13x15 - 1992 AM General Humvee

[bunniefuu]

I'm searching for a high-mobility
multipurpose wheeled vehicle.

You probably know it better as the Humvee.

And with six and a half
litres of V8 diesel power.

Time to get the engine started, that is.

You've just got me all optimistic.

And now you're telling
me it's not going to work.

We need to get it back to the
shop and performing as it should.

More work for me to do.

Can we create a Humvee and take it to
where no mobile home has gone before?

I think there's plenty of people out there
that really want to go extreme camping.

You're going to need some kind of place
to sleep, a kitchen to prepare your food.

Making a profit has never been so much fun.

I like it, I like it, I'm getting excited.

Finding a great deal on an ex-military
vehicle like the Humvee is no easy task.

The military is selling them off
through live and online auctions.

And prices are going from
around $15,000 to $30,000.

But if I'm going to make a profit,
I need to find the right example.

And I need to buy it
at a rock bottom price.

Luckily, I know a licensed dealer.

Steve!

Mike!

How are you?

Good, good.

Look at you, behind lock gates.

Yep.

Eh?

You can see it's a military place.

It is.

What a lovely day.

Yep.

So I'm kind of excited after a
phone call about these Humvees.

I'm looking forward to it.

What am I expected to see?

Well, I got trucks that are all
the way from junk to really nice.

All right.

Any of them being used in the military?

You know, being used over broad?

Most of these have not been overseas.

These are mostly National
Guard or training units.

No b*llet holes then?

There's some b*llet holes out there.

Really?

Yeah.

Okay.

And price?

All over the place.

From $5,000 on up.

So we just go out, choose a vehicle,
and then you'll tell me the price of it?

Yeah.

Excellent.

Right, I'm excited.

Let's get me car in.

This compound contains
hundreds of decommissioned

Humvees in various
states of disrepair.

They're currently still
owned by the government,

but certain companies
and individuals

have a license to sell them
to the likes of you and me.

And there's a lot to choose from.

Well, this may seem a little daunting,
but this is nothing I should worry about.

I was born to do this stuff.

You know, the secret
is not to spend tens of

thousands of dollars finding one that's
pristine or $5,000 for one that's junk.

It's finding one at the sweet spot, the one
that needs the right amount of work that

we can earn a profit out of.

Screen's gone in this one,
holes all over the bodywork.

This one is just full of sand.

Now, I know how to spot a
bargain, but it makes sense for me

to use all the tools at your
disposal, and that tool is Ed.

Ed, how you doing?

If we can find a Humvee
that other people will pass up

as it literally needs work done in
the field, then that's the one for us.

I could do with you out
here as soon as you can.

Just bring some tools.

All right, mate, I'll text you the address.
I'll see you in a bit.

Humvees cost from $70,000 each to make.

That was just for the base model, though.

As you added armour, the cost
Rose between $160,000 and $220,000.

In 2011, the army estimated
that its world vehicle operation

was worth over $70 billion.

Where exactly are you?

By a row, Ed, of green Humvees.

Come on, narrow it down a bit.

Just keep walking.
I'm sure we see each other.

Ah! There you go, mate. Hello.

Good to get you out of the workshop.

Oh, yes, thank you. I mean, Humvee, mate.

Could we not have just gone for something
like a Chevy 4x4 custom, something simpler?

Yeah, we could have done,
but that's boring, isn't it?

I wanted to find us a vehicle, a
truck, that could really go off-road,

something that the extreme camper could go
as far off-road as they wanted to venture.

And these military vehicles,
they're really capable.

Yeah, but these military
vehicles are normally

actually maintained by a
huge team of pool mechanics.

So this is like an army of people.

Look after this.
It's an actual army of people.

But, Ed, look at you.
You are a one-man army.

You're like eight
mechanics all rolled into one.

And these things are pretty simple.
You can work on them.

I will admit that I'm actually been
quite keen to work on one one day,

but really...

See, you're coming round.

You're coming round.
You're beginning to love it.

I would never go as far as love it.

You are. I can tell you're coming round.

The only problem is choosing the right one,

because some of these, they
are in a terrible state of disrepair,

and others look like they're
just turnkey and ready to go.

And some of them have got
really suspicious holes in them.

Yeah, they have.
We call those character holes.

OK, can I go and have a little look?

Yeah, let me show you
the green one, first of all.

And there's another green one.

This one doesn't look too
bad on the face of it, does it?

Let's see if it starts.

You don't need any keys to...

No, look, that's...
That's just a flat battery,

but actually I'd be more worried
about things like the bodywork here.

And that's the problem.

You've got so many to choose
from, you can have anything.

These are good, with the old backs on them.

These ones are looking pretty bad, though.

