0012 More work on Troopie

Its been a while since we got back from Thailand, visiting with daughter Sarah and her husband Benn. The weather has been terrible recently in Queensland, with rain, rain, and more rain !  But at least it is warm when it rains here !!   But I have been busy doing lots of small things to Troopie, and as I have just about finished them all, and am also about to set off next Monday to Canberra for the bi-annual National Lotus Meeting, which will warrant its own story and photos, I thought I would just document all the things I have been doing before I forget them all !  And also so you can realise just how much work goes into planning an expedition like mine - There are hundreds of seemingly small things which, if done now and done properly, can make the actual trip itself just SO much more enjoyable. This was true last year in Elsie - I spent a year getting her prepared properly, and the result was a trouble free, and therefore really enjoyable, trip. But you can over-prepare - I do not pretend you can remove all the issues that might occur - and nor would I want to as that would take away a large part of the "adventure" - but by preparing the basics properly, you can be ready for most things if they should happen.  It is no different from preparing for a parachute jump, or to climb a mountain, or for a long trek or bike ride - Take care over the basic preparations so you can enjoy it, and then deal with any set backs or issues when and as they occur. But do not over-plan, otherwise that can detract from the very adventure that you are trying to have - Leave enough unknowns to ensure a bit of excitement along the way !!

One of the first things I did was to re-waterproof the canvas of the pop top, and re-seal all the edges with silicone.  The last thing I need is rain leaking in when I am up in Skagway, or in a Columbian jungle !!  I will repeat the treatment again before I leave, and hopefully it will prevent any internal flooding !

Storage space in the van is limited - Not like in Elsie, but it is still quite limited.  There is a cupboard with just a single shelf on the LH side in the back, but anything you stored on the shelves was free to move around, rattle or spill as one drives along.  And I HATE rattles !!! The addition of a rounded rear wheel arch protruding in at the back of the lower shelf was a problem becase nothing would stay on top of the rounded arch, and it just took up space.  I looked at getting proper sliding drawers etc fitted, but that would be a major expense, and I had some old plywood sheets in the garage, so I decided to "have a go" myself !!

There are some small plastic jars that we get preserved fruit in, (and which I have been collecting for a while) and they are really good as they have a screw seal lid, and being plastic, don't rattle when stored together.  But the shelf in the cupboard is quite a bit taller than the jars - but not tall enough to fit 2 in on top of each other.  So to maximise space I made a box for the jars, and then put two little edging strips along the sides and made a second box that slides in so you can maximise the storage space. 

I then made a second, deeper box to also fit on the top shelf, and then made two "stepped" boxes for the bottom shelf, with the high back section just fitting over the rounded wheel arch at the back of the cupboard, and thus utilising the prevously unusable storage space above the wheel arch.  I then had to make cut outs in the boxes so they fitted around the hinges on the cupboard doors, and cut holes in the front of each box so one can just poke a finger through the hole and pull out whichever box is required.  Finally, I used a satin finish, clear marine varnish to finish off the boxes so they were sealed and, if anything spilled inside them, could be easily wiped clean.  Job done !!!   I was so pleased with them, I had a beer............or three !!

Next job was a lockable storage area for important papers, passports, pooters, money etc, to make it a little safer when on the road.  Behind the passenger seat there was already a hole leading to a fairly large storage box in the existing cabinets, so I simply made a door to fit over the hole that was hinged, and lockable with a padlock, which I painted grey (already on shelf in the garage !) to blend in with the existing wood panels.  Additionally it is right behind the passenger seat back, so unless one actually tilts the seat back forward, you cannot even see the door.  I think this will work well.

Then the sun came out, so I went for a long bike ride down the coast for about 20 kms !!

Next focus was on the awnings that are on the side of the van.  The van came with one for the side, and one for the back, but they are of a fairly cheap construction and take a while to set up - And from past experience in the Yukon and Alaska, I know that when it is raining and blowing, spending 20 minutes trying to set up an awning is NOT the most pleasant thing to do.  And if one is doing it repeatedly, day after day, it soon becomes a chore, which then detracts from the enjoyment of the trip.  So I went down to the beach one day to find some space, and set up the existing awnings so I could see what I had, and what I could do to improve them.  As you can see from the pics, they are fairly "floppy", and might work OK as a sun shade on a hot Aussie beach, but in the cold, wet, and wind of Alaska, are just not going to work.  So I fiddled around, and tried

different permutations, and decided to keep the side one but adapt it so the end can be folded down as a wind break. There isn't a photo of it, but the original back awning can also be zipped on the other side , thus give wind protection from 3 directions. And I will then get a new and much more robust awning made for the back which will be permanently bolted to the van so all you have to do is just unroll it - quick, easy, and stops you getting too wet. This will then have zip-on sides and back so it forms a total tent which not only will allow me to live and cook and sit in the dry, but will also form a private area which can also be used as a temporary shower or even a toilet area if required. Additionally, one can then sleep in the van with the back doors open, allowing a breeze to blow through if the window flaps are opened. So this rear awning will be built and

fitted to the back of Troopie in the coming weeks. http://www.polarisinnovations.com/


