Sadly goodbye Mq, but wait.... Theres a gq

[79raven]

Well, story goes I sold a D21 2wd and had enough to buy a rough Mq, Sd33 ( non turbo) with 450 odd thou on the clock. Went for the Mq and loved that car. Its simplicity was its greatest asset. 24v 4 speed SWB. Turns out she is a bit over the hill, the more i looked, the more rust I found. Ball joints farked, swivel hubs, brakes, almost all interior missing. Still loved it, my 007 car... Any tailgaters and Id just drop back a gear and smokem out.... and not off the tyres. She helped move my house and did 9 days straight and never even coughed, Steering was like a 90 year old blokes pecker though. I just could not afford to restore her. Long live the SD33.

So, I have an unregisterable Mq in the drive, a 2002 Tj magna with only 106 on the clock, mint but unregistered and owes me more than its worth ( thanks to the ex mrs...) and an Ef Fairmont. Fairmonts got 180 thou on the clock,new shaved Tickford head, was only told mild and never bothered checking as she went like the showers of shit anyway. 4 speed auto, brand new low shocks + springs ( king tickford spec's), new slotted/drilled rotors up front, plugs, leads bla bla sensors upgrade or replaced, massive audiophile stereo, new upper/lower ball joints, Harmonic ( crank seal), big mouth, Extractors, new 200 cell cat with Lukey 2.5" mandrel singe muffler au injectors, new Maxxis surpassa 16" on sharkfins,nice paint job, tint, leather steering/gear knob/ handbrake, mint interior and Im the second owner. Spent allot of time and money on that car and in the end the Timing cover gasket gets a leak. I swear the more Id spent the more things stuffed up.
So I decide to part with the Ef and Mq, get the Tj back on the road ( rego) and get myself a registered car. Put the Ef up for $3500 with 6 months rego and 5k of receipts. Nothing. Dropped to 3, nothing, dropped to 2500. Still just another Ef. Got a message on Gumtree from a bloke who wanted to swap for a Gq, 93 TB42E, 300 thou on the clock, 5 speed, 6 months rego, 3" lift, nice rims/tyres, air bags, Bullbar with guard rail with side steps, electric mirrors/ windows. Paints peeling off, but only to the undercoat. I think stuff it, so we swapped.
The Fairmont


The Gq

[79raven]

Oh, the D21, sorry with one of my boys who insisted he was in the photo. Yes, i even take orders from my dog. You argue with an 80kg bull mastiff,

[79raven]

So it turns out the bloke forgot to mention the steering damper issue in the gq, shudders through the steering from 70 to 75km/h. Sometimes that bad the whole car shakes and mainly down hill. Check the damper and it looks like its been there since 1993, bushes included. Needs a damn good service, few dints but zero rust. She goes hard for a big girl but sputters over 4000rpm and has a flat spot under full throttle ( say going up hills) and can be hardish to start. It does have a 120l fuel tank but pump unknown. I can hear it running fine. She never overheats even though the coolant mix looks like dirt water. Ive replaced the plugs, cleaned the rotor and contacts on dizzy cap ( both not that bad), new air filter,oil/oil filter, fuel filter, dumped a can of tb cleaner down the throttle body, squirted misty water also down the tb, checked the TPS and adjusted correctly with a multimeter, removed the snorkel that goes from the air cleaner assembly to the side of the guard, removed a broken air filter sensor, Checked for air pipes for leaks or breaks, and of course started on the stereo.
I flogged the Mq shell ( ish) for $350, sold the mag's+ 24v 5000kg winch and thought id sold the front and rear bullbars with spare wheel carrier on ebay, but the dick who bidded is from WA. How its going to be collect has not been informed to me since they won it. That was 2 days ago. Anyone want them, Im in Blackheath and id be happy with $150 for the both. All raised fund I assure you will go right into the Gq.