Well, this one's got four doors on it.
It's got a top on it.

It's got some bits missing.

A bit ropey, you know, flat tyre.

Some of them are grim,
but you've got to think,

around here is everything you
need to put them back together.

What? You say you, you mean me, you know?

Us. Us.

Yeah.

Don't worry about that. I can help.

With so many to choose
from, the devil is in the detail.

I'm looking for anything that sets
one vehicle apart from the rest.

Oh, yes.

Mike!

Have a look at this. I think I've found it.

Have you?

This is the one.

Oh, I like it.

Already it's got the 10T back
on it, which is good, isn't it?

And it's green.
You always like that, of course.

What makes this good, then?

Well, I'll show you.
There's little plates just here.

See, these plates here,
this means this thing was

actually taken back and
actually rebuilt in 2008.

The whole thing was taken
apart and put back together again.

But then, better than that, if you look
at that little blue plate on the engine...

I've seen a few of these, yeah.

You can see that.
Well, that date there is 2011.

And that's when actually they
changed the engine, upgraded it slightly,

so it's got a slightly bigger engine.

I think it's a 6.5 litre, I think it is.

And then also, on top
of that, this alternator,

a lot of them come stock
with a 60-amp alternator.

This has got a 200-amp alternator.

It's also got twin voltages, so
obviously they normally run at 24 volts.

This has also got a 14-volt take-off,
so we could run all kinds of cool stuff.

Does it even start?

Well...

No.

Not entirely, but that
could just be a flat battery.

Loads of them have flat batteries.

I can see what you mean.

It does look like a really nice vehicle.

It's got all the bits on it, but, you
know, it's going to be expensive, Ed.

It really is, because this looks
like one of the best ones here.

Yeah, but you always
say, when you buy a car,

you should buy it with all the toys on right
out of the patch, shouldn't you, really?

See this?

When was the drive shaft ever on an options
list to be on the front passenger seat?

I Grant you, you'd be in better position,

actually part of the drivetrain underneath
the truck, but it's easier to bolt on,

and even if I haven't
got the bolts on this truck,

I've got plenty of spares
lying around, haven't I?

Look, mate, before you get
carried away with this truck,

because I can see that's happening, let me
just have a quick conversation with Steve.

Steve said prices start at $5,000,

but I'm guessing it'll want
a little bit more for hours.

Hey, Steve.

How you doing, bro?

Good.

Did you get my text?

I did.

With the tag number?

I did.
I know the truck you're talking about.

It is one of the nicest trucks out here.

You would say that, wouldn't you?

There are loads of
things wrong with it, Steve.

It doesn't start.

There's bits, you know, that
need repairing all over it, really.

Yes.

How much is it?

That's $12,500.

Wow.

Can't we do a bit better than that?

The prices are fixed.

Okay.

Can you give me any help?

Well, I could give you some doors or parts

or whatever you need to get it running.

Okay.

Well, if it runs, drives,
and leaves this yard,

$12,500.

I've just bought myself a Humvee.

Fantastic.

Great.

Thank you very much.

No problem.

So it was a two-man job
to find the ideal candidate.

But the teamwork doesn't end there.

Now we've actually got to get
the vehicle going to seal the deal.

Now, the closer I look at this engine,

the happier I am that
this is the right truck for us.

because there's a lot of surface
dust, but really, underneath that,

everything's really lovely and
clean and shiny and new looking,

which is a good thing.

There are a couple of things out of place,

but once that's sorted, I'm pretty sure
we're going to be good to go rather soon.

Aha, now look at that.

Now, these are some
pretty special batteries.

First of all, they're actually submersible

because, of course,
this vehicle is designed

to go through a Ford
about this sort of depth.

Now, another thing that's really awesome
about them is their cranking capacity.

Each battery can handle


so, of course, you've
actually got two of them,

so that's 1,500 amps,
which is pretty awesome.

Now, the other good thing about this one,

by the looks of it, they're
quite clean, they look quite new,

and somebody's saved them
because they haven't actually

left them connected up,
which is a brilliant thing.

So the first thing I want
to do, actually, before I do

connect them up is just
check what voltage we've got

to make sure we've got
enough to crank over our engine.

This one has just over


considering how long
it's probably been here.

And then the other side
is also just over 12 volts,

so we're going to have
more than enough to actually

crank this thing over,
so let's connect it up.

Where exactly?

I've been out getting coffee.

Fair enough.

It's actually quite a good timing, though,
because we've got some good news.

These batteries, right,

they would normally cost
about 500 bucks to replace,

but because they were disconnected,

they've actually been
saved, so they're good to go.

Really?

Yeah, which means we can start the car.

Okay, well, that is kind of exciting.

Right, okay, here we go, so ignition on.

