The "Tank" - Big, Grey and Ugly ..

[AB]

It's amazing how much of a difference it makes....Looks a treat now mate!

[YNOT]

Love that grey colour, reminds me of the GQ I had

Me to!



Tony

[Bigrig]

Excellent work BigRig. She looks great mate!

What sort of 4x4ing do you do most? Beach work or bush?

G'day mate - I sort of do pretty close to a 50/50 of both - being I live in the Bayside suburbs of Brisbane, Moreton, Stradbroke and Bribie Island are all relatively easy day trips (although Moreton ferry is a bit expensive for a day) and I do a fair bit of beach work, however, the whole family loves camping so we try to get out to parks relatively often as well (was at Janowen Hills 4wd park last weekend for 3 days). A mate of mine lives literally right on the doorstep of Beerburrum State Forest and there are some seriously wild tracks up there, so do that a bit also (twice in last 10-12 weeks). A good mix to keep it interesting and depends on what we want to do - I wouldn't say I'm an overly advanced driver (far from it compared to some), but the rig hasn't missed a beat with doing what I've asked of it to date ... truck looks a treat at the moment as it had heaps of lantana scratches etc on it, so gave it a cut and polish and got the duco done for stone chips and deepers scratches - hence the shine (they acid washed the rims also, which bought them back to life too).

Thanks for the comments on the rig - he's thirsty, not too fast, and not the most comfortable truck on the road, but we love it to death ... nothing (and I mean nothing IMHO) beats hitting the beach or bush somewhere, setting up camp, lighting a fire and just kicking back whilst looking at the surrounds - I wear a suit and tie to work nearly every day, and I would give up 10 nights in a Hilton, for 3 nights camping on a beautiful beach somewhere with a rod (fishing of course LOL) in one hand and a tinny in the other.

[patch697]

I just read your title & shame on your for calling such a beautiful piece of engineering excellence ugly.....lolololol


Bloody nice Rig mate & the best way to get out & do what it is we all love doing in our Patrols....who rear

[Bigrig]

Ripped the side steps off today - getting new brackets (they were just about all seized), sanding back the pipework, priming and repainting (gloss black - killrust) - polishing the alloy treads, etc, etc ... another shot of the tank without the steps on also - looks tough, but unfortunately, my 3" legs have a hard time getting my in the drivers seat!!! LOL

Condition when I took them off:
Condition Before.jpg

Both sides off:
Both steps.jpg

Priming post sanding first side (3 coats):
Priming post sanding.jpg

Second Top Coat on first side (3 coats going on also):
Second Top Coat.jpg

Tank without steps - tough looking, but I need a ladder to get in!!:
Tank Without Steps 2.jpg

[YNOT]

If you come 4WDing with me you'll soon be taking off the factory steps to fit sliders!!!
I gave the factory steps off my first GQ (in the photo above) to my Dad. They were the perfect length for his R50 Pathfinder.

Tony

[Bigrig]

Funny that - was thinking (not the the piping is strong enough, but should be for what I do) of binning the alloy treads and whacking some checkplate on there ... as said, the piping is not meant for rock crawling, but would definitely take "a bit" of punishment in the interim ...

[Russell1974]

good lookin bus there mate

[Bigrig]

Side steps back on now ... no photos of the treads (let's face it, they're alloy treads) as all the work was in sanding back the bars and coating them with primer and acrylic ... new brackets/bolts etc all round also ... you know how hard it is to get automotive equivalent bolts and nuts for a GQ Patrol? Bloody hard!!!

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[NissanGQ4.2]

you know how hard it is to get automotive equivalent bolts and nuts for a GQ Patrol? Bloody hard!!!

Hey Scotty, if you ever need nuts / bolts and know what thread it is, just PM me mate, use to work for a nut, bolt, fasteners company and still get stuff through them at mates rates.