G-Unicorn the Y61

[BrazilianY60]

Hello everyone. I am very proud to show you my new-to-me GU4 Patrol!

This is e VERY rare car over here. Official records shows 3 of them, and I have personally seem them all. One of them is heavily armored and cannot be sold to civilians once its diplomatic duty is done, so it will have to be repatriated when the time comes. This bring the total number down to two...

I like to give all my cars names and for my own and my kids amusement, we prefer to name them after animals (although there has been some exceptions). I have started teasing my kids with drops of information about the car maybe some 15 days before I got it home, inciting their curiosity on how rare of a car this was, etc, when then out of thin air my daughter said that it seemed easier to find an unicorn than figure out what the car would that be. We instantly looked at each other with a smile, saying "that's the new car name!". Jinx! So forcing the GU model name into it a bit, we got the G-Unicorn :)

The car came from UN, so it is UN spec: white, bare-bones exterior, 6' wide steelies with bicycle tires (235/80r16), 7 seats. Mine came with a (severely knocking) TB45E, factory rear locker, no sub-tank. This is how the car would look like when it was still deployed:

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[BrazilianY60]

Car was manufactured in Dec-2005, year model 2006. Bought it from the guy who got it on an auction in 2013. The ONLY thing he did other then putting gas was to change the cloth upholstery to synthetic leather (vinyl based fake) and wrapping the bubbled dashboard. And I REALLY MEAN "ONLY". He never changed ANY fluid on it. Some four years ago the knocking started, a mechanic condemned the engine (without unscrewing a single nut) and the guy put the car away on his property, under a tree first, then under an open shed. I tracked him down a couple of years ago and he had no intention of selling. More recently, with a spare silvertop TD42 in my hands, the idea of getting a non-running GU started to grow on me and we started the conversations that ended up in this acquisition.

This is how it was the day I bought it, 1000km from home:

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A friend that lives there promptly offered help, and there we went with a very "generous" toolbox, air compressor, new battery and tow straps. Ready for war! LOL. There was oil on the dipstick, new battery in, a few cranks and the TB45 started on 4 years old gasoline and idled! The first revs after first sparks were darn scary, with something on the bottom end of the engine banging all over. A few seconds later, oil pressure built I suppose, and the noise was gone at least at idle. When I revved-up a little, I could listen the knocking but now very fainted. We aired up the old tires and drove out the property on own power.

The plan was to tow-strap it out of the property and have a flat deck tow truck carry it over to my friend's place, but I got carried away and decided to drive it instead. My friend was driving right behind me and fully equipped, if anything went wrong I was covered. But the car drove ok other the some sputtering and hesitation most probably due to old gas. I could see zits over the windshield and we had nothing to wash it so I drove it "Ace Ventura" style :)

[BrazilianY60]

On the next day it was time to give the GU it's first TLC in years. It started with a quick wash, mostly to clean all the windows and to wash out all the spider webs and the creatures responsible for them under the frame.

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Then took it to an Oil Change place where we changed every single fluid on the car. Coolant, brake master, clutch master, diffs, manual trans, tcase and engine. Even the wiper fluid and wipers :wink:

When we took off the engine oil filter is when we suspected of no service type of maintenance under the old owner. The filter was OEM made in UK, nothing we find over the shelf here. And the oil was cooked. I mean, the oil that came out of the pan anyway. Although we had dipstick oil on the day before, only about 1L of oil came out of the oil pan. I suspect there will be some 4kg of black gel when I drop the oil pan at home. The specific oil was 10w30 if memory calls but I had it replaced with 20w50 to see if a slightly thicker oil would change the knocking noise a bit.

While the car was being serviced, I took the chance to get a bit acquainted with it. The upholstery was magnificently done, perfect stitches, gave the car a very "refined" look. Very nice "cream" color, although I would personally pick "tan" color if I were to do it myself. It is actually a shame the material is fake leather; the level of craftsmanship deserved some legit skin.

First row
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Second row
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Third row
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The third row has this curious flexible reading light. For the soldier back there to read a map? To check on his gun? That got me curious.
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OEM rear locking diff :bananarock:
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The only REAL rust is on the disk brake dust covers and surroundings. Oh, and the GU has rear disks! That is a first timer for all my cars!
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Oh, and the 20w50 engine oil really helped with the knocking. I drove it some 40km there before loading it to a semi and flying back home.

[MudRunnerTD]

That's Awesome!!! I look forward to your build. That Cream Interior looks bloody good!!

[mudski]

Yeah loving the interior. Really nice. Keen to see it come along...

[BrazilianY60]

I am honestly still unsure if it is about the size of the LC105 or smaller. It seems about the same size externally but I have a feeling it is smaller inside, both cabin space and trunk size.