Now, there should be this
sort of light here that says,

wait, so come on,
that's for the glow plugs.

A glow plug is a heating device
used to help start diesel vehicles,

very much like the element
you'd find in a toaster.

It's not working?

Exactly.

So, hold on a minute, you've
just got me all optimistic,

and now you're telling
me it's not going to work?

Well, look, it's going to turn over, I'm
convinced that it'll, I'll show you in fact.

See, spins over nicely,
but what doesn't happen,

obviously, is the glow plug light comes on.

Now, there's a reason for that.

Because it's a diesel, it
doesn't have any spark plugs,

so, of course, it uses the
compression of the pistons,

it actually warms up the gas,

and, of course, that helps
actually ignite the actual fuel.

So, you need the glow
plugs just to help with

that ignition right at
the very beginning.

Now, there's a little module that
controls that, and it's a weird fact,

but out of all the military
equipment that the Americans have,

this one little unit, which
should be under here,

that actual thing fails more than anything
else that they have, which is crazy.

So, it's the real
Achilles heel of this car.

When that fails, you
can't actually start your car.

So, I need you to go and find
another one of those modules,

but also, there's a temperature
sender, or TSU as it's known,

which is actually in the water system,

because obviously the car needs to
know whether the engine is hot or cold.

So, if you could just go and
find me a replacement one

of each of those, I reckon
we could be in business.

Well, listen, although we're in the right
place to go and find some spare parts,

I won't just go and rip
a couple off a vehicle.

Oh, God.

I'll ask Steve first.

So, we have our offending article.

Obviously, it's impossible
to tell from the outside

if there's anything wrong with it,
so maybe it should be on the inside.

So, this is some pretty
standard 80s electronics,

which actually just works as little mini
switches to actually operate these relays.

If I look a little closer, I
can see there's a track here

that's actually burnt out.

So, clearly, that has definitely failed.

Who knows what else it's taken out?

So, we know for sure this
doesn't work, which is a good thing,

because if Mike can find a
replacement, we should be good to go.

Ed, where are you?

Hello, mate.

How you doing, mate? Look at that.

Oh, that's good.

That is a, well, not a brand
new second-hand PCB.

It's a bit dusty, but Steve
assures me it's going to be okay.

Cool. That's great. Well done.

Yeah, it's good, but this is brand new.
TSU.

Wonderful stuff.
This is very good, actually. Well done.

Shall we sell one with the other?

Yep, I've even got the tape.

Fantastic. I'll tell you
what, why don't you

crack on with that while
I crack on with this?

Yeah, I can do that.

Brilliant.

I want you to find it hard
to find the end of the tape.

A bit like wrapping Christmas presents.

I don't really do that.

I've noticed.

I'm still waiting after all these
years for my first Christmas present.

So, are you saying, Mr. C,
we are near to firing it up?

Pretty much.
I've just kept it on this side.

I've just got the one to do on the top.

And then, hopefully,
our glow plugs should

work, which means it
might actually fire up.

So, what we're looking
for is the glow plug light.

Light to go on and then go off.

Right, so battery terminal is on.

Shall we give it a go?

Lovely. Okay.

Light on.

Nice.

Light off.

Nice.

Ready?

Yeah, nice one.

Good job.

That sounds lovely as well, doesn't it?

Yeah, it does.

Power steering works.

Fantastic.

Oh, wait, that's really good work.

That's awesome stuff.

Okay, well, that's, I
reckon, enough for today.

We've got it running.

Mm-hmm.

Tomorrow, we should get it driving.

Absolutely.

Cool, you've earned dinner.

Thank you.

Ed's got the Humvee running.

Now we've got to get it rolling.

Okay.

Right, now, look over here.

Bring that around.

Yep.

Okay, so, you see, what seems
to happen is somebody's had to go,

I just want to remove the gearbox, perhaps,

or play around with the transfer case.

Looking at that, that's why
everything's disconnected.

So, obviously, we've got the
prop shaft that's inside the truck.

We've got the one at the back.

that needs to be reconnected as well.

Somewhere in the process,

this gearbox mount here has been damaged,

so it could do with getting
a replacement one of those.

All right, so I've got to go scavenge it.

if you want some axle stands.

Yes, please.

Okay, I can do that.

There's loads to choose from.

Now, the transfer cage
is a really important

part as to why the Humvee
is so capable off-road.

As the name suggests,

it takes the drive that's coming out
of the engine through the gearbox,

and it actually then transfers that drive,

some of it to the rear axle
and some of it to the front axle.

Now, of course, when you're driving
around, going around different corners,

of course, the axles are
going to go at different speeds,

so the differential in
there actually helps

apportion that drive
to the front and rear.

