Project TONI

Project TONI (by Colin Pryor)

The reason: My Nissan ZD30 3ltr Patrol had a mechanical mishap on the way to Capertee Valley on the 16th May 2008, for the NSW & ACT 4WD association 2nd ¼ meeting hosted by my club, the “RareBreed 4WD & Outdoor Recreation Club”. After spending nearly all day getting the car back to my mechanic at Seven Hills and getting my son in law (Boldjack) to take my camper trailer home, the diagnosis was NOT good, it seems it has damaged a piston or two, this is a fault in some ZD30 Nissan's that Nissan knows nothing about!!!! despite countless Nissan ZD30 diesel engines suffering a similar fate to mine. It’s caused by a phenomenon known as “over-boost of the turbo” this in turn raises piston temperature to the point of melt down of the piston crown.
To repair/rebuild the ZD30 motor would cost $19000 or more (fuel pump $2500, long motor $9500, 4 injectors @600ea = $2400, installation and labour $1800-$2000, Turbo $2500+ other misc = $19000+) at the end of the day it will still be the same ZD30 motor that I have lost confidence in.
The remedy:
What to do????? I checked a myriad of options. These options were:
1 Sell the car, a car w/o engine is next to worthless (maybe $8000 or so), then I still have to buy another, that could cost $30000-40000 for a second hand unit. Not forgetting that my car is set up for outback touring and is fitted with all the necessary items as such, value to replace approx $3500-4000. not an option,
2 ZD 30 Rebuild, Not that motor again. Poor track record. $19000 plus, to rebuild that motor and no guarantee it won’t happen again.
3 4.2ltr Nissan Diesel, converted to automatic, motor is good, however the conversion is un-tested. $10500 to buy a motor only.
4 V8 6.5ltr diesel Chevy retro fit, older motor reconditioned, poor parts availability. $13000 to buy a motor only.
5 4.8ltr Nissan Petrol, good motor and perfect for auto trans. very thirsty. $10500 to buy a motor only.
6 Toyota 1HD-FTE 4.2Turbo Diesel with 5sd automatic transmission, super reliable, powerful, economical and excellent parts availability everywhere, cheap to buy from second hand source $11600.00, including gearbox and transfer case, ECU & harness with just 25000km on the clock.

Items 3-6 do not include installation of engines etc.

While the Chevy V8 option seemed attractive at first, it is still an older motor “reconditioned”, whatever that means, compared to the low mileage Toyota engine and Auto Transmission (25000Km) I have now purchased.

So it seemed to me that the best option is the Toyota combination. So having committed to putting the 1HD-FTE turbo diesel engine, computer & auto transmission with 4WD transfer case, into my (ex ZD30) Patrol I feel I will have the best of both worlds, as I see it there is little disputing that the 100TD Toyota motor is among the best around, and there is little disputing that the GU Patrol is one of the toughest trucks around, so this combination, when finished, will be one tough truck in anybody's language.

The purists on both sides are shuddering as I speak, but few will deny the toughness of this combination. I will have overcapitalised on the vehicle now, but I reckon that in ten or so year’s time when I have finished with this vehicle, the bastardization will be an advantage in the resale, but by then who cares anyway, the car will be 14-15 years old, and still going strong.

The Time line:
June 10th 2008:
Project TONI begins in earnest.
Project “TONI”, (TOyota-NIssan) as it is now going to be called, is going ahead. I spent an afternoon with my mechanic & an inspecting engineer (who will be passing the vehicle for registration), and a full 1HD-FTE motor, auto g/box and transfer case assembly (destined for an 80LC) to see if it will go into the Patrol engine bay etc. IT WILL.

We will need to remove the reserve fuel tank, because the LC transfer case is 200mm offset and the tail shaft will otherwise foul the tank, this can be compensated for by a long range 145ltr main tank. We will need to build a new cross member there to carry the g/box.

We will use a new 4.5ltr petrol Nissan radiator with auto oil cooler, as well as change engine mounts to 100 Sr type, the motor’s sump will be changed to an 80 Sr (different shape, same capacity) so as to allow it to fit above the front sway bar and avoid fouling the steering gear. As for other things such as selector linkages, these will require the console to be slightly modified so as to allow selectors to fit the Nissan consul, no real problem.

A new 3” exhaust system (original was 2.5”) will have to be made using Toyota front end and Nissan back end.

Electrical items have been given the go ahead in consultation with our electrical engineer. Various adaptor modules will be used for the Speedo, Tacho & other engine warning devices to mate them to the new EMS (Eng. Man. Sys.)

