Thread: Tasmania to Norway, 110 build log

Dude, SICK. Awesome trip plan and I'm looking forward to heaps more photos of the build up and the trip.

I am green in the guts!

Awesome....

I’m currently building a 110 up to either drive from Brisbane to Iceland via Asia or ship to Hamburg and meander around.

Fantastic! You’re embarking on the trip I’ve dreamt of for years. When do you depart?

Minimal is definitely the way to go. Nice work on the canopy

It would be brilliant if you’re able to share some more details Re budgets, timeframe, shipping, etc.

Cheers, zeros

Awesome trip plan. Looking forward to seeing more.

Steve

Originally Posted by Zeros

Fantastic! You’re embarking on the trip I’ve dreamt of for years. When do you depart?

Minimal is definitely the way to go. Nice work on the canopy

It would be brilliant if you’re able to share some more details Re budgets, timeframe, shipping, etc.

I will depart on the Australia leg around June/July, with the ship departing Fremantle in November, to begin driving through South Africa in Dec. The shipping is 43 days and is expected to cost $4-5k (I'm still firming up quotes, however they are within this ballpark & includes port fees in Durban), plus another $1450 for the Carnet.

In terms of budget, I will DIY as much as I can and purchase necessities secondhand (I'm currently hunting for a suitable fridge, a secondhand UHF, secondhand jack, secondhand spare Wolf rim etc). I would expect $3-5k still needs to be spent on the car before departure - this includes clutch work and a re-shock.

As for a travel budget, I guess it's a bit hard to say at this point, it depends what goes wrong

Let's say $10k to get the car ready and shipped to a minimal spec to Africa, plus another $1500/$2k monthly budget, with 8 months on the road. I have no idea how much it will cost to get the vehicle back from Europe, but I imagine another $5k+... So, as a rough estimate, a project like this would be around $26-30k, not including the cost of the vehicle - don't make me add the vehicle to my cost estimate, otherwise I will cry

Unfortunately I do not have a trust fund (!), so, obviously there is a high opportunity cost in lost personal income, all the work before departure, etc. So, it is not a small or cheap undertaking, however this is the reality of such ventures, and in many ways it is probably conservative. These are just estimates though and I'll be happy to be transparent with costs - it's always interesting to see how others go!

Nick.

Originally Posted by nickj

I will depart on the Australia leg around June/July, with the ship departing Fremantle in November, to begin driving through South Africa in Dec. The shipping is 43 days and is expected to cost $4-5k (I'm still firming up quotes, however they are within this ballpark & includes port fees in Durban), plus another $1450 for the Carnet.

In terms of budget, I will DIY as much as I can and purchase necessities secondhand (I'm currently hunting for a suitable fridge, a secondhand UHF, secondhand jack, secondhand spare Wolf rim etc). I would expect $3-5k still needs to be spent on the car before departure - this includes clutch work and a re-shock.

As for a travel budget, I guess it's a bit hard to say at this point, it depends what goes wrong

Let's say $10k to get the car ready and shipped to a minimal spec to Africa, plus another $1500/$2k monthly budget, with 8 months on the road. I have no idea how much it will cost to get the vehicle back from Europe, but I imagine another $5k+... So, as a rough estimate, a project like this would be around $26-30k, not including the cost of the vehicle - don't make me add the vehicle to my cost estimate, otherwise I will cry

Unfortunately I do not have a trust fund (!), so, obviously there is a high opportunity cost in lost personal income, all the work before departure, etc. So, it is not a small or cheap undertaking, however this is the reality of such ventures, and in many ways it is probably conservative. These are just estimates though and I'll be happy to be transparent with costs - it's always interesting to see how others go!

Nick.

Cheers Nick, that all sounds very feasible 👍.

Hopefully you’ll be pleasantly surprised that your estimate for monthly expenses will reduce significantly by free camping etc. ...No doubt any sense of lost income will also be far outweighed by experience gained too.

The only thing holding me back for the moment is other life priorities! I have spent the dollars and mostly have the vehicle ready to roll, and with extensive road trip experience in Australia and a little in South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland and Western Europe, no real excuses!. ...A journey such as yours connecting all the dots is definitely on the cards soonish...you never know, if you’re hooked and stay on the road longer (a common occurrence I think!) I might see you on the road. ...Hope so.

All the best with your preparations. What year is your Puma Defender? Have you greased the adapter shaft between gearbox and transfer case? Also recommend an Ashcroft ATB to strengthen the TC and improve dirt road handling. ...do all that when you get your HD clutch put in. The most vital puma mods IMO.

I’ll look forward to following your journey if you’re keen to stay in touch.

Go well, travel light and go slow 👍

Originally Posted by nickj

Hi all,

I'm preparing my 130 for a trip across Australia to Perth, onto Durban and up the continent onto mainland Europe and as far north as Norway. The concept is to finish a sailing trip I did alone in 2010, where I sailed solo from Europe to Australia in a small 26ft British boat - so now I will finish the circumnavigation in a British car, by driving from the most southern road in Australia (South East Cape), to the most northern road in Europe (North Cape), Norway.

My build will be as minimal, DIY and 'budget' as these things can get. Mechanically my Defender is good, however I will replace the shock absorbers, clutch, and flanges before departure. I will install an elevated air intake and potentially a winch, but otherwise I will leave the vehicle stock. The transfer case was rebuilt 20,000km ago.

The rear two seats have been removed to build ply pull-out shelving above the seatbox. The rear tray will hold twin spares, extra fuel, water, general storage and a pull-out marine ply kitchen.

For the trip across Australia I will sleep in a swag - once in Africa I will purchase a roof top tent.

The vehicle will have side and rear awnings off of the main canopy - for interests-sake, below are build images of my sewing a new heavyweight canvas canopy with zippered doors. I will add an external frame to the front and back of the tray to act as rear racks for surfboards and awning attachments. The RTT will go above the cab. For anyone interested, the canopy was made from 12oz ripstop heavyweight canvas commonly used for truck tarps, with large YKK zips which have velcro dust covers over the top of them.

I will update as things progress!

Cheers! -Nick

How about the fuel quality in the Africa? Is puma engine OK with it?

Originally Posted by Zeros

Ashcroft ATB
Defender year

Great tip on the ATB, I'll do some research on this - I have a late 2011 Defender with the 2.4.

Originally Posted by labrado

How about the fuel quality in the Africa? Is puma engine OK with it?

Definitely this is a concern, however I've been in very remote regions while at sea with questionable diesel supplies and it's all about keeping things as clean as possible before going in the tank! On marine diesels I have run primary & secondary filters, and in very questionable areas I have gravity-filtered fuel from jerry cans. So, I need to do some more research about the possibility of a secondary inline (larger) micron filter (is doing this even a thing?). It's unlikely I will be installing a long range tank and will be juggling fuel canisters...