Mitch's TD42T GU ST Coil Cab

[Parraeels101]

Gday everyone

First of all bit of an intro. My names Mitch, I'm 20 and am a 3rd yr HV electrician apprentice here in Sydney. My first and only other car is my trusty VR commo which I've had for a couple of years now and whilst its never let me down, I was looking for something different. It then dawned on me that I could buy my own fourby, instead of tagging along with everybody else lol. I also knew that I'd only own one particular fourby, good ol Patrol. First problem is I'm picky, I would'nt settle for anything less than exactly what I wanted . Second problem is, I'd only own a TD42 and they're as dear as poison. I was also only keen on getting a ute, coil cab of course :cool:

I'd been looking for probly 3-4 months, and was getting annoyed. Everything suitable was out of my price range :furious:

One night I was looking through the trading post and there it was - GU TD42T ST Coil Cab, $20 000. Beauty I said, and went and looked at it the next day. It was pretty rough around the edges, 287000k's, very rusty tray, interior looked a bit shabby, paint worn off on parts of the cab and some surface rust. But on the plus side the motor ran beautifully, it drove nicely and it's basically stock which is kinda what I wanted to start with (It has 33's but thats it). So I'd basically have a blank canvas to start with :Yahoo!:

Long story I offered him 17k and got it, so I was pretty happy with that :)

Ive had the ute for nearly 2 months now and have taken it on a few trips and couldn't be happier with its capabilities.

Future plans include:

-Respray cab and tray
-3" Flexy Coil lift with drop boxes
-Sliders and side rails
-Cross Country intercooler
-Maybe a turbo upgrade
-Dual batteries
-Roof console with UHF, 27MHz
-Decent spotties
-LED lightbar
-Front Eaton E-locker

Anyways, enough talk heres some pics

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P81505471.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8190548.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8190549.jpg
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http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8190554.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8190556.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8190558.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8190561.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8190567.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8190571.jpg

[Parraeels101]

This was the first trip I took it on. Went to our usual camping spot on a property between Sofala and Hill End, north of Bathurst. I was very happy with the troll, it made me realise how capable these beasts are even when pretty much stock

Anyways, heres a few pics:

Looking out off Mt Panorama

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8250005.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8250006.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8250007.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8250010.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8250015.jpg

[Parraeels101]

The old pub at Hill End

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8260016.jpg

Looking out over town

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8260032.jpg

The campsite

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8270035.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8270043.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8270049.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8270051.jpg

Remnants of the gold rush

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8270055.jpg

Pigs had torn the place to shreds

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8270058.jpg

Crudine River

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P8270063.jpg

[Parraeels101]

Brought myself a 32" light bar from Bright Light Auto Parts. Ive heard mixed reviews about these but for the price I'm willing to give them a shot. Also got 3x LED flood lights - 2x for tray lights and 1x as a reverse light. The light bar was $440 (down from $1375 apparently) and the floodlights were $30ea (down from $175).

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P9120088.jpg

I hooked it up to the battery to test it and my god she's bright :) It'll go pretty good up on the headboard.

Also ordered a coil tower brace from superior, a pretty heavy duty bit of kit.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P9120086.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P9120087.jpg

[Parraeels101]

The second trip I did in it was an overnighter up at Lithgow with a mate and his 80 series. Man theres some awesome tracks up around there, and it was my first chance to test the truck out a bit. It handled everything we threw at it, if anything it just needs a bit more clearance as the side steps scraped a few times and it also flexed out a couple of times. We went in at the Zig Zag and did the wombat holes track and a couple of the powerline tracks before heading out to the Lost City. From there we headed down to Blackfellows Hand Cave. The scenery down there was awesome, and has somewhat of a prehistoric feel to it. From Blackfellows we headed out to Baal Bone and set up camp. It was a top camping spot and we ended up joining another group who were already there. Plus they already had a good fire going... There were 2 GQ's and a GU amongst them and they were a good bunch of blokes too.

The next day we left Baal Bone and headed out to the Castlereagh Hwy and you pop out around Cullen Bullen. We did a little detour via the Old Bells Line of Rd on the way home. That was a pretty nice drive with some great countryside, like a rainforest through some parts.

