WhangareiKE70

Sweet, will make something up (over-engineered) and get the local engineer to weld it up. My welding is getting pretty good/consistently better, trust it for a lot of things, but will just pay someone for this one. Just wasn't keen for paying $3-400.

Towbar related question: Picked up a towbar for free from a local GC for my Datsun/Patrol project. Would work well as is (solidly made, made by an outfit in auckland, still has sticker), but has a standard tongue setup, kinda keen to get a receiver hitch put on for having the option of a bow shackle for offroad recovery point. This, from what I understand, will require lopping off the old tongue, and welding on a piece of box for the receiver hitch (maybe with gussets). 2x local places I have tried so far reckon $3-400, which seems like a lot? Especially since I have told them I don't want it painted as I can have it properly blasted/primed at work then just put the topcoat on myself. Question: Do I have to have a "towbar shop" do this? Or can I just have it welded up by an engineer? Whole lot is going through cert, but this is probably a WOF issue? Every towbar I've ever had has come on the car and I haven't really messed with them before (for good reason). TIA

Well, Page 3... Rest assured heaps of work has been done on this, I'm just not sure how good I have been at taking photos. Got the body mounts all tacked up, and the tray welded back together Loaded them both up on the Lexus tow rig and dragged them into work one Saturday a few weeks back. Dropped the tray off to our resident sandblaster, had the whole thing blasted and epoxy primed, cost a grand total of 1x bottle of Jack Daniels, cheers work/Ian. Haha (Have since got it back, prepped it and as of yesterday is fully coated in black Raptor liner, loooks goooood, but forgot to grab a pic) Got the mounts welded in by a ticketed welder Bill from work (I know the ticket isn't so important/relevant but he is a much better welder than myself) took it by Shane Speight on the monday and got the ok on them, so I could go ahead and paint it. Got the flywheel and new clutch on, and finally got the engine in mated (ish, still need the last of the proper bolts) to the gearbox and one passenger side mount. Drivers side doesn't line up, only off by a little bit so will just make up a bracket between the block and factory mount, one of the jobs for this weekend. For the moment it is chocked up with an appropriate length of wood, custom yo. Put the body back over the top to do a final check for clearance, took a bit more off after this to make sure there is plenty of room for things to move. Put the intercooler pipes/joiners in to se what clearance issues I had for them. Cut as necessary, fold up patches, weld em in. Still more to do. That's part of this weekends jobs, worked on it last weekend but was doing paint stuff during the week (on the tray) so couldn't do any more because dust. Also semi-finished the removable rad support section, needs some more bits welded which are a lot easier to do now it is out. Got crush tubes welded in the rad support itself which I forgot to take photos of. Plans for the weekend are to finish the tray by cutting the aluminum checker (chequer?) plate to size as I have shortened the tray, and siliconing/riveting and screwing it down to finish it up. Other than that just more cutting, folding, welding, grinding etc, on panel steel. Might even make a start on the engine cover/firewall if I am lucky. Wish I had a bead roller to get some extra strength in this, but realistically it is probably all stronger than what I am cutting out as is. Chur, Hayden

Have been scuffing with a red scotchbrite metal prep pad, seems to be coarse enough to key for mechanical adhesion but not go through the epoxy. Have coated the entire underside, and a lot of the rest, so will be flipping it up the right way tonight and putting it on the chassis, then lining the top side as soon as I can. Sounds like I hopefully wont have any worries (honestly I can't do much about the area I have already lined, that stuff ain't coming off in a hurry).