Now, the problem with
any differential, because it's

trying to put power to the
path of least resistance,

should you hit some
snow or ice or even end

up with a prop shaft
on the passenger seat,

then, of course, then the stub
is just going to spin around,

and the Hummer is going to go nowhere.

So, to counter that,
you actually put the lever

in the cab and actually
lock that differential,

so it locks the back axle
and the front axle together,

so they both spin at the same speed.

And what that does mean is
I could actually just connect

the rear shaft here

and still actually drive the
Humvee out of this yard.

But obviously I want this
thing to work properly, so

I'm actually going to
connect to both driveshafts.

And another advantage of this little thing
as well is it's actually got a low gear,

so if you get really, really stuck,

you can drop it into low gear, because
that'll get you out of almost any problem.

with loads of extra torque.

Oh, hello.

That's what I want.

Axle stand.

Perfect.

That's one.

There's two.

I've had two axle stands,

and I've found some good seat pads,

better than our ones,

first aid box with all the stuff in it.

That'd be nice.

And I'm not going to stop.

I'm going to come back
and get some more.

Ah!

These are heavy!

There you go.

Fantastic, thank you.

Mike, this is the mount I need, yeah?

Do you need me to get you one of these?

Yes, please.

Right, thank you.

Now this is actually quite good news.

Somebody's gone to the trouble
of taping the bearing caps in place,

because it would be a nightmare
if one of these little chaps

fell off or the bearings would
fall out into this gritty dirt,

never get them back.

Now I'm just going to peel off this tape.

to reveal the bearings.

I'm just going to lift the prop into
position, and I'm going to rotate the wheel,

because when I spin it,

it's going to rotate the
pinion flange, which

is great, so I can
get this into position.

Good, as quickly as I can.

Look what I got from Steve,

a transmission mount.

Oh, fantastic.

That looks nearly brand new to me.

Yeah, Steve hooked me up with it.

I just hope nobody's looking for it.

You know what?

My head's busy underneath.

It gives me a good opportunity to
have a really good look around this truck,

and what I can see,
I'm really pleased with it,

and this is the perfect.

extreme off-road vehicles,

particularly if you're
going to go camping.

No overhangs at the front.

It's got huge ground
clearance underneath it,

so you can really get
in the rough, tough,

and muddy stuff.

It's got loads of
space inside the cabin.

The bodywork
underneath was fantastic.

On top, it also looks pristine,

and look at the back.

That is brilliant.

All that usable space.

Do you know what?

I'm kind of pleased

that I've gone for this, a
Humvee, and I'm particularly

pleased that I've
managed to find this one.

It's just dirty.

The transmission mount that
Mike sourced is key to us getting

the drivetrain in order.

Mike?

Yeah?

Can you just get that props off that
was in the driver's passenger seat?

Give us a sec.

I'll pass it down.

Okay.

It's not lighting.

Now, be really careful

when you take that
tape off, to make sure you

don't pull the bearing
caps off the bearings.

Yeah.

It'll be very annoying.

They are military-grade
bolts, I gather.

What we need to do now is pop
this little chap back into position.

Okay, so that's everything done up,
so now we can give it a bit of a test.

Okay then,

it runs.

Let's go in.

so the driveshaft's working.

Yeah, well,

that was the first
thing to worry about,

but everything seems okay.

That's right.

Yeah, it's got brakes
and it's got steering.

Now, Steve has said

there's a little bit of desert
at the back of this compound.

We should take it out
there and give it a test drive.

before we decide to buy it.

Yeah, okay.

First of all, I've got
to say, suspension.

It feels really floaty.

Everything seems to be

working on all four corners.

Yeah, yeah.

Do you want more
padding in the seats, I feel?

The engine?

Yes.

The kick-down's good.

Wow,

plenty of power.

Really good.

So the engine's good.

Yes, right.

Mechanically,

it's actually really good.

No, no, I think that's exactly why it was
worth going for a little bit extra money,

if you like, to go for the best
quality we could get hold of.

I agree.

I mean, it's about where
we're going to take this.

I guess you've
got a cunning plan.

I think there's plenty of people out
there that not only want to go camping,

but they really want
to go extreme camping.

They really want to venture
where no one would ever venture.

They want to go.

further than
anyone's gone before,

and this is the perfect
vehicle to go and do it in.

The American military.

relied on this vehicle
to get them into hard

places and to get them
out of difficult situations.

So why don't we turn this into
the ultimate camping vehicle?

Now, I've just seen a couple of things in
the yard that could be quite useful for us.

Maybe like a
winch for the front,

maybe one of those little military
shovel packs they can get into,

maybe even the snorkel
and the exhaust hose.

