Cheers mate.
That lightening MAF has certainly got my interest. More research required there!
Absolutley love the ute!

Cheers mate!

Yes, the MAF is good to go, as long as you get a tune... You can either use a harness adapter or splice new connector onto old harness..

I'm running a tweecer so tuning new maf no probs...

I like the location of the Trip Computer - wish I had some series II ashtray surrounds when I did mine.
I am looking to relocate it - was looking up near the inst cluster, but I might go your idea, at least the loom and plug won't need to redone.
Should update the X series doco to add your optional location.
You should have a go at Climate Control - means the dash has to come out again though .

XH's look good with a remote release fuel flap too.

Thanks mate. Yes, I copied your design the first time I did it (when I put it in my 5.0L XF with XH dash/console...)

Would be an honor if you added it to your docco!!

Climate control.... hmmm... where do you put the electronic controls? I have not seen the doc for that one. I also have the fuel release button (i stole from an EF), but yet to install it!

Yeah, I think support for the tech docos on here has gone MIA for some time - it was pretty painful just getting them loaded up on here. I'm glad someone has actually used the info, though.

No doco - cbf writing one for the above mentioned reasons.
Basic pics are here: viewtopic.php?t=31543
I do have more pics, and there are a few traps for new players - I'm happy to share, but I'd be good to have some one actually do it also, other than me (well, in an XH dash, anyway).



Fuel flap again is not a straightforward mod either, due to the shallow cavity.

Fuel Flap teaser:

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

small world...

SNAP - Thanks for those pics. That fuel filler definitely looks schmick!! I might look at doing a climate control changeover down the track.... Will hit you up for more info when required!

BF XR - That looks familiar! Nic takes good care of that ute now - good to see!!

PM me your email, if you want a doco - I can't upload it here, for whatever reason - it's only 1.5mb.
And I cbf trying to get it posted as a doco, as I say, it's been pretty painful inthe past.

come on James, your breakin my balls here...

awsome xh build, i also own a very neat xh II xr8 and have now got some inspiration to drag it out of the shed and spend some coin on her so thanks, love the rear bumper, i think that will be first.

took a while to read,but worth every minute. arwsome story!

It’s been a while since I’ve updated this. I have been very busy. I was only home for a week and had A LOT to do to the ute before me and the missus departed for our road trip – that’s another story.

As mentioned, tail shaft was done last week of November. I’ll start here with a quick pic of how ute looked before new rims, and before I could re-lower the rear. Remember, I had to raise a*** end as single piece tailshaft will scrub out on floor if ute is too low. A 2-piece fixes this (and any vibrations).

New wheels, before re-lowering rear. I went 235/35/19 on front, and 245/40/19 on rear. I like the bigger profile on the back.

A quick (hard to see) pic of 2-piece fitted

New ride height – much nicer.



Ok, now busy on the interior. Lots of goodies to fit, and only a few days to do it.
This pic as it was before I started

Remove old head unit

New 7” DVD/GPS unit

Tacho

Ran the Tacho wires through here (yes, had to punch small hole through dash)

Repainted this, I didn’t like the Red colour

New HD Screen DVD unit fitted. Although it has an analogue TV tuner in-built, I used this old DVB-T unit (seen in glove box) to tune Digital channels. I don’t know if I’ll ever use it, but if I want it – I have it!

One of these was broken, so had to change both so they match.

New Alpine Tweeters.

Amplified covert antenna fitted across back window. Works surprisingly well.

DONE!

Yes, a Commodore part, but I had no choice! $38 off ebay, and it’s leather!

I had to use a fair bit of force to twist knob mount 90 degrees

Old, and new

Spent up big with my spacers there too…

Araldite and sharp self tap screws. Was the best I could come up with looking for a quick fix for this part

Finished

I also changed lid while console was out

Mmmm, much nice me thinks!!

Oh, yes I couldn’t help myself – I found an AU Momo wheel off ebay in RED!!


