Most (if not all) Shorties here came in via New Zealand years ago, eventually there was some rorting of the system going on with various makes and their actual legality so the loopholes were closed, I won't swear to it, but getting vehicles in via NZ is much harder now, I'd love a GU shorty.
To make a shorty here would require considerable and expensive, documented engineering.

 

Okay, so it possible to chop it though? Roughly how much would I need for it to be road legal if I was to chop it. Also where would I find an engineer to help with the documents and engineering of the chop? Or do you think it’d be cheaper importing one?

 

There are a few guys here who have experience with mod engineering, they would know more detail than I, but as a project it is going to be expensive I can assure you of that.

 

Okay sweet. How would I go about getting in touch with one these guys? I’ve got a budget of $20,000 but can go higher if necessary.

 

@JFF45 got any ideas

 

Only mod that required engineering that I did was GVM.
You can’t do much in the way of major mods for $20k.

Just google ‘4WD modification engineers’ as a starting point

 

Don't shorty it. Mid wheelbase it

 

You can’t even buy a half-decent LWB for $20k, so I hope your budget excludes the purchase price of the actual vehicle…

Rather look at importing a shorty from NZL. It might be harder than it used to be but it’ll be a lot easier and probably cheaper than chopping a LWB and having it engineered.

Also, between the B-Pillar and the barn doors, LWB and SWB share very little. The side panels and rear side glass is completely different, so no matter what you do it’ll never look as good as a factory SWB.

You’d almost need to get a SWB body from somewhere overseas and then fit that on a chopped LWB chassis if you insist on going the chop route, but I think you can probably put another “1” in front of your 20k budget to do it properly.

 

Yeah mate, I was given my mums patrol for 4k it’s got a rd28 with 350xxxkms. So it’s 24k all up I have

 

There'd probably be brake and lane change tests and all sorts of stuff to go through, as a chop would essentially be a unique vehicle, even if it resembles a factory SWB.

A quick google shows that Creative Conversions want over $23K to chop a 200 series Blandcruiser into a dual cab, and that's without any chassis work. Extended wheelbase, add another $10K. I doubt the chassis shortening would be much cheaper, and it would then have to go through engineering, whereas they've already done the engineering for their usual DC chop job.

I'd definitely be asking around about bringing in a factory SWB GU long before I started looking at a chop job.

 

Do you have any websites I can go to about importing one from NZ at all?

 

Just google "Importing a vehicle". You may be better off waiting until next year though, as the GU turns 25 in December. IIRC that opens up a new avenue of import as a "classic". Might be able to import from Japan then too, which may (or may not) open up greater vehicle availability.

Best to discuss it with the experts at this point. And several of them.

 

Does it have to be a shorty?? What about a van conversion?

Also, we need to talk about the elephant in the room. That RD28 isn't know to be either a powerhouse or reliable...

What about an engine conversion?

 

There are 100s of Nissan Elgrands running around in AUS, which was a JDM vehicle and never officially here. They all came in (and are still coming in) from Japan 2nd hand and there are many importers around selling them.

Why would it be more difficult to import from NZ and if it is, why not just import a shorty GU from Japan?

 

As said in the previous reply, none were sold here in Australia. However, they can still be imported from either NZ or Japan. I've just done it and my GU shorty is getting shipped here next week.
The whole process was time consuming dealing with the Fed Gov't Dept of Infrastructure & Transport and not cheap to do, but was relatively straight forward.

 

Hi, how about going to the new members section and doing an intro, I'm sure you must have a pic of your shorty so it would be nice to see that, a lot of us here love shorties and would own one if we could.

 

Spend 20 k on engine and suspension. Sigh 😕