WhangareiKE70

Well, Page 4 dredge... BUT, I have been doing things. Like non-stop, really trying to get things moving on this. I have: -Made side steps/rock sliders, brush guard/flare extensions and a tube front bumper w/ winch cradle (not quite finished) -Almost finished the dog box to cover the rear of the engine. -Mostly rebuilt the front diff swivel seals/bearings/brakes (still waiting on some bits) -Bolted in 4' lift springs/refurbed radius arms/drop boxes etc. Panhard rod in to keep things centred, still need tie rod/drag link. -Made passenger seat plate/gearbox and transfer case covers (still have to do drivers side but that's the easy one, as passenger side needed clearance for transfer case lever. -Completely modified the firewall for Patrol steering column and made a plate to bolt in the Patrol column (still needs to be shortened at steering box end). -Made mounts for oil cooler and run AN lines to sandwich plate. -Made lines for catch can/mounted catch can. -Made funky cover for headlight hole that is now intercooler pipe routing (1 down, 1 to go). -Painted tray in Raptor black and reassembled, bolted to ute. -Installed bonnet latches, made mounting points for pins, installed pins. -Purchased a Wilwood pedal box and started mounting that. And probably lots of other little things, installed new TPS, had driveshaft loop made, etc. Just generally hemorrhaging money and time. I'm gonna just add a few photos here, and then properly update in the next few days. Getting any half decent pics where it is in the shed is difficult. (Dog box is a lot further along but apparently I completely forgot to take any photos) Cheers, Hayden.

If it is at all helpful, I have a TD42 PS pump you can have? I stole the reservoir off the top to use in my setup, but the pump itself is still there? Depends where your leaks are coming from. Let me know anyway and I can send it to you if you want it. PITA abut the cert check thing. Where is the closest one to you if you stay on the same island?

I have bought some Aeroflow bits from them already, they were the best priced that I could see. Added bonus they are like 800m from the workshop Dad works at semi-regularly. Will have a watch of the Skid Factory video and order some bits.

Hey all, I see plenty of kits using AN lines for power steering, which is ideal for me as I need custom lines and now have the kit to do AN lines. and they will fit in with my oil cooler/breather lines. Is there a particular type/series of AN line that I should use? Or, alternatively, anyone heard/seen horror stories of them not being appropriate for the pressures of power steering? For reference it's an RB25DET pump and a Patrol/Safari PS box, and I was going to use -6AN for everything bar the return to the pump from the reservoir where I would use -10AN due to the size of the barb on the pump (that line is low pressure anyway). Cheers and TIA, Hayden.

So this has come a fair way, have used a Patrol steering column very kindly supplied by @ThePog. Now have steering collapsibility etc. As I had to change the firewall mounting etc, I moved it along so that it lines up with the steering box and all is good in the world, except the shaft is still too long. This isn't too much of a problem, I just need to cut the shaft to length and have it re-splined. Is this a job any old engineer can do or is there someone specific I should contact/someone anyone can recommend? From what I understand this is ok as the shaft is just mild steel and isn't being welded? @cletus any input here?

Didn't meet anyone last year, will make a point of it this year if there is a spot/group park up. Also still don't have a KE70/Hiace is toast now (roly poly bad times), will be making the trip in the Lexus. One day i will come up with a clever name and change it, but it is not this day. But yeah, same as last year, will be there just for the day on Saturday. Always a good time.

Thanks for that Clint. Do we have any WOF inspectors on here that could chime in? All good if not, my neighbour has a WOF garage so will ask him next time I see him.

Hey y’all, Happy new year and all that. Trying to get this ute of mine sorted for cert/Nats, doing some bar work and am slightly confused by the part of the Car Construction Manual with regard to fenders/wheel coverage 13.5.2. Is the third of the circumference measured as a line starting from the centre of the wheel? Because the body is so high up over the wheel it makes it hard to get one third coverage if the line does start from the wheel centre as obviously anything lower than the chassis will not be covered except with maybe a mud flap, and does that count? See below for a poorly marked up version of what I am thinking of doing with the bar work (the bar will come out as far as the edge of the tyre to cover the whole tread then kick back in to join up with the slider/side step): TIA, Hayden.

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.

Haha I genuinely believe that nobody loves paint, but like many things in life the result is hopefully worth it. Cheers mate, didn't mean for my post above to sound so whiney/complainy. I am getting a solid amount of time in the shed as I am currently single/no kids, but just like a lot of things it takes 10x longer when you have to figure it all out as you go, rather than just doing it. But have been doing about 4 hours a weeknight in the shed and about 10 hours a day on the weekend. All part of the fun really but adds to the stress when you are working to a loose deadline (Nats 2020, not going to be the end of the world if I don't get there in time, but nothing motivates me like a deadline). One of the things that holds me up a fair bit is having to outsource because lack of tools (e.g. bandsaw for accurate cuts) or knowledge ( can weld, but don't trust myself enough for crucial parts like the body mounts). Luckily I have access to engineers and good welders through work. Am trailering the chassis in to work tomorrow and the body mounts will be welded up, and dropping the tray to our sandblaster at work to be blasted next week. So they'll be good things to tick off.

This thread is such a rollercoaster of emotions, I love it and it inspires me for my own Patrol chassis based project, but your work is so much better than mine and you achieve so much so fast... Also makes me want to pull the chassis back apart to have it blasted. But I genuinely don't think I have the time if I want to have it complete on the timeframe I have allowed myself. I'll probably just end up Raptor coating it when I do the tray, and then pouring a whole lot of wax/fish oil or whatever down the chassis rails. Anywho, as you were. 11/10 work.

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.