Rob's 416 DoKa Project (below)
 
 

Dear friends and fellow life enthusiasts,

I have been a little scarce of late.  This has been in part to due to the indulging of a childhood fantasy.  An unfortunate lapse of reason resulted in the sale of my lovely Betty (1113 6x6) on the banks of the Kavango RIver (northern Namibia / southern Angola border) in December.  I suffered terrible guilt and sellers remorse and resolved to reanimate one last beast, the ultimate land machine and probably the most capable all-round off-road vehicle ever produced until the current Mog.

I was very pleased to relieve an aborted but immaculate restoration project from an excellent and similar-minded enthusiast and try an entirely professional restoration for the first time.  This Unimog 416 double-cab was born in 1984 and probably served as a German municipal fire truck before being converted for over-landing,  It was abandoned in SA, then purchased for rebuilding around 2000 where is was carefully stored and worked on sporadically since.  The last 6 weeks has seen the second half of this usually slow and frustrating phase and has passed through the hands of just 12 local businesses to have her make her first Sodwana Beach tractor / ski-boat sand rescue yesterday.

Some of you may enjoy the blurb on the work done, the unusual combination of gadgetry and the roadside snaps taken yesterday.

Chassis blasted , primed and sprayed repeatedly in black, chip-resistant enamel
Full cab respray, original Mercedes Ivory
High tensile / stainless nut and bolt replacement
Cab mounts

Mechanical
Brand spanking new OM352 six cylinder 5,7l naturally aspirated 130HP motor
2 x new 150l diesel tanks with dual level gauge, steel lines with one return.  Electric solenoid pump to balance tanks. (safe 2,000km freeway range excluding reserves)
New Racor-Parker auto-drain water trap and primary, double secondary and tertiary fuel filters
Tuned injector pump
Speed axle gearbox / wheel hub reduction box portal axles (up to 100kmph on the flat!)
Simplified pneumatically actuated full differential and transfer case lock on single range selector lever (HIgh + Low + Low with transfer differential lock)
6 speed splinter box.  High Range Forward: 4 forward, 2 reverse.  Low Range Forward: 4 forward, 2 reverse, with or without difflock.  Low Range Reverse: 2 forward, 4 reverse with or without difflock.  Mechanical gate gearbox idiot-proofing.
Halda Tripmaster redundant mechanical odometer
Original VDO tachometer with paper recorder
High volume belt-driven air compressor
Dash handbrake.  Independent rear cable duplicated system
Prop shafts balance
Wheel/axle balance

Brakes
Double plate disc brakes
New pads
Brake hoses replaced with steel lines
Brake air booster

Electrical
Full rewire with dual 12V battery negative earth system
New heavy duty alternator
Second 98AH truck battery with ignition solenoid
3 x external 12V weatherproof glanded snap-close power jacks for inspection/spot lights
Inspection spot
3 x cigarette lighter sockets

Gadgets, comforts and conveniences
Original roof-rack / roll bar
Double cab
Standard post spread spots
Roof rack folding halogen flood spots, two forward, one back
Cab-control 360 degree x 220 degree GE police 100W halogen pencil spot
700W two channel bridged amp driving four 6'" x 9'" boarded cab bench speakers with external weatherproofed glanded speaker jack driving mobile single box 2 x 15" earthquake subs and 2 x 8" pizer horns with 15m extension. Isolator switch, remote RCA and mini-jack inputs suitable for notebook / iPod / mp3 / players / TV
Blackberry Storm cradle charging display mount handsfree kit
Garmin Streetpilot 720 7" screen moving map navigation system with bluetooth handsfree telephone kit, mp3 player, full-screen rear camera view, AV line in for DVD/camera view, Garmin 2009 Comprehensive Southern Africa maps.
Two new magnetic Trimble roof patch GPS antennae's and channelled 2 x RS232 output 0.9-30V receiver units with USB adaptor for tracker, logger and laptop use
New 12VDC to 12VDC Meanwell transformers for powering sensitive electronics
New 12VDC-220VAC 50Hz 750W Meanwell inverter
New ISRI black leather reclining seats on adjustable rails
Full interior rubberising including engine cover
Steering wheel spin grip
New oversize, level, square original rubberised tray on rubberised engine cover for laptop, cigars and stuff that otherwise drifts about the cab
Heat / sound insulation
New exhaust with HeatFlow asbestos / glass-fibre insulation for cool, quiet cab
New hood liner and door panels
New floor watertrap mats
New sliding back window
New Skylark large rear sunroof
New Stirling oversize side-mirrors
Full air intake snorkel
New door rubbers
New original dash skin rubber
New Cherry Saligna / 30mm angle-iron full panelled high-side chassis mount bin with drop chained tailgate
Gearbox rear PTO take-off mount
45-60 ton front PTO shaft drive MB Werner Gagenau winch with both cab lever control and direct control, 88m of new galvanised 10mm steel rope with HT safety hook, new 20m 10mm galvanised steel rope extension / strap, new 10m 16mm galvanised steel rope strap, 2 x new 4m 4T yellow tree-friendly anchor straps, new 2T snatch block, 2 x 40 ton D-shackles, 2 new medium crow bars, 2 new large crow bars, 4 new sets of leather apron winch gloves, new plastic 8kg clout hammer.  Optimal for uprooting large and pesky tree stumps at 110 meters
New brass quick-coupler air take-off, new 10m Goodyear 10mm industrial braided rubber hose quick-coupler air line with new tyre-inflator, new Chicago Pneumatics 2009 1/4" die grinder with selection of new heads, new Chicago Pneumatics 2009 1/4" pneumatic drill and with new HSS drill set.
New hack-saw and blades
New Gedore open / ring spanner set
New Gedore socket wrench set
New pliers, side-cutter set, bloudraad, screwdriver set, shifting set 
New Fluke multimeter
Two new lockable steel tool trommels
New 120l rigid Safari Cooler that fits 8 cases of cans and plenty of ice while seating 3 people when closed
35l Coleman ambient cooler / heater
New Afrox 9kg LPG with 2 individual burner plates and gas light with 10m extensions
Spare wheel on roof-rack
Very high-lift jack on roof-rack
Wheel spanner and extension
The complete works of Raold Dahl, Bach, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Faithless, The Streets, Manu Chao, Paul van Dyk, Led Zeppelin, Magga Stina, Kent, Goran Bregovik, Max Raabe, The Cult, Detektivbyran and Schubert
New locks, catches and hinges with spare door and ignition keys on new original keyring!