SG1's GU

[SG1]

Hi, thought I better start our build thread as the mods are slowly coming along.

We recently bought a 02 GU SIII ST ZD30 Auto Patrol wagon, it came with a few extras, like rear cargo barrier, Uniden 40ch UHF, Nissan winch compatible roo bar, Narva driving lights, Haynes reese electric brakes, new 265/75/16 BFG A/T, a 3/4 steel roof rack which I recently removed, 2 spare tyres, dual batterys, snorkel.

The Patrol has 222 tho on it with the engine being replaced by Nissan (crate engine) 68 tho ago.

The mods list to come.

3 inch exhaust
dawes and needle valve
pillar pod with egt and boost gauges
dominator winch
full aluminium roof rack
2' lift (undecided on brand)
2.5m awning
rear draws
blocking plate
provent 200 catch can
rear reverse lights
rear reverse camera
tail light mod
glow plug timer

So a lot to do and have started on some of it but a couple of pics first.

[SG1]

So first mod was the provent 200 catch can, took a bit to organize it to fit as there is abs lines to contend with, so bought a bracket from Bunnings and re mounted the brake vacuum booster to beside the dual battery and mounted the pro vent where the vac booster was, was about the only place I could find to make it fit and still be serviceable.

[SG1]

Next on the to do list was the exhaust system, after much thought we decided on the Redback Extreme 3' system, managed to price match and the service we received from Mark at A1 Exhaust was in our experience second to none, the after sales and during sales service was fantastic with nothing a problem and everything done extremely timely with the products sent directly to our door at a great price, remember to price match

One of the reasons we settled on the redback system was, it fitted into our budget, the 10mm four bolt flanges, its own custom mounting brackets, the extended warranty, and Australia wide service if needed, seemed to tick all the boxes.

What I will say is the system is quality, there is no doubt, first up we ordered from the turbo back with hi-flo cat, comes with egt bung and O2 bung, two extra sets of gaskets and extra set of lockable nuts for serving in the future, and only a resonator instead of muffler which turned out to be a mistake on my behalf as there was a bit to much noise for our liking, sent a text to mark at A1 Exhausts about it Saturday night, not a problem and a new muffler was organised and delivered to our door on Tuesday, simply bolted it in and now sounds very nice tho not loud.

Doing the exhaust system on my back in the driveway was a pretty big job, had the old system of in 1.5 hrs, no problems but then to putting the new redback system on turned into a bit of a slog even though there was instructions and pictures to follow it still had to be done in a certain order, it fitted perfectly and no knocking.

Pictures tell a thousand words so pictures to follow, glad we chose the system as the mounting bracket are a lot more heavy duty than factory, also noticed on the factory Nissan system that just below the Cat had cracked almost all the way through and was only just hanging in there, also the mount for exhaust on gearbox had started to crack through as well.

[SG1]

So next came the dreaded Heat Shield, after reading on here about it and the numerous frustration of others I was pleasantly surprised when I got it unbolted and out of the engine bay in about 15 minutes, putting it back in was another story tho..

Given I now had a EGT probe to think about, I decided to cut the heat shield in half, still kicking myself for doing it and straight away was not happy with it, so a trip to the wreckers and managed to pick another one up.

Bit more thought and decided to trim the "fat" of the new heat shield and with a hole saw make an area for EGT probe to fit in, was starting to curse my self as had it fitted but decided to take it out to drill the hole for the EGT probe, another 15 minutes later and wondering what I was doing wrong then a little twist the right way and in it slotted, bolted it up and put the probe in, was pretty happy about it and the misses was finally as had been putting it off, did drive it without the heat shield on for a small trip and checked the amount of heat coming of the turbo was intense, the difference from having it fitted to not temperature wise is incredible.

[SG1]

So of with the old intercooler and on with new, had to be done prior to fitting the dawes and needle valve and boost gauge as it was leaking and oiled up, probably the easiest mod to do to date.

Only bought a cheaper replacement but fully welded instead of crimped, works well.

Old intercooler

[SG1]

Installed the EGT and Boost gauges, Auto Meter Sport Comp.

Had a little issue with the EGT gauge as when first turning the key it would calibrate but then go straight to 900c, a bit closer look and at the back of the gauge the yellow wire had come out of the plastic clip upon inserting into gauge and was loose, so pulled it out then went hmm which hole did it go back in...anyway bent the retaining clips back so it wouldn come loose again and put it back in and got the hole for it, working no probs now.

Found on the forum how to wire up the light for it, and the lights for the gauges now dim with the dimmer dial, which I thought was a nice touch.

Took the Patrol for a test drive and it is a little scary seeing the boost bounce all over the place and the EGT's rise when boost drops of, Dawes and Needle Valve will be going in very soon..

Some pics of the install and used a Quick Fit Boost Adapter for the gauge.

Some pics.

[SG1]

Have since fitted the dawes and needle valve, appears to be working from what I have read to be right, took a bit and even uninstalled it for a week just to get a better idea of what the vehicle is doing without it. Think I'm happy but would of loved a pro in this area to look at it and test for me to ensure it was right.

Also bought a new alloy full length roof rack and installed it yesterday, got it at a good price and the weight difference between it and the 3/4 steel rack we had is huge, now me and the misses can take the roof rack off easy but before with steel rack was flat out with two blokes, really needed 3 or 4 to do it safely.

Will load pics up soon.

[Bob]

Great write up mate thanks

[Bacho86]

Hey thanks for the write up SG1 - where'd you source the gauges from and how much they set you back if you don't me asking?

Cheers

[SG1]

Hey thanks for the write up SG1 - where'd you source the gauges from and how much they set you back if you don't me asking?

Cheers

Hi, I got both gauges from Autobarn, done a bit of research and looked at prices via ebay ect, bit of haggling and the boost gauge was $99 and the EGT gauge $250, they ordered them in and a couple days later got a call to come and pick them up. Was pretty happy with the service and nothing was a problem for them.