Well I suppose this is a bit overdue, seeing as I've had it since October. It is a 2006 L200 animal with 73k and an auto to be built into an overland truck. The truck will be a rolling showcase for the off road fab business I am trying to start. Without further ado, here it is.

As I collected it (after removing front and rear chrome tat), the original owner must have chosen everything in the chrome catalog. It even had 22" wheels! YKM



New tyres were next, thankfully the original wheels were included in the sale.


The next mod was fitting a snorkel, I have since put it to very good use.


I have also fitted a catch can and egr blanking plate, lots of sound deadening, a tow bar, new front springs and shocks, rear leaves and a new exhaust

Also heated seats (just the pads so far)



I'm making a pair of roof racks for it at the moment. The cab rack will have a light bar, and the rear rack will be mounted using an external frame (I want to be able to remove the canopy whilst leaving the rack in place. Eventually when funds allow a rtt will go on the rear rack. Here's a pic of the basic design, i haven't drawn any of the mountings yet.



Cheers, Dom

This is going to be interesting to watch and read keep up the good work

Looks very interesting. Liking the look of those roof racks, want to see them finished. How are you thinking of mounting them to the roof? all the options I've seem so far look like they sit too far of the roof in my opinion.

If your not already on the newtriton site, there is some great stuff, lots of how to's, members builds, a lot of CAD diagrams. It's well worth taking a look at, might help your business along the way aswell. Your in Devon aswell that's good to know.

Quote: WelshMart wrote in post #3

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Looks very interesting. Liking the look of those roof racks, want to see them finished. How are you thinking of mounting them to the roof? all the options I've seem so far look like they sit too far of the roof in my opinion.

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Quote: Grizzly wrote in post #4

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If your not already on the newtriton site, there is some great stuff, lots of how to's, members builds, a lot of CAD diagrams. It's well worth taking a look at, might help your business along the way aswell. Your in Devon aswell that's good to know.

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make up some rock sliders can sell em then lol

hmm, I am drooling!

I'm just on the outside of Barnstaple.

This project looks like its going to be lots of fun

Got a bit more done this weekend. I have a bit more filling to do to the canopy tomorrow evening.




I also finished welding the rear roof rack, minus the mounts and mesh floor, the mounts will be done when the front rack is done, so I can set the heights properly.

Quick update. Canopy finished but not installed yet, ended up going with matt black all over as I had an argument with the vinyl wrap and lost. Been having gearbox troubles. Decided not to bother with wrapping it for now so started machine polishing it, quite pleased considering i haven't done it before.

Before (looked worse in person)


After, not perfect but not bad for a first go.


In other news. I now have most of the parts for the dual battery set up, so i'll get on with that soon

Dom

Looking good, any plans of how your going to mount the roof rack on the front yet. I'd be quite keen to see how low you can get it as I had one on my roof bars for a while. It just seemed to high.

Looks well.
What's the orange bits? The result of Former long bars on the bed?

Quote: Grizzly wrote in post #12

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Looking good, any plans of how your going to mount the roof rack on the front yet. I'd be quite keen to see how low you can get it as I had one on my roof bars for a while. It just seemed to high.

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Quote: Gezza wrote in post #13

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Looks well.
What's the orange bits? The result of Former long bars on the bed?

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Busy few days.
Finished polishing it, really pleased with how it came out.



Re-fitted the canopy, equally pleased with that (excuse the stick!)



The only natural thing to do after spending way too much time polishing is to go laning.



Also made some progress on the cab rack



And parts have arrived



Dom

Time for a bit of an update. After getting some family commitments out of the way I can finally get back to building things!

I've started to fabricate the cab rack mounts


Mounted the light bar (not finished)


Mocked up the canopy rack, it wont look as big with the cab rack on.


Enjoyed some more laning


And this evening I did a test tow to determine if I need new rear shocks before holiday. I've ordered a pair of Pedders Trakryder Foam Cell Shocks


Try not to laugh at the 24yr old caravanning too much! Its a good base for our upcoming week in the Lake District (and we lived in it full time for a while)

I've also got my MOT tomorrow so wish me luck!

Cheers
Dom

Well I'm glad to say it passed the MOT with no advisories (even with a decat pipe installed), only needing a couple of CV boots which it was booked in for before hand as well as a new nearside front diff side seal.

Turns out that Pedders didn't have any of the shocks I wanted in stock so I opted for Monroe Adventure's instead seeing as I have them in the front. The install was very quick and easy, even had time for a tyre rotation and to grease everything I could


Quite a difference from stock


I started mocking up both roof racks this evening to try and assess where I want all of the mounts to be. The plan is to finish both racks tomorow. Unfortunately I have run out of time to have the racks powder coated before I go away so I will temporally spray them black.


Good amount of space!


Dom

Good progress
Coming along nicely

Looking good

Looks good

Got both racks finished enough for holiday, need to add mesh in places and some extra light mounts. I must say I'm quite pleased











Dom

Good skills looks really good like the side bars on canopy

Just a small update, I have plasti dipped the arches black. It will be interesting to see how they hold up.



I have also made a small panel replacing the single 12v socket just below the armrest with a 12v socket and twin usb outlets.



Hopefully the proper overland stuff can start soon.

Dom

Like the look of the racks, if only they were for a classic.

Quote: Sac110 wrote in post #24

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Like the look of the racks, if only they were for a classic.

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