I was a little worried about driving 13,000kms with my DiFilippo headers being 2mm away from the starter motor. So used some heat tape

‘Before’ engine bay pic

Old Battery

New Battery

A big Thank-you to Jeff (XH5LWPN) for getting my underdrives modded and then bolting them up for us

And I fitted the MSD gear and new leads etc. Looks a bit nicer


And that was it – car now ready for it’s mammoth drive… Will update on that soon. That’s a story in itself!

Just to refresh your memory – the road trip goes as follows:
- Depart Perth
- Get to Airlie Beach quickest way possible (5000km). We have a cruise booked here around Whitsundays
- Head to Cairns for 6 nights.
- Head to Brisbane, arrive Xmas eve.
- New Years day go to Coffs Harbour for 2 nights
- Then Sydney for 3 nights
- Canberra for Summernats
- Melbourne
- Adelaide
- Back to Perth

Around 13,000km trip, not including any driving while in cities. Pretty sure I have longest distance travelled in the bag at Summernats.

So the car is packed. 90L of extra fuel in the back, Engel Fridge…


New Car Bra Fitted… Expensive, but worth it as you will see.




So because the missus had to work, we couldn’t leave until 6pm on the first night. Could really feel the weight in the back, as expected. If we were going to have problems, I didn’t think we would after 10km! Under load, the car was missing – I had to feather the throttle. I pulled over and checked leads etc – all was good. I thought it may be the dizzy I swapped out – maybe I got the timing wrong… anyway – it was intermittent and we kept going anyway. I refuelled at Southern Cross @ BP, and instantly problem was gone! Must have been fuel – which sucks cos I still have another 90L in the back.

This was after first night, about to eat brekky. We stayed off the road just outside of Southern Cross.

This was on the border of WA SA

The weight in the back was starting to take its toll. The springs settled down and sagged. I will have to get guards rolled when I get home, as sometimes over bumps slices of tyre were shredding off


This is the GPS unit – pretty damn good for it’s price. Better than TomTom by far.

Carbra just paid for itself. We drove through about a 50km stretch of continuous bugs


After we drove a few thousand KM, we finally had a stable reading – very happy considering the weight in the back

Checking everything in Ceduna. About to depart on another long day of Driving


As of now, the ute seems to be going really well. We went through Broken Hill, then North to Bourke – intending on cutting up inner NSW and QLD then cut across to Mackay, then coastal to Airlie.

So after our 3rd day of driving, and around 4,000kms – disaster strikes! We were around 10km outside of a small town called INJUNE. I felt a vibration, then something fly off – driveline related. I didn’t think my new tailshaft could have failed – I was wrong. I pulled over and jacked up car (sun was almost set by this time too). Hard to see, but could feel tailshaft was rattling around loose in it’s hanger. Babied car to Injune to inspect further (50km/h)

This time used trolley jack for a good look. Yep – centre bearing destroyed. Rang the guy who installed, as well as Mal Wood (who built it). Mal was very helpful. I had to use a local’s phone, as this town was so small I didn’t have reception. No chance of getting ute fixed without long delays. Missus angry as we have our Cruise booked in Airlie, and only 2 days to be there

We decided to gamble, and baby car to next town – Rolleston. We were 300km from Emerald – a large town with a good chance of being able to fix ute here. This drive didn’t go so well. We left around 7pm, and we got to Rolleston at midnight. The small vibrations turned to massive vibrations and grinding – but it was too late to turn back. We saw about 3 trucks the whole night on this long drive – at 50km/h!! We also managed to hit a dead roo along the way, that exploded down side of car. I was more p****d off about that than the tailshaft. The car REEKED like a dead body, with chunks of roo stuck on everything under car. The missus was dry reaching. Anyway, after driving through a flooded bridge (300mm), and making it to a motel in Rolleston, we went to bed. So tired!!

