MY 2001 NISSAN PATROL GUII ST WAGON 3.0L
I'm a mad keen Patrol freak. I peer at every Patrol that I come across on the street or out in the numerous playgrounds across this great country of ours. I enjoy 4wd'ing and getting out amongst it, and I enjoy the challenges of putting my vehicle through terrain I don't think I can make it out of. You win some, you lose some. As they say "Your not 4wd'ing unless your getting bogged", and yes, I have been bogged.
I have built my wagon. Every modification you see on these pages I have performed myself. I have a Fitter & Turner trade background, and although most of the modifications I have found easy, I believe anyone could do them aswell. I have found inspiration through websites, 4wd magazines, and wth the aid of the numerous Patrol forums, I have overcome some of the more technical issues identified during my love affair (or sickness as my wife would say) with my Patrol.
As this wagon will always be a build in progress, check back every now and then to see how i'm going.
After searching for a few weeks, and finding nothing but rubbish, I had found a reasonably good looking 80 Series Land Cruiser on the web. Gun metal grey in colour, no panel damage visible, looked like a pretty clean wagon, ‘Centreline’ type mag wheels, tinted windows. Upon inspection at the car yard, it was a heap of rubbish that wasn’t worth the asking price of $10000. The underside of the car was covered in grease and oil. The interior looked like “Cujo” himself had been havin fun, tearing all the interior, and all the dash was cracked. The wonders of Photoshop! I didn’t find, or look at, a single car worth keeping all day. Leaving the car yards in disgust, I spotted the car that I would eventually buy. It just caught my eye as I was leaving, down a side road, sitting out the front of a small dealer.
I swung around and turned down the street and parked up out the front of the car yard. It looked good close up, had been recently washed and polished, and a big flouro $19,999 on the windscreen. It still smelt brand new inside, and not the smell of a freshly sprayed car yard deodorant. She had reasonable km’s for her age I thought. It had a 2” lift, and had been set up for towing a caravan, as was evident by the press studs on the grill for the bug mesh. She was also sporting 33” all terrain tyres. The salesman said it was an elderly couple that traded it in on something smaller. The exterior did not have a scratch on it, and the interior was in even better condition. All seven seats looked like they had never been used, and the rear carpet was in 'as new' condition. So I took it for a spin. I was impressed…..
After a few minutes of pointless niggling with the salesman over a few freebies, I said goodbye to my little Holden Rodeo tray back Ute ( trade in $4000) , and became a proud Patrol owner with $16k less in the bank. I couldnt help but think I might have been a little ripped off, as my Rodeo was in pristine condition, but looking back at the fun I have had with this car, it doesnt matter anymore. It was worth it.
Specifications
|
Manufacturer |
Nissan |
|
Make |
Patrol |
|
Year |
2001 |
|
Model |
Y61 GU Series 2 Wagon |
|
Engine Type |
ZD30 DDTi |
|
Capacity |
2953cc |
|
GVM |
3000kg |
|
Build Dtae |
October 2000 |
|
Colour / Trim |
TV5K |
|
Odometer |
247000 kms |
With the ability of a 4wd, the options where endless as to where we could go. There is plenty of sand hill playgrounds nearby, so from then on, it was every spare moment we had, we were off and enjoying our new wagon. Now that I was a “Patrol Owner”, I loved it. I was sitting high up, due to the 2” Suspension lift the previous owner had fitted, and with the 33” all terrain tyres, could see 5 cars in front when sitting at the lights. The more I got to know the car, the more I was impressed. It was basically a standard Patrol, but with a suspension lift. The mud was especially good fun and my kids even had a go (sitting on my lap or course).
The first trip out 4wding, I took her up the road to Pippidinny. Dense overgrown bush along some of the tracks, left, what sounded like, some almighty scratches along the whole length of the car. I knew it was inevitable, but to do it on the first trip????? Anyway, when I arrived home, my wife come ouot to see the whole side of the car scratched to the proverbial. I asked what the problem was, as judging by her reaction, I had dinged the side door or something. When I got out and finally looked at the scratches, I said to her, "well thats what happens when ya 4wding". SHe just shook her head and walked off inside the house. Some of those scratches are still there and wont polish out. Oh well......