Obviously, this thing can
go into big, deep voids,

because if we're going to
go down the camping route,

then obviously you want to go
as extreme as you possibly can,

because then you
start to need life support.

You're going to need
some kind of place to sleep,

protection from the elements.

You're going to need
water, hot and cold,

obviously drinking and something
to have a shower in, I guess.

You're going to need a
kitchen to prepare your food.

You need a place to store

both dry store food and also things
that can be a fridge for your milk,

for your tea, all
that kind of stuff.

I'm getting excited.

Be as creative as possible,

because I'm convinced that if we
get it right and we keep the spend low,

I know that we can turn out a really
good, extreme vehicle, and that way,

we will make a profit.

Right then, Ed,

the agreement with Steve.

was if I can get
it over the gate,

we bought ourselves a Humvee.

Nice.

Right, should we get it
back to the workshop?

Okay.

We are now the proud
owners of a 1992 Humvee.

A little too rough
around the edges,

more work is needed.

I think we're going to have pretty
much everything except for a kitchen sink.

Oh, no, actually, that is just
going to go down there somewhere.

Now, in the dust-free light of the workshop,
it would appear that our field repairs

were actually pretty good,

and with the benefit of a ramp,

I've now had a really good,

thorough look underneath,

and it would seem that this is definitely
the Humvee for us, because it's in really,

really good Nick and doesn't need
any further work, which is great,

because I've got a lot of work
to do on a camper conversion.

Now, I've got loads of
ideas for accessories,

but the thing is,

I need something
to bolt all those to.

Our Humvee came originally with a
canvas cover, but the framework underneath

was in no way strong enough to
support additional modifications.

We want to add everything
a camper would need,

but we all need to be able to take that
camper further into the wild than any other.

Well, I've started cutting all the
various pieces I need from my framework.

So, the idea is, I'm
going to have a base.

with a bit of angle iron.

It'll be down here,

which will become
our foundation,

but I'll just have you
bolted to the Humvee there.

And I've already had
these hoops bent up.

So, the idea is,

they're going to fit
just inside the angle,

like so.

It'll be welded in position.

There'll be a whole series of those,
and of course, then the accessories

will have a hang-off
that'll be bolted to this.

So, now I'm getting there, I
need to start doing a bit of welding.

But perhaps even more
important than the weld

is actually the preparation
and the positioning.

I'm tack welding the metal in place
before thoroughly seam welding.

With the weld on the
inside of our join complete,

it's now time to
weld the outside.

A little grinding smooths the weld
for a flush fit onto our Humvee bed.

Although the Humvee was
originally built as a military light truck

by anyone in general,
with this fabrication process,

the vehicle will more than serve
its purpose as an extreme camper.

The multi-person carrier design
allows for vast body modifications,

which means a
vast amount of work.

The hoops I'm welding into place
will support the aluminium shell,

which will protect us from the
weather and house all the amenities.

of our home from home.

I'm using a jig to ensure that
the hoops are evenly spaced.

This will avoid any issues
in aligning the sheet metal

exterior later.

It was actually coming along rather well,
and in fact, it looks like we're going

to have more space
inside than I first imagined,

which is rather good.

So what I need to do
now is add loads of extra

structure to make
sure it's nice and rigid.

But also,

I want to start thinking

about the framework
that's going to house all the

various compartments
for my camping equipment.

Converting this vehicle may add a
little weight, but at maximum load,

this baby still goes a full 55 miles an
hour, which is perfect since we don't have

any plans to drag race
through the wilderness.

We can really load this baby up.

Space and opportunity
will be our guides.

Well, our frame is now
lovely and strong, and you can

see I've already started to
define the various rooms,

if you like, of our
extreme camper.

Now, the idea is that this thing is going
to be able to go absolutely anywhere,

because once you get there,
you do want to spend your

time in the great outdoors,
not cooped up inside.

Now, we will have the conventional
bedroom area on the inside of the vehicle,

but everything else, all the other rooms,
are going to be accessed from the outside

of the vehicle.

So we will have our
lounge there with an awning

and, of course, all
your furniture for that.

Some storage
will be nice as well.

On this side, we'll have the
kitchen and the prep areas for that,

also the cooker, and, in fact, even
a refrigerator of some sort as well,

probably even an
Espresso machine.

I think we're going to have pretty
much everything except for a kitchen sink.

Oh, no, actually,
that is just going to go

down there somewhere.

Amongst the sea of humvees,

we found a non-driving, unloved


to become a serious
off-road camper.

But if we're going

where other RVs and


we'd be crazy to go there

without some extreme
off-road training.

And to help me today.

is this man.

He's called Tom.

Right then, Tom,

so what are we facing here?

What is this?

So this is rock crawling.

This is a man-made rock garden.

