[PB4UGO]

Hey guys,
Here's the build up process of my truck, my amazing truck! (It's a Nissan after all..!) It's a 1993 Nissan Safari GQ, 24 volts with the 4.2L diesel and 5 speed tranny. It came with factory rear locker, front and rear a/c with beer cooler, 7 seaters, large cargo roof rack and a few other little extra (heated fuel filter...).

It started as a spoiled Japanese truck that never saw any kind of offroad for the first 17 years of it's life. I self imported it in February 2010 with only 75,000km on the clock. Since then it's got a rude awakening!:wings:

I was lucky enough to get an un-modified truck, best platform to get my dream started! So the modifications started, and the fun! But before any mods took place and covered the basics; changed all fluids, filters and belts, replaced the headlight for lefties and took care of anything that needed it.

Mod #1
I replaced the 31's on stock rims with BFG M/T 255/85r16 (skinny 33's) mounted on Procomp rims. Now I have traction! Love that low squatting look but that won't last long, 3-4" lift is getting ready to be mounted...

Mod #2
Replaced/relocated both batteries with two Odyssey 34-PC1500 that punch out a nice 880cca each and also act as decent deep cycle unit (AGM so safe to run inside the truck). I used about 10m of No. 1 battery cable to reach the new location behind the rear passenger's bench. I finished this project by building a holding/storage box for the batteries. At the same time I installed a secondary 24v fuse panel inside the engine bay at the left of the firewall.

EDIT: I have since moved the battery directly behind the front seats and removed the rear seats. I'm using the 3rd row bench instead as it gives way more leg room for my kids...

Mod #3
Installed a TRABOLD remote (bypass) oil filter where the right battery used to be. I forget the specs but I believe the bypass filters down to 0.1 micron. Cartridge should be changed every 24,000km (15,000mi), the OEM filters every 3 years and the oil (synthetic) some crazy numbers (over 300,000km - 185,000mi)! Regular oil analysis will tell me how far fetch or accurate those claims are...


Mod #4
Removed the EGR, blocked it's original intake location and used a blocking plate at the exhaust manifold to insert my pyro probe until it gets relocated once the turbo goes in. One picture shows all the crap I was able to remove! And there's still another EGR valve behind the motor waiting to be removed!!!

 

[PB4UGO]

Mod #5
Removed rear a/c and 3rd row bench. It just got it the way of the cabinets/drawers to come... Before and after pictures.

Mod #6
Chopped the rusted front bumper's ends. More for look and slight better approach angle. It's only until the new tubular bumper with winch goes in.

Mod #7
Converted truck to run on WVO (wasted vegetable oil). On my veggie set up I'm using the stock 90L tank for my veggie and installed a secondary 60L tank for the diesel as I still need to use diesel on start up in the morning and shut down (purging the lines from veggie at the end of the day). Total of 150L of fuel available, good for road trips!

I started by mounting a 24v fuel pump to assist pushing the veggie to the IP. It's a Walbro FRP-16 24v.

Next was installing a heated Racor fuel filter where the right battery used to be. Next to it I mounted a 26 plates heat exchanger (HE) to increase even more the fuel temperature.

I mounted my supply 3 way valve against the Racor bracket so everything is all close together and also close to the IP. Once the oil gets hot it has very limited distance to travel to the IP and less chances to loose heat.

Final heating stage is a 12v 32amps Vegtherm inline heater with a sensor (thermostat? attached to one of my injector lines) to control the heat (On at 70 celcius, Off at 90) this way I don't have to run the Vegtherm as much (high amps), mostly just to get thing warmed up quicker in the morning and then as a backup to ensure the oil is always nice and hot. The 3 way return valve is mounted against the right fender, seemed like it belonged there.

Finally I mounted my ghetto fuel tank on the roof. It will find a better spot at some point but I had this tank in my garage and doing this way allowed me to get going on veggie right away. My future options would be to mount it underneath or build a 10L tank and mount it inside the engine bay. Not decided yet and not too high on my priority list anymore. The vent hose on the tank will be changed from a straight out to a 90 degree to keep it lower profile.