COMPARISON
The first time I had the desire to modify my wagon was when my mate come round in his 4.8 GU. He runs 35" tyres and a 4" lift. Right there and then, the bug had bitten again. After the first few outings with him and his family, the things his car could do that my one couldnt was significantly noticeable. I would get bogged, he would power through. He could get over, I couldnt. This spurred me on to start the mod's.
SPOT LIGHTS
Driving the Patrol at night was less than impressive on the highway, or long bush roads. High beam was ok, but I needed more. The first addition was to install a set of spot lights. I purchased a set of Hella 160’s and found that there was already a lume tucked in behind the grille. I connected them up and they worked. The switch in the cabin needed work but all was working in about 5 minutes flat.
TYRES
Driving around in my new Patrol, I had started to see a heap of Patrols on the road, and my one, although I loved it, didn’t look tough like the rest of them. I needed new tyres, which I was due for anyway. The 33” all terrain tyres that were on it since I purchased the vehicle were worn, and the spare (which I hadnt even noticed) was a 31" tyre. It was time to invest in some mean looking boots.
285 / 75 R16 Micky Thompson Baja MTZ’s was my tyre of choice. I liked the look of them, and many on the forums recommended them. Good grip in the mud, minimal road noise, and a decent life were some of the pro's in selecting this tyre. I managed to get a good price on 5 tyres, installed, balanced, fitted, including wheel alignment from Emerald Tyre and Mechanical, in Joondalup. They were great to deal with and even threw in a few stickers for the ole toolbox.
OIL CATCH CAN
Discovering all of the Patrol forum’s on the internet, was in some ways evil. There is a wealth of information on these websites, and a lot of terrible stories about the ZD30 Patrol engine. So many so, that this engine earnt the nickname “The Grenade”. Evil in the sense that this had brought on the start of an incredible sickness, only other ZD30 Patrol owners will know about. Your pride and joy could die at any time. But there was help at hand with the use of NADS – Nissan Anti Detonation System
I fabricated my own catch can from the following bits and pieces:
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Turbo drain can purchased from Supercheap auto
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Stainless steel sink strainer
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Stainless steel wool
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Brass elbow fittings
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Copper tubing
SWAY BAR EXTENSION BRACKETS
The more I read on the forums, the more I started to learn. Whoever did the 2" suspension lift on my Patrol had missed a few crucial parts to a proper lift. The tension on the sway bay would have been excessive, as no extensions had been installed.
I purchased a set of Old Man Emu extension brackets and installed them, utilizing the original sway bar extension arms.
BRAKE BIAS EXTENSION
Also missed during the lift was the brake bias bracket. Most of the braking force would have been going to the front end, so with a 2" fabricated bracket installed, equal braking was restored.
SNORKEL
A snorkel had to be fitted as I intended to do some mud bashing. A genuine Nissan snorkel was sourced, and I fitted it myself. I take pride in having done all the mods on my car myself, but this snorkel is one I wished I had paid installation for. A very fiddly / cramped installation that led to some bruised and scored knuckles..
Part# A6575=VD200AU.
HID SPOT LIGHTS
I couldn’t justify spending over $1000 on a brand name set of HID spotlights. I found these on Ebay and are as good, if not better than any of those ones they advertise in the 4wd magazines. They are an 8" internal ballast HID, drivers side pencil beam, passenger side spread beam.
WINDOW TINT
Most of our getaways are on the beach, or up the coast, so it wasn’t long before the window tint was required. Glass Tinting Solutions (GTS) replaced the original window tinting with 3M Black CS35 tint, the darkest legal tint available at the time. As we were spending a lot of time on the beach, I wanted the darkest I could get.
EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION (EGR)
Part of the NADS is to block the EGR, to prevent soot build up. I fabricated a blank from 1.6mm stainless steel sheet, the same size as the gasket and installed instead of the gasket.
