Project Dino Evolution

Auxiliary Diesel Tank

Published on April 14, 2011 in exterior, modification and parts. — 2 Comments Tags: Diesel, fuel, hose, paint.

After a long time of figuring out the right approach, the auxiliary fuel tank is finally done. It is a 85 Litre custom aluminum tank in the same spot where the spare tire used to be.

Due the size of the new wheels, the spare tire does not fit anymore in the stock location which left a nice, large area for either a storage compartment or a tank. After I changed the stock exhaust to one with an side exit, the idea was to have a tank there. The problem was, that we couldn’t figure out a proper way to fill the tank. Also the size of the tank couldn’t be exceeded beyond around 40-50 Litre, which was not big enough for the additional effort and cost of a second tank.

Design:
In the end we gave up the storage compartment idea and went ahead with a large tank in the back. Many people who run WVO have their second tank in the same spot. What I don’t like on all of them is that they take away the great departure angle, therefore our design had to be different.

Diesel Tank Side View

In the initial design I tried to push a squared tank as far up between the crossmembers as possible. Later on the tank grew and reached far more forward including two big angles. One along the leaf springs and another above the rear axle. After taking rough measurements I created a few cardboard prototypes to make sure everything fits. Andrew – our welder – did then a fantastic job fabricating a 1/8″ aluminum tank from my drawings. He also came up with the basket system to securely hold the tank up.

Connections:
I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. No pump or electric valve to fail, no pickup and return line. Just a simple feed to the stock fuel tank including a manual valve to disconnect the two tanks. The only thing I had to add was a steel fitting in the stock tank. The Broadway Welding Shop took care of that.
The breather hose was a little bit more work as it has to be as high up as possible which means I had to drill through the subframe. Not to weaken the frame and also to make my life easier with the hose I cold-welded a stainless steel pipe through the frame and connected the breather hose to it.
For the filler hose I got a good deal on a 1.5″ I.D. fuel hose without a wire in it, which makes it way more forgiving to work with in smaller voids, but on the other hand you get pretty quick some kinks in it. I thought about using just the stock filler for both tanks, but found it would make it more complicated. Instead we installed a Perko Marine filler neck on the side of the van right next to the tail lights.

Painting:
Even though all fittings are stainless steel and the tank is out of aluminum, I wanted to give the system extra protection against corrosion. Therefore I primed and painted everything with Tremclad. Also while the stock fuel tank was out, I gave him a good coat of paint and all new hoses as well.

In combination with the stock fuel tank (60 Litre) we should get now a rang from around 1000km per fill up.

Front Window Guards

Published on April 11, 2011 in interior. — 0 Comments Tags: protection, security.

Another small safety feature in addition to the door locks is a strong stainless steel band going across both front windows. They are wrapped around the handle bar (with steel core) and are attached with padlocks from inside. That should prevent (or at least slow down) people from smashing the window and getting inside the van when we are not around. Unless they want to squeeze their little kid between the openings :)

Headlight Protection

Published on April 7, 2011 in exterior and modification. — 2 Comments Tags: cover, headlights, lexan, protection.

Unfortunately the headlights of a post ’89 Delica are not common on this side of the planet, so buying a replacement lens/housing on our trip is not an option (or really expensive). Therefore I wanted to protect them as good as possible against any stones and other stuff which could crack the glass.
I bought two small sheets of Lexan Margard and cut it to the shape of the headlight. Apparently Margard is very scratch and break resistant and gets usually used for security windows. Bending the sheet was tricky though as the Margard coating did not cooperate with the heat gun and created little visible bubbles. Note for next time: Don’t use Margard or don’t do any bends :)
Three out of the four mounting spots were straight forward, but unfortunately there is no access (beside removing the dashboard) to the upper center body panel. We had to use “Nutserts” instead which are basically pop rivets with a thread inside to solve this problem.
The Lexan sheets are mounted with stainless steel hardware and can be easily removed for cleaning or when a road officer complains.

Additional Door Locks

Published on March 18, 2011 in exterior and modification. — 0 Comments Tags: door, lock, paint, protection, security.

Just from looking at the wimpy stock door locks as well as the experience from other travellers, I decided to add some proper locks on each door. After researching what other people have done and what’s available I ordered the cargo van hasps as well as three keyed-alike puck locks. The hasp was too large and the wrong colour to fit nicely on the outside of the van, which was easily solved with a grinder and paint. Mounting the hasps was more challanging though as there is just a very small sweet spot where you actually can mount them. Tighten these bolts was a pain and took forever as the available space was really tight. Overall I’m happy how well everything blends in.

Another small “security-feature” is now the tamper proof bolts for the front- and rear licence plate.

There is still a lock on the trunk door missing as the hasp system doesn’t work there. Also another project will be the protection for each window. I have already something in my mind, so stay tuned…

Brake Caliper Paint

Published on March 16, 2011 in exterior. — 0 Comments Tags: brake, paint.

A few month ago we upgraded the front brakes to a double piston setup. After a while they had some surface rust on it. As you know I hate rust and like to tread it before it is too late. I found a very good deal ($6) for a brake caliper paint kit including cleaner. So I took the brakes off again, cleaned and painted them properly. The yellow colour is not my favourite, but they are going to be dirty again anyway. The main thing is that they are better protected now.

Differential Breather Extension

Published on March 13, 2011 in exterior and modification. — 0 Comments Tags: brass, breather, differential, fitting, hose, vavle.

After adding a snorkel the next step to make our van ready for deep puddles was to extend the front- and rear differential breather. The rear was pretty straight forward as it has already a hose attached which goes directly in one of the subframe cross members. So I took the old hose off and extended it with a 1/4 ID fuel hose to the inside of the van. The front was a little bit more tricky as it has some kind of valve cap attached to a plastic fitting. One option would be to take it out and cut a thread into the differential housing. I didn’t want to risk any metal shavings in the diff, so I cam up with another solution. I found a small barb brass fitting which was a perfect fit for the hole. To make sure everything is really water tight a neoprene gasket as well as silicone was added. The extension hose goes above the radiator with an return loop.