Doka's TD42 Safari Shorty

[doka404]

Ok big day working on the shorty today. Learnt a lot of tricks and little bits of bits and pieces from my mate Stewie, who also let me use his hoist and help me (read that as do most of the work) work on the Shorty today. Cheers Stewie and have some Gentleman Jack with your name on it..

So today we :

Pulled the hubs down, and completely rebuilt the front swivel hubs, wheel bearing, kingpin bearings. Set it all back up and back together.

Everything got pulled down, cleaned and repainted to make it all look pretty

Front CVs are in perfect condition and really no signs of wear on them so that was an added bonus.

Car already had the GU locking Hub nut so I have a brand new set of them here if anyone needs them..

King pin bearings has just started to get that flat spot in the straight ahead..barely noticeable and it was obvious that the hubs had been pulled down before and had been looked after in the past by previous owners.

I spent a bit of time with shims feeling the difference in pre-load on the king pins so I could get an idea of how they should feel. Old mate Stewie did a dry one first to get a feel and picked the right shim straight away, but got me to have a feel with different shims to see how it should feel etc.

Also pulled the Auto Locking mechanism out of the front hubs (There is a thread about it somewhere) so they are no freewheeling or manually locked

Fitted the new front discs (slotted and dimpled RDA's), pads and twin spot rotors along with braided lines. Also fitted new anti rattle shims and shims (front and rear - cause I am OCD about it lol ) as part of the rebuild so they are as new as they can be.

Koni shocks got fitted up front and rear.

Fitted the rear HD Lower Arms

Did a few other checks like checking the the steering box which did not need adjusting at all, checked rear wheel bearings which were all good.

So end result...

First drive straight of the hoist, the brakes were as good as the old (original) setup
After 40 odd km now..they have more feel, pedal feels better and definitely more power so they will only get better

Koni shocks..all I can say is why didn't I got there in the first place. On road the car still handles well..may be a little bit more body roll but its very controlled. Harse ride that the dobinsons had is completely gone..small bumps it soaks up, big bums it does the same. The firde is firm, but not harse.

I think the easiest way to explain it is that it was disappointing to park the car tonight..I just wanted to keep driving it..it feels that good to drive and I think that's saying something about a 25 odd year old GQ.

Ok some pics of the work..didn't get many but got a couple

[lantastic2020]

Those parts could easily be mistaken for new...

I'm curious Doka, is there a major reason you went with the shorty vs LWB? I'm thinking only better power-weight. Possibly looks! And how much you pay?

Reason is, I wouldn't have considered getting a SWB here in UK as they don't really pop up often... but something came up a few days again, coming in at £2850 GBP which is approx 5220AUD$. I don't have great pictures on the condition but it does look pretty good. Can't tell on rust as can't visit it yet. But here a few photos from the seller;

M42FKH-1.JPG

M42FKH-2.JPG

M42FKH-3.JPG

M42FKH-4.JPG

M42FKH-5.JPG

It's a 1994 GR SLX (I know it's different in OZ) with a TD422.

Very tempted as the money is pretty low even for UK choices...

[doka404]

Lantastic..I've had a few lwb patrols in my time and never had a shorty but always kind of wanted one. When this one came up it was too good to pass up.

Its possibly a bit rarer than a normal shorty being a safari and really was in such good condition and looked after by its previous owner that I couldnt say no.

They seem to be getting harder to get here as well, especially for nice original ones. I paid about the same $$ for my as yours.

That one your looking at looks very tidy!

[martin emmanuel]

mate your ride looks great i like it...

[doka404]

Thanks man..its a bit of a labour of love but its getting there..

mate your ride looks great i like it...

[lantastic2020]

I think it's probably in good shape. The chap who's selling it sounds senior and honest. And pictures never lie... mostly. It looks rather nice even considering the wet = everything looks more drab. Only problem is the distance, about 200 miles but in UK that's not a smooth trip.

Yeap, I bet your Safari shorty would be pretty unique for miles around. I was (and still am) looking really hard at the pre 1993 silvertop hightop Safaris. But round here, there's only one guy who specialises in them. He's shown me one but being the first I can't even tell if it's a steal or a banger.

Lantastic..I've had a few lwb patrols in my time and never had a shorty but always kind of wanted one. When this one came up it was too good to pass up.

Its possibly a bit rarer than a normal shorty being a safari and really was in such good condition and looked after by its previous owner that I couldnt say no.

They seem to be getting harder to get here as well, especially for nice original ones. I paid about the same $$ for my as yours.

That one your looking at looks very tidy!

[Vinnie]

Love this engine

[doka404]

Well..some not so good news. Discovered a bit of the dreaded roof rust. Looks like rusty the home wrecker has set up shop in a couple of spots.

But..its at the panel shop now, the roof has been complete,y stripped back and is getting fixed. Only one spot needs cutting and plating but there are some pin holes in other areas which will get cleaned up and lead wiped.

Also found a spot in the passengers so.l which is getting fixed as well.

He is also going to rust kill and proof as much of the roof as he can get to with the lining out so fingers crossed will be good as new and back in the road soon.

[doka404]

Those parts could easily be mistaken for new...

I'm curious Doka, is there a major reason you went with the shorty vs LWB? I'm thinking only better power-weight. Possibly looks! And how much you pay?

Reason is, I wouldn't have considered getting a SWB here in UK as they don't really pop up often... but something came up a few days again, coming in at £2850 GBP which is approx 5220AUD$. I don't have great pictures on the condition but it does look pretty good. Can't tell on rust as can't visit it yet. But here a few photos from the seller;

M42FKH-1.JPG

M42FKH-2.JPG

M42FKH-3.JPG

M42FKH-4.JPG

M42FKH-5.JPG

It's a 1994 GR SLX (I know it's different in OZ) with a TD422.

Very tempted as the money is pretty low even for UK choices...

I just noticed that the patrol your looking at, looks like it is in my favorite color..good old landrover stornaway grey..I have a fl2 in that color and if the shorty ever gets resparayed that's the color I'm going :-)