You want to take me.

up that?

Yes.

I mean, that looks
kind of aggressive.

The hill's got to be
at, what, 45 degrees?

There's boulders.

I'd say about 20 degrees.

I'd say 45.

We want it back in four low.

Right, so neutral,

back in four low.

Right, and then we're
going to use drive low

because we want to
go as slow as possible.

The other thing I want you to use
is continuous throttle modulation.

On your Humvee, if you
were just using the throttle,

when your front wheel,

you get all this power
up to get up that rock,

when you clear the rock,

there's nothing to hold it back.

The throttle's not very precise.

So you're going to get the
RPMs up into the power curve.

You're going to put your
left foot on the brake.

and then you're going to use
the brake to control the speed,

and you go a lot
smoother through these.

Don't let the wheel slip.

Don't do that.

Just keep going.

Nice, very nice.

Now, anticipate the
back wheel hitting now.

There, see?

Pull it up there.

You're doing excellent.

Now, when you get up in here, you've
got to look out ahead and see where

that next rock is because it's
going to be in your blind zone.

Aim for that little
rock over there.

Notice how it just
disappeared from you?

Okay.

All right, stop.

Stop.

We're going to do a pump.

So just back up a couple feet.

Just let it roll back a little.

That's good, right there.

Now, I want you to get
on the accelerator hard.

Get off the brake.

Off the brake.

Let it pump.

Okay, now back to your CTM.

You know, you're driving over
everything and you can't see it.

At the moment, all I can
see is sky ahead of me.

Yeah.

I mean, literally,

sky, whoa, that one's
going to tip us over that one.

Well, I've got one more
thing I'd really like you to do.

Don't say roll into a ball
of death or, you know.

Yeah, it's close.

I'd like you to do a


Oh, I beg your pardon?



Now, the Humvee
is capable of 40.

Put your right tire right
along this vegetation.

Just miss that white rock.

Yeah.

Oh, it's going to
tip over, isn't it?

I don't think so.

We're at 30,

almost 35 here.



There, it's 30 there.

Look at, look over here.

I can't look at a Gauge.

Oh, no, that feels like
it's going to go over.

You want to keep your
wheels straight because

the voids that run the
circumference of the.

tires will bite in on
the downhill side

and keep you from sliding.

That is incredible,

isn't it?

You can come down.

Just work your
way down to the left.

Yeah, please, that's good.

I like working my
way down to the left.

Let's not do it again, though.

That was good.

I'm glad I've done that.

You don't want to
try it the other way?

No.

It might feel better if you're
uphill instead of downhill.

No, it's really good.

I'm glad I've done that.

Pat on the back, please.

Yeah, there you go.

Thank you very much.

Good job.

Well, I've got to tell you,

after your instruction
and doing this today,

I feel so much more confident, and
now I can't wait to get our Humvee out

into the wilderness
and give it a good time.

As you can see,

we've now got aluminium
paneling all over our Humvee.

It's looking rather smart, and
we've started to define those areas.

So we've got this panel here,
which slides out and then tilts,

and that gives us access to our storage area
and gives us a nice little work surface,

which is low enough for Mike to
work with as well, which is great.

Now, we have our dining room
table and chairs here, of course,

and they are stored
just up here on a shelf

above the bedroom
area, which is rather lovely.

And then around the corner, as
promised, we do have a kitchen sink,

but that's no good without
a nice fresh water supply,

which I've already installed
in the floor of our Humvee.

You can see there's also.

a pump attached to that,

which means obviously when you turn the
tap on, you do get a nice flow of water,

but it's never going to
be awesome unless you

have hot water, and
that is my next project.

First, I'm going to
measure the placement.

An automatic centre punch ensures
accurate placement of my pilot hole.

This tankless water heater

is ideal for mobile
applications like this,

as it heats the water on demand using
a gas burner supplied by camping-style

propane bottles, which
are available everywhere.

Having established the
position of our heater,

I can now drill holes

to accommodate the plumbing.

Self-drilling,

self-tapping screws speed
up the process nicely.

Time to connect it up,

starting with

the propane gas feed.

Next, the hot water out,

and of course, the
cold water supply hose.

Right, so nothing left
but the kitchen sink.

Oh, yes!

I don't believe it, Ed!

That looks fantastic!

Well, check it out, we
have a water heater

behind this panel, so we
now have a shower area,

hot and cold running water.

We've got a storage
area, this is obviously.

the lounge and the bathroom.

It's all working
rather good, isn't it?

Oh, it is fantastic.

I'm so excited, and now I'm
seeing it in its almost finished glory.

I'm sort of really excited because
I've done some off-road training.

I've refreshed our
memories, if you like,

because I know that me
and you can both do it,

but now, after what I've been
through, we can go really extreme.

