Roberts OB Workshop aids and projects

[Robert OB 33/48]

Yesterday and today we work on the Mitsubishi L200 of Toon.
New EFS suspension.



3cm lift but in the front plus 65kg load capacity

damned, not quit the best picture but 90.5 cm to fender.

Again a bad one, but hey, it is the size that matters. 3 cm difference.
Today after the find out stage of yesterday the second front suspension was a piece of cake.
Now the rear.

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

A happy Overlander is on his way home after a two day fun job together.

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

As the car still has its little problems, it doesnt stop me from going on a holiday.
But for that I have to do some little things.
First I build in 2 separate electrical fans instead of the original electrical fan. The reason is that I already changed that thing twice in a very short period of time. Not the best thing there is.
So now I have two fans that can be turned on by switch.
And the third one is connected to the A/C. Hopefully we can use that now.

To my Trailer I made a little upgrade to control the batteries. They always worked well, but I get nervous as I didnt had enough info.
This is better .

As the wires were in the open, Toon suggested that I should fix that. Well I did in this way.

 

[El-Dracho]

Interesting. Tell us more, please, what can the display do? Voltage, current, current draw, SOH, SOC and remaining draw time, current harvest via solar?

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

That it can. For me it is important the AH and the Watt hours

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

Hay guys,

Again a suspension swop with EFS. I guess I should ask EFS to be a certified dealer and mechanics. hahahaha.
So, today I have Jan visiting me and we are working on his Jeep.
So just before dinner we manage to swop the front.
After dinner we do the back as far as we like. If not ready we will do the rest tomorrow.
Here some pictures as a little report.

When you take your tires off you will find some mud. hehe

The old ones out.

Cleaning up some parts.

New one ready for installment.

Cleaning up before we will put the tires back.
After dinner we will do the rear axle.

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

Rear is done as well.


I hope to say bye bye tomorrow and hear when he arrives at his destiny that he is a happy Overlander.

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

Done, this was a little project that I have done to reduce the annoying clunk that was there because of the play you have on the hitch receiver and the hitch itself.
Now the clamp is making the play go away.
As this isnt an idea of myself but it is a thing that exists and is sold at several places in several shapes.
Mine is just DIY made and didnt cost me a thing except for having some new tools. But hey, that is a thing that I can use like all the time.
Hitch silencer just mad from an old rear leaf spring mount and some old plates I have.

Even made a little r-clip to secure the nut.

Will receive new r-clips tomorrow so both sides will be secured. Bit of lock tight will keep the nut tight

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

As my Jeep is getting older, like almost 300.000km old, several parts had to be changed in the last few months.
First of all to eliminate a problem which is still there, and secondly because they are worn out.
Like this weeks change of the waterpump.
After replacing the part I would think it was the gasket, but not sure.
So changed all.
Well that is what you get when driving an older car.

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

So, there are some plans coming up.
This week I am changing the catalystic converters and the we start working on some projects with some members again.
We gonna make some rocksliders and recovery points. @wilderwhere and @PookyHobbes will come and we will make skid plates, rock sliders and more before we are going on the trip to the UK.
There will also a new hitch mount on the Jeep of @wilderwhere but that one will be done by a pro.

Next week I will do a bit of work to the Car of Adrian. Just minor things to make steps fit as they should.
Well the OB garage is in full swing once again.

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

Good fun is coming the following weeks.
Next friday I can hopefully help Adrian with making his side steps fit to the car. They need a little adjustment and welding.
I ordered today a lot of metal. So, together with Jan, Damaris and myself we will make skidplates for the engine and gearbox on our jeeps. And also we gonna make copies of my rocksliders. Those are nice projects to do. When the rocksliders of mine are taking off to copy them I will repair my sills on the Jeep. And of course, after that doing a good protection coating underneath. Making the rocksliders nice and tidy again and then we have three nice pair of rocksliders. That all has to be done before we go to the Salisbury plains.
So, I guess it is keeping me from the street for a while. heheh.
OB Garage is in full swing soon.

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

So, last weekend I did help Adrian with his rocksliders/stepping boards.
It took a while longer as thought as we had to adjust way more ass planned. But in the end it all worked out fine.
Hed did all the work except the grinding, welding and drilling.
First cleaning up and taking of the old steps.

Cut down the bracket, cleaning up the old spot and then we could mark the new spot.

I did cut the bracket as close to the tubing so there would not be a difference between front and back.

Taking that step off wasnt that easy.

Needed to drill new holes in this as well and adjust some of them so the fit would be great.

But in the end it fit like a charme and then he was a happy camper once again.
Happy to be of service.