I'm now paying $0.05/Liter. I also recycle wasted veggie oil (I get it from a locale Japanese restaurant once they're done cooking with it). And finally I pollute a lot less. Makes me a Happy Camper!

 

[PB4UGO]

Mod #7
I mounted a onboard 24v Viair compressor under my driver's seat. Best part is that while running it's identical to those massage chairs sold for a couple thousand$! Lovely bonus massage! Put a gauge for the tank pressure and power on/off conveniently by all the other switches.

Mounted my 2 gallons air tank under the truck but it needs to move as I'll be putting my diesel tank there. I found another tank smaller in diameter but longer and FREE! I'll be mounting it inside the truck. All the lines right now are going to the rear for endless air supply (tires...), another line for a air horn and finally another one for the front locker to come.

Mods to come shortly:
1) 3 1/2" custom aluminum snorkel and air filter housing.
2) 3" lift (using custom made drop boxes). DONE
3) Reverse light. DONE
4) Front/rear tube bars and sliders. Front DONE
5) Warn 8274.
6) 24v-12v 50amps converter (Solarconverters.com)
7) Triple HID LightForce on front bar.
8) LED spot/flood light (remotely installed on magnet).
9) Air horn.
10) Replace as much carpet as possible with rubber, install sound deadening material and possibly some neoprene insulation.
11) Water/meth injection (project currently underway).

Mods to come sooner than later:
1) Rear cargo drawers and cabinets.
2) Turbo, A2W intercooler and 3" full exhaust.
3) Front locker.
4) etc.

So far the truck has performed extremely well on all the offroad trails I've put it through but the lift won't hurt. It loves to run on veggie and it's been a blast to drive since I've got it. :smiley_drive:

Cheers,
Mr. D

 

[PB4UGO]

Mod. #8
I got going with the insulation process, started by some sound deadening on the doors and panels. Takes mostly care of the low frequencies. A good friend found some interesting 1/2" neoprene for proper insulation. If I figure a good way to crack the headliner without making a mess I'll start the 2nd part of the project.

Mod. #9
I continued on previous projects by installing a 2nd fuel gauge for the new diesel tank and another one for the pyrometers.

The pyro probe is mounted on the exhaust manifold where part of the EGR used to enter.

I'll be building a better gauge pod at one point but for now I simply cut and shaped some 1/4" plastic using heatgun. Ran the wires through the dash where the pod will take place. For all electrical work I'm having amazing help from my buddy Jay, thanks mate!


Cheers
Mr. D

 

[plehmann]

sweet writeup... I'm currently in the process too of installing drawers and have a rear cooler... which I want to remove completely.. did you remove it yourself or did you get 'someone' to remove it ? would you be able to post the steps you took to remove it ? I remember seeing your writeup for what the insides look like and that got me thinking about getting rid of it too. I don't need or want it there and its just taking up space and using weight... PS did you relocate the batteries for the filer arrangement or was there another reason ?
thanks Piers

 

[PB4UGO]

Couple more pictures of the WVO and backup switches mounted on the dash as well as the temporary gauge pod housing the new tank fuel gauge and my pyro gauge.

Cheers!

 

[gf0012-aust]

very nice rig, well done... how expensive was it for you to do the direct import?

 

[PB4UGO]

From Japan to Vancouver BC cost me just over $3000 canadian. This includes auction fees and all fees to put her on a boat in Japan, boat ride over here and local fees. It doesn't include local taxes/duties which were another $1000 or so (can't remember). At the end of the day, I got her in front of my driveway for under $11,000 cdn. Not bad for a 76,000km truck without a single scratch/dent...

 

[PB4UGO]

Compressor tank

I mounted another fuse box, 3 boxes total:
Original 24v box
Another 24v box in the engine bay
And a 12v box hooked onto the 24-12v converter (box inside cabin on the passenger's side firewall).

