Project Peppe

Starting a project or modification? Then post it's progress here and show us some pic's.
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1000dollamitzy
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Project Peppe

Post by 1000dollamitzy »

OK, before you all go and start taking the piss let me explain why the truck is called Peppe. :oops:

But first here is a pic, now that I have finally figured out how to add these into a post. :?
Image

Peppe is a 1989 SWB V6 Pajero, and was owned by a little old lady who had loved it for the last 15 years. The truck had done about 20,000km over that time, so when I found it (parked just down the road from our new house) it only had 105,000km on the clock. :D

So I knocked on the door and asked Tui (no year rights here becasue seriously that is the little old ladies name!!!) if she wanted to sell it, she did, and so 6 months of intensive and hard negotiations ensued. :shock:

Eventually I convinced her to sell it too me for only twice what it was actually worth as long as I kept the little trucks name "Peppe" :cry:

Moral of the story - little old ladies with zimmer frames can be tougher than they look..... :shock:

Anyway, once Peppe had been prized out of the steelly grasp of Tui it was time to address a few problems. Firstly it had a cancer problem along the top of the rear windows, so a friendly panel beater took care of that. Then I realised that the thermostat was stuffed and the truck hadn't been up to operating temperature in 15 years...... :o so that got replaced.

Then it needed a cambelt :( Frankie from Fleets sorted that one for me.

Then becasue the truck had finally got hot and was revved above 2000rpm for the the first time in 15 years it blew the seals in the rocker covers out which had gone hard :evil: Frankie to the rescue again.....

So now except for the fact that the clutch was completely poked and I had to double the clutch into every gear except 4th and 5th, Peppe was finally reliable and my bank account was empty.

So stay tuned for the next installment were I tell the story of how Peppe wound up with twin lokkers!!!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
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Gnarly Dude
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by Gnarly Dude »

Looks like a good start. What way are you going eg hardcore mud machine or more of a club truck?
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1000dollamitzy
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by 1000dollamitzy »

Aiming for a well sorted club truck at this stage 8)
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De-Ranged
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by De-Ranged »

Friendly panel beater :lol: you guy's must be on first name terms by now, don't forget to add those bits to the story :wink:
ice4x4
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by ice4x4 »

Nice one son. 8)

Will Peppe be going out to play any time soon? I'm back next Sat and I've finally fixed my front diff.
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1000dollamitzy
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by 1000dollamitzy »

ok, so lets just get a couple of things straight, yes my panel beater does invite me to their staff xmas party now :? , but this is 4wding, shit happens..... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Good to hear you are heading back Mr Ice, hope to be heading back out as soon as I get the truck back on the road, which fingers crossed should be middle of the week following, just doing some more modifications.......... :wink:

Anyway back to the story.

Now as every good 4Wdriver knows, sometimes you have to go back to go forward (some have to do this more than others aye Mr Ice..... :lol: ), so our story must go back in time a little in order to go forward. So here we must go back to the original $1000mitzy, which was the first 4wd I brought off the father in law about 3 years ago. I called it the $1000mitzy becasue I paid $1000 for it. My wife called it the $1000mitzy becasue every time I took it out I had to come back and spend another $1000 on it....... :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Here is a pic

Image

She was an old, 1987, 2.5TD LWB, I had some good times and good trips in the old $1000mitzy, but the thought of actually having enough power to get up a steep hill in anything other than 1st gear was enticing to say the least :roll:

But towards the end of the negotiations with Tui I had all but given up on getting Peppe as Tui was asking too much for her, so decided that maybe twin lockers for the original $1000mitzy would be a good consolation prize :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

So found a company in China that made ARB knock offs and convinced the wife it was a good investment. :o They were pretty reasonably priced, and managed to land the whole lot (front, rear, compressor etc etc)here for less than 2k. Quality is definitely not ARB, but they do the job and haven't given up the ghost after a fair amount of abuse. :wink:

But then the day after I paid for the lockers Tui rang me up and accepted my final offer, so I then had twin lockers coming and Peppe!!!!! Don't you just hate it when that happens!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

So there was no point in putting the lockers in the $1000mitzy at that point so they got dropped straight into Peppe by Frankie the wonder mechanic instead.