Side by side with my friends 105, it looks kind of same size, despite the bike tires.
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[BrazilianY60]

After just two weeks the car was finally delivered and was revealed to the kids :clownredpuff:
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Other then the bottle jack, only these tools came with it. I have later realized the extended crank bar on the picture does not belong to this car and I am actually missing the extension. Thinking about it, the small red pry bar probably is not part of the "toolkit" as well.
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90k's on the clock. The instrument cluster is kind of poor, isn't it. Both my 105 and my GQ have voltmeters and oil pressure gages.
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Kids got curious about that "slot" on the radio, LOL. I have even searched around the house for an old cassette but no luck, I think I gave them away some 30 years ago when CD's were the thing.
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PTT holder, ball head support for some equipment, maybe a keyboard? Some holes here and there for something UN folks had use for. Despite that the dashboard fascia is in tip top condition. The roof has been drilled for an aerial and the base support is still there. I suppose the coax cable would still be there as well. Will check sometime when I have nothing better to do than to tuck behind the dash.
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[mudnut]

90k's on the clock. The instrument cluster is kind of poor, isn't it. Both my 105 and my GQ have voltmeters and oil pressure gages.
85779 The UN and other agencies vehicular usage is based on driving simplicity.

Extra gauges, even though very useful to a private owner, are just not considered a necessity for staff that sign for the vehicle, drive it and sign out.

[BrazilianY60]

I agree. But other GUs have a more complete instrument cluster? I don't know why but I was under the impression this was all you could get.

[BrazilianY60]

I took the necessary precaution measures (protecting MAF, dizzy, alternator, etc) and gave the engine bay a good wash. It came out very good.

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Left the engine idling for a while to check if I had screwed up any sensor and to help it dry. This is how it is sounding on its current situation. It is a bit loud engine I suppose, but it don't seem bad at idle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvnO5ERrbtI

[mudnut]

I agree. But other GUs have a more complete instrument cluster? I don't know why but I was under the impression this was all you could get.

You are correct. I could have sworn I've seen a GU cluster with the extra gauges. I've looked at the workshop manual too, but memory serves me wrong.

[Felipe82]

Wow Felicitaciones!!!!!!

[BrazilianY60]

The GU has even the floor finished in the fake leather material, which makes me really uncomfortable stepping over it.
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With no ready to fit mats available, I decided to make my own using some vinyl material used to do door mats, elevator mats, etc. The only reason for choosing this material is because I found by chance a roll of the same color of the car interior LOL.
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Gathered a few tools for the job and after a few beers I opted for the "no templates, I know what I´m doing" approach.
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Passenger (driver for you)
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Driver (passenger for you)
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Second row
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Third row
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[BrazilianY60]

The GU came with only one strut on the bonnet and I am not sure if just one is not enough or if that only one was already shot or what, but the fact is that it was not holding the bonnet up. And having no rod on the bonnet, the guy at the oil change station (at the town I got the car) had to use a broom to hold it open. While the car was being serviced I took the gas strut out and took a walk down the block to a parts store and asked them to search for a strut with the same length, that I would need two units. A few minutes later they came with one of a good brand, roughly the same length, but it was the last one in stock. I bought it at installed both the old and the new on the Patrol and they old the bonnet up, no issues.

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But being the symmetric obsessive that I am, LOL, it was bugging me that the bonnet had one new and one old strut, so once at my town I bought a second one of the same model I found on the other city. Installed it in place of the old one and now the bonnet almost launch my massive 65Kg to the roof, LOL. Only then it came to my mind that those things are also force rated, the length is not the only variable of interest.

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It turns out that the GU struts are circa 390N~400N each and the ones I got are 585N each :1087: Live and learn!

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[Plasnart]

Great work on the unicorn so far BY.

And for someone who says they’re not completely fluent in English, who then comes out with “Symmetric Obsessive” in a sentence....c’mon mate give me a break, you speak better English than the majority of us! Haha.

[BrazilianY60]

Hahaha! No Plassy, I really mean it. I said non-native speaker the other day. And don't think these texts come out of my mouth as soon as I open it and start blabbering, LOL. I have to write/review it a dozen times before hitting submit!

[Plasnart]

Hahaha! No Plassy, I really mean it. I said non-native speaker the other day. And don't think these texts come out of my mouth as soon as I open it and start blabbering, LOL. I have to write/review it a dozen times before hitting submit!

Well you write with a fluent Aussie accent is all I can say mate. Keep it up, love your input here!

[MB]

Ta ta ta Plassy Mate, honestly you missed a comma thingo proper [emoji26]


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[MB]

Well,


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[Plasnart]

Ta ta ta Plassy Mate, honestly you missed a comma thingo proper [emoji26]


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Oi, you don't even speaka da English fukn!

[MB]

Bugger OFF [emoji207] Shaggers Legend [emoji23][emoji3590][emoji106][emoji106]


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[Plasnart]

Sorry for the hijack Brazzy mate!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHBI49aAHn8

[BrazilianY60]

Paint was very faded like you would expect from a car that mostly never sat under a shade over its life. When I got my 105 it was on the same situation and several friends vouched for a guy that did this for a living, on site. The guy´s work was top notch, very well worth the money, so this time it would not be different, called him to give the GU the head-turning look that it deserved.

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It amazed me how beautiful the tail lights are up close
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And the foggy/cloudy/opaque headlights transformation was the best part
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He is also going to give the first polish to the GQ when I´m ready for that.

[BrazilianY60]

Opened the stainless steel cover for the spare tire to find a 15 years old, brand new, never used original 235/80r16 tire. I am still divided about the SS tire cover, but true be told, it kept the tire "fresh". Its rubber is soft and grippy just like a new one.