INTERCOOLER FAN
Whilst slow driving, or rock climbing, or any form of driving that does not produce enough speed to generate airflow through the intercooler fins, the air passing through the intercooler will not be cooling sufficiently. Do not be fooled by thinking that just because your Patrol has a bonnet scoop, that this works effectively, even at highway speeds. (Have you ever driven your car after a wash and the beads of water stay on the bonnet? Also, your bulbar or bonnet protector may deflect the wind up and over your scoop).
I fitted a thermo fan to the topside of the intercooler and reversed the fan blades so as to pull the air through the bonnet scoop and force it down through the intercooler fins. This operates off a 50 degree thermo switch, wired up through a relay, so no matter what speed I am doing, once the discharge air from the intercooler reaches 50 degrees, the fan will operate.
PILLAR POD / BOOST GAUGE / PYROMETER
To monitor what was going on with the engine, I installed an Autron Pillar pod. Black plastic, which I then colour coded with plastic spray primer and artists matt enamel paint.
2-1/16” Revolution Series Gauges installed, sourced from Speedhut in the USA, as I wanted gauges that had both an audible and visible warning. These gauges also could be customized to whatever you want, so I tried to get as close as possible as the Patrol dash gauges. These fit perfectly into the Autron dual gauge pillar pod, and have a lifetime warranty.
Lug welded to the exhaust drop pipe, with pyrometer installed, feeds temperature information back to the EGT gauge in the pillar pod
Gauge Details:
GRM-EGT-01
Revolution Metric 2-1/16 EGT 100-900C (w/Peak) 108in. Type K
Black dial // White font(Reverse Cobalt Blue Glow)
Font Style = Swiss
Graphics = NONE
Logo/text = Nothing
Pointer = Red (Glows Red)
Bezel = Revolution Silver
2 ½” EXHAUST SYSTEM
Replacing the standard exhaust is a 2 ½” High Flow Sports Exhaust, 2 ½” dump pipe with new rubbers kit.
DAWES VALVE & DYNO TUNE
To limit the amount of boost received, I had fitted by United Fuel Injection in Perth, an adjustable Dawes Valve. After fitting the Dawes Valve, the system was tuned on the dyno for optimum power / fuel.
STEERING DAMPENER
The original steering dampener had some minor damage and was corroding due to the beach work we had been doing, so I upgraded and fitted a Tough Dog 'return to center' steering dampener
STEREO
Ebay purchase
Out with the old original CD Radio player and in with the new 2 Din DVD Sat Nav CD USB TV Radio media player. This cheapo of eBay is excellent. Good sound and picture quality.
SUSPENSION / CASTOR CORRECTION / BRAKE BIAS
I replaced the 2” Old Man Emu lift kit with Lovells 3” Heavy Duty springs and shock absorbers
Changing out the rear springs was easy. Unbolt shock absorber, move car to gain maximum travel on suspension, and the springs fell out. The front was a little harder, all steering tie rods etc had to be removed as I could not get enough flex to do the same method as the rear.
I fitted ‘Ironman” adjustable castor correction bushes at the same time as I replaced the springs and shocks. I also increased the brake bias bracket another inch.
COMPARISON
Parked next to a TD42, and he had nothing on my wagon, but I was still envious of that sleeping workhorse under his bonnet
TIE RODS / LOWER CONTROL ARMS / DRAG LINK
Out with the old standard arms and tie rods
In with the new Superior Engineering
BULLBAR
In with the new Genuine Nissan steel bulbar (second hand) $300 off a rear end write off vehicle, as new condition.
REAR STORAGE SYSTEM & CARGO BARRIER (Version 1)
Out with the 3rd row seats
In with a custom set of drawers designed around my esky. 100kg slides were used for the esky slide, and 50kg slides for the drawers, all covered in marine grade carpet.
RIMS
Out with the old, and in with the new, 16 x 8 -13 offset
2ND GLOVE BOX
I saw this mod on the Patrol forum and thought, why not???? Good for wallets / phones etc
LED LIGHT UPGRADE
All halogen bulbs in the dash cluster were replaced with T10 LED's.