They really are cleaver little buggers those Chinese, they even had the ARB logo on the switches!!
Image
Image
Being IFS and somewhat ground clearencly challenged the lockers make a huge difference to performance in this little truck, highly recommend them to anyone.

Will try and post a video (if I can figure out how to do it.... :?: :?: :?: ) during the week showing the difference driving up a hill with the lockers out and then in.

After that stay tuned for the story of Peppe and the great hole of death!!! :twisted: :twisted:
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Gnarly Dude
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by Gnarly Dude »

Sounds Wicked!! :D :D
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1000dollamitzy
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by 1000dollamitzy »

Sorry I have to apologise, don't seem to be able to get the video of the lockers doing their thing off my phone and into the great wide interweb thingy. :twisted:

Technologies awesome until it doesn’t work, then everything just goes down the toilet like last night’s curry........ :shock: :shock:

So I will just have to regale you with tales of woe about the Hole of Death.
Well it was really just a bloody big ditch, but the Hole of Death sounds so much cooler. 8) 8)

Anyway three of us where winding our way up the back track of a block on the Napier Taupo Road. On the right hand side was a very steep drop off that went almost to the centre of the earth I think, and on the left was a bank those rose up to the heavens.

The track was so over grown that it was hard to even see the light of day. The guy in front (who will remain nameless aye Steve...) knew the hole was there and drove around it Without telling the rest of us. The truck second in line fluked it and also drove around the hole. I was at the back, didn’t know the hole was there and was not lucky enough to fluke it and so poor Peppe wound up slipping sideways and into the ditch at one hell of a rate of knots and stopped amid the sound of crunching, twisting metal and falling chainsaws. :cry: :cry: :cry:

Thankfully seatbelts were well fastened so I didn’t wind up sitting on my navigators head, which was a good thing for him as I nearly s$%t myself. :lol: :lol:

Here are some pics.

Image
Image
Image

It took us about half and hour to extract poor Peppe, first we had to winch her sideways as much as possible onto her feet on the side of the bank. Then with another winch slowly winch her backwards until we could get her completely back on her feet and out of the hole.

Did about $1,800 worth of damage to the roof and side of the truck. Thankfully the insurance company honoured their commitment to cover my trucks no matter where they are on planet New Zealand and paid out. And so Peppe had her driver’s side and roof repaired and repainted for the second time in 6 months, God bless panel beaters!!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

That was actually the second time in as menay weeks that Pepper had wound up sunny side down, so i might have to look at an exo cage i think..... :? :?

Next up the Creek of Doom!!!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
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sibainmud
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by sibainmud »

Look forward to the next installment.
I like your style 8)
Creek of doom, ay :lol:

Cheers,
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Dr_PC
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by Dr_PC »

Come on waiting for Creek of Doom, You're correct a bit of a hole at the side of track wouldn't have the same ring about it
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coxsy
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by coxsy »

1000dollamitzy wrote:Sorry I have to apologise, don't seem to be able to get the video of the lockers doing their thing off my phone and into the great wide interweb thingy. :twisted:

Technologies awesome until it doesn’t work, then everything just goes down the toilet like last night’s curry........ :shock: :shock:

So I will just have to regale you with tales of woe about the Hole of Death.
Well it was really just a bloody big ditch, but the Hole of Death sounds so much cooler. 8) 8)

Anyway three of us where winding our way up the back track of a block on the Napier Taupo Road. On the right hand side was a very steep drop off that went almost to the centre of the earth I think, and on the left was a bank those rose up to the heavens.

The track was so over grown that it was hard to even see the light of day. The guy in front (who will remain nameless aye Steve...) knew the hole was there and drove around it Without telling the rest of us. The truck second in line fluked it and also drove around the hole. I was at the back, didn’t know the hole was there and was not lucky enough to fluke it and so poor Peppe wound up slipping sideways and into the ditch at one hell of a rate of knots and stopped amid the sound of crunching, twisting metal and falling chainsaws. :cry: :cry: :cry:

Thankfully seatbelts were well fastened so I didn’t wind up sitting on my navigators head, which was a good thing for him as I nearly s$%t myself. :lol: :lol:

Here are some pics.