With the cash next to get done is the damper of course and I reckon the leads. It does have a stock exhaust that looks like its never been changed. I can sometimes hear noise in the pipe from the manifold to the cat when bashed by hand, but only under the heat shield and I dont know if its the shield thats making the noise. I plan for extractors and cat and cat back to be done when i can in the near future ( thanks tax man), so I thought id try spark first. Its got to be done anyway.
Im also thinking its got an inlet manifold leak too. Just doest sound right and all hoses seem to be ok. The plenum/manifold gaskets dont look too new so I think ill do those if the bullbars sell, new thermostat and coolant with a flush.
Future plans, dont laugh but a reverse cowl, snorkel, exhaust like stated, fit my cb, finish the stereo setup, replace a broken drivers seat rail, dump the oils in the box/transfer + diffs and top up with freshy, flush the clutch/brake fluids and replace fluid and finish off what Ive started in the interior. Ive fitted a really thin smd t10 near the ign barrel and ran it through the interior light with a 2 way plug for easy release when you drop the column surround and fitted an extra 3 way cigarette lighter plug in the console and one plug in the rear near the jack. Plans are also to fit door lights and a glove box light. I have a 4 way terminal ( gold plated) that takes 4awg and then will give it to 2 x 60a and 2x 25a, I have the remnant wires from a dodgy aux battery setup ( thanks to previous owner for that too) and Im going to mix the 2 to make the wiring cleaner. Ill run the audio player, the cb, the added cigarette lighters and the glovebox/door lights off the 4 outs on the terminal positioned down near the cabin fuse box and replace 4+ connections to the battery with the terminals feed ( 8awg should be plenty with a 60a waterproof fuse holder ill hide with the relays. One day ill redo the aux setup, but Ill do it right. Honestly, the alt was charging a 730cca battery while boosting a 12v battery that was reading 5v to 12v so the alts ok. I reckon the cheap and nasty isolator was the issue. Ill go the Jaycar dual battery management system when everything else is done. For now the battery is only got a 20a small audio amplifier and the unused smoko lighters over the top of stock. I do have 130w spotties, but I did them right with a relay and they are rarely on to be honest. The dual battery setup will happen one day, its all there so may aswell use it hey.

[BigRAWesty]

Wow, what a story. And a great outcome.

But forget the dampener, it won't be causing your shakes.
Check wheel bearing, tighten em a little and see if it fixes the wobbles.
If not, replace swivel bearings. Check
Still there, do the steering Rod and tie Rod ends (if like mine the steering Rod is solid, upgrade time here to adjustable..)

And last if still not fixed, panhard bushes, and last radius arm bushes. These need a good press to do so do em last..
You should be able to do the rest at home with basic tools, and there are heaps of how to threads here to follow..
And us to aid..

The dampener is a bandaid.. I've just done my whole front end and now not even a kwiver with no dampener fitted..

Anyway good outcome.
Enjoy..

[Stropp]

yep the shake is more likely the bushes on the front end, the steering damper will help mask it but not cure it.

[79raven]

Cheers guys. Bugger, when it was just the damper I thought ok... easy fix. I did notice the panhard rod bush bolt diff end was lose a few weeks after i bought it, maybe the bush is rooted? The other bushes all look good. The ball joints all look good, with the tie rod ends looking new and the only " issue" I could say is the draglionk( front tie rod ends to the front diff), the ball joint that comes from the relay rod to the draglink needs grease every 2 weeks of solid driving or so. I thought it was a damper issue.
Even if the damper bushes are almost non existent, still not the problem? I must admit ive been meaning to check the wheel bearings again too. Ill get off my ass and take some more photos of under her front guts for ya'll
Cheers lads

[BigRAWesty]

Ok so Rod ends are stuffed if your greasing fortnightly to keep driving..
And just because a Bush looks ok doesn't mean it is.
Dampener really does f all.. As said, I don't have one atm.. And no shakes.

Its a Nissan thing these wobbles, search death wobbles here and enjoy reading. Heaps of info and solutions.

The list in my first post gives you the chance to all the work yourself to save some cash. It's all quite easy with basic tools. Just take your time, read a few diy threads and you'll be fine..

[79raven]

Its not what it is thats the problem, its finding whats the problem. Found that with my Mq, My wallet is the main concern but Im committed. Suspension wise she is fine and handles like it on rails for a big girl and I would have thought if it was the wheel bearings, but there is zero sign to even investigate them.It goes away higher than 80.
You may be right about the ball joint, bugger is its a singe welded piece.. So new draglink too. Then, I forgot to mention when I drove it home, the steering wheel was about 3 o' clock. The Mrs is 5 foot and 50kg and scared of heights and I bring the monster home. Steering wheel was a peace offering, so I just adjusted it. Wheels dont wander and steering seems tight. No bumps, just this " death wabbles" like stated ( I know, that was the mq's problem), but only at 70 to 80 and going down hill in my gq.
Maybe the cash would be better spent on a good alignment and balance over a damper? Maybe if I have the spare cash ill just do the damper bushes for the sake of $30 aswell. Sorry, I read the damper in my manual as a possibility and put 2 and 2 together. Even a set of new rubbers for the draglink ball joints for another $20. Cash is tight, what do you guys reckon would be first considering the specifics of how it happens?
Cheers

[BigRAWesty]

If you have bought the dampener then fit it.. It may help. But is a bandaid fix.
Has it got a lift kit??
It seems weird for the wheel to be out that far, it's like the had a lift in it, steering wheel adjusted then have put it back down again.

Have a look at the power steering box and where the arm is. Should be in line wwith the chassis.

I'd go drag link first (Rod from steering box to wheel hub) and rod ends on the tie rod. $300 Will get you a drag link and rod ends..

[79raven]

It does have a 3" lift kit on it, no info on it except its done. She does handle tight around corners with no squeeks. So that high a lift means alter steering? Ive always gone lower sorry.