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

The following weeks I will make two sets of Rocksliders for Jan and Damaris their Jeeps.
And also some skid plates for all of our Jeeps.
The materials are there and my rocksliders are from the car, so I can use them as a template.

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

And today I did work again a bit on the body protection project.
Yesterday we did fit my rocksliders to the Jeep of @wilderwhere and it fits like a charm.
So now I can just replicate my sliders twice and we are good.
Today I started with making the engine skid plate. I took @wilderwhere his OEM skid plate and make one for me which should at least fit on the same bolt and nut places as the OEM.
Off course, mine will be different, but hey, that doesnt matter.

I hope tomorrow to finish most of that, and cleaning up my sliders.




If I get it right, I can make it fit correctly tomorrow and then start welding everything nice and sturdy.
Again an @Overland Bound Team project which involves more OB members from Mid Europe.

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

Todays work made the skid plate almost complete.
Tomorrow just making brackets for the front bolts and spacers to hold the plate firmly at its place.
Only downside was that I broke a bolt in the frame. That has to come out tomorrow as well.
After a lot of welding, including fixing a minor mistake.

It is getting there. Looking much better already and almost in the right shape. Still needs some adjustments.

Not that bad I guess

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

It was two days of work, last weekend and today. But we managed to make a set of rocksliders for @wilderwhere / Jan his Jeep.
They look mostly the same as mine.
I think he will be happy when they are under the car. Especially for our trip to the UK/Salisbury Plains. This one orgenised by Leann and Nik.



Jan is doing the finishing touches.

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

Btw,
This is how the skid plate looks now.

Primer and rustconverter

Black paint

Inside, or top, hehe

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

So, after our trip to the Salisbury Plains it was obvious that there was a need for more protection under the car. So here is my second skid plate.
Does the transmission and the exhaust part of the car.
first part, everything roughly to fit and then were the reinforcements has to be.

And here are all the reinforcements in place, well amost all of them.

And here is the Skid plate ready for the paint.

And this is how it looks unde the car.


Not that bad I guess.

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

Working on two little things.
First for Michael @Micha_TROOPY a arm rest and mid console for his Troopy.
It is a bit of a challenge as I dont have mucht to work with. And I mean measurements.
So, I made two parts. Completely rough shaped that I can start working with.
One part will be the bottom and will be mounted next to the handbrake.
The other part will be the arm rest itself and that is now still moveble so when all works out, on monday we can test fit it and mark the right distance to front an back.

The bottom part should hold two water bottles. And some places to put little stuff as coins, and such.

The top part is the arm rest and will be holding two drawers for conveniance

As you can see, the side towards the driver is hanging over. That is because of the handbrake and so the arm rest will still be right next to the seat.
It is all in very rough form, nothing is already glueed and done. So after all the measurements It will be taken apart, get a nice shape and will be coated with carpet to make it looks good and feels soft to the arm.
Think that if things come right, it will be a good looking arm rest.


And the other thing is cleaning up the High Lift. A bit of paint, a bit of oil/grease and it will be good again.
We had from Steve some pouches and I am very happy with that. So, to pay it forward I asked who wanted to have my High Lift and Chris said Yes please.
So I hope to finish it tomorrow as well and bring it to him soon.

 

[Micha_TROOPY]

Working on two little things.
First for Michael @Micha_TROOPY a arm rest and mid console for his Troopy.
It is a bit of a challenge as I dont have mucht to work with. And I mean measurements.
So, I made two parts. Completely rough shaped that I can start working with.
One part will be the bottom and will be mounted next to the handbrake.
The other part will be the arm rest itself and that is now still moveble so when all works out, on monday we can test fit it and mark the right distance to front an back.
View attachment 252638
The bottom part should hold two water bottles. And some places to put little stuff as coins, and such.
View attachment 252639
The top part is the arm rest and will be holding two drawers for conveniance
View attachment 252640
As you can see, the side towards the driver is hanging over. That is because of the handbrake and so the arm rest will still be right next to the seat.
It is all in very rough form, nothing is already glueed and done. So after all the measurements It will be taken apart, get a nice shape and will be coated with carpet to make it looks good and feels soft to the arm.
Think that if things come right, it will be a good looking arm rest.

View attachment 252642
And the other thing is cleaning up the High Lift. A bit of paint, a bit of oil/grease and it will be good again.
We had from Steve some pouches and I am very happy with that. So, to pay it forward I asked who wanted to have my High Lift and Chris said Yes please.
So I hope to finish it tomorrow as well and bring it to him soon.

Thank Robert for his time building my armrest, support and his technical knowledge! I'm absolutely happy!