Image
Image
Image

It took us about half and hour to extract poor Peppe, first we had to winch her sideways as much as possible onto her feet on the side of the bank. Then with another winch slowly winch her backwards until we could get her completely back on her feet and out of the hole.

Did about $1,800 worth of damage to the roof and side of the truck. Thankfully the insurance company honoured their commitment to cover my trucks no matter where they are on planet New Zealand and paid out. And so Peppe had her driver’s side and roof repaired and repainted for the second time in 6 months, God bless panel beaters!!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

That was actually the second time in as menay weeks that Pepper had wound up sunny side down, so i might have to look at an exo cage i think..... :? :?

Next up the Creek of Doom!!!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

er beat you to it, my safari fell in that first, 3 winches 3 trucks to get it out but mine was not laying over like yours was
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1000dollamitzy
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by 1000dollamitzy »

er beat you to it, my safari fell in that first, 3 winches 3 trucks to get it out but mine was not laying over like yours was


Ahhhhh, so it was you, i had heard stories of another bloke driving into it, you went in from the other direction didnt you??
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slide
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by slide »

Oh bugga... Any pics of damage to the side?
Who you insured with? sounds like they a good crew...
I'm looking forward to next chapter in the story of peppe

Nath
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coxsy
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by coxsy »

sorry it not the hole i dropped in mines over the other side, its alanmo hole,that one
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lincooln
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by lincooln »

This is awesome. Love the stories. Keep it up
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1000dollamitzy
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by 1000dollamitzy »

Oh bugga... Any pics of damage to the side?
Who you insured with? sounds like they a good crew...
I'm looking forward to next chapter in the story of peppe

Nath


Hi Nath
Good question but the answer is no, i realised it when i began to think about doing this thread that there was actually alot of things i didnt have pics of and the damage to the truck from the roll was one of them. :( :(

Think i will need to get more vigilant with the camera.

Most of the damage was where the roof meets the side of the truck above the rear window. Basically it crushed that whole area and pushed the rear windown in about 100mm at the top. So it would not have passed a warrant if i had left it, hence it had to be fixed.

The insurance company was State, usually the one everyone moans about, but I decided a while ago that my trucks needed to be covered off road, and after a bit of a discussion on the matter, they agreed..... :D :D :D
Last edited by 1000dollamitzy on Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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1000dollamitzy
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by 1000dollamitzy »

Sorry about the delay, it has been a busy week, but here it finally is, the highly anticipated story of Peppe and the Creek of Doom. :twisted: :twisted:

It started out a bright sunny morning, as all good 4wding mornings should and so we packed up Peppe and headed out for what was described by Frankie the wonder mechanic as an easy trip down a little creek on a farm, only ankle deep water, no problems for Peppe at all....apparently.....

The trip across the farm was mostly uneventful, except that I couldn’t get any traction on the grass that quickly turned into slippery quagmire of epic proportions. Which is fine except when you are trying to negotiate an off camber uphill climb with a 50 foot drop to a swamp below.... :? :?

But Peppe soldered on without a hint of the fact that I was close to soiling her lovely velour seats.

I should have twigged when we got to the top of a ravine that made the grand canyon look like a moderately sized ditch that something was up. :mrgreen: Frankie sent us down one at a time (apparently so that when we lost control we would only kill ourselves instead of everyone else in the group) into what was mysteriously now being called the Creek of Doom. :( :( :(

When the bottom had been reached what seemed like 16 hours later (but it may have only been a minute or two...remember Einstein taught us that time is relative.....usually to how big the drop is...... ) we finally came to a splashing stop at the bottom of the Creek of Doom.

