camping.  With the awning in place, this really makes camping a lot easier.    I need to mount my waterproof tool box up top on the basket with marine grade cable and lock. That's only needed to do before each road trip. There's no reason to put it up there other. My MaxTrax are up there now, but will take them down unless I am on road trip.

Up Close - New custom bumper bar with side protection & bash plate.  New IP68 (fully submersible and dustproof)

Rear ladder was repainted frost white to match the rest of the stuff.. nice work!

RhinoRack 2.5m awning - to cover us from light rain or harsh sun...  

Sorted!  All major mods complete except new shocks and perhaps a lift by 1" - 2" (TBD)

Waterproof locked tool box with marine grade cable & marine grade master lock

A must have for every 4WD that's ready for the zombie apocalypse

I still have yet to receive my solar shades that I ordered, but no worries they'll be here soon. I gotta say this entire 5 month long journey from buying this van to getting to this point has been tiring, but it's sooooo worth it the efforts and money spent.  I will have many many good memories with this expedition van no doubt...

Let the good times roll...

7/9/2015 - 1 level bookshelf Installed on top of battery box

So the joiner forgot to add on the little bookshelf with very stiff 2 bungy cords to keep everything in. No worries at all, now it's done. Now I can put books, water bottles, a large supply of sunscreen and even attach a clip on 3watt LED lamp!

Bookshelf - sweet as!

Porto-loo, TP holder, camping knife and fire extinguisher

Later this week I am getting a custom cut mattress created for me for the van.  It will be sliced at key areas into 3 total pieces.  More soon!

Let's also not forget about my last set of mods since in process @ G Guy:

a) Bumper bar with two IP68-rated spot lamps (3485 lumen rated)  installed
b) Side left & right front protection
c) Bash plate
d) 2.5m lightweight 'bag' awning on left side
e) repaint of ladder to WHITE to match the front WHITE bumper bar and side protection

This work should be finalised / completed by 25/9.   My next blog entry will have everything else documented & photographed.

6/9/2015 - Custom snorkel, custom rear ladder & Rhino Rack roof kit (w/shovel holder & spare tyre lock mount) completed

Well they, G Guy 4x4 Motors, did another fantastic job on my van. They unfortunately were not able to get the front work done; this is because the bull bar with front side protection with bash plate.   The challenge was that the used bull bar I provided them (from a different vehicle) would have costed more to adapt than than to create a new one from scratch.  Also another sad reason that the front bull bar & etc is not done is that their main metal fabricator injured his hand in a nasty accident at work.   Ouch!    

Looking good! The rear of the van!  

Rear and right ride of the van. New snorkel looks sharp; I love it!

Custom fabricated ladder

Rhino rack, Rhino basket, snorkel and 200watt solar pannel

I added some of my stickers on the rear window to give the van some personality...

I added some of my stickers on the rear window to give the van some personality...

Anyway, I am bringing back my van to G Guy within 7-10 days for them to finish the bull bar/front side protection, bash plate, bull bar-mounted, spot lamps and side front under protection.  This week I am:

... bringing the van into the joiner to get a mini-bookshelf to be installed on top of the battery cover.

... bringing my van into the RV shoppe to get my plumbing (flexi-pipes, reverse osmosis filtration,etc) sorted out as well as get some LED lights installed inside the van. The LED lights will be wired directly to deep cel battery.

... getting a NZ self-containment certification which means I can 'freedom camp' anywhere without being harassed by park rangers and etc.

... ordering some custom cut solarscreens and getting rid of non-permanent curtains I had created/sewn for me. Those curtains are hard to slide on the curtain wires and a real pain in the a**.   I sadly wasted money on those, about $140, but that's life.  Oh well..

26/8/2015 - 24v/200watt solar panel system completed

As the title of this post states, I now have unlimited FREE electric power to travel on.  I'm excited .... Tomorrow I drop it off for some serious 4x4 mods:

- custom snorkel 

- bull bar with lights with side fronts undercarriage protect

- stainless steel bash plate

- custom rear aluminum ladder

- roof rack bars with cargo basket, spare tyre locking mount and locking device for the tyre, weatherproof tool chest and MaxTrax self-rescue devices.  

I suspect these external mods will be done around early September (the 1st to the 5th)..  ??

More to come!

25/8/2015 - Interior Cabinet COMPLETED! Moving forward the 200watt solar panel install is tomorrow!