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I don´t know about you, but this definitely reminds me of cotton candy :animierte-sm
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This is the part number
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The tires that came on the car were 235/70r16 and were considerably smaller then the original sized spare.
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Front tires were also damaged, so I opted to buy new OEM sized tires. I ended up finding 235/85r16 tires for reasonable price so that was what I picked.
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All the wheels had some surface rust with this one being the worse
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Powder coated them all and then painted the inside with gloss black (paint I had left from the GQ axles/chassis coating) and the outside dark gray (paint I had left over from the GQ bumper coating)

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And off to the tire-shop we go!

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It is not a big tire at all, but the diameter kind of fits well in the wheel well.
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And even the mudflaps seem to have been made to cover only the bike tires.
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Full car picture will come once I have the time to take it out in the sun. I could not take a full car picture that I liked inside the garage.

[BrazilianY60]

Its a Nissan Safari after all...
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[BrazilianY60]

When I took the GU to the tire shop for mounting, balancing and alignment, the later was not possible to be done due to both front wheels having play on the bearings. So I searched through the forum for instructions and found this great and well illustrated topic by MudRunnerTD:

DIY Wheel Bearing Adjustment (http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?39075-DIY-Wheel-Bearing-Adjustment)


Basically lifting the front wheels up and undoing the (locked) free-wheel hub.
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By the non marked face of the phillips locking screws on the locking washer, this was the very first time this was taken apart.
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Used the locking washer to template for a tool creation at a later time.
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Tension/load nut fastened just one click with a punch (for the lack of the proper tool) and it was done. Just put everything back and its done. Very easy once confident from reading the DIY instructions from the forum.
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[BrazilianY60]

Bluetooth solution for the audio...
It has one quick charge port, one USB port for playing MP3s straight from a thumb drive, sends both the BT and MP3 audio over FM to the headunit. It does the voltmeter job as well.

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[BrazilianY60]

A few weeks ago I found a used TB45, with around 120k km on it, from a guy that took it off his 2000 GU3 to convert it to diesel. The engine was 600km away from me.

The engine was at his mechanic shop and he could help me load the engine, but I had no way to unload it back home. Started looking at local classifieds for a used/cheap engine hoist but no luck here. Looked at the classifieds from where the engine was, and found a store selling a "minor defects" brand new 2T unit for cheaper then the used ones I was finding here. Tell me about luck...

Neither the wife nor the kids were up for the adventure, so off I went with just my rock playlist as company. 8h drive up to dark then a overnight stop for food and some sleep to be able to arrive at destination on the opening business hours. And there it was. Engine complete with all peripherals, power steering pump, A/C compressor, alternator, starter. The only two items missing were the clutch that he needed to mate with the new engine and the temp sensor in order to have the dash thermometer working properly.
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It took us almost 2h to hoist it out of the back of the shop and into the car. It was a lot of fun nevertheless.
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The guy gave me also his spare tire cover and all the parts for the intake. My new engine hoist fitted there as well!
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A quick lunch, a water bottle for the trip and 8 hours of rock-n-roll later I was back home.

[BrazilianY60]

So happy with the engine hoist! The "minor defects" they mentioned on the add resumed to a few scratches on the paint due to it being on display, and not having its box anymore. The thing is absolutely new.

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Now to the bonuses I got. PS pump, alternator and AC compressor I have already mentioned. But it came also with:

Starter:
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Intake tubing (from which the real bonus is the MAF sensor):
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ECU and complete harness:
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This was a nice weekend.

[MB]

There Ain’t “NO” Flies on your good self BZ Brother [emoji106][emoji106]
Australian’s used to ‘GO’ as hard traveling for treasures as you, keep on smashing it out please to Inspire [emoji120][emoji120]


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[MB]

FWIW: Can anybody recall the last time a TB45 was loaded into the back of a Wagon [emoji23][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji123][emoji123][emoji123][emoji123][emoji123][emoji123][emoji123][emoji123][emoji123][emoji123][emoji123][emoji123]


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[BrazilianY60]

I needed a cheap and relatively compact engine storing and moving solution as keeping it hanging on the engine hoist is only good in the short term. Looked over the internet for inspiration pictures and decided on a "frame down legs up" design.

The start of the frame:
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In-situ welding for careless measurements requirements:
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First unit. I ended up making a second one as well:
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Castors for the "moving solution" part of the requirements:
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Some left-over paint terribly applied with a brush (I can always tell it was the kids :o)
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Final product:
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I reckon this will also be helpful when tearing down all the peripherals of this TB45 and giving it a degreaser wash before transplanting it into the GU.
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The blue one will store my Silvertop.

[BrazilianY60]

Painted my faded hubcaps black. On my hands they came out great. On the wheels I am not so sure. I think I got used to the freewheel being exposed.

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[BrazilianY60]

Driving the GU the other day I noticed that when locking all doors from the drivers door (left for me) central locking, the passenger door (right for me) would toggle the chromed lock inside but the door could still be opened from the outside. Only way for it to really lock the right door was locking it from the outside with the key. Further investigation showed me that either manually or through the the central lock, the right door chromed lock would move to "close to the end" position but you could still press it a bit more and it would move a bit further, just like it had two stages. Sometimes pushing it to the very end would make the door really lock, sometimes not.,

This weekend I have finally disassembled the door and locks to investigate and repair it.