At least Frankie was right about one thing, the water was only ankle deep.... at least in the parts that weren’t over your head.... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I was very quickly reminded that Peppe is a little challenged in the ground clearance department as we began to crash, bash an rock crawl our way down the creek. Peppe’s nice alloy side steps very quickly became fused to the sills and the fuel tank had lost around 30% of its capacity after around 100m.

And then the kicker, this was going to go on all day, and there was no exits, nowhere to turn around and even if you could no way to get past the other 20 trucks behind you. :cry: :cry: :cry:

So on we crashed from rock to rock and hole to hole hoping like mad the Peppe didn’t take a big drink of water each time the windscreen went under.

Thankfully Peppe is built quite tough, which is more than I can say for the poor guy in the vitara who smashed his front diff to pieces and dumped the contents into the river, (don't anyone tell Greenpeace.....) Whoever the rice gobbling miscreant was that decided to build a 4wd diff out of alloy should be tied to the underside of said Suzuki and driven down the Creek of Doom, that should cure him of his dumbitis quick smart. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Finally we got to the end of the ravine where it opened out into a river bed, which was good news as I was just about ready to call for an air ambulance to ease my now badly compressed spine (suspension only works on the wheels not the chassis rails) but of course there is no cell phone coverage a hundred miles from the middle of bloody nowhere anyway.

Then came the bad news, as it had been pissing with rain up in the ranges the river was too high to drive out of so the only option was to turn around and drive all the way back up the creek of doom and come out the way we came in, just flamin peachy!!!! :mrgreen:

Then just to make life a tad more interesting I nearly tipped poor Peppe head first on her roof again trying to get down a steep (read vertical) bank.

Anyway, once we had turned around we crashed our way back up the creek of doom. In actual fact the trip back was nowhere near as bad as the trip down because most of the rocks had been pounded into the bottom of the creek bed by my rear diff, so I only lost another 20% of my fuel capacity to tank dents on the way back. First trip I have ever been on where I started the day with ½ a tank of petrol and finished the day with ¾ of a tank of petrol!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Peppe wound up with both doors dented (still have no idea at what point that happened on the trip), the fuel tank dented (alot!!!!) the transfer case bashplate moulded to the shape of the transfer case, the side steps moulded to the sills and the cross member bashed to hell and back.

The next day I called into see Frankie the wonder mechanic. When I turned up he was standing at the front of the workshop surrounded by about half a dozen trucks that had all been on the trip the day before, they all needed work......cunning........ :wink:

Sorry only pic I have is of the dent in the passengers door, note the side step.
Image
Next week I will tell you about Peppes new shoes.
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loopy
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by loopy »

Awesome story :mrgreen: It should be published
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Dr_PC
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by Dr_PC »

Brilliant story, keep them coming, although the thought does cross ones mind, that there could be a bit of litary licence when some of the holes are discussed :lol:
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1000dollamitzy
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by 1000dollamitzy »

well I have been known to embellish the odd tale, purely for literary purposes of course...... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by Big »

love it.. :lol:
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1000dollamitzy
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by 1000dollamitzy »

Some people say that clothes make the man, well I reckon that tyres make a truck. You can have the best ground clearance, suspension travel, and lockers in the world, but if you are on crap tyres, you will still need to be dragged everywhere. :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

So after the Creek of Doom trip I decided that it was time I got Peppe a new pair of shoes as it was a bit embarrassing (and dangerous) getting dragged up every steep hill and through every bog. :oops: Not to mention that I really needed to get a little more ground clearance under the poor girl before she ripped her transfer case out and pounded the fuel to zero capacity. :cry:

That night I spent a good hour complaining miserably to she who must be obeyed, kept happy and holds the chq book. She must have got sick of me moaning because before long she had located a set of 5 almost new 32” Simex extreme tyres complete with brand new rims with the correct offset for $1800. :D My wife is an excellent shopper, even for 4wd parts it seems. 8) 8) 8)

A standard Gen 1 Pajero can only accommodate 31” tyres without any modification, so the original plan was to do a 50mm body lift to get the bigger tyres underneath (remember that the 32” simex measures about 33.5”).

