Back into it - V8 Safari

[doddzee]

After a few years of just being a web wheeler I"m finally getting back into 4 wheels. Next weekend Im off to Wellington to pick up one of our old V8 Nissan Safaris that a few of you Wellington guys will remember.

This is how it looked in 2005 Specs are as follows


TBI 350 Chev
4" Lift
Warn Winch
Arb Lockers front and Rear
35" Mickey Thompsons on Beadlock rims.

The truck went pretty well untill dad did this





The body was fairly stuffed, B pillars were pretty bent so we decided to do a body swap. I never go this finished as i ran out of time before i went to the UK so it has been in storage since April 08. This is how it sits now.



So the plane are to drag it back up to Kerikeri and give it a birthday over winter.
To start with the plan is to strip it as much as possible chuck a
few fibreglass panels on it and tidy up the body.

I have a near new set of 35" Creepys on beadlocks waiting for it.

The engine will get a freshen up, ill remove the airtech snorkel and fabricate a 4" tube snorkel incorporated into the guard.

Long term plans may be a style side ute conversion and a wheelbase extension but ill get some use out of it first.

[haynzy]

watching with interest

[turoa]

Holy #### yes!! Good to see the old girl is gonna get some attention

[mikee]

Is your dad coxsy

[lilpigzuk]

Is your dad coxsy

Good shit doddgee. Look forward to seeing progress

[coxsy]

play nicely little boys

[doddzee]

.

[doddzee]

The old truck has a new home today after being in storage for the last two years due to a move to Auckland. Finally have a workshop and my tools again so its time to do something with it.

Looking for a bit of advise with it. Before the move I had the truck running ready to head off to the sparky to tidy up a few things and found the clutch had ceased so the motor needs to come out.

The motor is a 92 TBI 350 Chev, its tired and doesnt want to rev so needs some love. I have done some reading and it seems these motors are only good for 240hp with std heads so gets me thinking whether its worth doing when you can pick up an LT1 on trade me for 2k.

Also tossing up whether to leave it a swb bodied truck and put it back on the road. It will need a cert for the suspension and a few other things that have been done prior to it first cert. WOFS are a pain and after having a couple of trailered truck im not sure whether I want to deal with wof, reg, insurance etc again.

If I turn it into an offroad truck I will strip it as much as possible, cab chop, wheelbase alteration etc again much like my last truck but with less body work and more bars. Will also shift the ratiator into the back and shorten the chassis at the front. BUT I will have to build a trailer too and do the clutch in the 80 series so its up for the task.

Please chip in with your 2c, i cant make my mind up.

[callum007]

I have a similar vintage 350, a 93 firebird one I believe that had its tbi or tpi bits removed. It happened to be a 4 bolt version and it was given a bottom up rebuild. cost well in excess of the $2k you speak of. It was built in standard tune and is basically yet to miss a beat.
Hindsight.. I might have done similar and bought a crate motor or someone elses rebuild. but I have piece of mind that I know whats in mine..
Id love to dyno it just for giggles but it likes revs, and drinks av gas like its free.

If you can afford for it not to be a daily/weekend vehicle and its just a toy, It keep it a trailer queen. Cos when its broken, park it up and ignore it till later.
My 2 cents, which with Swedish rounding, counts for nothing!

[probie]

Mitch has a LS2 for sale

[skid]

Mitch has a LS2 for sale

wheres the like button


seriously though dude, it sounds like you have already decided on it being destined for the trailer, so I would build it accordingly and your previous safari would of taught you a thing or two as to what to do to it

[lilpigzuk]

For the Newbs that havent heard of dodgee, this was his last build. Is really shit the pics and vids of the build disappeared Even kept up with my old zuk around rallywoods

http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/Forums/ ... =18&t=1487

[DieselBoy]

and this is what happened to it once dodgee assed it on to its new owner.....

phttp://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/builds ... mwb-safari

[albundy]

Did that rollover occur at pucker park down at hanmer??? Looks very muck like the track I punched thru with my old safari pig.

Al

[petefj40]

Did that rollover occur at pucker park down at hanmer??? Looks very muck like the track I punched thru with my old safari pig.

Al

That's what i thought too Al.

[turoa]

Did that rollover occur at pucker park down at hanmer??? Looks very muck like the track I punched thru with my old safari pig.

Al

Na, tis in Wellington

[wopass]

steer clear of the crate "built in the usa" motors, they get made in mexico and 90% of the time are complete junk.

Re-build your own and have piece of mind, add RHS heads and a decent 3.75" crank/cam/rocker/intake combo and boom 350hp with a giant smile

[doddzee]

Cheers guys Trailer truck has been where I have been heading with most my ideas. Will get that motor out and stripped then see what it needs.

Before pic:



With the radiator going in the rear I will be able to cut about 200mm off the front and am looking at tubing the inner body work forward of the firewall. Been searching for pics of tube front ends but haven't come up with much. If anyone has any pics of anyone that has done it please post them up for ideas.

[lilpigzuk]

That one is in aussie, from years back, cant remember who. Saw it again in this thread on difflock.com

http://forum.difflock.com/viewtopic.php?t=53401

OP in that thread ends up with this, which at this point is more than you plan to go, but will no doubt end up with

[doddzee]

Cheers lilpig. That advanti racing one had caught my eye a few times. Looking along those lines but will probably leave the roof b pillar forward

[doddzee]

So after 4 months the only job I have managed to do on the truck is get the motor on the floor.

Have decided I don't have the time or money due to house renovations to put into the truck to get it to the where I want it to be so I'm going to part it out and put the money into the 80 series and set it up as a shiny/ tourer.

I will get a proper list up if what is for sale in the coming days but here is a brief list.

- 35x12x15 Maxxis Creepys, only used for one national trial on my old truck and have not seen pavement.
- 24 bolt beadlock rims, sandblasted and primed
- 33x12.5x15 GT saveros on 15x8 rims 1/2ish worn
- 32x11.5x15 BFG all terrains 4-6mm tread
- TBI 350 Chev, runs well but could do with a tidy up everything is there, good
- Marks adapter kit 350 Chev to Nissan Manual
- 5 spd box and transfer
- Front and rear diffs with ARB lockers, Have 2 front gusseted housings, one with knuckles gusseted with caster correction plates and the other fully gusted.
- Front 2" lift 80 series springs (kings) & OME 80 Series Shocks
- 2 " rear Safari King Springs with 2" adjustable Shocks
- Howat Rear adjustable panhard and strengthened lower rear links
- Steering box
- Chassis
- SWB body, good nick, front end removed from A pillar forward, will cut off and sell panels.
- Grill, bonnet etc

PM if you are interested in any parts, will get photos up this weekend.

[lilpigzuk]

Bugger to hear Dodgee

[basics]

dam this was gona be good build up. good luck on the sale