New 4.2 Ute 'Hexie'

[NomadTech]

Bought this ute last month.

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Workmate and myself drove down NSW South Coast to have a look. Looked great on first appearance, but test drive didn't go very well. Clutch was the most brutal I've ever felt; I'd liken it to crushing an unopened coke can under the pedal. Stalled it straight away as the friction point was down in the carpet. Drove out onto dirt road off the farm, had a panic moment coming downhill to a washed out causeway as I pretty much had to stand on the brakes to get her to pull up. Was struggling to change gears and get her moving as I was having such a fight with the clutch and brakes that I got flustered and couldn't pay attention to what I was doing... Wasn't that hopeful about this one. Down the mountain I threw the keys to my workmate to let him see what he thought. He got in and had a feel: "She's got no vacuum". Duh! Why didn't I twig to that. We drove back to the farm, decided to have a thorough look over the rest of her. Engine sounded very nice considering the k's, only a bit of surface rust. Decided to buy it and take a chance I could get her running well. Workmate had to drive her back to Sydney as he's a big guy and could work the clutch and brakes (It still cramped his leg up for a day afterwards).

At my place did an assessment on what it needed and ordered off the bat new:
-Vacuum pump
-Vac lines.
-Brake hoses.
-Clutch hose.
-Brake booster.
-Clutch booster.
-Brake master cylinder.
-Clutch master cylinder.
-Clutch slave cylinder.
-Clutch slave heat shield.
-Shifter bushes.
-Dash Fascia.
-Wiper arms.
-Wiper bottle.
-Coolant bottles.
-Heater hoses.
-Belts.

...Details and further work to come.

[NomadTech]

Step 1: New Vac pump installed. Yay: Now we have Vacuum.
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[NomadTech]

Step 2: New Boosters, Master Cylinders, lines etc.

This is new territory for me. The old brake master had been leaking for a long time, brake fluid had eaten off the paint a long tìme ago and the booster was rusted out. The fluid in both clutch and brakes was almost black. The clutch slave felt pretty rough which was probably contributing to the brutal clutch feel.

Did some reading that suggested if you have a 3" exhaust, the pipes are a little close to the clutch slave and over time it cooks them. While replacing the slave cylinder I chucked on a heat shield.
Had some trouble bleeding the brakes. The soft lines appeared a bit swollen up on the rear, a bleed nipple was blocked with crud (the rubber caps are long gone), and the proportioning valve was gummed up and stuck, as well as not being re-mounted for the suspension lift. The rear drums may be aftermarket, requires further looking into. I wonder if it was crabbing out after the lift kit misaligned the proportioning valve arm and someone has tried to fix it by putting larger drums on?

Disassembled, cleaned and reassembled the proportioning valve (after seeing what a new one cost), then decided to order all new flexible lines, as well as the flexible line to the clutch slave.

Took it for a test drive and... The brakes locked on. Realised I hadn't set up the pushrod lengths correctly on the boosters. Set them to the numbers in the Haynes manual and... They locked on again. I think this may be due to purchasing a non-OEM master which may have a different depth to the plunger: I had no freeplay in the pedal.
So I took the master off again, measured the lengths and depths of the pushrod, plunger etc and worked out the length to set the right gap.

Bled it all (again... Starting to question why I'm putting myself through this at this point, questioning whether I made a massive mistake taking on this re-build) and now the pedal goes to the floor. Disassemble the brake booster/master AGAIN, check all my adjustments, reassemble and bleed a fourth time. Pedal still goes to the floor! Around this time I notice a wet patch on the cardboard sheets I've been using to lay on under the car. I have a thorough look under the front passenger side with my worklight and notice on the rigid line there's a small worn and damaged patch that appears to have been squirting fluid.
I believe everything happens for a reason and it seems all my screwing around with the brakes, bleeding, pumping etc caused this damaged line to finally split and start squirting fluid, thankfully while I was working on the brakes and all my attention was on them. Imagine if it had gone on the freeway when traffic stopped in front of me!
Ordered new rigid brakeline assemblies for the front. This put a pause on things as it was over Christmas. When they came, re-bled the system (Attempt #5) and things finally felt right. I probably had the booster set right on attempt 2 but hadn't realised the brakeline was leaking under pressure at that point.

...That adventure over, I adjusted the clutch pedal. riction point is no longer in the floor, it's in fact a little higher than I'd like it. More tweaking to go there.