However a mad German :twisted: suggested that I could hack the guards to pieces with an angle grinder instead. Not that attractive I thought, but upon further investigation it turned out to be a dam good idea if done right. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Firstly trimming the guards does not require certification (saving of $600 :mrgreen: ), and secondly I would not be raising the centre of gravity; a very good thing considering my propensity for sticking Peppe on her side..... :? :?

So off I trotted down to my friendly panel beater (Darryl at DW Panelbeaters) who said no problems what so ever. After working out what needed to be stretched where by cross axleing Peppe down the river she went back to the panel beaters for a week. The results I think where excellent as you can see by the photo.

Image

The rear of the front guard has been pushed back about 50mm and the front of the rear guard has been pushed forward about 30mm. Darryl cut, remoulded and then plastic welded the flares so that you would hardly know they had even been modified. He even punched out the dents in the doors and straightened the side steps while he was at it. Now thats what I call above and beyond the call of duty. :wink:

So now the new bigger tyres fit, without any rubbing anywhere and the body still in its original position on the chassis.

A quick trip the Big Value Tyres and I had a set of tubes to boot, the next step for the wheels will be some bead lockers, but that will have to wait a few months.....got some other modifications that are higher up the priority list at the moment. :wink: :wink: :wink:

So how do the new tyres work? Bloody brilliant!!!!! Still have to be careful not to destroy the front end as I now have ALOT more traction than I used to, so getting the front end off the ground is a touch more hazardous. But on the next trip I went on into Gwavas forest the only places I had to get towed and winched was where everyone else had to get towed or winched. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

It seems that Peppe is now finally starting to come of age, it is so satisfying seeing the kids grow up don't you think? :lol: :lol: :lol:

Next up Peppe gets a butt lift :lol: :lol:
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1000dollamitzy
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by 1000dollamitzy »

I must apologise for the delay in getting this next bit of the story up, there have been a couple of hiccups in the last few weeks.

Firstly I went a brought another Pajero... :oops: :oops: :oops: OK so I know I need psychiatric help...., :? :? but it was the only vehicle that would fit the bill properly. :cry: :cry:

And then I had a little stop in hospital for some emergency surgery :( :( (please don't ask on what part of my body... :oops: :oops: :oops: ) and then a week or so laying on the couch recovering. Got to say the drugs they give you in hospital are just awesome....... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Anyway onto the story. When we were in the forest last time I got Peppe a little stuck in a hole :( (unusual I know!!!). The problem was that the front tow hook was buried under a foot of mud, so the plan was to pull it backwards a little bit so we could get to the front tow hook. So far so good.

However because I had hit the back bumper (again :twisted: :twisted: ) going into the hole, it had pushed the back bumper up so that you could not open the back door :evil: :evil: . No problem you think until you realise that you can't get the snatch strap on the rear tow hook without opening the back door because the new bigger spare wheel sits only 2mm above the rear tow hook. :shock: :shock: Bit of a pickle. So after much jumping up and down on the rear bumper the door was opened (and dented in the process), Peppe was pulled backwards the tow hook exposed at the front and then dragged kicking and screaming out of the hole. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

At this point I realised I was really going to have to do something about the back end. The other problem was that the fuel tank was taking a real beating, so that needed to be fixed at the same time. :? :?

So I decided that it might be time to have a bit of a chat to everyone’s favourite mad engineer Mr Deranged. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

So the plan was hatched and Peppe left in the hands of Mr Deranged for a few days for a new bumper and fuel tank cover. :) :)

The results I think are exceptional, here are a few pics.

Image
This is the back of Peppe after having the chassie rails cut back a little and the rear tow hook cut off.

Image
Fuel tank dents, the other side was alot worse. I painted the tank with a nasty rust killing paint before fitting the cover.

Image
Fuel tank cover in the process of manufacture

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Old fuel tank cover, this was actually in better condition than the fuel tank...

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Picture of Mr Deranged messing around under the truck. Note the particularly flattering picture of Mr Deranged, when he is lying on his back you cant see that his guts could be used as a counter weight on a dragline. :wink: :wink: Thats why most women prefer him in this position....... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: (sorry could resist :mrgreen: :mrgreen: )

Image
New fuel tank cover almost completed, it is made up of a 4mm stealplate base with 3mm front, back and sides.

