Mk1 LT40 4x4 Tintop Offroad Camper Conversion aka "The Beast"

[Marlow]

This is one of my Mk1 VW LT40 4x4 offroad trucks.

Originally used for the forrestry services by the swedish goverment. It's a tin top panelvan with full bulkhead and 1+2 seater bench in the front.

It comes with the 2.4 inline-6 turbo-diesel engine, 5 gear dogleg gearbox with crawlgear, a NPN transferbox with RWD, 4HI and 4LO settings and front and rear diff-locks. Front diff lock was optional in 4x4 LT's until '91, so I'm quite happy to have it.

It also has a few other goodies, like headlight washers and power steering and a window in the sliding door, but is otherwise pretty basic.

I've also found a poptop, that I really like and I think would suit the van perfectly. Here's a picture of it:

The snorkel obviously is on my todo list also.

The manufacturer for that poptop doesn't seem to exist anymore, but maybe I can find somebody, that can build me something like that.

For now, I'm looking at simple upgrades.

I'm planning on moving the ISRI seats from the white LT over into the orange one.

I've been part of a group purchase on a german LT forum for rims, that will take bigger tyres. The volume is now complete and the order has been placed. End of May/start of June a whole bunch of Mefro tubeless steelrims should arrive, that are the size 8J x 16 ET0.

The original rims on the LT are 6J x 16 split-rims, that take tube type tyres and are fairly heavy. That plus the fact, that I don't have a spare wheel are pretty annoying.

Right now I'm running 7.5 x 16 tyres (235/85 x 16) on the rims. The biggest I can fit on the original rims is 255/100 x 16.

On the Mefro rims, I'll be able to fit 285/75 x 16 tubeless tyres, which should be a nice improvement.

On the same forum, there's a 2 lads breaking 4x4 LT's that are so badly damaged, that they can't be repaired. Lucky for me.

So far, I've gathered:
- 4 OEM rims and protectors (it's good to have spares anyhow)
- all the plastic parts for the 4WD lever (the plastic parts in the orange one are damaged)
- a new steering wheel
- a noise cover for the engine cover (missing in the orange LT)
- OEM rpm instruments for both LT's (those are rare and most don't have it)
- 2 doors with electric windows, heated mirrors and the little front window can be opened (neither of my LT's have that).
- a new front bumper for the orange LT with the opening for the towing eye

Parts are getting rare for Mk1 LT's, so I'm happy enough to find these parts.

Looks like I'm going to take another trip to the continent just before camperjam.

/M

[Marlow]

Besides. If you have questions, etc, please ask them in my thread over in "Member Rides" at http://www.vandalism.ie/forums/showt...-Marlows-sheds

By not having posts here, that'll keep the build thread tidy as I get on with it.

/M

[Marlow]

I got a bit help today, putting my layout scribbles into a Sketchup file. It's still very crude, but it's starting to look usable.


On the left hand side, the first box behind the cab is the fridge.


The two captains chairs, that can be seen are T4 Multivan II chairs, that can swivel and slide.


The table folds down and makes up a bed, dimensions 160cm x 180cm. When the Multivan chairs are slid to the front, a box allows the bed to be extended, so that it's 200cm x 180cm.

The idea is also to be able to move the table 40cm ahead, with the bench extensions out and the captains chairs turned to the back. Another section between the benches at the back and you can sit around all 4 sides of the table.

Not only that, the table can also be removed and mounted on the left hand wall. That way things like for example a motorbike or other things can be loaded from the rear.

The front of the bench on the left hand side will contain the night heater for the van. The remainder will be storage.

On the right hand side, the 40cm extension has a lid and when opened, that's where the cooker is. That way the cooker is placed in the open sliding door and can also be hinged outside. The back of that bench again is storage area.

For optimal weight distribution, a 100Ah leasure battery will be stored at the rear of each bench on either side.


This view gives a pretty good idea of the layout.

/M

[Marlow]

Prep for the DOE saturday, we had to take the rear dums apart.

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The shoes were glazed and hence not gripping properly. A bit of sandpaper on the shoes and drums and all good. Passed the DOE.

Saturday night, my indicators stopped to work and the hazards would blow a fuse, when turned on. Time to strip the van apart and check a few things out. I also had a smell from fried cables in the van. Also, there were two cables from the stalk, that looked like what had been used for the low beam on ignition conversion (scandinavian daylight lights).

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This is the way, the daylight driving lights have been realized. Not really a good idea to pull that sort of currant through the stalk and probably the reason of one of my problems.

[Marlow]

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I took the front grille of the LT and found a template, that's intended to be used to fit the snorkel. How neat.

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That's my air intake there left of the front right headlight. It then goes under the headlight towards the front grille and turns back towards the airbox. Now, that makes installing a snorkel like childs play. Surely I'll be able to find some tubing to sort that craic.

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This is an upgrade loom for the front lights for a T4, with 2 relays and 40A fuses directly connected to the car battery. Now, the fun part is, that it (slightly modified) fits the LT, too. The LT uses the same plugs as a short nose T4

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Dash out to get to the mess behind it.

[Marlow]

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Cable mess behind the dash.

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And here's one of the problems, why my indicators don't work. The relay and some of the wiring has melted. The stalk also seems to have given up it's ghost. Good thing is, that those particular parts still seem available from VW.

/M

[Marlow]

I'm a bit annoyed, that the OEM snorkel from VW can't be got anymore.

Anyhow, I've sourced somebody, that seems to be able to supply something, that actually will do the job nicely. Already 5 or 6 LT's that are using them, so it's been proven to do the job.

This is how the OEM snorkel looks like


This is, what I should expect in the post end of May


The only issue may be to source the mushroom. Supposedly it's commonly used on Landrovers though, so I figure, I could maybe replace it with a different intake from standard LR 3rd party parts. Maybe, the OEM zyclone filter even fits, as that's still available.

We'll have to see. From the looks, I'll actually like the one on the green LT better, even though it's home made.

/M

[Marlow]

Ordered a 60l underslung air tank today to be used for air tools and other gadgets. The compressor, I'm planning to build from an old aircon compressor, so it'll be driven by a belt from the engine.

/M

[Marlow]

So. A few more bits done.

A few of the parts arrived.

Indicator stalk and relay
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Meaning my indicators work properly again. Bit of a relief.

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And the mounting plates for the rails, that will mount my captains chairs in the 2nd row. They won't be welded in though until the bodywork is done.

Stuck a LT40 badge on the back, so now people don't have to guess, what it is
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Got a few sheets of MDF for the initial temporary camper conversion, so that I can figure things out first and they'll also be used as template.
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[Marlow]

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First bench constructed.

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And second bench in.

Tomorrow, the fridge is going to be mounted, a table constructed to make up the bed with the benches and the electrics will have to be wired.

/M