Thread: Progress on My Unimog

I think I bought the last one - I was talking to a guy who might be buying the road-railer gear off me, he is building one to do work on the railways. They had about 5 or 6 of them, but they were all sold off through the years.

There are a few U1300L's around, slightly bigger and 1/2 ton heavier that the U1250, most come from NZ where their Army has been selling them off for a few years. The ADF has quite a few - mostly the U1750's which are 8 tons empty and about a metre longer and 200mm wider - they are supposed to be selling them off soon - but I've heard that for 5 years now. I didn't want one of those as they are a just too big. All going well mine should not be more than 6.5ton fully laden with 320l fuel, 300lt water and all the camping kit.

Just a few more photos - I took the back off the truck this weekend, to clean up the subframe and get it ready for painting. I also did a bit more welding and getting things sorted out.

The cardboard is a template for the sheet metal inserts - I'm putting them on to stiffen up the rear end and to make it easier to fit the aluminium skin around.

Anyway, that what it looks like this evening

A few quick photos - the frame is almost completed - just a few more bits of bracing to be welded on to support the aluminium sheeting. All going well I should start the cladding next weekend.

The photos show the frame just about to be wheeled into position on the chassis for fitting up the front brackets.

The other photo shows the layout of the camper - you will have to use your imagination a bit, but the bed is in the back - a queen size bed. A 130lt Waeco compressor fridge will fit on the left along with the microwave and small emergency cooker plate. There is a small sink on the right - for washing and tooth brushing. You can't see the two seats up front, or the TV/computer cupboard opposite - but that's what takes up the rest of the floor space. The step down areas doubles as the shower - which can be used witht he door open or closed.

The main kitchen folds down form the back of the camper - the bench is a full 6ft long, and will be covered by the "hatch" which can be extended by an awning - I'll be using a normal two or three burner camping stove - no point having a fancy built in stove in the back of a truck. The hatch is the full width of the truck, and about head height - so the bench will have a few hinges to allow it to fold out yet it will rest on the ground to keep it level - otherwise people moving around inside might spill the stuff that's cooking

The "Unimog" sign is what happened when I wanted to see if my $300 e-bay special plasma cutter would work on aluminium - it cuts like the proverbial hot knife through butter.

It has been a while since I posted the progress - so here is an update of where it's at.

All the welding is more of less done - even though every time I say that I end up adding another few bits of bracing. This weekend was not exception - when I trial fitted the aluminium sheet - I decided it needed some more members to hold the sheeting a bit better. I'm sure it is more "just in case" than anything else, and adding another 6kg seemed worth it. I also fitted the door frame, and the frames for the two side access hatches - soon it will be the only way to get into the truck.

Cutting out the sheeting took no time at all - the plasma cutter made things easy. I've gotten into a system - so, it takes around 1 hour to get a sheet cut, prepared, cleaned and primed ready for gluing. The gluing part is quick - I have around 20 minutes from when I first start putting on the glue until it is too stiff for anything to move. The pneumatic glue gun helps a lot - it would be very difficult to squeeze out the amount of glue I use by hand in a short space of time.

The inside is starting to look more truck like - the holes in the sheeting are for the windows - so it should be fairly light inside. I've measure out the rear sheet - and will take it to the sheetmetal shop to get a 10 degree fold put in the bottom 65mm. The steel rear quarter panels will stay uncovered - once the sheeting is all glued on, I'll feather off the edges and then fill in the gap with body filler. The was no point covering the solid steel quarter panels with a soft aluminium sheet.

We also had a visitor today - Ron McGehee came over from the the USA and brought his U500 Unimog with him. He is touring around Australia for the next 6 months or so. All going well we might be joining him for a trip up to Cape York at the end of the year - providing I get my backside into gear.

The truck is huge - it is higher, longer wider and a lot heavier than mine - it weights in more than 12 tons, and is 3.9m high. Trish and I went for a short drive in it, it is great. It is a much more modern Unimog then mine - loads of gizmos - the gear change is air operated, the steering wheel and pedal can slide from one side of the truck to the other, and the cab is made from carbon fibre. The tyres are the 395/85-20's. Ron says he can't lift up the tyre it is laying flat it is so heavy. Ron's got a sneaky way of getting the spare tyres down - the whole frame lowers down to the ground hydraulically - all he has to to is wheel the tyre around. His truck is very well equipt, and every thing runs on diesel - he has a diesel generator, air-conditioner and even a diesel stove. He also has a mini reverse Osmosis plant on board - he can turn sea water into drinking water.

His is one of the first of the Global Expedition Vehicles made.

This is his website on his tour "down under"
Unimog U500Global Expedition VehicleMog Heaven - Down Under Australia

Ron says he will be re-building the truck when he gets back to the US, there are a few things he does not like and now with the experience he has living in it for a few months, he know what he wants to change.

The last one also gives as sense of scale - my Landrover hardly even comes up to the mirror!

Just a few photos of a major Milestone - the aluminium cladding is complete - well almost, just one piece to do on the back, and it's done. I've made a template and I'll get all the folds done during the week.

Now to start on t e major mechanical work - first with fabricating a new exhaust, then to fit the air tanks and the brake booster. I've left the floor out until I get everything fitted on the chassis - this way I have easy access but can still make sure everything fits. Once the major elements are in place, I'll start on fitting up the new brake lines and air lines. It will take a while, but I'll get there in the end.

Off to the caravan and camping show next weekend - time to find all the gear to go inside - water filtration, heaters, fridges, dishwasher, generator etc.

By the way, for those of you who asked - it is 3.3m tall, 2.2m wide and 5.9m long - so not that much bigger than a D130 .

You are a lucky lucky boy .... and I am very jealous!!!

Looking good.

Cheers
David

Sad to say, but your thread has me already checking out eBay and the like for Unimog's, for my next project, sometime in the future... Good work, great thread

Yeah - me too. It's a boy thing....