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For anyone looking to disassemble the GU4 door, this one and a half minute video fair dinkum:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAsJzSQ3wdg&list=WL&index=2

After removing the dust cover, following the chrome lock, you can see that the lock's left-right movement goes into this boomerang lever that redirects it into up-down movement and then to the the actual lock.
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And down to the actual lock it goes:
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This is the lock mechanism together with the servo motor actuator. These are held together by only two screw.
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Gave the lock a good clean because that usually solves 90% of the issues, but this one was on the other 10% :clownredpuff: Further examining it, I noticed that there was a gap between the metal plate and the plastic body around the area of one locating pin.
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Closing the gap with hand pressure and cycling the lever a couple of times would make a clock spring click into position and further cycles would work perfectly. Releasing the pressure would allow the gap to form and such clock spring would pop out of position.
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The locating pin:
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The solution was to drill through the locating pin and passing a screw through it, to get rid of the gap.
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Works perfect now!

[mudnut]

The door locking mechanisms of the GU are well known to fail. This usually happens when the door is shut, so it is a real big job to open the door.

There are a few threads on here dealing with the issue. growler2058 had his fail and had to do a lot of work to fix it.

[BrazilianY60]

Yeah, when I noticed the issue with mine, I started reading the threads here and found many indeed. Saw some desperate measures like drilling the B pillar and the likes.

But then I realized that the usual issue is for doors to stay locked while mine was not locking (well, at least from inside). And once people open their doors their solution seems to be replacing the lock mechanism, I could not understand exactly what happened to theirs, something about a plastic pin wearing out, but it seems the only solution was to replace the lock instead of fixing it.

[growler2058]

The door locking mechanisms of the GU are well known to fail. This usually happens when the door is shut, so it is a real big job to open the door.

There are a few threads on here dealing with the issue. @growler2058 (http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/member.php?u=2058) had his fail and had to do a lot of work to fix it.

Mmmm bastard of a thing. After ripping the door lining off with a closed door, I had to smash the effer apart with a long cold chisel

[BrazilianY60]

The dashboard had already suffered the infamous bubbling issue and was wrapped in vinyl by the previous owner. The wrapping didn't resist the sun and shrunk a lot.

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I have used the instructions on the following YT video to disassemble the dash. This is absolute gold for anyone attempting this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KbVeS7KyW0

[BrazilianY60]

The starting point is the stereo/HVAC surrounding. There are two screws (red squares) and 6 plastic tabs. It is actually very easy to remove, prying around it with a plastic pry bar. I highly recommend using only plastic tools for all the prying involved as flat screw drivers and metal pry tools will definitely hurt the part being removed. Once the surrounding is out, disconnect all the plugs from the switches and controls you may have on yours. Next step would be removing the stereo, just 4 screws readily visible and the plugs on its back. I had mine already removed on the picture as I am trying to sort out some issues with it.

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Next, move to the center vents and the mini-glove-box. There are only these 3 screws visible on the front (I pointed out only two to avoid using the middle finger, I am a very polite lad LOL). Then, work around it with plastic pry bars and it comes out as a single piece.

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Next, the HVAC panel. Remove the four screws visible on the front and depress both tabs (red arrows) and press the HVAC panel just a little towards the firewall. The HVAC panel does not need to be removed and will stay on the car. The pressing is just to keep it clear from the dashboard when its time to pull it out.

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[BrazilianY60]

My GU is LHD, so the glove box is on the left side, but the screws and tabs are exactly on the same position (although mirrored). You see, I used as a reference a video from an RHD GU, and I can say it is exactly the same (mirrored).

Lets start with the glove box itself. With the lid closed, remove the two screws on the bottom. Open the lid and remove the four screws on the top and one on the side. Pull it gently and it will come out as a single piece.

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Onto the A-pillar: for the handle pry the two screw covers with a plastic tool and remove the two screws to remove the handle. Partially remove the weather strip, in the area from roof to floor. To remove the A-pillar cover, pull it outwards gently and once it pops out of the clips, pull it upwards gently. This revealed the coax cable to the roof aerial that came in my GU.

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Onto the vents: remove the screw on the bottom of the silver lower vent cover. Remove the nut that secures the dash lower end. Tuck your head under the dash and remove the screw that secures the lower vent piece from behind. I suggest a short screwdriver for this, as it is a very tight space.

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For the lower vent part to come out, some wiggling is necessary. Wiggling alone didn't work for me, though. I had also to tuck my hand under the dash around the lower vent piece to help depressing the metal tabs seen on the picture.

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Upper vent was easy, just some prying with the plastic tool and some wiggling. There is a small tab on the top of it that can be reached from the front, but mine came out without fooling with it.

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And the last part of the glove box side is the air-bag anchor bolt and its electrical plug. FIRST OF ALL, DISCONNECT THE BATTERY!
Remove the anchor bolt and unplug the yellow plug. I had a hard time figuring out where the latch for the yellow plug was. That is all it takes for the air-bag for now as it will stay bolted to the dashboard and will come out with it.

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[BrazilianY60]

On the steering wheel side, start by removing the handle, weather strip and A-pillar cover, pretty much the same way done for the glove box side. Then, move to the bottom of the steering wheel. Remove the fuse box cover. The bottom part is held by 2 screws of the fuel door latch, two screws of the bonnet latch and one external screw. Then pull the bottom part gently and it will come out.