The next morning, I really wanted a tow, but could not afford to wait around – or we would miss our cruise at Airlie. So I drove it the remaining distance to Emerald. I was SO happy to see this town! It’s much bigger than I thought!! I spoke with Mal again, and he told me how to fix the bearing. I met some awesome locals at a wreckers, and they let me use their hoist and tools. A 30 pack of XXXX as payment and a $30 bearing from Repco (VN-VR Holden Centre Bearing), 2 hours later we were on the road!! Was so happy!! Here’s some pics

While I was waiting for a return phone call from Mal, we decided to try and clean the roo off the car (and the bugs). BTW, there was no damage to car from roo, it went under front left wheel.



Stuffed Bearing


New one


Old and New


So that’s that. I’m not sure exactly how the old one died. Could be a combination of things (exhaust heat, s**t roads – lots of suspension travel) or could be that it wasn’t aligned PERFECT when installed. Even a little bit off will cause it to fail…. Anyway

We made it! (in time). And the missus was happy

Whitsundays


Car was now good again. We did our cruise, then went to Cairns. Here’s a shot as the heavy rain is moving in on my Uncle’s Sugar Cane farm in Innisfail

Josephine Falls – the day after we were here 4 people had to be rescued!


Coming back after being at the falls, we were pulled over for a ‘RBT’. Conveniently, QLD transport were present. I was about to cop a defect for tinted tail lights and my car bra (An ABSOLUTE F**KING joke – it was raining, and the condensation was limiting perfect view of number plate – could not believe it). After 15mins I managed to talk my way out of any defects.

So once I was back at our motel, I paid some attention to car. Starting with oil change (mind you, after 6,000kms of driving, no leaks, no oil usage! )

I also change my taillights (yes I was aware they are frowned upon, and wasn’t going to change them until my drive into Canberra)

The rear bar was coming off a bit, I fixed that also. Moved my number plate on front to make it more ‘legible’ too…

Our last day in Cairns we went up to Port Douglas for a look around


I wish we left for Brisbane when we returned from Port Douglas….

As per our plans, we always intended on leaving Cairns on the 23rd (early morning). Despite weather warnings, we assumed we’d be ok.


So here we are at Ingham…. 9am 23rd Dec. 2 hours after road was closed

We were 10 cars from front of queue…

….. Out of around 5km worth! (heading South). There was 25km piled up the other side of flooded bridge heading north.


So you guessed it, we stranded. This day, we were literally stranded. Road back north to Cardwell also cut off from flooding, so we couldn’t go back to Cairns and fly down. We didn’t want to leave the car, cos we would lose our spot in queue. We assumed they would let us through once water level dropped – but no – only 4WD and trucks!! We had to sleep in car – had no food etc. 26 hrs – stuck. So angry.

24 Dec – XMAS eve. Got no sleep – couldn’t leave fan on cos battery would go flat, couldn’t put windows down cos it was pissing down all night. Sleeping on leather was awesome cos it was so hot. Missus was just loving life too.

After cops and Main Roads F***ing everyone around all morning (saying road will open, yes, no yes no etc etc) – I cracked the s**t and drove back to Cairns while road to Cardwell was open. It wouldn’t have been for long – it was single lane traffic with water up around 300mm. The ute didn’t really like it too much, but we got through. Got to Cairns in time for a flight to Brisbane, so we made it home for Xmas. If we had left 30mins later that road would have shut – the water was flowing well over bridge when we drove through it.

I am sure the people who we were stuck with had their Xmas 15km south of Ingham on the Highway!

So anyway, my situation is – my ute is stuck in Cairns, I’m in Brisbane. Most of the rest of our holiday is cancelled, and Summernats is looking very unlikely. As soon as the Bruce Highway is clear, I’ll go get my ute – but for now I’m stuffed. If only I left Cairns 1 day early!!

I may even need a tow truck, as most of the road closures – they will only allow trucks or 4WDs through…

That’s the story for now….

this is fvcking beautiful

Great update and story. Awesome ute!

Think i will try one of those headunits. would you recommend one? they are cheap so i guess you cant go wrong!