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Frame off resto underway - Dial-up beware

Firewall aside, that tub is in amazing shape!!

Enjoy your wrenching vacation. I'm almost done my wrenching vacation here. I took 17 days to do a good sized drivetrain build on my truck and am nearing completion. Not having to try and work on your project when you're tired after work, or in between family stuff on weekends is such a luxury.

Rene
 
how was shifting with the left hand? from the chair by my computer shifting in the air, it doesnt feel natural at all....guess just use to the left side drive

its going to be sweet. are you going to 4link it or 3link it?
 
Firewall aside, that tub is in amazing shape!!
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Yes it is, its going to make the respray a breeze compared to other cars/trucks I've worked on. The paint is completely original and as far as I can tell ATM has zero bondo. The firewall was patched during the conversion with fibreglass and has probably has enoungh rust for me to pull the LH side out. We'll see what the blaster leaves behind.



I took 17 days to do a good sized drivetrain build on my truck and am nearing completion. Not having to try and work on your project when you're tired after work, or in between family stuff on weekends is such a luxury.
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That is a wicked combo your running, I'm jealous as hell! :bow: Its heaven on earth for me right now, I'm wrenching/fabbing everyday and the weather is 8/8 blue and 70-80 degrees. Perfect temp for busting out the mig :wink1:

how was shifting with the left hand? from the chair by my computer shifting in the air, it doesnt feel natural at all....guess just use to the left side drive

its going to be sweet. are you going to 4link it or 3link it?
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LOL Ive been shifting with my left hand for nearly 25 years so it would seem real unatural to do it with my right. I suppose its like left foot braking (LH & RH drive vehicles have identical pedal arrangements), it feels weird at first and you have no fine control, but after a while it doesnt matter what foot you grab the brakes with.

The front will be a 3 link and the rear 5 link (or 4 with pandhard). The link arrangement for the front won't deviate much from factory specs for a GU Nissan and the rear will be based on this model but optimised for the K5. The two models share very similiar weight, CG, track and wheelbase so instead of reinventing the wheel I will draw on a couple of million bucks of R&D by Nissans engineers. The K5 will sit approx 3" higher once done.

Jas
 
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I'm thinking I will have the either the interior or engine/trans (assembly and fitting) left to do after two months, worst case scenario, both. As these bits can be done in the driveway and weather wont spoil any work previously done it wont be a too big a problem. The low garage is a real PITA and make juggling the chassis and tub once an issue.

If my K20 sells quickly then I will be cashed up and will sling some cash at new parts to reduce resto time :D. Things like tearing down and rebushing/cleaning connections on pwr windows motors is pretty time comsuming. Also the whole rig is going to be re-wired so I might drop some cash on a Painless system and have it flown over.

Jas
 
Its heaven on earth for me right now, I'm wrenching/fabbing everyday and the weather is 8/8 blue and 70-80 degrees. Perfect temp for busting out the mig
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Our weather has been very good the whole time I've been off too. Nothing but sun and temps in the low 70's. It's been a Godsend considering I'm working with the truck in the open carport and me out in the elements. If we'd had our normal October weather (rain and ugly)I'd had gotten next to nothing done.

Should ride nice with links and coils!! Got any pics of the Nissan you're basing all this on? I don't know about anyone else but I'm pretty unfamiliar with a GU Nissan.

