Sharky's GU TD42T 10 year build up

[Sharky1]

So I'm finally coming to the end of where I saw this project going when i started.......aaaah crap, who am I kidding? It will never end. But it's been a labor of love, time & money albeit well worthwhile. Sorry if this is long winded. feel free to skim read lol.

Originally I bought this 1998 GU from Total Nissan cannington in 2006, having searched for weeks for a TD42. I really wanted a TD42T but in the end I had to settle for any TD42 wagon. It was a 1 owner, older bloke from dunsborough WA who used it to pull his caravan. Before he traded it, he removed a lot of the accessories unless the dealership removed them. Its a DX but was optioned with carpet & wheel arch flares. It had an ARB winch bar & dual batteries as the only extras at time of purchase. I nearly didnt get it as I had to get finance & the finance company thought it was too old & that 250,000km was too high. Determined not to let it go I called them & explained that 250,000 on a diesel 4.2 is like 30,000 on a petrol car. As for the age I explained that these models were sought after & if they could find me another newer TD42 I'd be happy to buy it. needless to say, they were reasonable enough to trust me.

As I had a lifted HZJ75 at the time, this was to remain the family wagon unless some rich relative left us a small fortune. In the end I sold the cruiser & bought a VY SS 6 spd commodore for the wife at the time & I decided to start modifying this GU. 1st was a set of BFG 305/70 muds & within a week came a 4" lift comprising of king spring SP4's, tough dog 9stage shocks, tough dog adj panhards, tough dog castor plates & extended link pins. I had to make my own rear brake bias bracket. Next was the arduous task of installing the elaborate entertainment system I had for it. That was a full weekend of work & then some. I pilfered my UHF & my spotties from the cruiser so they got fitted too.

This was enough to keep me happy for a while & it stayed like this for a cpl yrs. Then the wife left & as the SS was tax write off I'd reg'd it in my name & the GU was in hers even though I drove the patrol & she drove SS. When dividing assets she suggested we sell the cars. Oh hell no woman, we simply transfer regos & downplay value as we're both already owners of these cars. Thank goodness she went along with that. Now flat broke & paying for a house on my own I had to be content with the patrol as it was for a cpl more yrs. Around this same time my good friend who was half responsible for getting me into 4x4, sold his 4x4 & I had no 4x4 buddies at that time. Then I met a cpl local boys who had decent rigs & we started wheeling together & a little friendly competition arose. One of them already had a pretty well set up 80 series so I had some catching up to do. Fortunately for me, he trades up quite a lot & I scored many good bits for my car including a set of HID spotties.

Soon I had ordered an alloy full cage roof rack, long awaited snorkel, K&N filter, etc. Shortly after it was light bar & rear LED lights. Having not had time to fit the snorkel yet we went camping in winter. Pride & alcohol overtook wisdom & I attempted a river crossing I had done many times but looked higher than I'd seen it. I hydro locked it & bent 2 rods. I had it rebuilt to stock TD42 spec as I couldnt see myself fitting a turbo in the foreseeable future. While engine was out I put new Exedy Safari H/duty clutch in. 18mths later I was tired of dragging my tradies trailer through the hills to get the kids to & from school & I'd scored well from a large commercial job so I put an intercooled turbo on. Then it was off to get tuned with an 11mm pump, boost comensator etc. The high mount turbo hit aux batt tray so deep cycle gel batt got relocated to back of car. True to my own style I pushed limits with boost & cracked a piston. So it was rebuilt again, this time to turbo specs. I fitted a bonnet scoop, A-pillar gauges, Momo steering wheel & custom gear knob to bring back my youthful memories.

A few mths later I bought a Runva 12,000lbs winch on special. After much research & consideration I decided to buy a spartan auto locker for front diff which ended up sitting in the man cave for 2yrs. Summer came & some dark tint was a better expense. Then when my rear diff cracked 3 teeth on the pinion I got locker fitted to front diff at same time. In the meantime I'd fitted new radiator, new steering hub kits, new locks & ign barrel, & more. Recently I scored a decent annex & wasted no time in fitting it.

Below is a list of exactly what items are on the car.

Thanks to Matt Rogers for all your help & bits you gave me, Matt Dietsch for all the parts thus far, Jack Otte for your help & motivation, Graeme Pauline for your help & company, Adrian Zyla for your hard work & machining, Gerry McGroarty for the rebuilds, Shane Dietsch for your advice & anyone else who directly played a part in the making of this car.

ARB winch bar, HID spotties, LED reverse light & work lights, Snorkel, Runva 12000lb winch, alloy roof rack, a/market tail lights, stock GU bonnet scoop, Light bar, Standard DX interior with carpet, sunvisor vanity mirror & drivers side A-pillar grab handle, tinted windows, TX3200 UHF, 2000W inverter, aux utilux plug on inner rear 1/4 panel for fridge etc, sheepskin seat covers, dash mat, genuine floor mats, A-pillar gauge pod, momo s/wheel, tv screen, Genuine 8 ball gear knob, Pioneer DEH-7250SD CD player, Pioneer GM-X944 amp, Pioneer GM-X544 amp, 2x 12" Pioneer Bullet subs, 2x sets 6" 300W Pioneer Bullet splits, 2x 6" 2 way pioneer rear door spkrs, 35 farad Boss audio CAP350CR stiffening capacitor, PS3, K&N filter, Deep cycle aux batt with waterproof 20A DC-DC charger, aluminium radiator, Spartan front locker, tuned length high mount pipe manifold, 3" kinugawa TDO5-18G 8cm turbo, 3" straight thru S/S exh, HPD intercooler,4" lift king springs SP4, Raw nitro max shocks, Tough Dog adj panhards, Tough Dog 5deg castor plates, extended roller link pins & brake bias bracket, extended brake lines, oversized drag link & relay rod, all new rubbers, 16x8" Black Kings sunraysia type rims with 305/70/16" BFG muds

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[threedogs]

ppl who arent on FB cannot view your pictures.
Press "go advanced" and go from there.
Good write up buddy