The car is now driveable though. 88986889878898888989889908899188992

[NomadTech]

Step 3: Dash & A/C controls.

The A/C controls were all siezed into position. Years of gunk from being on the farm had jammed the rack and pinions. I got the control pack out and put a whole can of contact cleaner through it before regreasing all the plastic gears and slides. Unfortunately forcing the siezed controls to move has over time stripped the teeth, so even though it now ran freely, the controls would slip positions. I got a new control pack from a wrecker and installed that one instead.

The Fascia has been cut with a saw to install an entertainment unit. I wanted to restore the original look so I got a single DIN Pioneer head unit, a spacer and an intact fascia from a wreckers. Also got ISO adaptors and cleaned up some of the wiring back there, including putting in a new ground stud.

Dash is now re-assembled.88993889948899588996889978899888999

[NomadTech]

Step 4: Upholstery.

The interior was a bit of a mess. The last owner had started doing a restore but hadn't got too far. The butyl rubber layer is great, but over the top was a layer of sound deadening, some heavy rubber matting and then marine carpet. Workmate gave me a link to a company that sell vacuum-formed vinyl interiors. Ordered one for the vehicle and he helped me install it over Christmas.

We gutted the interior, pulled out all the layers except the butyl rubber, vacuumed it out twice then cleaned everything down with alcohol before installing the underlay and vinyl. 890008900189002890038900489005

[NomadTech]

Interior Before/After:
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[NomadTech]

Step 5: Gearshift.

This wasn't too bad, I think the bushes have been replaced in the past but I've opted to put in Patrolapart's Bronze-Aluminium upgrade kit anyway. Along the way discovered every single rubber in the gear selection was split or completely gone so had to order in replacements for all those too. Ordered new circlip and snapring at the same time as I know of too many stories that begin with "So I decided to re-use the old snapring...". Lubricated it all with hi-temp bearing grease. Did the rubber boot on the transfer case lever too since I already had everything open.
New shift knob on there too as the old one was pretty worn.

Gearshift now moves like a rifle bolt and grabs gears like a magnet. Feels amazing��
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[Cuppa]

You are going well. Two thoughts.

Yes that heat shield is essential with a 3"pipe. It can take a long time for the damage to occur, but when it does, as in my situation you can lose your clutch at the most inopportune time.

Nice job with the sound deadening on the floor plan ,but I suggest you turf out that terrible felt stuff. When it gets wet - which it will at some point, it stays wet & stinks. Had it happen twice, once from a water leak in the rain, & once stalled in the middle of a creek. On both occasions the cab had to be stripped & the soggy stinky & now heavy felt had to be hung out to dry & each time took around 10 days! Replace it with something which doesnt soak up the water like blotting paper.

[NomadTech]

Cheers for the tip! Funny story about moisture: I haven't got to this part yet but at some point in the past the Vapour Barrier in the doors has been cut out. Both me and mate had headaches and congested sinus while cleaning out the cab. I took the door cards off to replace a door latch and found the barrier gone and the door cards rotten and full of mould (I've been poisoned badly by the stuff before in an old apartment so I don't mess around when it comes to chucking anything mouldy. It just goes). I've ordered new ABS Plastic cards but that accounts for the patina of rust on all the unpainted surfaces under the dash and a bunch of bad electrical contacts on switches and things that I've had to clean or replace... I'd been wondering how it got like that when my old wagon was still pristine inside at the same age.

[BrazilianY60]

Gearshift now moves like a rifle bolt and grabs gears like a magnet.

Haha! Loved that! Incorporated to my vocabulary!

[PeeBee]

Great detail and excellent photos. I agree with Cuppa, ditch the felt as it holds mud and water and never dries out. I used a car builders closed cell foam on top of the jing ping sound deadener- similar to the car builder stuff and its only the carpet now that can get wet.

How hard was it to exchange the gearstick bush? I have them n the shelf but have not gotten to it yet. Whats a brief description of the process please?

[NomadTech]

Great detail and excellent photos. I agree with Cuppa, ditch the felt as it holds mud and water and never dries out. I used a car builders closed cell foam on top of the jing ping sound deadener- similar to the car builder stuff and its only the carpet now that can get wet.

How hard was it to exchange the gearstick bush? I have them n the shelf but have not gotten to it yet. Whats a brief description of the process please?

Yep, I decided to order the back piece of vinyl to go behind the seats so I'm going to re-do the underlay when that comes. Originally I only ordered the front half as I was trying to manage costs but I liked the result so much I wished I'd done the back half of the cab too.

