some more pics . . .

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I actually did a 4 wheel jump recently, accidently. I was rushing along a 4wd track in the snowy ranges on route to another state, it was meant to be a 'long cut', a scenic option. I could see stunning high rock peaks off the side of the steep range i was driving on. The track had those drainage humps, and i badly misjudged one of them, just when i was driving a bit fast, it was under dappled light. When a jump happens one's mind speeds up, as you would expect, and of course it seemed like i was flying for about three seconds . . . . . then it landed and the suspension bottomed, but that was it. Thank goodness. Although the resonator did lose the plot towards the end of that track . . . the poor car made a racket, and had no guts.

That track was a weird experience. When i was a fair way into the track i found a couple of trees across the road. So i thought i'd find a way around, but lo-and-behold every option i explored was also blocked by trees, until i found a rather scrubby long circuitous route through the maze of these trees lying on the ground. I really wondered whether they had been put there to block people, but i just wasn't sure, and it seemed too weird. I finally made a way around, dropping down an embankment onto the track again, knowing i may not be able to get back up it, and kept going for about a kilometre, and yet there again were trees lying across the track, so i pulled them off, made a way around, and then further on, yet more trees, made a way around, drove over a few here and there, but then, finally, probably nearing the end of the track, about to lob back onto the main road, i came across the BIG tree, and no amount of thinking about it was going to see me get around it quicker than the time it would take me to go all the way back. If i could get back up that embankment that is. Thankfully the suspension flexed and the tyres ripped at the soil and to my surprise i was up the embankment, and making my way back through the maze and back to the main road. There must have been a big storm a day or so before i went there.

Don't mean to put you off it all though, it was fun.

Some pics of the air inlet mods. Fitted a BA intake, and an additional 'snorkel' made from old radiator hose. I used a hole saw to cut the right sized hole in the airbox, and the hose jammed up perfectly inside it for a neat airtight fit. I then jammed the hose through the hole in the bodywork above the chassis rail towards the front of the car. So quick and easy and effective and reliable and cost me nothing.

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The car does it so easy i'm not sure they would be of interest? . . . . . . actually no, i'm not kidding. But i guess i sometimes use more speed than 4wder's. And seeing a falcon do something tough is good to see.

Maybe i should try something it would find difficult, like beach driving? Could do with a tow vehicle though in case i fluff. I've certainly had the car up heaps of steep tracks, some with rocks, slippery wet clay even, a bit of opposite-lock here and there, less than ideal traction but mostly keeps going. The bloke i could get to help me do vids and dynamic pics is away at the moment, but i might see what i can do in the meantime.

Last edited by relaxed_diplomacy on Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

would it be worth making up some sump/trans/diff guards for those rougher tracks just incase you get a hard knock on one of those?

Since the EL has the uprated chassis member in front of the sump, and still has a metal sump which dents rather than holes like aluminium, i haven't bothered to do anything there.

The trans also has a metal sump which would likely dent rather than puncture. What tends to be an issue on 4wd's is the transfer case, which often sits lower and in a more vulnerable location than the transmission. But of course i don't have one of those to scrape! What i have scraped is the resonator, both on my old XG and on my current car, in both cases i had to replace it due to damage with a piece of straight pipe. They both seemed to cruise easier without the resonator anyway.

Since the rear tyres are basically 4wd size the rear diff is as high as on a 4wd, so it's in a similar boat to other 4wd's in terms of risk of damage. Unless you are doing extreme offroad tracks, tracks that are in many cases about being tough rather than really getting you anywhere, you don't need diff guards, and even then generally only on the front.

I did seriously consider building a bullbar out of thin wall tube, maybe even exhaust tube, to give more approach angle, etc, without adding weight over the front which would reduce traction amongst other negative side effects. But i kind of like the std look and features, and the car is so old and battered i don't care about giving the std bumper a hard time. If i do wreck it i can do a bullbar then.

I did a tough track the other day, called the "Razorback Trail" in the Wadbilliga National Park. It would badly damage an AWD due to lack of ground clearance. An average 4wd would do the track okay, but people wouldn't tend to do it unless they had a nissan patrol kind of car.

I ended up with a significant load of rocks in the back for traction, but the downside is less ground clearance, and i scraped and hit a few times. Considering how much traction i had i could have driven a bit slower and would have hit less. I wish i had raised the suspension another 5 to 10mm.

