Offroad-Express

so the mods are starting and thought ide start a build thread, im sure as i go the list will get longer before it gets shorter.
i dont like doing thinhs twice so if im pulling something out and its old or out of date ill replace it.

plans
*tidy up body/ rust repairs
*3.8 comy conv
*rear disc conv
*high steer
*rears up front
*rear locker
*side protection
*winch

doing a ute chop and decided againsnt bob-tailing, because of the work involved and I didnt want to reduce deck space, so I instead decided to chop the tailgate and rear quarted panels (like what they do on the safaris/patrols), these areas are always getting smashed, and mine were all stacked in anyways and wanted them tidyed up so thought ide do it all at once, ive gained over 4 inches of clearance, though 30mm of that was the body lift too, reason i cut where i did was to keep tailgate hinges still in tact and working from original mounts, if i was to cut higher i would have had to modify that, today got all panels cut and re-fitted bar to suit, looks good i rekon, and factory.

tailgate cut

panels cut wit bar in original position

note where vertical bar is sitting and compare to last pic

bar re-fitted to suit

Looks good mate, A job well done!

nice job dude,that looks like a good effort,and should make a decent amount of difference off road for ya

its great you are doing all this work on yours so i can copy it bruv . looks great.

Looks sharp.
Have you just folded the excess to close off the bottoms or are you grafting new bits in?

sublime wrote:its great you are doing all this work on yours so i can copy it bruv . looks great.

copying it you can do but have fun, i aint too fond of all that cutting and grinding

rokhound wrote:Looks sharp.
Have you just folded the excess to close off the bottoms or are you grafting new bits in?

grafting in new bits, thought about folding it but with the ribs on the inside skin that would have been a prick, hope my panelbeater mate dont mind welding new bits in, too bad cause thats the only option now

lookin good . does the tail gate still open?

yep it does still work

UBZ wrote:lookin good . does the tail gate still open?

hhmm... umm yep... no, i fcuked up there.... never assume...
as standard, the tailgate is at its lowest point closed, when open, with the offset of the hinges the bottom of the tailgate kicks back and under, but as ive got it now, hinges are the lowest point, and when open, the gate sits 20mm lower, so im gona have to hang the tailgate so its opens side ways... so ive lost my seat/table

Had a sneaking suspicion that might be the case.

Bugger

tell me now

no dramas though, wasnt even gona have a tailgate, or was gona weld it shut and graft gate to body, dont realy need it functional now its a ute

hey mate its looking good ,, im jealous of your surf though, solid axle surfs are bloody hard to find(as you are probably aware.

do you know of any older surfs for sale in auckland?? I cannot find ANY

they were bloody hard to find when i got mine 18 months ago, which is why i flew to Chch to buy it, but ive seen them pop up more often since, maybe not right now but there are times when there has been half a dozen for sale on tardme at once

just gotta keep your peepers peeled, my 84 popped up for sale on here right bout the time i decided to look for 1. it was a mint score. . had to be quick though it was popular. i had it trucked up from napier without even seeing it.

When I got my lux I drove from Auckland to Bennydale (hicksville) to get it. Boy was that a mistake. Get one that hasnt been messed with and do it yourself and do it right the first time. Dont waste money fixing up someone elses mistakes - wish I had walked away but thats life and the guy that got mine got one in great nick (should be it cost me a fortune to get it that way) Any way end of lecture.

Love the virtual lift, its surprising how much wasted steel is in the back of those tray areas, just waiting to plow anywhere you go. Great job.

Heath wrote:
just waiting to plow anywhere you go. Great job.

I have never dragged the arse end of my surf on the ground to a point where it has impeded progress. Mind you it had a 75mm rear bar and was about 10 feet off the ground

Jdub, is there some way you can relocate the factory hinges? Even utes have working tailgates.

its a bit hard to see from pics but if you just dropped your bar 30mm would that fix it?i kno youve just redone mounting etc but yeh,might be the quickest fix and a working tailgate will make things alot easyer

rokhound wrote:

Heath wrote:
just waiting to plow anywhere you go. Great job.

I have never dragged the arse end of my surf on the ground to a point where it has impeded progress. Mind you it had a 75mm rear bar and was about 10 feet off the ground

Jdub, is there some way you can relocate the factory hinges? Even utes have working tailgates.

and you got 39" wheels????

mine is factory height, and i wana keep it that way, with 33s get virtually no guard rub, none at all in the back, have eliminated most in the front with my flash flared guards and the little i do get in the front will be fixed when i do hi-steer, then ill be able to fit 35s, so by chopping the excess shit in the back ive gained what you would with a 3" lift

muddyhilux wrote:its a bit hard to see from pics but if you just dropped your bar 30mm would that fix it?i kno youve just redone mounting etc but yeh,might be the quickest fix and a working tailgate will make things alot easyer

problem there is these surf t/gates are about 4-5" deep, ute ones are half that, so you gota allow for the depth of the gate when open thats how much it will drop by. The factory gates hung down below the hinges about an inch more than the gate is thick, so when there open they are an inch higher... plenty of ways i could fix it, i dont wana drop the bar though, ill figure sumin, not a priority

got tailgate all welded up, and side peices all grafted ready to be welded, and finished cab extension, ready tomorrow for a quick bog up and fit sliding window

finsished cab extension piece, fitted sliding window
not sure if i like how it angles back, may just cut it square, but i did it that way knowing i can always cut it later on

simply very nice

Looks great, leave it. Never change an answer on a test...go with your first instinct

cheers fellas, ya never realy certain of what something will look like when its new or custom.. will be leaving as is for now, not hard to change later on

looks sweet bro

looks bloody good. are you planning on sealing off the lower area of the cab at all?

and yeah i ended up getting an ln60 but had to get one from down the line, had to buy it site unseen tho.

JONO250 wrote:looks bloody good. are you planning on sealing off the lower area of the cab at all?

and yeah i ended up getting an ln60 but had to get one from down the line, had to buy it site unseen tho.

yep will all be sealed off

JONO250 wrote:looks bloody good. are you planning on sealing off the lower area of the cab at all?

and yeah i ended up getting an ln60 but had to get one from down the line, had to buy it site unseen tho.

same way i got my ln60

called in on my way home tonite, but you not home. it looks massive with the chop in the back