Traveller Transforms His Jeep Into An Epic House On Wheels So He Can Tour Africa For Two Years

Meet Dan Grec, an avid traveller, who's planning to tour the entire continent of Africa for two years and 80,000 miles in his modified Jeep Wrangler.

But, it's not until you see the brilliant transformation of this little off-roader will you start to appreciate the ambition, strategy and dream that drove the project.

Dan Grec

What helped were the miles he covered from Alaska to Argentina - this helped shape his dream to own such a vehicle one day.

Grec explains how after much planning and saving, he finally purchased a 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (4 door) Rubicon. He modified this into a pleasant and solid 4X4 living space that would 'fit inside a standard 20-foot shipping container.'

A photo posted by The Road Chose Me (@theroadchoseme) on Dec 22, 2016 at 5:49pm PST

Here's a glimpse of the process.

1. First, he stripped the car interiors and got a friend to remove the stock roll bar.

Dan Grec

2. Created a new roll bar that opened up space in the back.

Dan Grec

3. Mapped a plan.

Dan Grec

4. Started on the interior design: "Dad and I designed this interior cabinet layout without having the Jeep in front of us. I built it exactly, mirrored so the fridge is behind the passenger, not the driver. It doesn't allow the seat to go all the way back, which I need to drive."

Dan Grec

5. Line the back with plywood cabinets

Dan Grec

6. Paid to have a Mercedes 6 cylinder, 3.0 L turbo-diesel installed.

Dan Grec

7. Another engine: It turned out to be massively more time, money and effort than ever imagined..... Then the engine blew up the week after I got it back :(

It sucked diesel from a leaking return line and ran away (google it) pegging at 10k rpm + for 10 seconds or so. Melted pistons, valves, injectors and glow plugs.

It was scary as hell and completed devastating. Years of planning & saving and then months of working on the Jeep down the drain :(

At this point I didn't know what to do, I almost gave up.

8. Another jeep

Dan Grec

Dan finally bought a 2011 Unlimited Rubicon, a welcome replacement that came at a heavy price. "This one has a 3.8L gas engine, and 6-speed transmission. I'm leaving the entire drivetrain stock. A gas engine is not ideal for Africa, but so be it."

9. He moved the cabinets again this time, but they more or less fit, and that fit the plan.

Dan Grec

10. "I'm expecting severe dust in Africa, so I installed a snorkel with dust per-filter to remove dust before it goes down into the air cleaner. It's more for dust than deep water, though that can't hurt either.

Dan Grec

You can trace the rest of the gruelling process here and follow him here and here.

This is what the jeep looks like right now:

Dan Grec

Dan Grec

Dan Grec

(Source)