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Last edited by relaxed_diplomacy on Wed Jan 27, 2010 9:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

There was actually a fair amount of damage. The main exhaust muffler looked worse than before, and was leaking some air and making some noise. I tried to weld it up on the car but the material is so thin i kept burning holes. So i took it off, and even then it was hard. I made a hole that i could not plug, so i put a small patch over it. I found that i got best results when i constantly moved the tip around in small movements, stitching across the materials to be welded. I was mostly on minimum power setting on the mig.

A problem is i don't want to buy another muffler because i would just wreck that too. So i decided to add some plate to strengthen things up. A bit of a mad max, or ned kelly effect.

After that i decided to modify the mounting bracket for a bit more clearance. This will help in many cases, although in extreme cases the muffler had hit the underside of the car anyway, the top was dented from hitting the heat shield attached to the underside of the car.

You will notice in the pics where the original resonator has been replaced by a piece of straight pipe. Can't do that with the main muffler though, unfortunately.

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Last edited by relaxed_diplomacy on Wed Jan 27, 2010 9:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The trans on the EL has been playing up a bit since i got it, so i've been thinking about my next car. The EL is my fifth car with big wheels.

One option for my sixth is a BA wagon. I would like to take it a bit further than the EL, although the cost could skyrocket. I would like to fit wheels up to a 265/65 R17x9. The rims would probably need to be pre-au for clearance sake. I would then need to cut back the body and fit flares, maybe the flares off an adventra would be suitable, plus other body mods would need to be done. I would need to upgrade braking pressure, probably by reducing the size of the master cylinder.

The wagon having a longer wheelbase and more overhang at the rear would need to be lifted more overall than the sedan. Perhaps a 35mm suspension lift, which combined with the extra height from the even bigger wheels might be about right. I would really like a locking diff, perhaps an e-locker from an rtv could be fitted, by either swapping the whole axle assembly or just the innards. A 6spd auto would be excellent, with first gear acting as a low range. If not a 6spd then the diff ratio would need to be lower than 3.45, even for everyday driving.

Another car i would like is a volvo xc70 AT. It was just a show car though. I could make my own version but to achieve my minimum standard could require a significant budget.

Or maybe i'll end up with a grand cherokee wagon.

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Last edited by relaxed_diplomacy on Wed Jan 27, 2010 10:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

someone, some time ago put a whole RTV driveline and RTV flares etc onto a BA wagon, it looked awesome! but cost a fair bit as you said.

Maybe he fitted the rtv front suspension too? I thought about this but my problem is the pissy size of the rtv wheels. I could be mistaken but i don't think i would want rtv front suspension. Same goes for the flares, as they are too small for the wheels i would fit, shame.

Maybe the rear leaves though, they could be downrated and fitted to the wagon to lift the rear, i hadn't thought about that before.

I guess the driveline would be much the same except for the rear axle? Or does the gearbox have different ratio's? What diff ratio do they run? I figure if i couldn't easily adapt the e-locker's electronic controls i could just put a straight on/off switch on it?

Hey,

Good on you for taking one of my ideas...lol

Though i was gonna go the whole hog and get a GQ LWB chassis and shorten it to suit, then throw everything from my SWB into it.

Decided it was to much work......

Good job on yours though....

Cheers

Daz

A falcon body (wagon) on a nissan patrol chassis? There would certainly be some good points to that. The width and wheelbase wouldn't be far off. But could you be happy with a nissan truck motor, even though it's a straight six? Turbo? Or swap in a crate V8? Hmm.

One problem though is it would probably be extra heavy, because in effect you end up with two chassis. I recall a bloke once telling me his holden overlander copy, an HX wagon body on a landcruiser chassis with a 350chev motor, was over 2400kg, which is significantly heavier than the landcruiser it was based on. And that wasn't due to the motor, the lancruiser six is a truck motor. Although 2400kg isn't actually so much compared to modern 4wd's.

If you want light, i once saw a suzuki mighty boy body atop a suzuki sierra chassis. It looked a bit like a bug, a wasp. Not really the kind of car i would be interested in though.

Grand Cherokee for sure

ive recently found how cheap they are, although no-one seems to follow the market values

10-11k will get one of these

Last edited by FordFairmont on Fri Jan 29, 2010 10:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Some more of the earlier pics . . .

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