The process of changing the shift bush is:
-Unscrew the shift knob and transfer knob.
-Undo the 4 screws that hold the top cover on and lift it off.
-undo the 6 (?) Screws that hold the top rubber on. Take it off, then lift off the rubber heat shield under it too.
-pull the rubber boot off the gear shift.
-Take out the circlip holding the stick in.
-Lift the stick out and change the little bush on the end of it (add grease).
-Pull out the snapring. This is a pretty big fella, I used multigrips and a big flathead screwdriver to get him out.
-Pull out the big bush that everything sits in.
-Clean all the old grease out.
-Regrease with Hi-temp bearing grease (they recommend bearing grease, not black lithium grease if you're using plastic bushes).
-Drop the new bush in.
-Grease it thoroughly.
-Put new snapring in. This was the hardest part of the whole operation for me.I finally got it in by seating one end on the opposite side from where I was sitting, grabbing the other end with multigrips and pushing with my bodyweight a bit until it finally went home (It is a big snap ring).
-Drop the stick back in.
-Pop the circlip in. It seats under the snapring.
-Pull the rubber boot back over the top.
-Reassemble the rubber covers. You may have to put some body weight on the top metal cover to get the screws to bite as on mine the upholstery underlay needed to be compressed under it.
-Put the plastic cover back on and re-screw the shift knobs back on.

Tips:
-Have it in neutral and the stick will drop straight in, otherwise it's fiddly.
-The little bush if it's a bronze one can fall off the stick when you're trying to put it in. You don't want to lose it in the transmission.
-I've seen on some forum posts about this that the factory drawing is only indicating that you can use a snapring OR a circlip. This is 100% flat-out false! The snapring holds the big bush in, the circlip uses the snapring as its seat and holds the stick in.

...Hope that helps. It's not a complicated job. I could do it again very quickly now that I know how to do it and have a technique to get the snapring in.

[PeeBee]

Yep, I decided to order the back piece of vinyl to go behind the seats so I'm going to re-do the underlay when that comes. Originally I only ordered the front half as I was trying to manage costs but I liked the result so much I wished I'd done the back half of the cab too.

The process of changing the shift bush is:
-Unscrew the shift knob and transfer knob.
-Undo the 4 screws that hold the top cover on and lift it off.
-undo the 6 (?) Screws that hold the top rubber on. Take it off, then lift off the rubber heat shield under it too.
-pull the rubber boot off the gear shift.
-Take out the circlip holding the stick in.
-Lift the stick out and change the little bush on the end of it (add grease).
-Pull out the snapring. This is a pretty big fella, I used multigrips and a big flathead screwdriver to get him out.
-Pull out the big bush that everything sits in.
-Clean all the old grease out.
-Regrease with Hi-temp bearing grease (they recommend bearing grease, not black lithium grease if you're using plastic bushes).
-Drop the new bush in.
-Grease it thoroughly.
-Put new snapring in. This was the hardest part of the whole operation for me.I finally got it in by seating one end on the opposite side from where I was sitting, grabbing the other end with multigrips and pushing with my bodyweight a bit until it finally went home (It is a big snap ring).
-Drop the stick back in.
-Pop the circlip in. It seats under the snapring.
-Pull the rubber boot back over the top.
-Reassemble the rubber covers. You may have to put some body weight on the top metal cover to get the screws to bite as on mine the upholstery underlay needed to be compressed under it.
-Put the plastic cover back on and re-screw the shift knobs back on.

Tips:
-Have it in neutral and the stick will drop straight in, otherwise it's fiddly.
-The little bush if it's a bronze one can fall off the stick when you're trying to put it in. You don't want to lose it in the transmission.
-I've seen on some forum posts about this that the factory drawing is only indicating that you can use a snapring OR a circlip. This is 100% flat-out false! The snapring holds the big bush in, the circlip uses the snapring as its seat and holds the stick in.

...Hope that helps. It's not a complicated job. I could do it again very quickly now that I know how to do it and have a technique to get the snapring in.

Many thanks very detailed, I will have a look at it soon.

[gibbo_78]

Nice ute mate! Done well on the repairs too :)

[NomadTech]

Step 6: Door Cards.

So I had to change a door Latch out and when I got the door card off I noticed a couple of interesting things:
1. The Door Card was mouldy and rotten.
2. The vapour barrier has at some point in the past been cut away.

