Alastair D(Aus)
aging but active
Well despite my embarrassment at how long it has taken me I am finally prepared to show some shots of my build. Pls ignore the dates on the pictures as it shows how long things have taken due to life events beyond my control.
In 2012 I purchased a 2007 Isuzu NPS300 which had only ~60,000km and was in excellent mechanical condition. It had a few cosmetic blemishes and had no signs of abuse.
As usual there was lots of initial enthusiasm and I got to work with some timber to design the sub frame
Next made some spring mounts. 3 on each side with fish plates, rigid plates, at the rear.
It was then identified that my wife who is somewhat vertically challenged could not get into the cab so a simple aid was constructed. It does require the driver to remove and store it. A more sophisticated system may eventuate but it works for now.
I usually start early and find some friends having munchies on the front lawn before the sun has come up.
Unfortunately there are some smaller versions too.
The sub frame eventually got done with 3 water tanks and a grey water tank mounted low down and positioned to keep the balance. I have also got rid of the single, small round fuel tank on the driver's (RHS) side and replaced it with 2 rectangular ones from an FM115 (I think), one on each side. Each holds ~180L which gives us what we need for our remote area travels.
When I came to make the battery box I decided that the 450AH of AGMs was just too heavy for the usable capacity it gave me, so I changed to using LiFeP04 (LFP) which can be used to 20% SOC and are less than half the weight. The prices have come down and are now a viable alternative if looked at in the long term.
Continued in the next post as I find I can only have 10 pictures per post.
In 2012 I purchased a 2007 Isuzu NPS300 which had only ~60,000km and was in excellent mechanical condition. It had a few cosmetic blemishes and had no signs of abuse.
As usual there was lots of initial enthusiasm and I got to work with some timber to design the sub frame
Next made some spring mounts. 3 on each side with fish plates, rigid plates, at the rear.
It was then identified that my wife who is somewhat vertically challenged could not get into the cab so a simple aid was constructed. It does require the driver to remove and store it. A more sophisticated system may eventuate but it works for now.
I usually start early and find some friends having munchies on the front lawn before the sun has come up.
Unfortunately there are some smaller versions too.
The sub frame eventually got done with 3 water tanks and a grey water tank mounted low down and positioned to keep the balance. I have also got rid of the single, small round fuel tank on the driver's (RHS) side and replaced it with 2 rectangular ones from an FM115 (I think), one on each side. Each holds ~180L which gives us what we need for our remote area travels.
When I came to make the battery box I decided that the 450AH of AGMs was just too heavy for the usable capacity it gave me, so I changed to using LiFeP04 (LFP) which can be used to 20% SOC and are less than half the weight. The prices have come down and are now a viable alternative if looked at in the long term.
Continued in the next post as I find I can only have 10 pictures per post.