[Padyatri]

Namaste and hello to all, from Australia,

All here are car and travel tragic's, I presume, so happy to be part of this forum and here is what makes me happy. Well a bit more than happy to be honest (Well, most of the time anyway).

MY 1971 Alfa Romeo Spyder, 2000 Veloce

• 4 cyl, inline, all alloy, 1962 cc, DOHC twin cam (bialbero), all alloy, 98kw block
• 5 speed manual, synchromesh gear box
• all 4 disk brakes
• twin weber side draught carby's
• Pininfarina design

For me,, the induction sound of those twin weber's is the sweetest ever as you throttle through the rev's.

MY 2002 Toyota Landcruiser HZj78R Troop carrier converted into a pop-top camper (sleeps 4).

Engine description:

1HZ, 6 cyl, in-line, belt-driven SOHC, cross-flow head.Indirect injection, NA. Diesel
Configuration In-line
Valvetrain SOHC
Valves per cylinder 2v
Compression Ratio 22.4:1

Fuel tank:

2 x 90L (Long range option fitted)
Unrefueled range on bitumen ~ 1,400 kms.

Drivetrain

Transmission: Stock R151F retrofitted with Toyota H151 turbo diesel box.

4WD System

Part time 4WD with manually adjusted ASIN free wheeling hubs.
Limited slip differential
After market Harrop-EATON rear electric locker
Dual Range Trans Transfer box
- Transfer Gear ratio - Low 2.295:1
- Transfer Gear ratio - High 1.000:1
- Modes – 2H, 4H, 4L all manually selectable

Brakes

Front Brakes Ventilated discs, 322x22mm
- Front calipers Twin piston fixed calipers
Rear Brakes Discs, 295mm with single piston floating caliper.
- Rear calipers Single piston floating calipers

Tyres & Rims

Front Tyre size 7.50 R16-8PR LT
Rims Split rims with inner tubes

Battery

1 x 12V Starter (Main batter)
1 x 12V Deep cycle "hotel" battery
Both batteries under bonnet

Recovery gear

12V, 5.443 kg (12000 lb) Bullbar mounted winch
1 x long handle shovel
front and rear rated recovery points
assortment of correctedly rated WLL D-shackles and snatch straps

Towing

3.5T rear tow bar

Air compressor

1 x 150 litres/min 12V battery operated air compressor.

TPMS

After market screw on TPMS

Camper van conversion

pop-top roof manually operated (double bed size)
sleeps 4 (2 x in pop top space and 2 x lower berth - similar to Indian Railways "dwitiya shayanyaan")
32 Litre fridde/freezer
50L fresh water tank with manual tap and sink
2 burner LPG cook top with 3 kg gas bottle storage
Range of cookware and cutlery including full Indian spice box and HAWKINS pressure cooker
DIY side awning

Communications

1 x GME TX3200 UHF base station radio with bulbar mounted antenna
2 x GME 2W UHF hand helds
1 x CODAN 9323 Land mobile rated radio with remote head & 9350 auto-tune antenna (spare wheel mounted). Operates on Australian Outback and Amateur (HAM radio) frequencies.
1 x YAESU FT857D Amateur radio unit with AYESU ATAS120A rear barn door mounted srew driver antenna.
(I have a Amateur (HAM) radio licence).

As is evident from pics, once a curry man, always a curry man

[Ace F355]

Hey Padyatri (nice handle there!)

Welcome onboard and those set of wheels are absolutely yummy, both Alfa and the LC and so is the food from the pics - being a curry man is good! Glad to see a true blue overlander here on TBHP, I am sure the land down under provides much more opportunities to explore simple pleasures of life, the landscapes are phenomenal in Australia, enabling enough people to prefer this sort of travelling for finding its true worth. Not to mention, that Troopy is lovely and although we would love to have something similar here, the bottlenecks in our own country are far too much of a hassle to deal with.

Nevertheless, we are kind trying to explore our backyards as much as possible. Please do share some of your travel tales in form of a travelogue or ownership review. Looking forward to hearing more from you.

[SS-Traveller]

Welcome to Team-BHP, @Padyatri.

That pressure cooker - so alien to the Aussie kitchen! But then, you are obviously a footloose explorer with a deep desire for Indian food, and what better than a pressure cooker to make an Indian meal while camping in the Outback!

Loved the Spyder - that makes it two of those on this forum, the other one being with Jeroen.