We can take this car anywhere.

We can go to the edges of
the earth, but before we do that,

we need to discuss what
we're going to do about the color.

Yeah, so the color is
kind of a tricky thing.

I feel like we should probably
demilitarize the Hummer,

because it is obviously
a little bit full-on, isn't it?

I think we've made a camper.

Campers are generally quite
hippie-like, so maybe we should go

with some pastel colors, maybe even
some big daisies, maybe even tie-dye.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Tie-dye?

Yeah.

Pastel colors?

Mm-hmm.

Daisies?

Well, they look really
cool, wouldn't they?

I really worry about you.

Sometimes the market for
this car wants the military look.

They want something that's
drab olive or it's matte black.

That's what we've
got to do to it.

I really worry about you.

Tie-dye.

All right, well, look, I'll
show you some other stuff.

Up here, we've got some storage
for our dining room tables and chairs,

which is rather good,

and also, of course, we've got
this lovely full-size single bed.

Oh, yeah.

So far, you've
absolutely nailed it,

and I've got a nice
bed to sleep in.

Well, no, no, that's my bed.

That's why I asked you
to get the sleeping bag.

Yeah, right.

In your dreams,

come to me.

Oh, yeah.

We're now surrounded by all the
comforts of home, and when a tarmac ends,

our adventure begins.

Whoo!

All right!

I was after the iconic American military
go-anywhere vehicle that is the Humvee.

Steve!

I didn't just find one, though.

I found hundreds,

so I needed some help from Ed.

Right.

I think I found it.

It wasn't quite
battle-ready, but we worked

through the night
to bring it back to life.

Ready?

Yeah, nice one.

Good job.

And once the differential
was reattached,

we were finally on the road,

or off the road.

Wow!

We bought ourselves a Humvee.

Nice.

Ed then set about creating the
ultimate go-anywhere camping vehicle.

We're gonna have pretty much
everything except for a kitchen sink.

Oh, no, actually, that is just
gonna go down there somewhere.

It certainly looks

apart now, but how much

did taking home comforts into
the wilderness actually cost us?

Well, the vehicle
itself was $12,500.

That included all the
scavenged parts from the field.

The camper modifications
cost us $5,800,

and the paint job was $1,400,

along with the
miscellaneous costs of $473.

This gives us a military-grade

total of $20,173.

and 62 man-hours.

This wagon means business,

and it's time to go to work.

Ah, look at that!

Now, that is one
mean-looking camper.

I absolutely love it.

And I love it in that color.

It looks so rugged.

Well, she's running beautifully.

I went over all of our field
repairs, and the starter

circuit and the transaxle
both work beautifully.

They're still tip-top,

as is the rest of the
vehicle, so she's ready to go.

Perfect. I'll drive.

Okay, well, it's probably better,
because I don't really fit in this thing.

Ooh, look at it inside.

It's brilliant.

I'm looking forward to this.

Right, run.

Ooh, look at that.

The glow light went
off straight away.

See, that's all fixed.

Does it start from cold?

That is, it starts reliably,

whether hot or cold.

Rather good.

Fantastic.

Whoo!

All right!

Oh, and it feels lovely.

Immediately you
get behind the wheel.

You have that air of, well,
superiority setting right up high.

Right, our first big
bonger to face, really.

Oh!

Oh!

But we're okay,

because we've got
about 16 inches of ground

clearance, which is good
for a vehicle of this size.

Did you know the Humvee has a 72-inch
track, which means it's pretty wide,

and because of that
width of the track,

it means it can go over like this on a
slope angle of about 14%, which is a lot.

Let me tell you.

Well, it's actually


What's really
interesting is this thing,

because of its centre of gravity,
it's so low that it won't actually

start to roll over till
it gets to 55 degrees.

Oh, well, we're not doing that.

We are not doing that.

I definitely don't want to be in
the vehicle when that happens.

Okay, I said I wanted to go somewhere
where nobody's been before, and I'm sort of

pretty determined to
get to the top of this hill.

But now looking
at it, I'm thinking,

this looks more scary
than I've ever thought,

because that looks steep.

In fact, I know that this
has got a slope angle that's

up to 60%, and that
looks like it's probably 60%.

Well, that's about 31 degrees.

Now, I still got a tail from here, but
it's got to be very, very close to that.

So pick that one up, mate.

I'm going to use a bit of CTM,

which is.

controlled throttle modulation.

Okay.

As you can see, I've
got my foot on the throttle,

and I'm using just the brake to fem-ret to
make sure I've got grip all the way round,

and I'm getting this up the hill, but you
can see I'm actually sliding off my seat.

Am I doing the right
way to reckon it?

I think you are.