On the topic of epoxy primer and underseal(ish) products (TL:DR at bottom): I am lucky enough to have a shed at work specifically for sandblasting. The guy who runs it said he would sand blast/prime the tray of my ute (Datsun project) for free, but wasn't sure when he would get to it. No worries, I have no life so can pick it up whenever and then immediately coat it in Raptor Liner i have purchased already. . Fast forward to last weekend, down in Auckland for a friends birthday for the whole weekend, get a call from work Sat morning saying it's all done and primed in 2k epoxy. Winner winner, except I can't pick it up until Sunday arvo. Got it home, ran out of sun Sunday and after work Monday, finally sprayed with Raptor Liner yesterday arvo, knocked off at 2:30 and did it in the heat of the afternoon. Put it on thick, so only had enough to cover 2/3 of the tray, used more than I thought I would. Broke until payday/today, so ordered some more Raptor today, but unsure if it will get here by the weekend (fingers crossed). All the info I have read regarding epoxy primer says to coat it within 7 days. If the Raptor isn't here by Saturday, am I going to be screwed? Do I need to find the data sheet for the exact primer he used? TL:DR what is the absolute longest I can leave the epoxy primer before coating it (dry stored in the shed)? Will 7 vs 10 days matter (spraying Sat vs Mon). TIA.

That would be awesome. The chassis that I bought only had the steering as far as the box wasn't aware of that. Got the engine and gearbox in the hole for the first time and realised I can keep the OG column as far as the firewall, so will mean I only need an intermediate shaft to adapt the collapsible Saf part to the Datsun column, which is significantly easier than what I was expecting.

Pic off internet showing the position of the box. No crossmember in the traditional sense as such, as it is a ladder frame chassis. But that round pipe on the far right of the pic is a crossmember in the sense it is a transverse member. Shane Speight has said it will need some form of collapsibility as he saw it with the body off but steering box still attached. I would be happy to hear he was wrong as it is less work for me, but I tend to think he might be right?

Any suggestions on who to talk to/how to go about getting a collapsible steering setup in my project? Not quite there yet, but probably going to go with option C from 7.13.1 in the NZCCM: "collapsibility into the lower steering column or steering intermediate shaft, by a sliding section" As it is a scratch built I have to have some sort of collapsibility built in.

I have the above type, have had my project (Patrol chassis, full suspension, 33s, gearbox, engine, tray, and cab, just no interior/glass/doors) on them for the better part of a year, no worries. Were from Supercheap, bought them second hand but they were still in the boxes when I got them. Can measure the thickness tonight if you're curious. EDIT: should note it's a 720 body not a Patrol body, fair bit of weight difference there.

As Cletus said, scratchbuilt definition has changed. From what I have understood (and this may have changed with the update, haven't read the full document) the only way to do a chassis swap and still get it certed but not scratchbuilt, is to use the same make/model/series but from a modern version of the vehicle.* For instance putting a D21 Nissan Navara body on a D40 Nissan Navara chassis. Not sure why you'd do that but was the best example my tired brain could come up with. *Your results may vary, take with a grain of salt, I may have no idea what I am talking about.

That is absolutely understandable. He (Shane Speight) hasn’t seen them before, asked me to get more info, so I have emailed the company. Will wait to see what I get. If it comes to it I will just shell out for the Superior Engineering ones. Just trying to save money where I can, but not at the expense of safety/doing things twice.

Hmm. Is there any way to know whether or not they’ll be fine without buying them? As far as I am aware, nobody in NZ stocks them. From what I understand the back of the drop box is sandwiched between the chassis and gearbox crossmember, and the front end is supported by a bolt that bolts up to where the original pin from the end of the factory radius arm goes in. 4” is what I have gone for in terms of lift, I may live to regret it, but I am committed at this point, a lot of the components I have already purchased are for a 4” lift. Is the problem with the “sharpness” of the radius in the arm that it creates a stress point?

Yeah Superior Engineering ones will be what I will get if these end up being not cert worthy. Just the fact that they are about twice the price puts me off.

Yeah Superior Engineering ones will be what I will get if these end up being not cert worthy. Just the fact that they are about twice the price puts me off.

Cheers for the reply. Caster correction is part of it, they also change from a pin to a radius bush on the chassis end so they allow more articulation. The bush goes between the 2 plates so could be why they don't look as strong? As they aren't boxed in between the plates. Will be keen to hear what Clint has to say.