Well the day has come where the single most complex (and expensive) part of my van upgrade is complete.  The interior cabinet is extremely complex. It contains:

1) Stainless steel fold-away RV-style sink hidden in a drawer accessible from the rear of the van. Th
2) Dedicated battery/electric/solar polar cabinet over the left rear wheel hump.
3) Pull out laptop desk / double bed extender w/180kg sliders (left side facing front of van)
4) Pull out port-o-loo (150kg limit) under the pull-out laptop desk
5) Pull out large drawer / double bed extender 200kg  (right side facing front of van)
6) Under storage areas for hold 3 - 20L water jugs.  (2 @ fresh water / 1 @ grey /dirty water) linked up to the RV style sink.    (not shown in photos)
7) Right side under storage for 2 beach chairs
8) 40L Engel Fridge on slide-in on 180kg runners with separate slide out cutting board, dining table/cooking area underneath
9) 2 rear - 45kg slide out drawers for kitchen / cooking supply storage.
10) Medium-sized fixed storage area over the stainless steel fold-away RV sink slide.
11) 4-stage reverse osmosis system for drinkable water from lakes, streams or ocean water.  (not shown in photos)

Extended bed frame for a kitchen table (soon will have pads for seating here)

Looking back at the fully extended bed frame from the front of the van. The box here is my 200
watt /12/24 volt solar panel in prep for installation.  

The fully extended bed frame from the left side sliding door

The view of the fully extended bed frame as seen from the rear hatch door of the van

Electrics compartment over the left wheel well for solar 12&24 volt regulator / deep
cel battery & 600watt pure sine ower inverter

Engel 40L fridge with 2 - 45kg drawers and RV sink slide (closed)

Rear of the van with everything open at once (Engel fridge, 2 - 45 kg drawers and RV sink

Rear of the van with everything open at once (Engel fridge, 2 - 45 kg drawers and RV sink

Tomorrow, 26/8/2015, I am getting my 200 watt Solar Panel installed on the front the van roof.  This is far more than needed, but then again, that's the idea to never have too much stored power in your deep cel battery!    More soon.... cheers!

20/8/2015 - 2 days left until the cabinet is done! Cabinet is nearly done!

I am getting very excited now... Check out the progress!  2 days left to pick up the van with a finished custom cabinet!

Porto-Loo holder with drawer above it and 200kg drawer to the left of it. Both drawers
will serve as the bed extensions to make it a full size bed!

Left 40L Engel Fridge slide, middle 2 - 45KG drawers, Right top storage area, middle right
fully functional RV sink, and bottom storage..

17/8/2015 - New cabinet/bed/sink/fridge platform IN-PROGRESS and looking good!

Let's get rolling baby!!  So after some delays with the joiner with regards him finishing his other projects, things are finally moving quickly along.  As you can see things are looking good!

In the above photo, In the foregroundFront (inside) of van cabinet. L to R: Large 200Kg drawer, below it storage
area, then to the right, the porto-loo slide/storage area with soon-to-be light drawer above it.  The middle of the cabinet will be water storage, plumbing and misc wiring (solar panel, interior LED lights, etc).   The work is being done by Cannibal Joiners.

In the photo above, you can see the rear of the cabinet system.   The left side is purely for my Engel 40L fridge on a heavy slide system. The tall thin middle area is for 2 drawers (lightweight 45KG runners).

The area on the right rear is a bit more complex.    The bottom is small storage for a frying pan, fire extinguisher etc.  The middle right is for my RV sink with the strange cutout below for plumbing and etc to go back to the water tanks to be stored in the middle cabinet.  Above the sink area (not yet done) is another storage area / drawer. The bottom and top areas will have netting to keep items secure inside those areas.

The top middle of the cabinet system will have full removable panels to access the water and wiring areas.  Oh and yes, the singly most important one area will be the area over the left wheel well. This will be my electric / solar device storage/access.  In there, will be a 120 Am/h deep cel marine battery, 600-watt pure sinewave inverter and 20 watt solar controller.  The reason for having this electrical ABOVE the left wheel well is for water protection if the event I have to cross a small stream. If the water is deeper than the 3/4 up my tyres, I won't be driving through it!

The wood itself for will be purely from 16mm birchwood waterproofed with clear coat polyurethane. Good quality strong stuff!!!    I will post more images once this is all complete. The E.T.A. for completion is 21/8 - this Friday!