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Now, onto the vents. This part is interesting because you really want to remove the vents, but there is a sequence of other parts that need to be removed or pulled out of the way in sequence for that to happen. The instrument cluster trim blocks the vents. The steering wheel blocks the instrument cluster trim and the steering wheel tilt down mechanism doesn't provide enough tilt to remove the instrument cluster trim, so you have to undo the steering column bolts... The steering wheel bottom cover blocks the steering column bolts, so it needs to be removed. So here it goes in the reverse order, to end up removing the vents...

Lets start... the steering wheel needs to be pushed down and it requires unbolting two nuts around the red arrow area. On the video, the guy undo then nuts with the bottom cover on. I found out that it made my socket/extension contact the nut sideways and due to the bolt being extremely tightened, the socket would slip out of it. So I opted to remove the bottom cover. The bottom cover only has two screws, on the red squares area and then some gentle movements.

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Now, undo the two cluster trim bolts, slightly tilt the steering wheel down and remove the trim. I found it easier to also remove the steering wheel column top cover to avoid scratching it. And surprise, surprise, the bolts were already missing. As a matter of fact, I found 7 bolts missing throughout the process. Remember, I am re-upholstering this, so someone far less careful and obsessive then me has already taken this apart and as it seems has stuck 7 bolts up his arse. This is why I'd rather do all disassembly-reassembly of trims myself, even when I am hiring someone to do the main part of the thing, like installing a stereo for example.

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Anyway, cluster trim off, lets move to the vents themselves. Remove the bottom dash bolt and then for the lower vent it is just a matter of wiggling and maybe depressing the metal tabs with your hand under the dash and around the vent, just like with the glove box side. You see, the steering wheel side lower vent has not bolts like the other side, and what holds it in place other then the tabs is this indentation that stays under the cluster trim, so this is the reason for removing the trim. You may have to disconnect the plugs for switches you may have there. Top vent came out too easy. The picture shows a tab on the top vent that can be accessed with a pick from the front of it to help remove in case wiggling doesn't do the trick.

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[BrazilianY60]

The instrument cluster itself has only four screws, readily visible. In between the two bottom screws, there is another one on the dashboard that needs to be removed as well. Mine was already removed, with the screw making noise on stone paved roads.

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Then, I have used a soft towel to protect the instrument cluster acrylic while tilting it forward to have access to the back connectors. Unplug the three of them and the cluster is free.

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[BrazilianY60]

By this time the dashboard has only four attachment points left. The first two are bolts under the top/windshield vents. You don't need to remove them completely, just pry them up a little with the plastic pry tool and you can use a socket with an extension. Do that for both sides (both vents I mean, its just one bolt per vent).

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Last pair of bolts are on the cover bellow the HVAC, one at each side. Remove them both. After this, there is no more attachment points left. The cover bellow the HVAC though, wraps around the HVAC frame of the dashboard making it pull the cover along with the dash if you try it. I have stuck a plastic pry tool in between just to make some room and then removed the dash. That cover also has one center pin at each side and one of them was the only thing I managed to break throughout the whole process, which for me is a win.

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Remove the air box and the air bag and you are left with the replaceable or reupholsterable part of the dashboard.

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[BrazilianY60]

Final result. Althouth simple, I have to admit it's a hellova work if done properly and taking no shortcuts. All the screws that were missing were added, everything is properly fastened now.

Foam had to be added (this is why it looks chubby) to transition from the gooey bubbled surface to a more homogeneous one. If the dash was made of something dry it could be sanded flat, but the gooey material is no help.


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[mudnut]

Final result. Althouth simple, I have to admit it's a hellova work if done properly and taking no shortcuts. All the screws that were missing were added, everything is properly fastened now.

Foam had to be added (this is why it looks chubby) to transition from the gooey bubbled surface to a more homogeneous one. If the dash was made of something dry it could be sanded flat, but the gooey material is no help.


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Get or make a dash mat to keep the UV and heat from destroying all your good work.

[Plasnart]

Final result. Althouth simple, I have to admit it's a hellova work if done properly and taking no shortcuts. All the screws that were missing were added, everything is properly fastened now.

Foam had to be added (this is why it looks chubby) to transition from the gooey bubbled surface to a more homogeneous one. If the dash was made of something dry it could be sanded flat, but the gooey material is no help.


86351

86352

86353

Bloody amazing job there Braz. Please tell me you also did the upholstery too?

Years ago I drove buses and coaches for a company that did everything in-house. Mechanics, painters, electricians and upholsters. I bloody loved visiting the upholstery shop seeing those guys do their thing. It's probably one of those jobs that if I could turn back time, what would l do?

That, or being Elle McPherson's stud. :D

[BrazilianY60]

Please tell me you also did the upholstery too?

Hahaha, no Plassy, that would be too much!
I have done the disassembling/reassembling. The actual upholstering was done by a professional.

Have you noticed the guy made a destructive stitch for the air-bag?

[BrazilianY60]

A couple of weeks ago my son tried the A/C system to which we heard a crackling noise. I told him to turn it off, it felt like a bunch of leaves or sticks were being crushed inside the fan. When we got home, there were crushed leaves on the floor indeed.