Both sides same story... This explains a bunch of things: Why me and mate both had headaches and sinus congested after working on the upholstery, why there's a patina of rust on all the unpainted steel in the cab, and why so many of the electrical contacts in the cab are a bit crappy.

So I ordered new ABS plastic door cards online along with new vapour barrier and thought I might as well do some sound deadening and insulation in there too. Also bought a tin of vinyl spraypaint to resurface the door pockets.
Re-did the butyl rubber for the barrier as most of it has been pulled away and is... Where ever most of the old barrier is, I assume.
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[NomadTech]

So even with the dead vacuum pump replaced, new booster, cylinder etc the clutch still felt very wrong, like crushing an unopened coke can. I went to a very reputable clutch shop in Western Sydney who talked to me like I was a complete idiot and told me if the pedal is heavy the booster will be dead. I said it's working, they insisted it'll be the booster. I said "Well I just put it in 3 weeks ago", they changed to "Well you've got no vacuum then". I started to get a bit heated, said "Vacuum's fine. I'm pretty sure there's a problem with the clutch", they jumped in, felt it, told me "You've set up the pedal and booster wrong." I went to another shop. They looked into it, found the clutch was ancient and worn almost down to the rivets, the release bearing was completely rooted (that's what was causing so much force in there) and the flywheel was thoroughly fatigued.
I've got a new fly wheel and an Exxedy Safari Tuff clutch in there now and the pedal is as light my mum's old 1 litre Alto.
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[NomadTech]

Step 7: A/C.

Not a lot of progress pics here but the A/C has been a bit of work. Slow progress due to sourcing parts, constant rain, heat, finding time between work etc; but I finally got working A/C... Two days before end of the most humid Summer that most people can remember in Sydney.

The A/C belt on Hexie when I got her was frayed to the point I wasn't game to even switch it on, most of the 'V' in the rubber was gone. This was in contrast to the Alternator & Power Steering belts which were almost new. "Odd", I thought, "why only do the other two?".
Well because the A/C belt tensioner was siezed, that's why. (Also the alternator belt was too small. I have no idea how they got it on. Even with the alternator completely unbolted and at the end of the adjustment range I couldn't pry it off with a big flathead. It must have been just supple enough when new. I just had to cut it and hope I had the right size replacement. Also cut the A/C belt off. Had to go to the plumbing section of Bunnings and get a breaker bar to crack the bolts on the old adjuster to get it out. It was done so tight the pulley nut had actually bit into the metal. New adjustor on, new belts on: The compressor runs! ...No gas though; it only blows hot air.
Once I was done with the compressor I decided to install new splash guards that were completely absent from both wheel wells.

I wanted to fix up the rest of the A/C before getting it gassed so they wouldn't insist on doing a bunch of other work first (Budget is getting tight).

I put a can of A/C cleaning foam into the external intake: Watched it all come out the top and realised the recirculation vent is stuck closed. Diassembled the blower unit and found it moves freely enough. Tried to find a new vent control motor. Nissan carry them for $470. I got one from a wreckers in the UK off Ebay for $130. It works! Vent now opens and closes.

Put another can of A/C cleaner in: It all comes out between the blower unit and the evaporator box. The seals are gone...Yay.
Reseal with new foam from Bunnings, put it all back together. Local mechanic regasses it, now blowing cold air finally!

Mechanic comments the air flow seems low in the cab. I comment "If you'd seen the evaporator...". 20 years in the bush, on dirt roads with no cabin filter; she's absolutely choked with dust.

Finally had a chance today to re-open the evaporator box and get a mini-Karcher in there with a mix of hot water and Simple Green cleaner, followed by yet another can of A/C cleaner. Also changed the blower and Resistor Pack for good measure to see if that increases air flow. Seems to blow more air than my fairly new D-Max now.
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[jack]

Great write up, I’m glad it’s you doing this and not me.

[PeeBee]

You sure got good life out of that clutch!

[NomadTech]

Revising interior.

So I ended up buying the back piece for the vinyl upholstery and finally had the chance to install it today. On Cuppa's advice, took the opportunity to rip out the felt that came with the front piece and re-did it all with waterproof underlay. I know the underlay in the back half is a bit of a hodge podge. I've hit my budget limit now so couldn't get more underlay (Until someone buys my D-Max I've basically got no cash). I used some offcuts and the leftover sound deadener that I had from the doors, covered as much as I could in a few strategic places.
Got rid of the mess that was behind the seats and neatened it all up. Much better now.
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