Chris's D21 thingo

[unkn0wn]

Chris
I bought that yellow top off eBay, from a different seller.
i just looked it up, he claims to have a 3 yr warranty and it was purchased on 24/06/12...
Did you want to try chase up a warranty repair replacement?
Re, Christian

 

[Chris_in_Ravenswood]

Cheers, Christian.
Unfortunately (for me) - No-Go.

Thanks for thinking of this for me.

 

[Chris_in_Ravenswood]

How about THIS for a BIG-wheeled Navara...

 

[Chris_in_Ravenswood]

 

[Bearindabush]

Now that's something to aspire to mate

 

[Chris_in_Ravenswood]

Now that's something to aspire to mate

Indeed...

 

[beno77]

Hi Chris, great job on the Nav so far. Just curious as to how much clearance you had between the top of the sender unit on the 80 ltr tank and the base of the floor. I tried it on my dual cab the other day as it's original tank was rusted out and I have a single cab doner I'm using. I found that I could only lift the rear of the tank about 2 inches away from the mounting bracket before the sender unit touched the cab floor. I'm thinking that a body lift would give me that extra clearance. Ended up getting another 60ltr tank.

 

[Chris_in_Ravenswood]

... <<snip>>... how much clearance you had between the top of the sender unit on the 80 ltr tank and the base of the floor. ...<<snip>>....

Thanks for the vote of confidence!

I've done a fair bit more since, but I have been too lazy to post. I'll get on to that.

As for the tank - I think there must be more than one style. The 80L tank I had was EXACTLY the same height as the 60L, but it was longer. The 60L tank went between a chassis cross-member and a dedicated, triangular, tank-mount that bolted to one chassis rail and didn't go all the way across to the other.

You can see it in this pic, bolted onto the tank on the RHS.

I unbolted this mount and the 80L just went the full way between two adjacent cross-members. The 80L came out of a 2-door 4x4 "Hardbody" style (with the bench seat and dash mounted handbrake) in case that is relevant.

How does your 60L and 80L mount??

Excluding the front bumper mounting bolts, (Which are a bit of a beeeaaatch because the holes in the body that are there to poke a socket through to get onto the head of the bolt don't line up), EVERYTHING is easier with the body lift!

Cheers.

 

[beno77]

Mine was the same. I removed the side mount for the shorter tank and added the mount from the crossmember for the longer tank. If i lined the rear of the tanks up along side each other the sender unit was further forward on the 80 ltr tank. It did come out of an 88 model so im wondering if there was a change in the shape of the larger tank. Not to worry. The 60ltr arrived today so going to put that in later this arvo. I brought this D21 about 12 months ago with a blown motor, hopefully finally have it on the road and registered tomorrow. Im up in Katherine and hoping to do a couple of days up in Kakadu at the end of the week.

 

[Chris_in_Ravenswood]

Kakadu - SPLENDID!
That sounds like a brilliant idea.

I have been working in and around Broome recently, getting ultrasound services out into the community. As I fly up there, I tend not to have a decent vehicle when I get there. This last trip, a friend took me up the Dampier Peninsula in his V8 Troopy and that was cool. Still - I'll know ALL SORTS of great places when (IF) I finish the Nav.

Have fun in Kakadu and remember to keep the rubber side down and the painted side up...

 

[Chris_in_Ravenswood]

Inside (because it is RAINING!!)

I never liked the old fashioned layout inside, but I didn't want to build a whole new dash. I wanted to add some switches, so I decided to focus on the arch that goes around the steering wheel. Here is a bit-of-a-bodge-up of the "BEFORE":

I cut a piece of aluminium and trimmed it to fit. I cut the holes for the switches and cut out the old plastic backing to accommodate it. I relocated the boost gauge.

Not done the labels yet, but it looks like this:

Still going...

Not wired yet.
Not labelled yet.
Not installed yet.
Doesn't work - YET!

But I'm working on it...

 

[Chris_in_Ravenswood]

Front Hitch

I built a front hitch, using all rated components.
The hitch receiver is mounted on a piece of box section behind the front cross-member and bolts to a box section in front of the front cross-member (and is the bull bar mount).

This allows the hitch to pop through between the chassis and body, in the 50mm gap left by the body lift:

I will next build a winch mount that will plug into the hitch (or the one at the back). There will be a pair of additional turnbuckles that will connect the winch mount on each side to the rated mount points in front.

The winch can live inside, away from water and mud (and thieving fingers) and can go on the front or back as needed. If I get really stuck, it can go in someone else's hitch and the jump leads can be deployed to power it.

If I REALLY get stuck, I can chain the winch plate to a tree and winch from that...

Lots more to do..

 

[Chris_in_Ravenswood]

Electric fans

Decided to ditch the viscous coupling and engine-powered fan.

Bought a thermo-fan from a BA Falcon and modded it to fit the Navara. Waiting for a new radiator to arrive and it can then be bolted to it.

Pulled the cracked plastic fan off the water pump and it looked like this:

Unbolted the viscous coupling and caught the silicone in a rag. Chopped the end off (keeping the water pump shaft/seals/bearings as cool as I could) and painted it.

Ended up looking like this:

New belts are on and now I am just waiting for the radiator to arrive...

