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-   -   My L400 Delica 4x4 Campervan/Overlander (http://www.saxperience.com/forum/showthread.php?t=371616)

Lionsden 3rd April 2011 16:32

My L400 Delica 4x4 Campervan/Overlander
 
Thought I'd copy and paste this from another forum, to this one. I know most people think it's a big ugly people carrier, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so it may interest one or two of you...
I've spent the past year slowly getting my truck ready for festivals, camping, and greenlaning this summer. My Delica is my everyday drive which I've had for nearly a year now, it started out as a stock Mitsubishi Delica L400 Exceed...



As you can see she was desperate for new wellies, I wanted to fit a set of KL71 tyres (30 9.5 R15) these are the biggest you can fit on a Delica without cutting/hammering the arches, however they were out of stock for six weeks.
While I was waiting for the tyres to be in-stock I started my camper conversion.
I built a cupoard unit with a 2 ring hob, grill and sink, as you can tell most parts were re-cycled or re-used like the slide off computer sides which made up the cooker hood, the rear heat shield is an old metal flip chard board from work which was to be thrown out, the wood for the unit itself was end of line and was cheap as chips, the cooker and sink from ebay which needed replumbing slightly and a new regulator, I fitted the tap to a pump up pressure bottle like the ones gardeners spray their weeds with, which is ideal it gives up to 6 litres of water, and once pumped up stays pressurised till it's either used up or de-pressurised, I also have a 25ltr container for storing more water, but tend to just keep a few 2ltr bottles of cheap tescos bottled water handy which stays fresh for longer if unopened.



I also built a basic fold out table which folds up between the 2 of the rear seats.



The bed was easy as the seats fold to form a bed, it has flourescent light, night light and best part the crystalite glass roof sections which are great when it's a nice clear sky at night.



It's now registered as a motor-caravan, and insured as such, bonus being the insurance is half the price of what it would be if it was insured as a car.
I then fitted her new tyres,



Within a couple of months we get loads of snow, great timing!!! They were fantastic in the snow and I had great fun pulling people out of it...



Here's a little video of me pulling a BMW up a hill as everyone was stuck behind him:

My next job was a snorkel which I followed instructions from a kind member on mdocuk (Mitsubishi Delica Owners Club), he had modified a Land Rover Defender snorkel, and posted a fantastic set of instructions on how he did it, which I followed for my truck.



I've just bought a safari roof rack and spot lights off a local Delica owner and ended up fitting a snorkel to his Delica for him a couple of days later.





I have a tent that fits against the back or the side door but am planning on making an awning myself to fit all the way round two sides, from side door to far end of the rear door. I'm going to extend the wheel arches a little, plus a few more little jobs. So far my Delica has been pretty much faultless, there have been a couple of small issues like the pressure release valve for the turbo getting stuck and blowing at about 2000rpm, but with all the guides on the owners club site these were easy fixes. I'm servicing her every 4000km, and plan on re-waxoiling the bottom at the end of the summer, and I have a few bushes and gaiters to replace aswell. I want to keep it in good condition but at the same time use it for what it was designed for. Roll on summer!!!

Lionsden 26th April 2011 13:41

CB radio now fitted with magmount ariel.
Just reconditioned the wheels, looking loads better...


TomT 26th April 2011 13:54

Looks mental lol, I'd have one of these tbh. I like it :)

Lionsden 26th April 2011 15:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomHannah (Post 5272847)
Looks mental lol, I'd have one of these tbh. I like it :)

Cheers!!! I do love her! It's the best vehicle I've had yet! For a 16 year old truck she's doing good!!

Lionsden 9th May 2011 11:14

I got round to fitting my curtains at the weekend. They make a great difference. They are man made silk so block out loads of the light, and look rather posh too!!!



I've also added a parking pole, I'm going to put one on the other side aswell...


The top has an orange LED which comes on with the side lights..

john-paul 9th May 2011 11:31

seen this at matalan at weston way few weeks ago..looks good.. first think i thought was, thats not getting stuck anywhere lol.

Lionsden 9th May 2011 17:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by john-paul (Post 5299097)
seen this at matalan at weston way few weeks ago..looks good.. first think i thought was, thats not getting stuck anywhere lol.

Cheers!!! Yeah I'll probably have been taking my son to the pet shop there.

Lionsden 1st June 2011 17:10

Well, a small update to add that she has just passed her first MOT in my ownership, got an advisory for a deteriorating steering rack gaiter, and had to give her an italian tune-up prior to smoke test but she then sailed through that aswell. Last year she just scraped smoke test at 2.65 1/m this year she got a healthy 0.65 1/m. That's now 1 year repair free motoring for the first time in about 15 years!!!!

Dano 1st June 2011 17:16

That thing is a beast!

theres one on my road, but doesnt have all the fancy add-ons like yours.. oh and it has stupid mirror style window tints :homme:

Love Yours.. proper tonka truck for grown ups :y:

Lionsden 1st June 2011 18:46

Thanks!! Yeah that's how mine began, there is still a lot I want to do to her, but she's getting there. Yeah the mirror tints are a bit much on the green L400 they don't look too bad on the silver ones, I have done my back window mirror so it acts like a downward periscope with the reversing mirror.

Lionsden 9th June 2011 15:15

Centre caps finished with domed reflective yellow inserts:




Salem 10th June 2011 22:53

Good machine!

Prickle 10th June 2011 23:08

Looks good, minus all the stickers..

Lionsden 12th June 2011 17:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by John_G (Post 5368678)
Looks good, minus all the stickers..

Cheers!! But it'll be getting a lot more stickers!!! Full side decals soon of my own design. It needs them to hide all the car park door dings, until I can afford to give it a full respray. That's next summers jobs body work and paint work. Waxoiling underside next month, mmm, nice job!!! NOT!!

LSOfreak 13th September 2011 01:19

i love tbh ... different

Lionsden 15th September 2011 16:16

Thanks, she is a very 'Marmite' car.

corey-b 15th September 2011 19:13

MUD SLUT!! HITTING EVERY HOLE!! u got that sticker? if not.. u need it lol

mechsman 15th September 2011 21:56

This beast looks great! :). Am I right in thinking these are essentially the mitsubishi shogun lwb chassis and running gear with a different body? What's it like off-road with those approach and departure angles?

Lionsden 7th October 2011 12:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by mechsman (Post 5559950)
This beast looks great! :). Am I right in thinking these are essentially the mitsubishi shogun lwb chassis and running gear with a different body? What's it like off-road with those approach and departure angles?

Thanks!!

Nearly, they run on the same super-select gears, same 2.8td enigine (4m40), but they have a monocoque body/chasis.

It's great off road, will follow a Disco anywhere.

I've caught the tow bar a few times on really steep climbs, but there's still a lot of room there. I don't try anything too damaging as she is still my daily drive.

Lionsden 10th October 2011 13:41

Last weekend I managed to paint my parking poles, just to fit a few LED's now....







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