Give it a go.

Or should we go here?

Give it a go.

Give it a go.

This is good.

This is good.

You say it's good.

This bit's not going to be good.

This bit's really steep.

Oh, it slips.

It slips.

Oh, that's amazing.

Just keep it nice and calm.

Nice and calm.

There we go.

Just don't look over the edge.

Whatever you do,

don't look over the edge.

Oh, yes, baby!

Yes!

That is absolutely.

amazing.

There is no way any camper
has ever been here before.

Never.

I think people are
thrown up here.

Oh, that is awesome.

Actually, it's quite
nice and flat here.

Oh, wait, that was...

I think we've found our
little campsite location.

That was absolutely brilliant.

Oh, look at that!

That is.

absolutely epic.

I reckon we're the first people to
ever consider even camping up here.

Absolutely, and
what a wonderful spot.

It's almost level.

It's perfect,

isn't it?

Right, come on.

Let's camp up.

Obviously, if we're going
to have our little dining room

table and chairs laid out there,
we're going to need a kitchen.

So, check this out.

So, again,

we'll pull it out,

pop it down.

There we are.

You are kidding me!

We've got a kitchen with
a burner and a saucepan.

We've got a little skillet
as well, yes, and, of course,

we're going to need to have
some coffee tomorrow morning.

So, to go with it, we've got a
little Espresso maker as well.

What about the food?

Where are we going
to keep the food, then?

Well, the food is actually...
No, we've got a refrigerator.

In the fridge.

Well, that's how
you food in the fridge.

Actually, we've got our
little bottle of champagne,

because we're going to
celebrate making it all the way here.

You've absolutely nailed it.

There's one last thing.

Obviously, once we've
actually had our nice steak

and whatever we're
going to eat with it,

a raccoon, probably,

I guess,

we've not been here.

No.

So, you can do

the washing up.

Does it work?

Of course it does.

Oh, that is brilliant.

This is the ultimate
go anywhere,

home from home, isn't it?

It really is.

If you need to spend an eye
up here on top of this Ridge,

you'd better get that
champagne cracks on,

and we'll discuss the price.

Okay.

So, we've done it.

We have proven that
you can definitely make an

extreme off-roading
campervan out of a Humvee.

So, I guess,

from these heady heights,

what kind of money are
we going to sell it for?

Well, I have seen them in standard spec
go anywhere between $10,000 and $15,000,

but this is in no way
standard spec, is it?

For that reason alone,
I'm really going to push it.

I'm going to go for
$25,000, which is around.



All we've got to do is
take a picture of us sitting

up here with that Humvee
at the top of a mountain,

and whoever comes to
see it and sees that picture,

they're going to buy it.

Trust me.

Definitely going
to drink to that.

Why are we drinking
champagne out of Espresso mugs?

Well, we are roughing it.

Cheers.

Now, the Humvee has come a long
way since we brought it back for life.

If you're after

a fully functioning behemoth,
then this is the vehicle for you.

If you want to go off-grid,
you're going to do it in this.

If you want a cup of tea
at the top of a mountain,

that's the wagon that
you're going to do it with.

Now, we've advertised
the car at $25,000.

It owes us $20,000.

That's around 14,000 pounds.

These two guys behind me,

they've come all the way from the
Netherlands, and that's a long way

to come if you're going
to go home empty-handed.

So wish me luck.

So then, Daesh.

Hi.

Guys, you've had a
really good look around it.

Yeah, we did.

Do you like it?

Very nice car.

So why do you want
a vehicle like this?

Is it for you so you
can go camping,

extreme off-roading?

Maybe once a year,

but we actually buy it for
my father and his uncle.

You really do want to
get rid of him, don't you?

You want him to go far away.

Well, trust me, he can
go as far as he likes in this

Humvee because this
vehicle can take on the world.

It will go anywhere.

And you tell me

you've come a long way.

in 26 hours, which is almost near to
the figure that I want for the vehicle.

I need $25,000 for it, and I
think it's worth every single penny.

Ah, well, my clothes were neat.

I think I did the largest.

Yeah?

Okay, that's good.

Yes?

That was nice and easy.

Well done.

Thank you very much.

You have a deal.

Congratulations, guys.

You just bought yourself
a cracking Humvee.

Well done.

When we first got our
Humvee, it wouldn't even start.

But after a field repair
and a trip for our workshop,

it was conquering mountains.

And now it's gonna live on out there
in the Netherlands where it's gonna go

to outreach places
and enjoy itself.

in that wonderful countryside.

And the good news is
it returned me and Ed

a very healthy profit.

If you want to see
more vehicles like this

being turned around
by me and the tall guy,

join us again soon
on Wheel of Dealers.

Ta-ta!