Air cond. will need to be re-hosed. A duct to take the intake air from the Nissan snorkel and air box to the intake of the new motor will need to be made, as will the fitting of a new water cooled intercooler. The Nissan had a tail-shaft hand brake so we will need to use just the axles and rear brakes from a petrol Patrol manual, to accommodate the hand brake.

The tail shaft will remain Nissan with an adaptor to fit it to the LC transfer case out-put shaft, this was decided because the Nissan shaft has bigger uni’s allowing the angle of off-set to be better accommodated for by that shaft. The LC transfer case will be modified to be “Part Time” 4WD.

June 28th 2008:
The motor & gearbox are now IN THE CAR and waiting for mounts to be made. Front mounts will be 75sr and the rear transmission mount will be the Nissan cross bar with a Toyota mount plate welded to it so as to accept the Toyota trans. mounts.

The rear axles and brake calliper's (ex Petrol Patrol) have arrived that put the hand brake on the rear wheels rather than the tailshaft. Jason at Total Care 4WD Seven Hills, is the man behind this radical conversion, a good man to deal with.
July 5th 2008:

Things are moving slowly but positively. The motor is now mounted to the chassis via 100 sr mounts and a 100 sr on the Nissan cross member for the gear box mount.

Getting the drive flanges parallel was a bit tricky but that has now been done. The two drive shafts now have to be modified to mate the Nissan drive line to the Toyota transfer case, this is an easy job compared to some other things that had to be done.

The new petrol 4.5 Nissan radiator is in and the engine & fan have good clearance each end, the engine is 1.5 inch clear of the fire wall and the fan is also 1.5-1.75 inches clear of the radiator. We will probably use a trimmed down 80sr cowl over the fan.

The 3" exhaust is being made up, as is the water cooled inter cooler, these will be fitted nearly last.

The special 80sr sump has arrived from Japan and is fitted to the motor, this gives the sway bar and steering better clearance than a 100 sr sump would.

The wiring loom is nearly ready and the electrical engineer is booked to do his thing later in the week (Thur-Fri) this is my biggest worry in the whole project, get this wrong and it could hold up the job by weeks. The engineer assures us that it is not as hard to do as we fear, lets hope he's correct.

The hand brake modifications and the consul still have to be done, the consul will be modified to take the Toyota selector levers etc.

It still looks like a long job, but we are closer to the end than we are from the start.
I just can't wait to get mu bum into it and drive the beast.

I wanted to go to the Explore Oz members gathering at Innamincka this year but alas it was not to be, so good luck to all that have gone, you lucky buggers, LOL.

July 20th 2008:
The car is nearing ready for start-up, the wiring loom goes in on Monday – Tuesday and the exhaust and tail shafts are now made and ready to go in, the gear selector mechanism is yet to be done, and the intercooler is ready to go in, we could still be looking at two weeks or more work however??? (this soon turned into 3weeks)

August 1st 2008:
Today I picked up the new badge-work that Flashsigns at Camden (Signman) have made for TONI. The logo I made, that is half Nissan Badge & Half Toyota badge joined together with the word TONI in the middle (see my tag logo), these will replace the Nissan badges on the side and rear doors. The same logo is also enlarged and printed onto a black spare wheel cover.

August 8th 2008:
Everything underneath is now done and dusted, new tail shafts, exhaust, hand brake, moving all the fuel & brake lines away from the new 3” exhaust etc. is nearly all done (the manifold is on the opposite side on the Toyota motor).

Up top the wiring is nearly finished just got to fit modules to allow the computer to talk to the Tacho and Speedo etc.
The engine fired up today for the first time, that’s a relief, it proves the computer is talking to every thing it should talk to including the gearbox etc. The plumbing of air to the motor from the air intake is now the next thing to do as well as locating the intercooler.

The auto selector quadrant and HI - LO lever are in place but still need to be mounted finally, as well as modifying the consul to take it all, he switch for the part time 4wd needs to be mounted somewhere that won’t allow it to be “bumped” by accident, we will place it on the left side of the dash just below the antenna “half mast” switch.
The big jobs seem to be behind us now, it’s all fiddly bits and pieces that will consume our time from here. Jason will also do some work on the front end to fix a couple of things there, and we will also put a manifold temp gauge and turbo timer on it, this is insurance against the problem happening again. I have given up guessing when it will be road worthy as the engineer is yet to tick off on it and then issue the blue slip. It will be silly little issues that pop up and consume time, and that’s what put’s us back a few days each time.

