Slow but steady progress on our Troopy Camper

[LBV]

They've been making steady progress on our Troopy conversion, but they're quite busy this year so our schedule's being extended by a couple of months. No worries as we never had any hard deadline to begin with.

I went a little OCD on the color, changing my mind several times while researching heritage colors and trying to decide if I wanted to go with a matching color on the top portion of the roof tent, white or black. Once I was told that the top checkerboard plate would stay clear anodized aluminum and thus reduce solar gain, I decided to go with black so that future roof additions (spare parts box, roof rack w/slide-out table, wood bins, etc.) would blend in more easily rather than stand out.

I also ordered pints of several heritage color samples to check out options I didn't want to discount just yet (Fashion Green 303, Heath Gray 113 and the Greyish Olive 6H9) and several colors I wanted to blend to see if I could lighten up the Olive Green 653 (which in reality is a brown with maybe a tinge of green) with a Olive Green 637 (this one is actually green) and some Yellow 531. I ended liking a lighter version of the 653 with a little 637 & 531 mixed in (6-3-1 ratio).

Then to my surprise, the upcoming 70 series will have a somewhat muted version of my final color ... the Trail Dust. Talk about a freakish coincidence!

Attaching some images of the color study & conversion progress.

Next up is the mechanical / suspension upgrades and exterior accessories (bull bar, wheels & tires, read bumper, etc.). Those should greatly improve the exterior's aesthetic.

 

[CruiserScot]

That looks great, perfect colour for Southern Africa. As you say, very close to the patient of the new LC250. I have a 40 series that needs returned to its original Olive Green (baby poop brown) but it's not my favourite shade! Definitely brown not green - maybe the Toyota paint guy was colour blind!!

 

[Grimbo]

That looks great, perfect colour for Southern Africa. As you say, very close to the patient of the new LC250. I have a 40 series that needs returned to its original Olive Green (baby poop brown) but it's not my favourite shade! Definitely brown not green - maybe the Toyota paint guy was colour blind!!

I reckon colour blindness is a thing at Toyota .... my first 80 was kinda metallic gold /light brown with a chocolate brown interior....... I had a light metallic blue Hilux that had a blue dash and interior.... mates had various Toyota Celicas etc in the late 80's early 90's that all had dubious colour combinations ......

One mate decided to repaint his Celica from shi%y brown to gleaming white..... this he did so to great affect but unfortunately used emulsion paint.... a few days later loaded with 5 teenage mates he/we had a bit of an off in the rain into a hedge .... the face of the local Bobby as he came across 6 teenagers covered in white paint trying to extract a battered Celica from a hedge was a joy to behold.... he slowed down in his police car , shook his head and grinning widely drove off .

 

[Gr8Yota]

That looks amazing! love the colour. I didn’t realise Alu-Innovations left the roof unpainted on the black roof….if I had I’d have probably chosen that over white…but never mind I can wrap the edge when I get bored….

That looks too new to be allowed in the US on the 25yr rule?(your flag says you’re in the US) But it looks to be on a ZA plate?

 

[LBV]

That looks amazing! love the colour. I didn’t realise Alu-Innovations left the roof unpainted on the black roof….if I had I’d have probably chosen that over white…but never mind I can wrap the edge when I get bored….

That looks too new to be allowed in the US on the 25yr rule?(your flag says you’re in the US) But it looks to be on a ZA plate?

Thank you for the compliment. It was fun researching the old heritage colors and playing around with various shades.

It's registered in SA and we'll store it either around Joburg or in/near Windhoek. Apparently, registering in Namibia isn't all that difficult. Will find out more as we get close to completion. No plan on importing it to the US. Once we've done our share of safaris, especially after retiring, we'll sell it in locally, ie. southern Africa.

 

[LBV]

We can see the finish line!

And yes, they will realign those two light strips in the back.

 

[nick_the_fish]

Nice truck. It's perfect for Africa. Keep the photos coming.