86354


Dropped the fan/blower and this is what I found.
86355

86356

This is looking towards the evaporator.
86357

This is looking upwards towards the cowl (the external intake to the A/C system)
86358


Could not remove the bottom of the evaporator box for a proper wash, so I have only vacuumed it while blowing the other side with compressed air. Not 100% clean but no obstructions and better yet, no noises. An A/C cleaner spray was used for disinfection and for that "job well done nice smell".

Looking upward.
86359

Looking towards the evaporator.
86360

[BrazilianY60]

Forgot to mention that after I have put the dash together, the air-bag light appeared. Searched around for a reset procedure, since I don't own any OBD2 scanner, and found this on the Nissan Patrol Africa forum:

1. Get inside the car and with driver door closed switch on the ignition. The airbag light will be illuminated.
2. As soon as the light goes out to start the error blinking you turn off the ignition.
3. Switch the ignition on again and repeat step 2 another 3 times. You need to do this a total of 4 times.
4. Once done, remove the key, insert it again and start the vehicle.
5. Airbag light should be reset now.

This procedure worked for me (2006 GU4 TB45).

[BrazilianY60]

Its year end close at work this week so I decided to try to replace the TB45 myself. I have never gone through these ventures before, and being it a big and heavy engine on a large rig, it concerns me some. But, life means adventure, doesn't it?

Started by labeling every connector and vacuum hose.
86421

86422


On a close inspection I realized one small difference between my current engine versus the donor one: alternator belt on mine (2005) uses one poly-V belt while the donor one (2001) uses two V-belts. Thankfully, my donor engine came with the alternator, so I'll use it instead of my current one, otherwise I'd have to change the crankshaft pulley. Donor alternator is 100A while the current one is 110A. I hope 100A is enough.
86423

86424


All conectors are unplugged, water hoses are loose, radiator is out, alternator is out, power steering and AC compressor are unbolted and tied to the frame. I liked something I saw on jff45 engine swap which is puting a board to protect the AC condenser.
86425

Still need to undo fuel lines before jumping into actual engine bolts. Oh, that and removing the bonnet, as that requires a pair of helping hands.

[BrazilianY60]

Even labeled my new cuts!

LOL!

86426

Tried to collect all the antifreeze but ended up making a mess. Heard something about it being poisonous to dogs and pets, so took the time to hose it off and wipe the floor. I hope my dogs don't find any spot possibly missed.
86427

[BrazilianY60]

Top bellhousing bolts are killing me. Read somewhere that it woud be possible with from under the car with a wobble extension, even bought one today, but no. The thing is very, very hard to even get the socket in position.

Read somewhere else a lad mentioning he does it from the top, with a spanner, and using double spanner lever to take it. Didn't work for me.

[BrazilianY60]

The day started with bonnet removal.
86429

86430


Too much things happening in the front of the car, so I decided to take off the grill just to be on the safe side. Easier to find an engine than a grill...
86432


Everything ready except fot the two top bellhousing bolts... what a fight! My fingers are all skinned trying all methods I read about on the internet. A quick run to the tool store to grab a wobble extension, but no luck. Ended up removing the front driveshaft and undoing the engine mounts, lowering the engine until the crankshaft pulley would touch the crossmember (left a woodboard there so it wouldn't hurt the pulley) and only then have some barely decent room to work on those bolts. Not before some 4 hours of trying every other method. Called my cousin to help with the actual hoisting as I was afraid of all that weight to be hanging high on the hoist. Finally, the big prize.

86433

86431


I'll leave them talking to each other for the night.
86434

[BrazilianY60]

Today's progress:

Changed flywheel and clutch from old engine to new engine. Something I felt super strange is that the manual not only do not ask for thread locker on flywheel and clutch plate bolts, but actually asks to lub them in engine oil before installing. I have torqued everything to spec but must admit I'm surprised.

Didn't have that plastic spigot clutch centering tool, but while trying sockets into the crankshaft hole to see if something would fit, I discovered that the neck of the 1/2" socket extension fitted absolutely perfect. Only had to match now the clutch disk splines diameter. Sleeved the socket extension with an old washing machine rubber hose I had laying around and centered it was!

86451


When taking the old engine out I felt all that weight high on the hoist became too dangerous. So to put the new engine in, I opted for some other resources. Deflated the tires, used the hoist one position shorter and once inside the bay, I supported the engine over some wood boards and lengthened the hoist for the final engine to bellhousing mating. I felt much safer this way.

86452


And finally, new engine in!

86453

[BrazilianY60]

Oh, and something I realized now that I screwed up but now it is done. I noticed some very light coat of silicon on the engine block plate that faces the bellhousing. Cleaned it all good for new silicone bead, but ended up mating the engine to the gearbox without it.

[BrazilianY60]

Hose clamp for the back of the engine heater hose was total b!tch to put back.
Most of the electrical connectors are now plugged.
Fuel lines are connected.

Still need to bolt back in place the alternator, ps pump and AC compressor in order to do the belts and after that, radiator.

Noticed something today that pissed me off... When plugging back all connectors I realized that the oil pressure sender on the engine that came out has a different connector then the one on the engine that went in. I could have changed one for the other while both engines were out, but took it for granted that everything would be the same. Now I'll have to replace it with the engine in the engine bay... bugger!