Rene
 
The Patrols are pretty popular down here, they are outsold only by the 100 series Cruisers. It has to do with the soccer mums liking the more car like attributes of the 100 series Cruisers over the Patrols. The Patrols still run a live front axle and everything about them is beefy. In fact the diffs are comparable with 14ff and 60's, they are factory 40 splines and are pretty stout. The manual gearbox is a 'truck' box rather than the lighter weight offerings from Toyota. General concensus from GU/GQ owners is that the driveline needs no beefing whatsoever as its unbreakable with sane sized tyres and factory power.
The earlier model is the GQ and its shares much of its mechanical attributes with the later GU. I may pick up a complete GQ and throw the axles and 5 speed in the blazer. The 5sdp runs 4.62-2.45-1.49-1-.85 ratios.
I considered dropping in the entire drivetrain unfortunately largest displacement diesel is a N/A straight six 4.2lt and lacks the pep (114kW & 360 Nm) I'd like to have underfoot. Even with an aftermarket turbo its still not quite as peppy as a SBC or and not even close to a 6.5TD. I may end up dropping in a 383 SBC on propane as propane is 58c a litre vs diesel at $1.37 a litre. Even with the increased efficiency of a compression engine it will still cost me between 1500-2000 clams a year extra to feed and maintain a TD. The downside is the range on propane, I can only fit about 180lt on board and having to convert back to either straight gas or dual fuel for big trips to remote areas. But as the bulk of the work my rig will be doing is DD and local trips it may be the most sensible compromise. That and the fact I get to screw together a torquey little 383.:D

This is the GU


This is the GQ


I'm going back out to start stripping some paint!
 
Cool!! I always wondered why those never made it over here. We got stuck with the Pathfinders etc etc.

Rene
 
Had a few pleasant surprises when I started stripping the paint. The original paint was so thin on most areas that it almost all came off with one application off stripper.



Some areas were more like youd expect, the firewalls jute/tar mat was a PITA and the roof had been resprayed with a persistant undercoat at some time. Anyway lots a bare metal coming out now.





Frame has been blasted and etch primed. I got a heap of smaller parts plus the diff done at the same time.


When the roof was re-sprayed I'm guessing the genius who did it also was responsible for thinning the panel enough to cause it to lose all tension. I had to cut the inner liner to get at the outer skin. As its thinner than normal and as over half the panel needs shrinking I may look at other options to return it to its firm initial state.


There was some rust pitting start on the floor so out came the angle grinder.


All in all Ive never had a easier job on a bare metal respray. The firewall area however will be extensively re-worked to fix the dodgy work done during the LHD to RHD conversion. Everthing that was relocated was secured with damn pop rivets.

I've spent a load of time stripping paint trying to reduce the cost of blasting the rest of the body as the bill for the chassis came to just over $400. I'm hoping to keep the blasting costs to under 700-800.

Jas
 
***************Update*******************

Where do I start? The last couple of weeks has been a bit frustrating trying to get the tub blasted so I can finish the firewall and get it under paint. I finally got it in to get done and have since cracked on with some repairs and mods before it gets any paint.

I also discovered my D44 housing is toast and it was a catalsyt for a rethink on the build. Long and familiar story made short :rolleyes:, instead of rushing this resto I will build it to a standard not price. I wanted it done by December but I doing half a job really bugs me. I've had too redo all the crap work done in the initial left the right hand drive conversion. However did the conversion did great work with the steering, but every other aspect was extremely sub standard as far as I'm concerned.


Let the pic whoring begin!!!!!!!! :D








Finally back from the blasters........




I had to fab some panels to replace the crap used in the LHD-RHD conversion. Panel men please excuse the shade tree metalwork,








After reading a CK5 thread I double skinned the seat mounts. I also made up new fastner plates as the conversion work had the seats mounted though the floor with no reinforcment and 1" washers.



A PO had thinned out sections of the roof with a grinder or 80 grit during a respray or repair. The panel wont hold form after shrinking so I'm bracing internally and then refitting the inner skin. The black sh$t is rust converter as the outer skin was to thin to blast for surface rust.


Paint kit ready for action weather permitting.


I made up a couple of dollies and a slapper to help with the panel work.
 
I had a fat fingered moment and lost this post the first time I created it. I planned more pics and detail but its late and I'm overdue for a extened horizontal deckhead survey. I'll post up more tomorrow.
Jas
 
Did you find another D44 housing yet?

That roof looks like a PITA to get right, my roof was similar. PO had rolled mine (slow speed) and the roof was damaged. The 'fix' involved a couple of big gobs of Bondo and a white repaint so the waves would be harder to see.