Image
Finished cover all galvanised and looking pretty.

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Pic of the rear bar completed, note the tow hook mount is slightly offset so that I can still attached the tow bar when needed

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close up pick of the very sexy rear bar work.

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Rear bar all painted and ready to go

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Mr Deranged on his back again for the camera.... :wink: :wink: :wink:

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Everything all fitted and looking good

Image

Image
The rear of the bar has been set up so that and exo cage can be fitted at a later date, so stubs will get welded to this corner. This will also allow me to put a swinging arm for the spare tyre on aswell so I can get the spare a little higher off the ground and prevent it from getting shoved through the back window. :wink: :wink:
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tomsoffroad
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by tomsoffroad »

Nice work 8)
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1000dollamitzy
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by 1000dollamitzy »

Lucky Hill, the name sounds so uplifting and optimistic doesn’t it? And I suppose you could call it lucky depending on what direction you are looking at it from. For example if you are looking at it from the perspective of my panel beater, it must be the luckiest place on the planet. Frankie the wonder mechanic probably feels the same way, as do the manufacturers of winch rope, diffs, CV’s and axels...... :lol: :lol:

In fact for anyone that receives a financial windfall when us poor, down trodden, underpaid, overworked, four wheel drivers trash our trucks, Lucky Hill is very.....well.....lucrative......

The day started a bit dim, in fact the fog was so think when I walked out of the house it took me ten minutes just to locate Peppe sitting quietly in the driveway. Mind you I did trip over the dog, then the dog house, then the pile of fire wood that I had inadvertently left lying around. Note to self, develop better sense of direction in the fog...... :? :? :?

So we packed up and headed out. The fuse that controls the brake lights, clock and central locking had blown again, so I had none of the aforementioned items, the most concerning being the clock, how the hell are you supposed to figure out what time to be home for dinner without a clock :?: :?: :?:

The brake lights could be a bit of an issue also I suppose, especially considering that you still couldn’t see two feet in front of you when I drove out of the driveway. Thankfully by the time we got to “Lucky Hill” the fog had cleared, there was no fuzz, and it turned into one of those spectacular spring days that Hawkes Bay does so well.

Now when I left the house in the morning with my 9 year old boy in tow, my long suffering wife said “don't roll the truck again like you did last year, you have one of the kids along for the ride this time”. Really it was all the wife’s fault, I mean that just really sounds like a challenge to me. And I have never really been one to shrink away from a bit of a challenge, so sure enough, 5 minutes into the run I stuck the truck on its side, smashed a couple of windows, bent the B pillar, dented the side and completely destroyed the last remaining monsoon shield that had been hanging doggedly to the side of the truck since I got it.
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Inside the truck it was really hysterically funny now I think about it. After I got done trying to add up in my head how much all of the crunching sounds were going to cost me (I got just shy of $2000) I looked up and here was the afore mentioned 9 year old dangling in mid air above me held in place by the seat belt with arms and legs flailing wildly and a rather panicked look on his face. I should have whipped out the camera and taken a couple of pics, but thought I had better get us out of the pickle first. So I reassured the boy we certainly were both still alive, because we were still inside a Pajero and I know for a fact that God only allows Landcruiser’s and V8 powered rally trucks into heaven, NOT Pajero’s!!!

So we carefully climbed out of the truck with the help of a few of the lads who were standing around laughing at us.
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Then winched Peppe back onto her feet and pulled her up onto some flat ground so we could inspect the damage. Not too bad really, a few more dents and slightly more efficient aircon due to the lack of side windows. Under the bonnet we lost a bit of power steering fluid and about a litre of oil, and we also found some nasty looking mayonnaise pouring out of somewhere (thinking maybe the gear box, could explain why it is so notchy...). So we ignored the mayo, topped up the engine and cleaned as much of the oil out of the air filter as we could. A quick turn of the key and like a genie out of a cloud of blue smoke Peppe re started again, good as new!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT58Xw9ZkbI

So off we went with the now slightly nervy 9 year old flinching every time we went over a bump.