But at least we KNOW it works now, it fired up first go, Woo Hoo!!!!!
It will be ready soon I hope. It will have been three months come August 17th and I am stir crazy. I just want to get in it and go.

August 12th 2008:
We are now fitting the air intake to the Turbo etc and the consul is being modified by a Motor Trimmer to take the Toyota selector and Hi Lo lever, and with luck we start road testing on the weekend, if all goes well I will have the car on the road next week.
The engineer is about to issue a blue slip as he is happy with the job, so the RTA should not have a problem with the modification, with any luck!!! The RTA have not voiced any objection to the project and insist that the engineer as the last word on it anyway.

It has been 3 months since the grenade went off and I am so glad it's nearly over and the wife and I can get back to doing what we really enjoy doing, and that getting out and about in the great land of ours.

We should have been with Signman & co. this week out in the Simpson but had to drop that idea this year due in no small part to money and the lack of it just now.

The total cost so far has been around $24000.00, that's buying the engine g/box assembly, ECU, Inter cooler, adaptor modules for the electrics, Exhaust system, hand brake mod. parts, labour etc including towing. This was still cheaper than the Chevy option all up.

Thanks to all for your support and patience throughout this period.
Cheers Colin.

Long term follow-up to TONI (May 2009)

The 1HD-FTE conversion to my Nissan Patrol is finished and has been running for 8 months now.
The finished product is a pleasure to drive. We did have a couple of minor issues to address and they were mostly regarding the drive line off-set, due to the 200mm offset angle from transfer case to rear diff. We seem to have resolved that by changing the flange angles via slight rotation of the back axle by 2.5deg (via adjustable control rods) and rotating the uni joints 90deg to each other.
There was a drone coming from the tail shaft that was rectified by putting a thick cardboard tube inside the tail shaft. These measures seem to have worked, but I can still get a slight vibration at 140+kph, solution; I just don’t go there.
The electrics were my main concern before the conversion, but the electrical engineer told me “Aggh Col, you worry too much, it’ll be fine mate, you’ll see!!” No worries with the Nissan controls & dash etc, talking to a Toyota engine and gearbox, in fact it’s a work of art, the Speedo, Tacho & other gauges are more accurate now than ever before. He had to make modules to convert the signals.
I did stop in to the workshop one day when the sparkie was there and my car looked like a Telecom junction box that had been attacked by vandals on speed, wires everywhere. He just looked at me and said “I told you d1ckhead, it’ll be fine, now just p1ss off and let me work” He was right, I was wrong, it’s fine.
I chose to fit a 3” mandrill bent exhaust to help get the gasses out and free up a little power and Jason reckons it has about 10% extra power over the standard 1HD-FTE motor ( was 150KW now 160KW. was 430NM now 475MN ) that’s alien to me after the old ZD30 ( 116KW & 354KW ).
The sub tank had to go, due to the tail shaft angles, Santa was good to me this year and I now have the dosh & put in a long range main (145ltr) giving me a theoretical range of over 1000km, that has rectified that issue.
Lt/100 fuel consumption seems to be around 10.8 (country) and 12.5 (city), rising to 13.6 overall, towing the Challenge camper trailer (loaded to the hilt), Note; I have not done a consumption test with the trailer in the city alone, as I tend not to tow it around town. These figures are not too different to the old ZD30.
Gearbox is the 5spd auto and we converted the transfer box to part time 4wd via an electric solenoid and a switch on the dash. The Hi-Lo and gear selector levers are Toyota and we had to modify the Nissan console to accommodate them both, no issues at all.
It has, due to the lower diff ratios of the Nissan, all the gear ratios I could possibly need, it has power to spare, it can tow without too much power loss, & it can now “walk” downhill in first low even though it has an auto G’box (no need for the dreaded brake pedal on slippery wet clay surfaces, even with the camper behind).
The car is now a very capable tow vehicle and a great touring car, it’s the 4WD I always wanted. I am just in love with it again, and “Er Indoors” loves her traffic light derby’s now, so she said!.
This now proves that there is a viable alternative to going the V8 Chevy route, with a motor that is easy to get parts for, more modern, AND more powerful, than the 6.5ltr non turbo V8. I did look at the Toyota V8TD but the engine was too wide to fit between the Nissan chassis rails. Now that would have been awesome!!!!
TONI is now a formidable 4WD that would give ANY other 4WD a good run for the money.
Cheers, Colin.

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