Well it all took longer than planned, but finally the truck is ready for loading and packing - it heads off to Namibia next week. Here are some pictures now that it's all done. We were pretty happy with the stick on graphics, which, in case you were wondering, shows the name of our blog. The only thing I've done since these pictures was to add two TracMat sand ladders to the roof, which may come in handy in the Kalahari...
I think this must be one of the cleanest 75's in the country. It shows only 100,000 miles on the clock, and although it was converted from kms to miles on arrival in the UK, the guy I bought it from only did about 6,000 miles with it in 5 years. So the mileage might be genuine - when the baseline service was done I was told that the condition of the joints/shafts/axles and other moving parts didn't look inconsistent with that mileage. It was resprayed grey (it was originally white) before export from Australia. The paintwork still polishes up really nicely and there are no scratches or dents. Hopefully that won't change too much in Africa...
The 100w IPF spotlights are great, although during our test run up to the north of sweden to visit family last month it never got dark enough to try them out. 5,000 miles in 4 weeks with not a glitch...
There is a split battery system, roof mounted solar panel and 1000w inverter for mains power...
In the back there's a 35L Engel fridge and an 80l water tank. The water tank is connected to a General Ecology purification system, fed by a Shurflo pump and connected to a handy tap. On the other side it's mainly storage space for some boxes of supplies we're taking to a children's charity in Zambia that we support. But there is also room for two spare wheels - these do sit up straight, but were leaning over in the photo. The steel mesh divider also slides forwards and backwards so it holds them securely in place when they're upright...
There is a custom built aluminium roof rack which will hold the roof tent (see below)...
And an ARB awning from Devon 4x4...
Underneath are twin long range fuel tanks made by Allisport, so total diesel capacity is now about 230 litres. We have fitted upgraded Old Man Emu shocks to cope with the extra weight (although the original leaf springs that are on there are pretty meaty), and there are poly bushes all round...
On the front there are some heavy duty towing shackles...
And finally trying out the roof tent while visiting my sister in the New Forest. This is the Howling Moon "Stargazer" model - it has a fold back rain cover and zip out panels in the roof so you can lie back and look up at the stars through the mosquito net panels. We also have the rear room for it that zips on underneath which is perfect for a bit of privacy when showering at the back (we have a separate 40l water tank for a 12v shower). The mattress is pretty comfortable, and we thought the overall build quality of this felt better than the Eezi Awn ones we looked at...
I'll try to load some photos as we get some action shots in Africa, but if you want to follow what we are up to, you can look at our blog which we try to update fairly regularly while we're away -
www.nystrom-adventures.com
Unfortunately we'll have to sell the car when we get back early next year, so let me know if you might be interested in buying it! It really has had no expense spared in the preparation - all mechanical work has been done by Julian Voelcker at Overland Cruisers, and all fabrication was done by Roger Young fabrication in Devon.
We can't wait to finally put it to good use now!