Another Canuck

[canuck]

Found this form a while ago but am just getting around to the introduction. I am from Abbotsford, BC. I got my first Safari (Y60), a 1991 5 spd 7 pas, from an importer in July of 2006. A few years later, a friend and a importer noticed a collection of JDMs abandoned on the docks. Turns out that Customs Canada was getting ready to crush them as the exporter was not going to pay for them to be shipped back to Japan. He contacted the exporter and snapped them up for a song. He offered me the one Safari in the lot because he knew I was searching for a parts vehicle. The price was $3000 if I bought as is or $5000 if he gave me a chance to check it out. I gambled and picked up my second, a 1992 5 pas auto Safari for $3000. I could see a dent on the LF guard and a broken rear pas window. Later I found a broke regulator, dead batteries, and rotten rubber. So, SWMBO now drives the auto and has no intent of letting me use it as a parts vehicle. :( With a verified 84,000 kms on the clock it was a lucky find. Guess I will have to keep my eye out for another one. Looking forward to when the Y61s are 15 years old so I can buy one of those too. :rolleyes:

Cheers, John

[Bigrig]

G'day mate - Welcome aboard. Great people, information and laughs to be found on the forum, so don't be shy and join to make the most of it ... which appears to be the case already!! lol

Enjoy!

[DX grunt]

G'day John

Welcome to the forum and great to have you onboard.

Take care out there.

Rossco

[macca]

Welcome to the forum mate. Hope you have a good time here.
Macca

[Sir Roofy]

welcome again john enjoy your stay
throw up some piccies mate we love piccies here

[nowoolies]

g`day John
welcom on board mate
heaps of laughs and bucket loads of info here enjoy
nowoolies
Paul
p:s piccies we luv piccies

[canuck]

Thanks for the warm welcome. Here are some pics from this past August in Washington State going the less traveled route from Cascade Mountains over to the Okanogan Valley. The wife's shopping cart finally got trail broke and some pin striping... all due to me following a GPS short cut which according to the GPS was a real road. :driving2: She was not impressed.

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/11/13.jpg

The road...
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/11/14.jpg

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/11/15.jpg

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/11/16.jpg

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/11/17.jpg

I'll post some pics of my 5 spd later.

[Maxhead]

G'Day John, welcome to the forum mate

[Dhuck]

welcome to the forum mate.

[AB]

Welcome to the forum mate, looks like a nice little area over there!

[growler2058]

Gday mate welcome aboard gotta good mob here full of great info and advice

[wildgu6]

G'day John, welcome aboard this crazy ride.
Great bunch around here mate, great advice, heaps of knowledge & experience and some great laughs too,
Feel free to join in where ever you find interesting mate as you have,

Welcome aboard buddy.Enjoy the ride

Cheers Pete

[Mark S]

Welcome to the forum mate.....nice pics

[Clunk]

G'day John and welcome aboard mate, nice intro and great pixs............cheers for sharing

[canuck]

Thought I'd add a few more pics.

Here are my wheeling and walking buddies, Charlie and Kita.
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh33/canucksafari/DSCF3906.jpg

My 5spd with the smaller boots and short roof rack
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh33/canucksafari/princetoncamping298.jpg

A couple vids of winter highway driving here. I've got studded Nokians on and can usually keep pretty close to normal highway speed (or faster) on hard pack, fresh snow or ice. Hubs are locked in. When you got 800 kms to drive in a day, you can't drive at 50 k. Just got some Cooper studded tires last weekend for me. My wife will get the Nokians for her Safari this winter.

Blueberry Paulson Pass west bound towards the Paulson Bridge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bixhM6pdHDk

Hope Princeton Pass west bound before Manning Park Lodge

http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh33/canucksafari/?action=view&current=DSCF1349.mp4

The first one is through an avalanche zone. Never thought to much of it until about 7 years ago when I just missed an avalanche by a couple minutes. Now I keep as close an eye on the mountain side as I do the road.

[Finly Owner]

Hi and welcome to Nissans Nut House


Tim

[timbar]

G'day Mate - Welcome aboard join in when you are ready and have fun mate plenty to do see and if u have any problems just ask and im sure u will get an answer !! Bucket loads of usefull information here plenty to read so join in meet the great bunch of guys and girls on our wonderful forum !!

You will not be disapointed !!