I got some marine fuse boxes, they tolerate water way better than anything else. They can also be split for different power requirement. Right now I have them split in 3:
- no key power (good for exterior lights when camping)
- accessory power
- power only when running

Finally, I replaced my backup light with a more powerful one. Still a VisonX but this one is smaller and packs 900 Lumens with 35 degree flood, way better for backing up. I'll mount the old one on a magnet so it can be attached wherever on the truck for setting up camp. The previous light was 400 Lumen flood pattern which won't get annoying but still gives good light. Best thing these LED can be left all night without putting much stress on the batteries...

I mounted it inside the truck as I could see how tempting and easy it would be to steal the light. I cut some of the tint and built a foam surrounding cage to cut the reflection and glare. Wired it to come on reverse with an override switch so that I can use it for setting up camp (or blind tailgaters...Oups)


Cheers,
Mr. D

 

[PB4UGO]

Camper set up

Hi all,

My next project will be to build my camperized interior. After a lot of drawing and seeing how little leg rooms the kids were getting at the back I decided to move things around.

I brought back my 3rd row dicky bench and ditched the middle seats. As it stands there's way more leg room, better view and safer as well (no more kids opening rear doors while I'm driving)!

The plan is to build a storage box at the back leveled with the folded bench to be part of the bed platform. I'll also build a fake floor in the middle (front) for storage. Pictures will explain way better what I have in mind but it will basically be a modular system to maximize storage when camping (add modules) and space when daily driving (remove non-needed storage).

I'll need to relocate my batteries again but for now they are temporary behind the front seats. They'll either stay in the center behind the front seats or above the left wheel arch inside a storage box.

I have two young kids (that I also take camping) so I need to keep that in mind in the drawing plans...

Here's the first step, moving seats around and prepping for cabinets.

Cheers,
Mr. D

 

[Twinotter600]

Sheesh, I have some catching up to do......bet you're glad you kept that seat/bits!

 

[PB4UGO]

Thank you sir! Credit goes to you my friend...

Yes, time for you to catch up isn't it?!? But much easier when you only have one truck to work on...

 

[Twinotter600]

Well it's been busy. I am managing to get all the bits racked and shelved whilst still keep my garage fairly open. I need to build 1 more stand to organize the rear bumpers and bull bars. Then clean up a bit, mount the drill press and grinder, build a rolling cart for the torches, convert 1 of my CO2 tanks for use with the wire welder......I'm getting there. Tomorrow night I am meeting up with the local LC association and picking up a couple of hole saws for the nail biter fender cut snorkel install on the 5 speed. The 5 speed is going to be prepped for the inspection soon, once passed the bumpers come off, rear bash goes on and front PTO winch gets installed.

Sitting in the 3rd row with no 2nd row, now you know what room is. I might move my hot tub in the other Safari.....

Let the modifications commence!

 

[PB4UGO]

Hi guys,

Got a few updates over the wknd. After removing my headliner I insulated the roof with a low density foam used for sub-floor so it doesn't absorb moisture. I still need to add a second layer before calling it a finished product but so far so good (pictures soon).

A big change was lifting the truck by 3-4" by installing custom made DropBox (thanks Jesse!), new HD Dubinson coils and longer Procomp shocks. I couldn't bare the coils teal color nor the white shocks so I painted everything my favorite color; old Vespa green! Hard not to get carried away with painting more underneath...

Truck rides and looks great, what a change!*

I'll be slowing down a bit on the build up as I just jumped into another fun project; Renovating a heritage house... Should keep me busy for the next 10 yrs!

Cheers
Mr. D

 

[gf0012-aust]

mate, they are serious drop boxes...

well done.

gf

 

[PB4UGO]

 

[PB4UGO]

Thanks mate, yes these drop box should just about outlive the truck!

Above pictures are from my insulated roof, just need to add another layer to call it a day.

And these are some pictures I took today out on the sunshine coast of BC, nice Zen day!

Cheers!
Mr. D

 

[gf0012-aust]

how is the rear ladder mounted?

 

[PB4UGO]

Hooked at the top, screwed at the base...

Cheers
Mr. D

 

[gf0012-aust]

is that a factory fit? I didn't think there was metal meat behind that door latch area