Anyways, heres a few pics of the trip

Coming out of wombat holes

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/Lithgow%20Trip%20Sep%202012/DSCF0538_zpsf0f06616.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/Lithgow%20Trip%20Sep%202012/DSCF0539_zpsb627b8f3.jpg

The lost city

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/Lithgow%20Trip%20Sep%202012/DSCF0554_zpsb1dc3400.jpg

At Blackfellows Hand Cave

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/Lithgow%20Trip%20Sep%202012/DSCF0559_zpsf8428d97.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/Lithgow%20Trip%20Sep%202012/DSCF0567_zpsffd88692.jpg

Looking over Wolgan Valley

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/Lithgow%20Trip%20Sep%202012/DSCF0569_zps9922aaa3.jpg

Toyotas getting bogged, nothing new here guys. Even with both lockers in he wasnt getting out of there in a hurry.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/Lithgow%20Trip%20Sep%202012/DSCF0576_zps7c9c90db.jpg

Nissan to the rescue, of course. And of course I was smart enough to take the chicken track...

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/Lithgow%20Trip%20Sep%202012/DSCF0578_zpsf5e7a486.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/Lithgow%20Trip%20Sep%202012/DSCF0581_zps1203c505.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/Lithgow%20Trip%20Sep%202012/DSCF0588_zps0bddd272.jpg

[Parraeels101]

Installed some Series III headlights. Look a million times better

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/P9120084.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/PA080003.jpg

[Parraeels101]

OK so thats pretty much where I'm up to so far, so let us know what you think :D

[nissannewby]

Got to love a ute. Only way to go :). Me and the mrs own 3 patrol utes including an 04 st coily. Keep the pics comin looks sweet will be good to see where you go with it. Ute build ups are awesome.

[ajax1sm]

Looks like a lot of fun. I've been meaning to go camping for a while now

[DX grunt]

Love the pics. Congrats. You've done really well.

Just don't get caught on film, kissing a Yota badge, after losing a bet. lol.

Take care out there.

Rossco

[healy]

Nice ute mate and some good looking pics

[Parraeels101]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Took the aux battery tray out yesterday and heres what I found lurking underneath :furious:

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/PA150026.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/PA150028.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/PA150029.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/PA150030.jpg

Gonna have to fix all that somehow. Not sure how I'm gonna do it yet though. Any suggestions?

[ajax1sm]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Took the aux battery tray out yesterday and heres what I found lurking underneath :furious:

Gonna have to fix all that somehow. Not sure how I'm gonna do it yet though. Any suggestions?

What the.. what's going on there? It sure doesn't look very rusty.

kinda looks like a bullet hole in the first few photos

[Parraeels101]

Yeah i wouldnt say it was rusty. All I can put it down to is the weight of the battery moving around over many many corrugations??? Haven't really seen anyone experiencing this problem before

[nissannewby]

Were there bolts where the holes were? It looks like they have just pulled through and then as the weight isnt supported there anymore your guard has been taking the weight of the battery. Its more common than you think many people have had issues with guards cracking like yours due to the weight of battery and poor mounting brackets for them.

[Parraeels101]

I should mention there was never a 2nd battery in the thing since I bought it.

Top 2 holes I already knew about, and the bolts were still through the coolant bottle. The captive nuts and pieces of guard were also attached. I think the bottom bolt on the recovery bottle was partly supporting the tray too. 2 of the bottom screws were in, and the 3rd (where the hole is) still had the captive nut and piece of panel attached.

Looks like a previous owner noticed it was screwed and ripped the battery out. Oh well, nothing that can't be fixed.

Cheers

[threedogs]

X 2 with Newby happens on quite a few 4x4 some more than others, mainly IMO due to poor 2nd battery tray hardware/fitment. battery trays are made to suit certain types of batteries [If you ask} most people don't . fleet buyers, mines, get the mig out and weld in a cover plate.

As you said bit rough around the edges,

[Parraeels101]

Chucked a UHF in temporarily the other day. Its gonna finish up in a roof console when I get around to building it, but for now it's mounted to the gear shift surround. I secured it using existing holes that someone had already drilled so I wasn't too fussed.

I'll also be putting a 27MHz in the roof console so while I was drilling holes to mount the UHF mic bracket I mounted the 27MHz one too. It worked out really well, with the curly cords disappearing back under the mic bracket, looks pretty neat IMO.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/PB050032.jpg
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk29/parraeels101/GU%20Patrol/PB050034.jpg
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