Just bought a Troopy in Peru

[alexander]

Hi,
I've joined the forum for ideas and advice as I've just bought a 78 Troopy 4.2 diesel, year 2000. It was my companies ambulance and has 50,000 miles on the clock, which is real as it's been restricted to site for 18 years. It's not a big site!
The company has spent a small fortune making the ambulace servicable and it looks like I'm going to reap the benefits of their efforts.
The plan is to slowly convert it to an overlander and one day explore South America, maybe head into North America and then ship the Troopy to the UK.
So hoping to stand on the shoulders of the experience of you guys and maybe do some original conversions to the Troopy.
Cheers,
Alex

 

[David]

Hi and welcome to a great place to be,Oh and pics would be great

 

[tonytoyota]

Hi and welcome let's have pics wee love pics

 

[alexander]

drag and drop or upload file?

 

[alexander]

 

[Rodger]

Welcome Alexander and .........WOW! that fabulous

Regards,

Rodger

 

[alexander]

Thanks, it's had some rust put right by the company, the service garage gave me all the history and pictures. The coast of Peru is caustic to steel.
Going to keep it as is until it prooves itself worthy of investment.

 

[Firewout]

Hi Alexander and welcome to the forum.
Rust will be your major concern with your troopy. Especially around the windshield, rear quarters and the sills.
Peru is fantastic. I visited the country in the late 90's. I vividly remember an epic night drive from Arequipa to Ichuña during a rain storm in a battered hilux. It still scores very high on my 'most adventurous' list.

 

[froggy Steve]

great job, and welcome

 

[alexander]

Hi Alexander and welcome to the forum.
Rust will be your major concern with your troopy. Especially around the windshield, rear quarters and the sills.
Peru is fantastic. I visited the country in the late 90's. I vividly remember an epic night drive from Arequipa to Ichuña during a rain storm in a battered hilux. It still scores very high on my 'most adventurous' list.

Firewout, did you deliberately choose that route in those conditions?? I've driven various routes from Lima to Puno, Arequipa and Cusco but never at night, and never in a rain storm. I try not to drive any where at night in Peru, not because of the conditions, but because of the local drivers!

 

[Firewout]

Firewout, did you deliberately choose that route in those conditions??

Well, we arrived in the evening in Arequipa by plane and the people from the village of Ichuna were waiting there for us with the Hilux. so there we went. We took turns at the wheel and drove nearly all night. Climbing out of Arequipa, a tanker truck slipped off the road into the ditch and capsized. At the side of the oil stream coming out of the truck, an old lady was scooping up oil to fill her can. very surreal. At several occasions, we had to stop to repair the road which was starting to wash away. In the early morning we had to stop because the rivercrossing to the village had become impassable and we had a nap in a barn on some bags with lama furs.
At dawn, we loaded the luggage on some mules and greeted by the church bell, we eventually got to the village.
btw my companions were 2 priests. Very handy at police checkpoints, never any hassle. the cops even called me 'padre'...

 

[nick_the_fish]

Hi Alex, Welcome to the Forum. Nice looking truck you've got yourself there. 1HZ engines are the best - utterly bulletproof and perfect for somewhere like South America.

What are your plans in terms of modifying her for your trip?

You've definitely come to the right place. If the guys and girls on this site don't know it, its probably not worth knowing.

 

[alexander]

Well, we arrived in the evening in Arequipa by plane and the people from the village of Ichuna were waiting there for us with the Hilux. so there we went. We took turns at the wheel and drove nearly all night. Climbing out of Arequipa, a tanker truck slipped off the road into the ditch and capsized. At the side of the oil stream coming out of the truck, an old lady was scooping up oil to fill her can. very surreal. At several occasions, we had to stop to repair the road which was starting to wash away. In the early morning we had to stop because the rivercrossing to the village had become impassable and we had a nap in a barn on some bags with lama furs.
At dawn, we loaded the luggage on some mules and greeted by the church bell, we eventually got to the village.
btw my companions were 2 priests. Very handy at police checkpoints, never any hassle. the cops even called me 'padre'...

Just a normal trip then, Ha! Peru is constantly surprising, it's beyond interesting sometimes. Usually you will see some sort of accident, either just happened or your lucky enough to avoid becoming one yourself.
Poverty is the curse and forces people to desperate measures.
The police are also a curse and it's wise to keep some small money bills to pay for their perks.
The floods last year were terrible but hardly mentioned by the international media. If you had seen how fast a dry river bed can turn into a torrent of mud and boulders you might have been worried. There are videos out there and you can see trucks and buses engulfed in less than a minute.
I picked up a border guard passing from Zim to Nambia some time ago and he had the same affect at the check points. Saved a few bob

 

[alexander]

Hi Alex, Welcome to the Forum. Nice looking truck you've got yourself there. 1HZ engines are the best - utterly bulletproof and perfect for somewhere like South America.

What are your plans in terms of modifying her for your trip?

You've definitely come to the right place. If the guys and girls on this site don't know it, its probably not worth knowing.

Hi Nick,
Thanks, It looks a good truck having had allot of work on the body and well serviced by the company.
My plans are to run it stock for a while, check the chassis is good. From the service history I believe the suspension was renewed a couple of years ago and the engine is strong, 80,000kms. I might have to remove the flashing roof lights or the local cops will be queueing for their tips. The luminous blue and red stripes I consider to be an additional safety feature! Be seen!
The mods will be for the camper conversion. I have plenty of ideas and will fit the rear soon so we can do some test trips and then modify it again. I'm making the furniture out of "meccano" so I can modify it if its not right or even modify on the road. Using nylon lock nuts so the furniture doesn't vibrate apart.
An extending roof is probably not available in Peru so it looks like a roof top tent. Or even a fixed fibre glass roof extension although I have my doubts about that.
A winch but no roo bars. I'm more likely to hit a car here than a llama and I think the body work should take the impact rather than the chassis. Any thoughts on roo bars and damage to the chassis? I beleive this is a point of contension.
I don't think I need extra height so keeping the stock leaves and coils, unless persuded otherwise.
Expedition gear looks to be imported from the US and Oz and due to UK VAT it can be bought here cheaper than the UK. Only about 10% but it's better than paying more.
It's a landcruiser, does it really need to be heavily modified?

 

[moggy1968]

Nice work, liking that

 

[alexander]

The garage that did the rust work sent me the before and after pictures. Looks like the roof gutter and window frames were rotten but not much else where.
Those leaves look refurbished but I believe they are new.
The troopy doesn't look this good underneath now, I'd best have it coated fast.