ENJOY and WELCOME


Tim

[the ferret]

Hi john, those two wheelin mates of yours look very friendly and loveable mate.
The countryside looks pristine, but aren't you petrified driving on the wrong side of the road? LOL
How did you get on with the EGR drawing?
Cheers, the ferret.

[Stumpjumper]

Getting to like the look of the safari Canuck, the high rounded roof makes the whole rig look less boxey. Not that boxey is bad. Flat roofs are far easier puttin racks on too, hey which side is the steering wheel on? I cant see it from the pic, is it on the right? Are you driving on the right side of the road with the steering wheel on the right? Im assuming its same as USA.
Was the Safari an ex Japan import? I know that they are on the same side of the road as we are in Australia and UK,

[canuck]

Hi Ferret. I haven't done anything with the EGR yet. It is now too cold at -3 to do any wrenching outside and I do not have a heated shop. As soon as it gets a little warmer, I am going to cut out the plate and take off the EGR as you directed. Thanks mate.

The Safari is a RHD and of course we drive on the right side of the road here. The wife and I have no problems with this. In bad fog or heavy snow, sitting on the right is much safer as you have a much better sense of where the edge of the road is. The only issue I had was when I was in Timor Leste in 2010 and riding as a passenger. Every time we made a left turn I got a knot in my gut like we had turned into oncoming traffic.

Both our Safaris came as gray market imports from Japan. I am getting a bit tired of the high roof. For one thing, with a lift and bigger tires, you can't get the rigs into the garage. So I am forced to wrench on them outside. In the bush, you are always getting wacked with branches. On the highways in the winter, the high roof seems to be a favorite target of rocks from vehicles in front or passing. It is like being inside a tin can that kids are throwing rocks at. It is also a bit of a pain to take the full rack on and off.

[Stumpjumper]

The Safari is a RHD and of course we drive on the right side of the road here. The wife and I have no problems with this. In bad fog or heavy snow, sitting on the right is much safer as you have a much better sense of where the edge of the road is.
Ok I have got the picture, your on the right getting a good view of the edge of the road...........................now I am imagining you coming up behind a big truck and its going slower than you , you there with me? Ok how do you see when its good to overtake? Cant really look up the inside, Dont want to go fully on the other side of the road you gonna get wiped out.
How do you pass safely?
Might be able to use a periscope lol, you know like the diggers used in Galipoli, poke it out the passenger side window Ha ha ha ha ha
No seriously mate isnt it hard driving like that? I am thinking about all that snow, icy roads and poor visibility

[canuck]

I drive a naturally aspirated diesel Y60. How often do you think I get a chance to overtake? :driving2:

Actually, I have found that 80% of the time I can see over most traffic in front of me. For the other 10%, I can get a much longer field of view from the right-hand side than sliding out into the oncoming traffic lane like most LHD vehicle drivers do to peaking ahead. Actually, that is technically illegal here but most LHD drivers do it. If you are tailgating, then it doesn't matter where you are sitting, you are reducing your field of view. It is simple geometry. For the other 10% of the time, I just pray.


















Just kidding mate. For the other 10% I sit back and enjoy the drive until I think it is safe to pass. That is pretty much the same as when i was driving LHD. So far I have put on well over 100,000 kms in our RHD Safaris without a problem. Sometimes people get a bit of a scare. Like yesterday I was coming back from Maple Ridge and had taken the dogs with me for a drive. Kita being a bossy female decided she would be my nav and sat in the LH front seat. A woman in a truck pulled up along side of me to pass and almost swerved into me. All she could see was what she thought was a dog driving. At the next light I pulled up along side her and she and her friend were having a good laugh. Charlie doesn't like the front seat. But he has the habit of standing on the middle seats with his head pressed right against my head. It gets people every once in a while cause all they can see is a human upper torso with a dog head.

Around Abbostford most people don't react much anymore. There are two RHD import dealerships in Abbotsford. So people see RHD Delicas, Pajeros, Cruisers, Skylines, etc, on a daily basis. The odd person may comment "What's it like to be driving on the wrong side?" My standard answer is "I am always on the right side."

I think I have better visibility in my RHD Safaris than any other vehicle I have driven. They have no real blind spots with all the windows in them. They have probably the best mirrors I have had on a passenger vehicle (as good or better than the buses I use to drive). The only down side is acceleration. But I am at the age where that doesn't matter too much to me.

[Stumpjumper]

Hey Canuck I thought you might like to see some pics of Aldinga Beach where I live

[Stumpjumper]

Couple more

[Stumpjumper]

Not a polar bear in sight?