LED REAR WORK LIGHT
LED ebay cheapie light, rubberised housing does the trick. Its bright enough for what I have used it for. The bracket was purchased off a member from the Patrol forum.
REAR STORAGE (Version 2)
I had to modify the original drawers as the fridge would not fit. Pain in the but as the fridge was only 10mm too wide.
STEREO UPGRADE (Amp & Sub Woofer)
Whilst I was rebuilding the drawers, I wanyed to incorporate the woofer into them. This is what I have come up with. It works fine, and the bass is good.
12 VOLT FRIDGE
I could not justify spending $2000 on an Engel or a Waeco considering the amount of time we were going to use it, but when Anaconda had the specials on, this was too hard to pass by. $560 for a 60 liter fridge was a steal. And considering it has the same compressor as the Waeco, for a 1/4 of the price, I had to have it. We have used this every time we go out 4wding, and even gave it a flogging over xmas, and it is well worth considering over the Engel or Waeco. A great product as far as I am concerned. All stainless exterior, hardy plastic skirting with LED internal light, a cig socket voltage and temperature meter to keep an eye on whats going on inside the fridge, and it has worked beyond what I thought it ever would have.
ARK POWERPACK
Out with the old
DUAL BATTERY SOLENOID
Out with the old
100 Watt HALOGEN 3RD SPOTLIGHT
Toying around with a few spotties I had laying about in the garage. I added a 100watt Halogen spotlight between my two HID lights. Pointless procedure as there really was no difference in brightness. The HID's are just too good.
BARN DOOR HINGE
I noticed a small tear on the small barn door, caused by the drawers opening into the barn door. The small door opens further now with the extension bracket fitted, and the drawer no longer hits.
ROOF TOP TENT ROOF RACK
I had waited for ages as I didnt want to spend a fortune on a roof rack, but when the sales came up, I had to jump at it. $349 was cheap. Its a Tigerz11 roof top tent rack and I purchased it off the 4wdSupacentre website. I have hard mounted the Space Case to the rear as I do not use the rack for a roof top tent. Because we have the camper trailer, the rack will only be used for short or overnight trips.
TRANSMISSION TEMPERATURE GAUGE
To monitor what was going on with the transmission, 2-1/16” Revolution Series Gauge matching the EGT and boost gauges was installed, sourced from Speedhut in the USA. I wanted gauges that had both an audible and visible warning. These gauges also could be customized to whatever you want, so I tried to get as close as possible as the Patrol dash gauges.
Gauge Details:
GRM-TRNS-01: 2-1/16" Trans Temp Gauge 60-150C Metric (w/ warning)
Colors:
Day - Black dial // White font
Night - Numbers Cobalt Blue Glow
Font Style: Swis
Tick Style: standard
Graphic: -
Logo: -
Custom Text: -
Pointer: Standard Racer Red (Glows Red)Bezel: Revolution Silver
IPHONE CRADLE / ANTENNAE
To achieve better reception whilst out in the open, I installed a Smoothtalker iPhone 3/4/4S Charging Cradle with Antenna Connection. I have hard wired it into the cigarette wiring, and run the antennae cable to the bullbar for the antennae mount.
VOLTMETER / TEMPERATURE MONITOR
Measures and displays the temperature (in Celsius) inside and outsideIce
Displays real-time battery charge
Visible and audible alarm when the battery voltage is too high (above 15V) or low (below 11.5 V), handy now when i'm running the fridge, or parked up with the tunes cranking all day.
Change the backlight from blue to orange with just one click
Plugs into the cigarette lighter of car, but I have hardwired it into the auxilliary power located behind the sunglasses holder, above the interior lights.
Large LCD easy to read
Specifications:Temperature Range: -20 ˚ C - +60 ˚ C
Overall Dimensions: 13.6 x 3.4 x 2.3cm
Screen Dimensions:9.6X1.5cm
Material:ABS
Screen Color: backlit in blue or orange (selectable)