Connector on my old engine/on my harness:
86462


Connector on the new engine:
86461


Where it is...
86460

[BrazilianY60]

Same pressure switch. Different connectors.

86501

86506

[BrazilianY60]

Pressure switch exchanged, tidied up the last details and the new old engine started on the first attempt. I was honestly expecting some troubleshooting to be required, since this was my first engine change ever, but it all went smooth. Temperature normal and etc.

Only thing not 100% was an exaust leak on the flange between exaust manifold and down pipe. I have retorqued it but it didn't help so I took it to an exaust shop to put a sealer or something. There, they showed me my cat converter was breaking apart.

86502


Took the chance to do something that I had been contemplating for a while: replaced the exaust with a Mercedes 2x2" in and out muffler plus a hotdog resonator and now I have a dual pipe exaust. Double barrel shotgun, baby!!

86503

86504


Right after looping over the rear axle, the pipes go from 2" to 2.5" for a nicer look.

[BrazilianY60]

A couple of months ago I have parked under a tree that whose branches were hanging too low. High enough for the GU but not for the power antenna. Read a few posts here about the mast being replaceable instead of the whole unit, and after searching online, the mast was cheap, so why not...

The mast was kinked and would not go all the way down anymore.
86611

Found the right tool for the job!
86612 86613

Out it came. I didn't need to remove the plastic fender protection to reach the antenna unit as suggested in some posts and videos. Everything came out from the top.
86614

Replaced the worn rubber cushion with an o'ring.
86615

The cheap replacement part and the result
86610 86617

Not that it bothers me but the new mast gets tucked away too much in comparison with the original one (when it was working).
86616

[BrazilianY60]

I have used the alternator that came with the "new engine" so I didn't have to fiddle with pulleys. Unfortunately, it had whining bearings. I know they can be replaced, but I had my original 110A alternator laying around, so it was the quicker solution.

Changing pulleys between the 100A and the 110A alternators
86619

Used a nylon bag loop to hold the pulley. I was surprised to discover that the pulley and axle were not keyed nor had splines. They are tapped and that is the only coupling they have.
86618

86620

86621

My "supercharger whine" is now gone.

[BrazilianY60]

The GU came with with a Tape Deck stereo type (hahaha stereotype) of Head Unit. Kids had never seen a cassette tape before, so I thought it was fun to keep it. I have even gotten one FM transmitter BlueTooth adapter for it.
86667


Rear speakers never worked, to which I assumed there were only front speakers, being this a military agency car. One day, out of nothing, driver side speaker stopped working. Next day, no speaker worked. One day later, four speakers working, so it had four after all. Being this an intermittent issue, I thought it was some sort of bad contact. Took the central part of the dash apart, examined the stereo harness, nothing wrong with it. Chances turned to the stereo output having cracked welds of some sort. Took it a part and could not see anything visually burnt or cracked. On the bench, all four channels worked all the time. Took it to an electronic repair shop and asked the guy to resolder everything on the output side of things.
86668


And the darn thing didn't work once re-installed! Well, let's check the speakers then... Replaced one of the front doors with a brand new (but very underpowered) Pioneer speaker that I was using for bench testing and it worked. I had a pair of those, so I have replaced the other side as well. Since the harness had two connectors, one being exclusively for the rear speakers, I left that one disconnected and used the stereo only with the front speakers for a while. When installing the Pioneers on the front doors, I have replaced the Nissan speaker connector with regular spade (female side) connectors. Why Nissan bothered having a connector for the speakers is beyond me.
86669


I started looking for another solution with better audio quality. I didn't want to go Android Media Center path again, as I had a bad experience with that on my 105. The thing is, a SW based solution that someone other than me decides when to update and make it turn into crap (planned obsolescence - had to search that one) is shite mate... A couple of automatic updates over 6 months and the thing is slow as it can be. And being the cellphone something you kind of replace every two years or so, the slowness becomes painfully evident when you have something way faster at hand to compare. My decision was then to leave NAV, etc to be cellphone tasks and pick a stereo to be a good dedicated audio HW.

Another thing that bugger me a lot is the lack of an actual volume knob. You never had to look at a stereo while driving, since from AM radio days! Not even to tune, you would drive and turn the tuning knob left and right gently to fine tune the desired station, all without looking! Know, at the touch screen society, even with good finger aim qualities you can't change the volume say in a corrugated road, without looking at the unit. Fark it!

I also wanted it to be 2din so the square cut on the dash central piece wouldn't look awkward. Doing searches on google, I got to a page inside the Pioneer Brazil website for a model that checked all the boxes. No CD/DVD, no tape, nothing. Just a media receiver for BT and USB. Good power output, 6 pre-amp output channels if I decide to go amplified, 13 band equalizer. Looked promising. Oh, and a huge volume knob, hahaha. It also had the possibility to change the color of the display and keys to match the amber illumination of the Patrol switches, HVAC and stuff. Great! When I started to research the cost of it I realized it was a manufacture discontinued piece. The Pioneer current unit on my market with the desired features is now 1din. Ok, let's not give up, let's go for a used one. After a few months on the hunt I was able to get a good used one, no scratches, for a reasonable price.
86670


