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11K views 117 replies 17 participants last post by  Tru Blu 
#1 ·
Thought I would start a thread / diary of my 2000 GU ute.

Purchased as a POS back in 07-08.
It was pretty rough. The interior was a mess. Bits missing, seats farked, headlining gouged, sagged and worn suspension, big crack through the windscreen.The motor however was not too bad. Had just over 120k on it.
I'm sure there was more issues as I can remember laughing at how someone could treat a car with such utter hatred......hahahaha..........I'm still laughing:rolleyes:


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#4 ·
Anyways, after treating it with the same contempt as the previous owner for about a year, I decided it was time to stick it in the shed for a bit of work.

Having had these types of vehicles for most part of being a liscence holder, I thought I knew what I wanted to do.
I can't believe how many times I have changed direction.


So....after taking it off the road, I met a great chick and a tribe of kids were ordered and delivered.

Fast forward to 2014 and I'm having a crack at finishing it. Yep.....I'm no speed demon that's for sure.
 
#5 ·
I will post a couple of disclaimers first.
I am not particularly good at fabrication and my welding skills.......or lack thereof are a ..........wanting. Hahaha.

Anyways, while this won't be everyone's cup of tea, I have had, and are still having a great time tinkering around. Some of the modifications I have done are probably not even needed to be honest. It's more the enjoyment factor of actually doing.

Rear diff trussed. Don't look to hard at the welding please...........damn is that a possum in the tree?
 

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#9 ·
You are probably correct PG. I have a bit of time on my hands and figured it wouldn't hurt providing I didn't warp it into a banana.

Thanks Sim.

Just need to weld up the shock and sway bar mounts. Might try and get it fitted next week.


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#10 ·
When I swap the diffs out, I will throw this in as well.
I'll pull the 3rd out and fit the detroit while I'm at it. I've only fitted the lokka types before. This needs the crown wheel.
I'm guessing that the diff will need to be adjusted for backlash etc???

More research. :cool:
 

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#11 ·
I was not confident to set up the detroit locker by myself. It worked out pretty cheap in the end.
Diff lapping QLD fitted it to the center.
Axle bearings were deemed OK and repacked with grease. Inner axle seals replaced. Diff fitted back into the car with new shockmount locations and tabs for the swaybar welded on.
I now have an LSD surplus to my needs, I'll throw it in classifieds I suppose.
 

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#14 ·
Cheers Brando, I'll spin it around.
Apologies for the grainy photos, it's the best I can do with my iPad though.......sigh.

Rear part of the chassis has been chopped. This was done a while ago now. I can't remember the actual amount I lopped off but I think it was around 300mm. Maybe a little less. The rear crossmember removed and then rewelded back on, there is no main fuel tank there any longer.
This may get annoying once finished and I actualy start using it.......will suck it and see I guess.:confused:
The remaining rear tray mounts from the chassis have also been ground off as these were getting in the way when suspension flexed. While I have left some redundant brackets here and there, it feels like I have chopped off a shed load of stuff from around the vehicle.
Just need to bend the brake lines back around the spring hat brace now I know that the suspension can fully cycle without fouling anywhere.........for the most part, and torque up all the bolts on the rear suspension parts.



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#16 ·
Sitting here a little bored atm.....so I'll post up another bit.

Surge tank setup.
When I cleaned out the fuel tank, it was full of crud. A $hitty job to do to be honest. Bloody sharp edges on it once the sender unit is out and your arm is jammed up inside up to the armpit. hahaha.
Anyways, fuel sucked from tank through a standard sort of ryco filter by a carter low pressure pump, then pushed through a marine grade replaceable filter doohiccy to the surge tank. From the surge tank to a bosch 044 high pressure pump then onto the noisy bit through yet another inline filter. Return line back.

Still needs a little bit of a tidy up and the fuel filler pipe refitted. I will probably re feed the electrics to this setup with a larger wire as the one I'm currently using is a little undersized.


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#20 ·
Yeah, not sure if it had been submerged or not Jamie. However, I removed the front flares to trim the guards and under the passenger flare was chocked full of caked red dirt. Almost the whole way around. Drivers side had stuff all. I figured something along those lines may have occurred.

I'm hoping to get away with just the subtank for now Sydo. If it doesn't suffice I'll try some sort of fuel cell type thing. 80-100 litres total would be heaps for what I'm doing.

Cheers for the ups John.

So, I changed break pads and noticed the calipers were in a bit of a sad state. Boots around the Pistons and bolts were ripped/perished. Weeping fluid. Rubber hose lines cracking.......hahahah....what a pos. No wonder the fukcing thing wouldn't stop. Bloody relentless I tell ya.
Anyway, I priced up a rebuild kit with new pistons and nearly fell over. Ended up getting a set of aftermarket no frills callipers for roughly the same price.
I probably would not go this way with the family car, but for a vehicle I'm going to be throwing at rocks etc I'm happy enough to give them a try.
Rear ones fitted first with the fronts fitted when I strengthen front diff. Next week if all goes well.


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#23 ·
The new rear brake calipers and pads are on and in. Was going to start pulling the front diff apart but couldn't be bothered quite yet. Storms are blowing in which adds to the pita factor.

So I decided to play around a little with the interior.
Finished off the soundproofing. It's a bitumous type of product which is applied with a heat gun to form to the applied surface. Not sticky or stinky though. Seems ok. Looks a little rough but I'm ok with that. The door skins were rooted along with most of the interior. Door skins binned. This is the final finish.

The original seats were removed a while ago, these were in a similar condition to the door skins, maybe even worse. No wonder I picked it up cheap. New frame bases knocked up to sit the cobra seats on. I'm pretty happy with these. Comfy and look good.

Replaced the dust boot that attaches to the shifter from the gearbox as it was torn, it was then I decided to change the transfer and gear sticks all together. Tottally unecessasary I know.

I've seen it done before and thought it looked good. I'm not too sure now it's done.......but hey.....too late now. They will grow on me I suppose.
This gear stick is a fair bit heavier than the original, sort of got me thinking that this may cause issues down the track.......another wait and see.


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#104 ·
So I decided to play around a little with the interior.
Finished off the soundproofing. It's a bitumous type of product which is applied with a heat gun to form to the applied surface. Not sticky or stinky though. Seems ok. Looks a little rough but I'm ok with that. The door skins were rooted along with most of the interior. Door skins binned.

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Hey mate, Do you recall where you bought the sound proofing? Or what its called? Couldn't seem to locate something similar on eBay.
 
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