Monthly Archive for March, 2010

New Steering Wheel.

Published on March 28, 2010 in interior and modification. — 0 Comments Tags: , .

Grant Formula Steering Wheel Small modification but huge driving improvement. We had already a smaller after market steering wheel on DINO and as we got DINOEVO the original, large steering wheel reminded me how much I liked a smaller one. So, I finally got around to change it today and installed a Grant “Formula GT” with the necessary adaptor. Taking the old steering wheel off was not a problem, even without a puller. Installing the new one needed a little bit more time and a few test runs to get it aligned with the wheels.

It feels much better now and sideways parking does not end up being an exercise anymore. Also the driver side feels already more roomier as well.


March digest from Twitter.

Published on March 25, 2010 in misc. — 0 Comments
  • Finally found high performance rotors, brakepads and stainless steel brake lines. Cant wait to get the front brake job done. #
  • Air box is at the welding shop. Bigger and shorter pipes for more air from the snorkel to the engine. Of course with K&N air filter. #
  • Great collection of tutorials how to fix things on a l300 http://is.gd/aY0OG #
  • Why is it so bloody difficult to get a speedo gear for an l300? Does anybody have the right part number? #
  • Continue reading ‘March digest from Twitter.’

Getting inspiration.

Published on March 17, 2010 in misc. — 0 Comments Tags: , .


While everyone is envisioning something else for their ultimate camper van, it is quite inspiring to see what other people are doing. Over the last few month I came across some really interesting photos of expedition vehicle with many little helpful modifications I like to incorporate in one or another way in our van as well. To have this great recourse always handy and in one place, I created a separate photo album. I’ll update it over the time. If you have anything interesting to include, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Front Skid Plate.

Published on March 10, 2010 in exterior and modification. — 0 Comments Tags: .

We already had a skid plate on the lower front of DINO to protect the main radiator and fan. It worked well and resisted quite a bit abuse on our off-road trip. Therefore I thought we should keep it and mount the same on DINOEVO. Well, it was not that easy as I thought. For any unknown reason the area where the skid plate is mounted looks different between an automatic Delica and a manual 5spd. So some modification had to be done to make it fit.

Step 6
First you have to bend the two lower brackets roughly 110 degree and cut the side with the hole off. Also you need to cut a little bit from the right side of the skid plate to clear the mounting brackets of the front bull bar. Then take the top deflector shield off and mount two long bolts in the same holes from the shield. Mark where the bolts hit the skid plate and drill two holes.
Now use three nuts per bolt to keep the skit plate in place and drill two holes in the lower black sheet metal on the Delica. Use a couple more bolts and lock nuts and you are done.
I hope the following photos makes it a little bit more clear.


Upcoming “Abenteuer & Allrad” off-road show.

Published on March 3, 2010 in misc. — 0 Comments Tags: , .

Some of you might think: “When does he actually write something about the camperization?”
To be honest, I probably wont start on the interior till June/July for one main reason. My girlfriend and I are going to Germany for vacation this summer to visit friends and family. As luck would have it we are just in time for Europe’s largest off-road show. It’s the eleventh edition of “Abenteuer & Allrad” from June 3rd till 6th in Bad Kissingen providing a good mix of expedition vehicles and hard core 4x4s.
In the beginning there were only typical 4×4 vehicles on a open exhibition-ground, but in the meanwhile the fair is dominated also by a large number of additional expedition products and services for offroading, camping, travelling and everything what you need for your next road trip off the beaten track.

There is a big difference between this shows in North America and Europe. In Europe, focus lies mostly on long-range vehicles built for expeditions over several weeks or months. Sometimes even years. These vehicles tend to be rather spacious, provide a certain amount of comfort if not complete sleeping quarters, extra fuel and water tanks, and lots of storage space.

So exactly what we are looking for. I’m pretty sure we’ll get a lot of inspiration and the right contacts to buy our equipment. Till then I’m going to work just on the exterior which should take a while anyway.

Update: We had a blast at the show and shot a ton of photos. Check them out in our gallery.

Good old times.

Published on March 2, 2010 in misc. — 2 Comments Tags: , .

I recently found a really nice photo collection of old Mitsubishi Delicas from 1969 till the third generation. The design is just fantastic ugly. My favourite is this shot from a 2nd gen from 1984.

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