A couple more slippery slopes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2UL1FC3G3w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV1R0apndnM

And then we headed into what will now be formally known as the “Gully of Woe”.
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Now the Gully of Woe is only about half a k long, but it took us the better part of 2 hours to get all 11, sorry, make that 10 ½ trucks through. You can actually drive around the side using a farm track in about 60 seconds, but really where’s the fun in that???

It was slippery, greasy, rutted, slippery, rutted, messy, oh and did I mention slippery and rutted?? I counted 6 winch rope breakages, an axle, and numerous dented panels in the 2 hours it took us to get through.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV6xepg4bwY

Unfortunately the battery went flat on the video camera not long after getting the first couple of trucks through so there was not alot more video of this trip. I took heaps of great video on my phone after this but technology being what it is today (ie bloody infuriating) I cannot get it off the phone and onto the computer. But here are a couple more pics.

This is Pete trying to remove his door on a tree..... :lol: :lol: :lol:
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And JJ stuck......again....... :lol: :lol: :lol:
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This next video was of Todd playing and trying to go where no one else could, but unfortunately he smashed his axle in the process, I have to say there is alot to be said for raw horse power.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4aoN16_nuw

Doubly unfortunate was that the battery on the video camera died literally half a second before it broke, so what you don't get on the video is the axle snapping with a bang and then Todd, truck and passenger screaming backwards down the hill again and landing unceremoniously in the ditch at the bottom.
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Then just in case we were all getting bored Todd drove the now 2WD truck into a tree and had to get winched backwards...... :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Once we finally dragged everyone through the Gully of Woe, we had a bit of lunch and then tried to head up the last small slope to get out of the gully. Looked easy, but it wasn’t.........

What was a fairly easy slope turned into a magnificent mudslide in about 2 ½ seconds, which was fine by me!!!! The big horse power trucks roared up without any problems, but those lacking in either momentum or power lost their valiant fight with gravity about half way up, or in some cases about at the bottom.....

Now I am not one to skite, but me and Peppe drove that hill unaided with just copious amounts of right foot action. It was awesome, mud flying, engine screaming, the 9 year holding on for dear life, 4wding just doesn’t get much better. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

If only I could figure out how to get the video footage of the @#$%^%^$#%^$%^#$ phone to show you!!!!!! :evil: :evil: :evil:

After that we did a bit more of a tour around and looked at some of the vertical cliffs that they were planning to run some trials on (those guys must be nuts!!).

Then to finish the day set a wee trial through a small gully on the farm. Matt rolled his truck trying to get up, cliff caught his on fire, and boiled the engine at the same time, Todd nearly ripped his door off after getting further in 2WD than everyone else got in 4WD, until Brice finally conquered the hole and showed everyone else how it was done.

Generally a dam good day I must say. Now I just need to find a new drivers door, panel beat the A, B and C pillars and replace the side window, oh and find out where the mayo came from before I blow something up.......

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I dont have an attitude, I have a personality you can't handle....
zukmeista
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by zukmeista »

Awesome story so far, really enjoying your escapades :lol:
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Heath
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by Heath »

zukmeista wrote:Awesome story so far, really enjoying your escapades :lol:


Gotta agree. You certainly have a way with words and ....um.... "draw us into the story".
Big
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by Big »

Very inspiring :lol: :mrgreen: :wink: Love it..
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PuddleJumper
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by PuddleJumper »

That series 1 Landy is 8)
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De-Ranged
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Re: Project Peppe

Post by De-Ranged »

What he forgot to add was the bit after the run where he has poor peppe parked up in my shed and his
long suffering wife
rocked up to pick them up and he had to tell her.....
here is the illustrious author head down fidgeting like a school boy who's been caught doing some thing he knew he shouldn't have done
I'm laughing and taking the piss because even tho he's trying to look contrite he had a huge grin :lol: :lol:
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