Milly the Maverick

[90mav]

I bought a Zoo, I mean a maverick about 6 weeks ago to tidy up with my sons and use as a camping/ fun truck as well as to teach them to drive. My eldest has just got his 'L' license and has about 97 more hours to do...
The vehicle is a dark blue 1990 petrol auto maverick 7 seater (only 225k!) which came with a knackered auto box, so the first order was out with the slushbox and in with a decent reliable manual box and a new clutch.
The bill stands so far...$1500 for the truck
$700 for gearbox and all conversion parts and a set of fixed rear windows
$300 for new clutch
$270 for oils all through, filters, hoses, coolant etc.
$0 for the 31 inch muddies i pinched off my work ute...
So far the gearbox has been changed, she had a Christmas service and yesterday the boys and I gutted the interior, Gernied out the carpets and hosed out the inside.
Found a tiny bit of rust under the drivers and passengers foot well but no holes, and the usual cracking around the rear seat mounts.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with the truck and the condition of it so far.

Next on the agenda is a suspension swap using a 4 inch kit and snorkle out of a mates shorty he is wrecking to 4.2 his GU.
We are hoping to have it on the road in a few weeks so I can get out there in the bush. Looking forward to a trip out to Sundown NP to try it out on the rocks and scrub...
Pics to follow!

[NissanGQ4.2]

Good stuff, looking forward to seeing some pics

[Bloodyaussie]

Good stuff mate, pics of the work in progress is always good... people love to see how a plan comes together not just the end result.

Anyway hope all comes together in time and you hit the tracks with boys in tow.

[MudRunnerTD]

Nice one mate. Great to see a Father / Son build. Look forward to the pics

[lorrieandjas]

Hi mate and welcome to the forum. Sounds like a great project to do with your son!

Jas

[90mav]

Sorry no pics yet... cant find my camera!

Fitted the one piece windows yesterday with a generic offset glazing rubber ($40) for both sides is a darn site better than the $75 per side from an autoglass place!
Knocked up a steel bumper bar today out of some 100x50 RHS and flat bar ($65). Not the classiest item but solid enough to tak a serious hit.
Just got to find the reverse switch wiring to get the lights working and reverse the polarity on the super crap washer bottle so it pumps water out and not air in... gotta laugh at chinese stuff eh?
Getting pretty close to rego now but its gettin hard to motivate my boys to help. They may have to just watch me enjoy the truck and miss out...

Bill now stands at $2875 pretty happy with that so far

[PMC]

Sorry no pics yet... cant find my camera!

Fitted the one piece windows yesterday with a generic offset glazing rubber ($40) for both sides is a darn site better than the $75 per side from an autoglass place!
Knocked up a steel bumper bar today out of some 100x50 RHS and flat bar ($65). Not the classiest item but solid enough to tak a serious hit.
Just got to find the reverse switch wiring to get the lights working and reverse the polarity on the super crap washer bottle so it pumps water out and not air in... gotta laugh at chinese stuff eh?
Getting pretty close to rego now but its gettin hard to motivate my boys to help. They may have to just watch me enjoy the truck and miss out...

Bill now stands at $2875 pretty happy with that so far

G'day 90mav,

Good onya mate, all the best with your build with your son!

Regards,

RLI

[threedogs]

G'day and welcome forum only runs on pics.lol Heaps of great ppl here ,tips and info on every topic.
jump in anytime and enjoy, and remember pics

[90mav]

Doh! No camera yet so still no pictures, but I got it roadworthied and rego'd today. Its not running too well but after chasing down a couple of vacuum leaks it is at least idling now. Got the last few bits sorted and now its tiume to get started on the fun stuff like lifting, fitting some cargo drawers and barrier and hunting down some bigger tyres. Its gonna look a bit funny with 3-4 inch coils and 31s under it. Could have a party under each guard! The bill is up to (about) $3500 now and the funds are running low so any mods in the next few months will be budget ones!
The first trip should be in the next month or so before easter with my youngest son (13). He wants to do a trip to rainbow beach for a night or 2 and maybe have a sneaky go at letting the clutch out...if I can get another booster for it by then! The rotten thing leaks like mad and stalls the engine when the pedal is pressed.

[90mav]

I picked up a set of coils a few weeks ago on ebay. Dobinsons 3inch they had written on the bits of masking tape attached... Its now 41/2 inches taller at the rear and 51/2 at the front! I scored a pair of Rancho RS9000 shocks for the front and sone konis for the rear. I also have a set of front arms with offset bushes and a set of adjustable panhards to go on too. The front is a bit hard at the moment but I figure its only going to put weight on there anyway...
Still no camera tho...