Bought from my favorite Choina site one Nissan to ISO adapter harness, pretty much like the Aerpro model I see here on all stereo topics. Bought locally one ISO half built harness and matched/soldered that to the Pioneer half harness that came with the unit. Some cloth tape for that OEM finish and also self adhesive foam tape around the connectors to keep them from making noise behind the dash if they bang around on corrugated roads. I am happy with how this came out.
86671

86672

86673


I don't want to spend any more money on the GU other then maintenance before I have the GQ finished, so I decided to give a pair of old (but more powerful) Pioneer speakers a try for the rear doors. I saved them from the beaten up GQ when disassembling it's interior. I bit bent, full of dust, one with a broken wire from terminals to coil. Cleaned them a bit, resoldered the broken wire.
86674

86675


Hands-free mic on the (my) drivers side A-pillar and unit in place. The sound difference, even with not up to par speakers was astonishing. They say that SPECIALLY in audio you get what you paid for, and this can't be far from true. Absolutely no comparison with the listening pleasure of this unit on regular speakers and the Android unit on my 105 with GOOD speakers.
86677

86676

[BrazilianY60]

After few days using it, I decided that it was too far out of the dash for my liking. I'd prefer it to be more flush. Took it off, redrilled the brackets to make it sit further into the dash. I have also noticed there was a half centimeter gap around the whole unit from where you could see the back of the dash. Asked around at stereo shops and was able to buy this frame thing. I have cut it about two centimeters around the finishing surrounding and put it all together again.
86679

86678

86680

86681


The GU is now the most pleasure drive on the house, according to the Automotive Engineering Society supervisors (my kids).

[BrazilianY60]

After not having luck with a guy who took my money but never sent me the part, I stopped fooling around and ordered a new one from Japan.

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2023/05/50.jpg

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2023/05/51.jpg

I'm glad with the result, but now that I have it in place, I reckon that it needs to be color coded. Someday, maybe.

[BrazilianY60]

Got this funny Godzilla tire cover and had to make fun of my LandCruiser friends. Picture is bad but it is "eating LandCruiser" with chopsticks.

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2023/05/52.jpg

[BrazilianY60]

Decided take the GQ wheels for a spin, and the GU looks sick in them. It screams for flares, though.

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2023/05/53.jpg

[BrazilianY60]

Some good buddies insisted on me going on a fishing trip with them despite me not being a fishing person myself. Mates weekend, no wifes, no kids. The ute load of draft beer kegs they were bringing was a too good of an argument to pass...

The GU is not my main choice for a road trip at the moment since I have not dedicated time nor money to its maintenance as the GQ is the priority money pit. It needs a full suspension job (all bushes+all shocks), new brake pads all around and definitely a rear main seal. But the place where we were going is so beautiful and full of scarps and I was so keen to try the GU in 4 low that I decided taking it anyway.

To make justice to the title, here is the only actual fishing picture that I can offer:
87397


I checked with locals of places where people liked the view and they sent me toward two places. First one, is the top of one of the highest hills they have, where people jump from a cliff on hand gliders and paragliders.
87398

The view of the scarfs from there:
87399

People jump from this cliff with their gliders:
87400


Second place was called the "the solitaire tree". It is a single tree on the top of a mountain on private property where you are allowed to go in assuming you are used to the most basic of protocols (not being loud, being polite to people, not leaving anything after you, closing gates, etc).

The solitaire tree seen from afar:
87405

You can certainly drive there over some regular dirt roads but the funniest way was a cattle trail over the edge of the mountains.
87401

87402

87403

87404


Arriving at the place and the view from there:
87406

87407

87408


From there I took another trail down to the lake for some nice local food and to cool my feet on the lake's water.
87409


And to close this adventure, some poser pictures with a shot suspension :D
87410

87411

[KURD PATROL 2008]

Opened the stainless steel cover for the spare tire to find a 15 years old, brand new, never used original 235/80r16 tire. I am still divided about the SS tire cover, but true be told, it kept the tire "fresh". Its rubber is soft and grippy just like a new one.

85849


I don´t know about you, but this definitely reminds me of cotton candy :animierte-sm
85847

This is the part number
85848


The tires that came on the car were 235/70r16 and were considerably smaller then the original sized spare.
85850

Front tires were also damaged, so I opted to buy new OEM sized tires. I ended up finding 235/85r16 tires for reasonable price so that was what I picked.
85851

All the wheels had some surface rust with this one being the worse
85852

Powder coated them all and then painted the inside with gloss black (paint I had left from the GQ axles/chassis coating) and the outside dark gray (paint I had left over from the GQ bumper coating)

85855 85854 85856

85857

85858

85859


And off to the tire-shop we go!

85860

It is not a big tire at all, but the diameter kind of fits well in the wheel well.
85861

And even the mudflaps seem to have been made to cover only the bike tires.
85862

Full car picture will come once I have the time to take it out in the sun. I could not take a full car picture that I liked inside the garage.

i may have more questions since i have the same car and a lot to fix, but that's common here that the spare mounting door will have a crack inside behind the glass if you have the spare tire mounting on it, it's amazing how it looks with bare spare tires but removed it because of the crack which was little but growing more.. is there any solution for that ?
8858888589

[BrazilianY60]

I will check mine next time I drive it. From memory I don't remember if I had any cracks.

[KURD PATROL 2008]

Okay mate, this page does not send me notifications, i need to check all my comments i did.. that's looks like an old machine