Last year whilst I was looking around for a Hilux I had to move house, and some family friends lent a hand with their diesel single cab DX D21 Navara. I had never really considered it much but from then on I decided it looked awesome: I maintain to this day that the standard flat steel wheels are useless and ugly up against the beautifully wide and dished Sunraysias but the flares are awesome, almost like broad shoulders.
I laid down $2000 for a white 1988 Cab Chassis 4x4 5 Speed Manual 2.7L Diesel ST with shitty steel tray, with 213,000 or so on the clock. Most of the transmission bearings were buggered, but since it had the FS5W71C in it, shared with half the Nissans and Holdens of that era, I figured self-repair would be relatively easy and cheap. It had some panel damage where someone had obviously beached it on a deep roadside gutter and the wing mirrors were DIY caravanning numbers, but I planned to replace those parts regardless of their condition. The chassis and engine were solid, so I went for it. I don't have a photo of what it looked like when I bought it.
At present the car’s more agricultural body panels have been swapped off for some stuffed Pathfinder bits; for the uninitiated the Pathfinder and Navara are identical from the B-pillar forward, so it’s got new-old one-piece-window doors, front fenders, bonnet, grille and headlights, and an alloy bullbar to replace the steel nudge bar. It’s also had five brand new wheels and tyres from a dual cab V6 Hilux SR. They’re Bridgestone Dueler HT 255/70 R15s, replacing the original Dueler HT 205/R16s on the front and Motorways of some sort on the back. Yes, they’re a lot wider. They fit because the offset is greater on the hilux rims, putting all the extra width on the outside of the vehicle, and the new fenders have fiberglass flares already, making it roadworthy. The spindle diameter on today’s Hilux is greater than on my Navara so Navara wheels won’t go on a modern Hilux. Not that you’d do that out of choice. The diameter change is in the range of +3%, so no issues there.
The transmission has been rebuilt out of stranded necessity with a new clutch, reverse set, fifth set with synchros, and all bearings and seals. It’d be nice if that lasted another 800,000,000km, since it cost more than I paid for the car at a princely three thousand and something dollars. Besides that are just niggly things like a new windscreen (Western Windscreens, VIC, $205), new front shock absorbers (OME Nitrochargers, $276 pair), the list goes on.
I laid down $2000 for a white 1988 Cab Chassis 4x4 5 Speed Manual 2.7L Diesel ST with shitty steel tray, with 213,000 or so on the clock. Most of the transmission bearings were buggered, but since it had the FS5W71C in it, shared with half the Nissans and Holdens of that era, I figured self-repair would be relatively easy and cheap. It had some panel damage where someone had obviously beached it on a deep roadside gutter and the wing mirrors were DIY caravanning numbers, but I planned to replace those parts regardless of their condition. The chassis and engine were solid, so I went for it. I don't have a photo of what it looked like when I bought it.
At present the car’s more agricultural body panels have been swapped off for some stuffed Pathfinder bits; for the uninitiated the Pathfinder and Navara are identical from the B-pillar forward, so it’s got new-old one-piece-window doors, front fenders, bonnet, grille and headlights, and an alloy bullbar to replace the steel nudge bar. It’s also had five brand new wheels and tyres from a dual cab V6 Hilux SR. They’re Bridgestone Dueler HT 255/70 R15s, replacing the original Dueler HT 205/R16s on the front and Motorways of some sort on the back. Yes, they’re a lot wider. They fit because the offset is greater on the hilux rims, putting all the extra width on the outside of the vehicle, and the new fenders have fiberglass flares already, making it roadworthy. The spindle diameter on today’s Hilux is greater than on my Navara so Navara wheels won’t go on a modern Hilux. Not that you’d do that out of choice. The diameter change is in the range of +3%, so no issues there.
The transmission has been rebuilt out of stranded necessity with a new clutch, reverse set, fifth set with synchros, and all bearings and seals. It’d be nice if that lasted another 800,000,000km, since it cost more than I paid for the car at a princely three thousand and something dollars. Besides that are just niggly things like a new windscreen (Western Windscreens, VIC, $205), new front shock absorbers (OME Nitrochargers, $276 pair), the list goes on.
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