Odd13's Build

[odd13]

So it all started back in Nov 2014 where a friend said to me "My uncle is selling his pajero for $500 if you want to have a look". I knew nothing about cars at the time and it was $500 because the engine was out an spread over his car port.... It had been like that for 3 years....

I saw it as a fast way to learn how a car works and how to fix them. Thanks to mainly this community and how helpful the forum is I was able (with the help of a great friend) get it to where it is today.

Many many issues come about through the build and it all seemed to be very stressful but great way to learn how cars work. Main issue I had was the guy I bought it from put all bolts into one bucket and finding the right bolt with the correct strength for the correct parts. That was probably the bigest issue as a couple of times I used the wrong bolts and they snapped and broke off in the block because I torqued to what the book said. 3 hours of getting bolts out almost each time I hooked into it.
I will try and post all the issues with pictures throughout the post.

Its a Pajero NH 91 LWB, 3.0lt SOHC.
This is the travel back to my house on the first day:

Engine and gearbox transport home:
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Car still in his car port (I picked it up about a month later:
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Bearings replaced and cranshaft back in:
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Pistons and Rods:
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[odd13]

Thankfully the previous owner had reconditioned the heads and they were still wrapped in plastic.

Heads and Rockers:
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Pack of studs as I broke some off myself and one was already snapped in the head, also a dissy seal....aahhh the memories:

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About this time I got the car to my house and started getting that ready.
Engine Bay before:
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After a good clean:
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[odd13]

Maybe some beer drinking, some paint and a good scrub she looked great:
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Empty engine bay:
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Next few weeks I hooked into the engine and got that to a point of delivery.... The engine was at my friends house and the car was at mine so was hard to work on the engine.
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At this point I got the CV joints repacked. To the wreckers for a better driver side seat belt. This was about my 20th time to the wreckers.

After a few weekends the engine was dragged to my house and installed in the car.

Few weeks went by as I finished up plugs and hoses and electronics. I took the old fuel out and got new stuff.

The gear box... now what a pain to get in without the help of family and friends ha! Without a hoist it was difficult. The shifters also needed to be installed and there was parts missing, actually the whole build there was parts missing and that's why it took a little longer than expected. Although apparently some people doubted I would even get in to my house let alone built and registered. I just applied the computer troubleshooting I've learn over the years and it seemed to work.

[RUGGA]

Bloody well done mate

[odd13]

Thanks Mate.
Here she is on her first drive... in the front yard....:

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REGISTERED!!!!
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Now the mods start - Roof Cage:
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Back Shelf:
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Here is the almost finished product, as you know there will be never a finished product as I will always be working and adding mods to my new 4wd.

[odd13]

And our first trip with the family:

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4wd works!!
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End of a great first trip:
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[qball]

That's a full on effort! Love the landscape pic of you crossing the creek

[Rovingman]

Great stuff!!! brought back from the dead.

[Dicko1]

What you have done is how many of us old timers had to do years ago. The only real way to learn is hands on and you certainly did that. It is good to see some people are still prepared to take on a challenge and achieve something.
Should be proud of what you have done. Many on here wouldn't dream of tackling such a job(I,m too bloody old for that sort of stuff now, although I am looking for a motorbike project).

Happy days.

[odd13]

Thanks! It's been tough but you learn soooo much and I feel more confident about just driving the car after knowing what I know now.

[odd13]

Fraser

So I made it from Fraser Island and back without any issues!!

paj.jpg

Man what a beast of a car. Didn't get bogged once, just set tire pressures to 15psi and I was fine.

Made it to the Sandy Cap... Was a little scarred as it's kinda remote and your tackling tides.

[Scouter1]

So I made it from Fraser Island and back without any issues!!

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Man what a beast of a car. Didn't get bogged once, just set tire pressures to 15psi and I was fine.

Made it to the Sandy Cap... Was a little scarred as it's kinda remote and your tackling tides.

What a fantastic trip and great way to celebrate putting the Paj back together. Well done, it is such a great feeling starting a freshly rebuilt motor for the first time. As for driving up to the tip of Fraser Island, you have done very well!

Cheers,
Stephen

[odd13]

So went on a trip at the beginning of the year, got the bottom of Monkey gum (ready to head up Monkey Gum) and my tires almost come off the bead... I'm beginner remember.

So at the bottom of Monkey Gum (NSW South coast) I hooked up the air compressor to the battery with the clips. The wiring for the car to the UHF was terrible and always on my list of things to do... the air compressor was pulsing so I'm on the ground looking at it.... friends yelling something out so I stand up and there is smoke poring out of the engine bay. I unplug the air compressor and the smoke stops...

Engine still running... I'm freaking out. Investigate the engine bay and there are the cables for the UHF melted (stripped by about 20cm). Connecting to the battery it must have slipped and connected only to the UHF cables and all the draw was too much on these small cables (this is after research... i knew nothing). After calming down, we cleaned it all up and cut the cables, electric tapped the ends, cable tied the loose cables so nothing bad happen again. We decided to give Monkey Gum track a miss and headed home.

Once home, checked cables again and someone had joined the UHF cables to smaller cables by twisting them together and cable tying the join.... I'm a noob and I know that's wrong!! It must have been a quick fix then forgotten about.

Lucky the car didn't burn out!!!

Before touching:
before1.jpg

So after a few month of reading and investigating on best practices, here I am with my Paj rewired.
I now have a fuse box and decent size cables on everything with an anderson plug in the engine bay for hooking up accessories. No longer do you go directly to the battery and everything fused. Spot lights, UHF, Anderson plug.

During build:
before.jpg

Now finished:
after.jpg

Only one issue and that's the lights aren't working as yet... I need to figure that out but wont be too hard now everything is all neat. It's just finding the daylight to work on the car... I don't have a garage so I'm out in the open and it's cold and raining most of the time now.

All cables run in conduit so that there is no rubbing or reason to split.

The pictures aren't the final pictures, battery isn't tied in yet and conduit is still not tied down. But you get the idea for the final product.