12A Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Hi all, new to the forums. first off, a little about myself. Name is James, im 21 and work as an apprentice Motor Mechanic. Live in Sydney Australia. Im a self confessed rotor head and love anything powered by the superior rotary engines (bring on the flaming!!) A few months ago i bought a Nissan Pathfinder off my boss to use as a daily while i pulled my 1974 Mazda 808 off the road to undergo a full ground up rebuild and rotary conversion. I got bitten by the 4x4 bug after taking the girl up to the Wattagan State forest and hitting up some trails. Being such a cheap car for me, my care for the poor thing was almost non existant. i quickly went through a few tyres, blew up reverse gear, and just recently killed the motor (bulletproof Z24 is still running though!). Was thinking about getting rid of the girl to scrap when rego runs out in a few months, but after thinking about the fun ive had in the girl, ive decided to keep her and dump some money into her. The poor little 808 has copped the back burner for now. Basic plans are to repair the gearbox this weekend, fix some of the rust, give her a paint, give her a bit of a lift, and from what ive been told a FJ20DET will slot up to the gearbox and mounts, so needless to say its on the cards. Luckily being in the trade, sourcing the parts and doing the work should be relatively easy. HOWEVER, any information on the FJ swap would be much appreciated. The car is equipped with the slug of a Z24, has a set of extractors, 2.25in exhaust, custom bar work, 31x10.5in muddies, false floor and storage in the back, and being a daily car, a rather large sound system now. piccies: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Looks like a Desert Runner...Pathfinder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12A Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 maybe thats what they call em over there? Shes a Pathfinder to me aye, what the cars registered as here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 He was talking about the sticking on it reminding him of a "package" we had in the US at least on some Hardbodys called the Desert Runner. Nifty little buggers that some day I plan to at least fake one if not get a real one. Welcome to the site and wise choice on rebuilding... letting a 2 door go to waste will cause you to get cursed now where's Dave at to tell me what funny name I'm supposed to call you because of your area! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Welcome, that's a cool looking Pathy!! I drove a D720 with the Z24 for 10 years. Great little motor, just no power. 2.25" pipe?? Does it echo when you start it?? I have the same on my VG30 and suspect it may be a but much there... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87SEdan Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Nice pathfinder man, its the same as mine just in way better shape. Welcome James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12A Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 thanks for the friendly welcomes! nunya, thanks for the clarification. was rather lost there! Precise1, yeah, she is rather loud with the 2.25in exhaust with only one straight through muffler, however being a 2.4LT engine (although gutless) 2.25in pipework seems about right to me. would definately get away with 2in without any loss in performance though, 87SEdan, those pictures are old in the scheme of things. the bonnet and both front guards have suffered umm.... fence damage since then. one of the problems with going down a bush track with no reverse.. if you find a dead end, you cant really turn around. haha. from what ive seen and read, this is quite an excellent site! lots of useful information. Was still wondering though, is there any readily available information on fitting a FJ20DET into these girls, or am i going to have to wing it as i go? thanks, James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I think you have landed directly in 'wing it' territory... Might want to focus on finding reverse while you are at it... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Can't find reverse? The "R" selection dint stand for "right strait forward" just so you know I'm gonna safely say on your swap question your definatly in poke and hope mode, at least round here. Someone has to be the front diner of a project! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teixeira Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I like your bumper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavefromOZ Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 G'day James, welcome mate. Any reason you want to stick with the Nissan power? Only reason I ask is that Cyril is in Newcastle and has fitted and engineered the holden 3.8, would give you all the power you should need. Keep us up to date with the 808 build too, have always had a soft spot for them. Nunya, being from New South Wales, James is a cockroach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 thanks Dave i'll get these Oz nicknames down eventually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bagndrag Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 loven the way that 2 door looks man welcome to the site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyinwall Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 (edited) Mmmmmm FJ20 twin cam turbo EFI (220hp in standard non turbo form i cant recall what the turbo version makes) all that in a bullet proof bottom end (just ask Jeff Watson what he thinks of them when you bolt them in a austin healy sprite and put a bigger turbo on it ((6 second quarter mile times))i was going to put one in my old nissan bluebird TRX oh and welcome to the site and hurry up and get a build up thread happening Edited February 25, 2011 by flyinwall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12A Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 Looks like im winging it then.. haha. well, got the car on the hoist at work to pull the box out now. Might pop back to work soon and start on it! teixeira, thanks mate. my boss fabricated the bars about 5 years back. the mounting of them is a little to be desired, but i love the look of them personally. Dave, im sticking to Nissan power as i believe Nissans should be powered by Nissans. Mazdas should be powered by Mazdas, and Hondas should be burnt. only things that should be cross bred are old cars. ie. 13B into a datsun. know what i mean? not just that, alot easier to wire a nissan into a nissan when converting. and tsk tsk tsk on the cockroach thing. haha. As for the 808, shes undergoing a full ground up build at the moment. Unfortunately, the Pathfinder has jumped ahead in the que, and the 808 can wait a while. Have an ex circuit 12A bridgeport waiting to go in too. hoping to get it to 200rwhp naturally aspirated running a 51IDA Weber. heres a pic of the girl before i took her off the road: bagndrag, thanks mate! it doesnt look anywhere near as good as those photos anymore though. flyinwall, im hoping to see around 250-300rwhp once shes done. they are absolutely bulletproof, and from the research ive done, will bolt up to the Pathy bellhousing and the engine mounts. sump will be a custom job obviously, and i still need to look into the input shaft lengths. being such a hard to find engine these days, its hard to get any information on them before purchasing one. James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doughboy Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Welcome!!! Btw, James and Nunya, the livery appears to be this. From here: Quick Fit Motorsport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12A Posted February 26, 2011 Author Share Posted February 26, 2011 correct. thats where i work. stickers are off one side of the car now though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 i like the lettering personally. And don't hate on Dave over the cockroach comment, that's just me having to ask about every Aussie since he called someone a Banana Bender once! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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