 

[Chris_in_Ravenswood]

Got it all together (for now)

Well, I got the roo bar on, the front hitch works a treat and the rear step added weight to the back-end that seems to have re-balanced it a treat.
Armed with some spares, I was ready for a trip:

With some mates, we drove to Coolgardie with some mates and came back via the Holland Track.

Had a real ball! My first time dealing with muddy bog holes. We had a Terrano, a Pajero, 2 Patrols and my Navara. I am quite proud to say that I was the only one that didn't have any actual failure and also consumed the least fuel!

I did, however, have the most punctures. So - The LT's have gone...

The other guys were the best pit crew I could have asked for - everyone helped everyone and all had fun in the process.

 

[Chris_in_Ravenswood]

Weight = good, length = bad...

The weight of the rear step/bumper/towbar really helped create balance in my little truck, but I frequently had departure angle incidents - normally a loud C-L-U-N-K and a slither into the bog hole.

I am now in the process of shortening it (I don't need the step, as I have a tailgate) to retain as much of the weight as possible, while improving the departure angle.

I unbolted the bumper sections and offered the main part up against the Nav:

This will still retain most of the weight, but will improve the departure angle a bit. Now all I need is to "adjust" the other parts to hold it there...

 

[unkn0wn]

Righto Chris, this thread has fallen of the update train!

I just updated a years worth of crap into my thread, as i had been slack.

so now you need to update yours how its going?

 

[NavSD25]

Nice job mate

yeah im slowly doing my ole girl up
Nav SD25 4 cyl 1986
Getting there slowly but surely
isn't as rusted as yours though haha good job fixing her up

 

[Chris_in_Ravenswood]

What's Next?? I know now - Thanks to SILVER OIL...

Hi all,

Did a few bits and pieces on the old girl - Replaced the front bar - TWICE - and fitted an awning, as well as making up a horizontal mount for the high-lift and shovel. Takes up a bit more roof space, but I don't get caught up any more on trees...

Well - I've had "(Done more to it than in it (but working on that...)" as my tagline for AGES, so wanted to change that.

Starting to really like how it looks -

I've been having a BLAST and the old girl hasn't skipped a beat - Until last week.

Doing a "local favorite" - Whitehills to Preston Beach and all was going splendidly. I was the only one down there midweek and I may have been considered to have been hooning a bit if any old people had been watching.
I traveled a great part of the way drifting - "diagonally" is an interesting direction of travel in an old truck and I managed to find a place to jump it (only about 75cm of air, so not up to Mr. Knievel's standards...).

Arrived at Preston Beach and up into the car park. Aired up and started the drive back. About 10kms up the road I heard a knocking.

From the back end.

Regular knocking (a bit like a big-end would sound, had it been up-front), in the back and tied to vehicle speed, not engine speed.

"Bugger" I thought.

Had a look underneath and all of the UJ's looked good, as did the centre bearing.

"Bugger" I thought again.

I drove it home and (apart from the knocking), everything was fine!
(My get-out-of-jail-free-card, would have been: a: put it in 4wd and drive it the rest of the way home as a front-wheel-drive, or b: RAC tilt-tray).

Jacked it up and put it on stands. Wheels/brakes all ok. UJ's definitely fine. Centre bearing definitely fine.

"Bugger" I thought again - this is becoming a habit...

I have a friend who is the best mechanic I know (He was my mechanic before he became my friend) - Ron White in Tindale St in Mandurah (08) 9535 9292. I don't normally recommend people, but Ron is one of those rare blokes that knows what he is on about, is as honest as the day is long and isn't afraid to tell it as it is. Please don't mess him about - he's too good for that. But - If you are looking for a GREAT mecanic that charges a FAIR price, you can't go past him.

The first thing he said to me when he got in to drive it was "Can I laugh now, or shall I wait to drive it?".

We'd gone about 15 metres and he said "Something inside the Diff has let go". We went back to his shop and he suggested we take a look at the oil - just drop a capful and see if we can see metal.

Pulled the drain plug and this shiny SILVER liquid came out. "Cool" I thought, "My diff is full of Mercury!". Then it hit me. There was so much metal in the oil, it was silver!

Ron was holding this little metal thing, which I knew must be the drain plug, but it didn't look like any drain plug I had ever seen -

"Bugger" I thought, yet again.

We couldn't get the drain plug back in without dropping all the oil - the metal chunks were so big and so frequent, they just got in the way. Drained the oil, cleaned up the metal, re-fitted the drain and refilled with oil.

Drove it home - clunk-clunk-clunk-clunk - and put it up on stands. Pulled the wheels and drums off and that is where it is at right now -

YEAYYYY! I get to have a look inside my axle!!!

HUGE thanks to Unkn0wn (Hey, Christian) for being so helpful with this.

 

[Chris_in_Ravenswood]

Whitehills - Preston

If you haven't been there, this is a lovely bit of beach and is a really relaxed run.
Here are some pics to wet your whistle!

Looing along the beach on a busy day:

Parked up on the beach:

and then on to having some lunch:

 

[Bunkyone]

We will have to get that diff fixed, and my injector timing so we can head on out to the hills. So much fun to be had with these boneshakers.

G