 Next job was the seats. The existing seats are vinyl, and while the driver's seat is not too uncomfortable (to put it mildly !), the passenger seat is just "not good" ! It is essentially a 1 1/2 width bench seat with an extra seat belt so you can legally carry 3 people, but having tried this, I realised that after about 5 kms no one over the age of 3 was ever going to be comfortable sitting there. Then I looked at adult passengers sitting in the seat, and realised that because of the lack of lateral support, no one ever looked very comfortable or at ease sitting there - They always seemed to be hanging on to the (fortunately plentiful) grab handles !!  I looked at sheepskin covers, but good ones are very expensive (there is no point getting cheap ones that just flatten), and they still wouldn't really address the lateral support issue.  I looked at fancy after market seats like Recaros, but fainted at the cost ($1700 and up for a single seat !!), and thought of lots of other options - none of which really fitted both my ideas and my (limited) budget.

Then the other day I was driving past a 4WD wreckers,
and just popped in on the spur of the moment, and there right out front was a wrecked V8 Troopie Ute, the same year as mine, and with the upmarket factory trim with cloth bucket seats, and proper carpets (mine had rubber mats).  They were covered in red dust and dirt because this was a working Ute (until it met its end !), but were ideal for what I wanted and would basically bolt straight into Troopie !  So we did the deal, and Damien helped me get them and the carpet and a little centre console that fits beween the seats out and into the back of his van to take home. (Actually, he did all the work !!)  The next day we got a mobile auto detailer to come over and he vacuum/shampooed everything until they sparkled - They looked so good Damien had him do the seats in his van while he was there !!

Once dry, we removed the original seats and rubber matting from Troopie, and fitted the new ones in, and apart from a bit of minor jiggling of bolt holes etc,   BINGO - It is like sitting in a boudoir !  All I need are some tassles and tinsel hanging from the mirror !!  They are going to be just perfect, and remove yet another niggling issue for long distance driving !!
The last job I have been doing, and just finished yesterday (18th April), was the fit out of another storage area inside.  On the right hand side is a bench seat, and under the cushions and wooden lids is a large storage area that also includes a wheel arch intrusion, like on the other side. The metal of the wheel arch was all scratched and scarred and dirty, while the lino floor covering wasn't the most salubrious, even after I had attempted to clean it up.  I happened to be down at my local rubber store (no jokes, thank you !!) and they had this grey felt roof lining material. So I grabbed a couple of metres and it lined the storage box perfectly, making it a place that you would be happy to store your clothes without fear of them getting filthy.

I then had to address the storage issue -  Being just one big box meant that if the item you wanted was on the bottom, then you have to remove everything that was on top in order to get to the bottom. Once again, if one only had to do it occasionally, it would not be a problem, but if it is every day, it would become a real chore - Indeed it was already becoming a chore when I was just on the 10 day trip down to Victoria at Christmas time.  So I installed two small wooden strips, one down each side of the storage bin, and these are to act as supports and slide rails for some more small storage boxes I decided to build (hey, I had a couple more left over bits of plywood in the garage !!).  I then set to work building the boxes - Not without drama as there is restricted access, along with overhangs, in the storage area, so I had to jiggle the angles of the boxes to enable them to tilt so they would slot in quickly and easily. 

A total of 3 boxes, one large one and two smaller ones, and to access the area below the boxes you just lift out one of the three, and the other two will slide along either way to give you access below.  So now you can put clean clothes etc in the upper sliding boxes, which are easily and quickly accessible, and boots or other larger or longer-term storage items in the area below.  Sorted !!

And then I found that 6 bottles of wine just fit nicely in another adjacent area, so to prevent them rattling when driving along I just took out the cardboard dividers from one of my cases of wine and cut them to fit in the box.  Not very fancy - but cheap, and works well !!  As one bottle (of white) will always be in the fridge for use that evening, that means I can store 7 bottles of wine, no problem !!!

Now that is almost it for the inside.  All that is left to do are more major mechanical issues.  The rear tent (mentoned above) has to be made up and fitted, I am having all the suspension replaced - new shocks, new springs, steering dampener, - and a new clutch (all the existing parts are original and starting to be a bit long in the tooth).   And finally, the electrics - I am having a 130 watt solar panel fitted on the roof that will keep my (separate) "house" battery charged, and a 300 Watt inverter so I can charge low power electrical items like cameras, computers and iPhones etc as well as run minor 240V or 110 V electrical items if necessary.  Everything currently in the van (lights, fridge, etc) run off 12 V.  And once all that is done, I will be ready to go.  I could do it all in just a couple of weeks if I had to, but as I can't ship the car to Seattle until early 2014, I am planning at the moment just to spread it out so it is less of a financial hit !!

In the meantime, I am towing Elsie down to Canberra for the Lotus Nationals on Monday, and will be camping for the 10 days I am away, so will be having a good look at all my new innovations with a view to fine tuning where necessary.  It is going to be a fun trip - Essentially my "last hurrah" with Elsie, so it is fitting that I will be towing her down behind Troopie, like an official "handing over" of duties before I sell Elsie and move onto the the next stage in my life !!

Moe photos of the recent work on Troopie are here https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0012MoreWorkOnTroopie?authkey=Gv1sRgCMjp88LCp8P3kgE#