Ease and availability of full convertable stuff here made my decision easy. I chopped it off and grafted on the '74 windshield frame. Roof problem fixed! :D

Keep up the great work, and keep updating this please!!

*edit* I just noticed that even the windshield wipers get reversed in the LH to RH swap...the only bit that still looks LH is the column shifter.

Rene
 
I haven’t searched too much for replacement housing locally as with the rethink on the build I will be looking to ship a heap of parts from you guys down here.
D44 housings here are never parted out and are usually sold complete, if I was extremely lucky and patient I could score a chev D44 for under 600....maybe. I've considered 78-79 F100 D44's, but as yet haven’t done the leg work to compare the width and 'C' arrangement. I could run F100 outers (5 lug) but I'd like to retain the 6 lug pattern.

I've decided to not compromise any aspect of the drivetrain build as I want this rig for remote area travel, so a 6.5 TD (instead of a propane 383) is the only engine that will do everything I need. It will have the power and fuel range (+1000k's) when loaded to make maintaining highway speeds and overtaking road trains a lot less demanding. It will also double easily as a DD and occasional tow rig for my muscle cars.

The drivetrain specs:
6.5TD - intercooler, economy cups
4l80e - manualised with manual and solenoid paddle shift (homebrew set-up)
241
Diffs - aaarrgh if only 14FF had 3.5 gear sets available. Although I'm trying to keep unsprung weight down for better handling, and I will never go near rocks with this rig, I think the combo of D60/14FF on coils may possibly have similar handling characteristics to a D44/12 combo on leaves. BUT and its a big but, 3.5 14FF gears sets don't seem to be produced by any manufacturer and that’s the gear ratio I need for 33's + 4l80e OD to keep the 6.5 in its sweet spot. The alternate or only option dependent on the lack of 14FF gear set availability is a floated 35 spline 9" and moly shafted 44.

I was planning on shipping a heap of parts previously, but ditched the idea due to shipping times etc. With no great concern for timelines my cunning plan at the moment is to use the proceeds from the sale of my K20 to ship as many 6.2/6.5's downunder as I can to offset costs and then retain the best parts for the K5. My shopping list will include a heap of other parts for resale and to upgrade the build. I could just sink the K20 money straight into the K5 and be done with it but I really like the idea of shipping whole containers of car/trucks into the country. Could be the start of something beautiful :wink1: I'll post up in the Classified forum once everything is arranged.

If all goes well with that venture I think a shopping trip to the U.S. will be in order. I've always wanted to get over for the Blazer Bash so I think I could tie in a trip to source parts and buy a cheap K5 to wheel for BB07 :D. That would be an awesome trip.

I chopped it off and grafted on the '74 windshield frame. Roof problem fixed! :D
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oh yeah..that thought has crossed my mind several times in the past weeks...everytime I look at it my fingers itch for the 4" angle grinder thats sitting on the bench saying 'Jason just pick me up, it wont take a second..just do it, go on, do it now, do it, you know you want too, go on lets cut that nasty roof, I'm your precious.........'

Anyway enough of my dribbling, time to head out and play with metal.

Jas
 
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How do they work the linkage on the column shifter? do they run something down under the trans? Or is it cable shifted?

I wish my blazer tub only had that much rust.:(
 
The trans had the fatest shifter cable I've ever seen runing up to the shifter linkages on the base of the column.

I was pretty lucky finding this K5, my last was so rusted and metal fatigued I considered it not worth the effort to restore, lucky for me someone else did. I cant believe how straight the boatsides are on this thing, it only has one dent above the tail light. The only other work I've need to do on the sides is removing the trim studs. I pay homage to the truck gods everyday for protecting this tub for me.:grin:
 
Great work Jason. What a project! I considered coils on my '78 before I cut it up and concentrated on my '91. That's going to ride real nice.
Where abouts in Oz are you? I have family that lived in East Kilara but have moved up to Noosa(sp?) now.
Keep us posted on the rest of the build. Good luck.
 
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