customizing a landcruiser for overland expedition

[rideglobally]

We are very happy to announce that Laser Cutting NorthWest will sponsor
the building of our overland expedition vehicle by providing state of
the art technology and LCNW creative input. Our part will be to
provide our own labor. This is a great arrangement for us because we
still get to build our cruiser. LCNW is located in Auburn, Washington,
here is their website www.lcnw.com

We arrived in Auburn, Washington on August 17th, the following day
August 18th, we got to work at the LCNW facility building our cruiser.
Our plan is to be here until August 31st (14 days). This is what we
plan to accomplished:

1. rebuild the camper shell so that it is completely made of aluminum.

2. build a fuel tank made of aluminum and relocate the fuel tank to
the center of the cruiser. this will reduce the weight of the
cruiser and improved the current design.

There are other things on our list that we want to accomplish if time
permits that is to redesign the bull bar and build a running board.

Our ambitious plan is to post daily updates on our rebuild.

We want to thank Expedition Portal and the community for all your support. We are now on the 8th day of our build. enjoy. :arabia:

 

[Hltoppr]

That Cruiser is gonna be great! Can't wait to follow the build!

-H-

 

[rideglobally]

Day 8 of the build

We have been trying to post the build here since day one but had difficulty posting pictures. Here is the link on i8hmud if you want to see pictures of the build since day 1 http://forum.ih8mud.com/expedition-builds/236987-building-landcruiser-overland-expedition.html

Here is day 8 of the build

Much of Day 8 was learning how to weld aluminum. A welding instructor was brought in to give me training on aluminum welding. Learning how to weld aluminum is probably the most significant progress on this day. One hundred percent of the remaining build will be in aluminum.

Pictured below is the progress we have made on the foundation of the camper shell. Today we will finish the final touches on the foundation, mount the floor and then begin the design and engineering of the upper camper shell. :arabia:

 

[DBS311]

Was that a Banderante from Brazil? I'm looking forward to the finished product.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Excellent. The pictures need to be resized to something along the lines of 700 or 800 pixels wide to be posted on most boards. Congratulations, that looks wonderful...

 

[kcowyo]

The photo attachment manager was down for a few days, thanks for trying to post 'em though.

I've been watching this on Mud, but I'm glad you are sharing here as well. Looking forward to the rest.... :lurk:

 

[rideglobally]

Day 9 of the build

It is Day 9 and we continue to strengthen the structure of the bed by adding more gussets and stiffeners. We will weld the aluminum together using a state of the art 350P Miller welder. We decided to reinforce the front bed and rear bumper with 3/16 diamond plate steel. We are creating a cavity for the spare tire between the diagonal bars on the chassis for storage and to strengthen it for towing. All of these components will be laser cut and formed this morning. The rest of the day will be spent installing them. As you can see by the pictures below the floor of the bed was cut by the router and is ready to be attached onto the bed frame. We will install the floor after the spare tire cavity and diagonals are installed. The next phase is the camper shell.

Thanks for all your ideas. We are using them! This is turning out to be a real community build. Ride Globally!

Sorry i have problem loading the pictures here, if you want to see pictures pls go to this link. http://forum.ih8mud.com/expedition-builds/236987-building-landcruiser-overland-expedition.html :arabia:

 

[rideglobally]

Excellent. The pictures need to be resized to something along the lines of 700 or 800 pixels wide to be posted on most boards. Congratulations, that looks wonderful...

i have resized the pictures. i will try again tomm....thanks :arabia:

 

[MoGas]

Subscribing

 

[aslostasyou]

That's got to be one of the coolest cruizers I've seen! Remindes me of a Defender 130!

 

[rideglobally]

Day 10 of the build

We reached a milestone today! Once again innovative thinking in design and engineering brought it home. State of the art technology is amazing. There is almost no limit on what can be done.

Day 10 was spent laser cutting and installing the bumper. We also began the design upward from the bed. We have decided to make a change on the core structure of the frame after an engineering review. Steel tubes will be attached to a 2” “lip” of the bumper; these steel tube posts will be wrapped in aluminum so that the contact between the aluminum skin and the post is aluminum-to-aluminum. These pictures will be posted when we get to that part of the build.

What a total blast. How fun can a project be? At the end of the day we read your comments and talk about the cool ideas pitched to us from all of you. Day 14 is just around the corner and pressure is on. Many thanks!

sorry i still can not post pictures here, if you want to see pictures go to the link below....thanks

http://forum.ih8mud.com/expedition-builds/236987-building-landcruiser-overland-expedition.html
:arabia:

 

[pint]

Keep up the great work. This thing is gonna be sweeeeet!!!

 

[silverton62]

wow

What a nice thing to do for a great truck! When are you leaving, and where are you going? Can you also tell us what something like that cost to be done, with your work, and with-out? Thanks, hope to see you on the road!

http://web.mac.com/mikepierson/iWeb/Mike Pierson/Welcome.html

 

[laurie-the-lorry]

Fantastic build,

On one of my favorite trucks. Thank-you for sharing, You guys Rock!

 

[rideglobally]

What a nice thing to do for a great truck! When are you leaving, and where are you going? Can you also tell us what something like that cost to be done, with your work, and with-out? Thanks, hope to see you on the road!

http://web.mac.com/mikepierson/iWeb/Mike Pierson/Welcome.html

thank, i will check with LCNW about the build cost.:jump: