what to look for -buying 1980 mq swb

Joined: 27 Jun 2003 Location: cen vic

ok its a 1980 swb mq patrol for a good price -sub $1000
a mighty sd 33 diesel 4spd a little rust in window channels and top right windscreen area, still 24 volt system
spare tyre underneath(unfort)
going back to test tomorow as it has been sitting and no fuel or battery (still has water in radiator and oil in motor)
so what should i look for apart from obvious.
my brother is out of town so i cant compresssion test with his tools .
body seems pretty good.260,000 kms, needs sunraysias

while im asking is 24 to 12 volt conversion just alternator and starter changes or just go an 24 to 12 invertor?

i have searched a bit as well b4 asking.
cheers

Joined: 27 Nov 2002 Location: Lost in Melbourne.

toonfish wrote:

while im asking is 24 to 12 volt conversion just alternator and starter changes or just go an 24 to 12 invertor?

lights thru out inc dash lights etc .. lots more to it, why not leave as 24v?

Also a few on Ebay under cars/4x4

Joined: 27 Jun 2003 Location: cen vic

yep just searching threads still
i will keep 24 volt system.
cheers
will look at ebay i have a van on there for sale as well. Cool

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2003 7:52 am

80 mod .... its old so rust will be the first thing to look for...

look at these areas...
1/ under the front floormats, specially where the cabmounts are, and look from under the rig aswell.( common)

2/ rear wheel arches, specially the area thats close to ya bum when in the drivers seat. There's an additional panel that corrodes away first.( common)

3/ firewall, just under the rubber strip that the bonnet closes onto. (common)

4/ where the inner guards join the firewall... usually only the passengers side for some unknown reason. ( rare)

5/ front wheel arches, just above where the drivers accelerator foot sits. (rare)

6/ bottom radiator supports... where the radiator bolts on there is a "cup" that joins the inner guard and the front panel... look from underneath (common)

7/ front radiator support panel... where it bolts to the chassis ... visiable from looking through the grill ( common)

8/ front radiator support panel to inner guard... the pretty little curved piece in the corner... ya elbow will probably be resting on it when ya looking at the motor (rare)

9/ gutters ... look from above aswell as underneath ( rare)

10/ under the canopy, specifically within the last foot or so from the back of the rig ( common)

11/ top corners of the windscreen rubber ( rare)

12/ above the glovebox where the door pillar meets the firewall ( rare)

13/ a major one to consider... where the chassis and the gearbox crossmember meet... there's 3 layers of steel here ( internal) and the rust may not be visiable so be prepared to "tap" it with a small hammer, if it dents easily then its prolly rotten from inside. ( rare )

these are the "hidden" rust spots that most people dont see. You can always see the external spots easily IE rear guards, sill panels, bottom of the doors etc etc.

If your still not sure about some of the locations then ASK.... I'll post up some pics for ya !

Kingy

Joined: 26 Jun 2003

for mine i just bought a couple of invertors from dick smiths and all of my goodies such as compressor, uhf, stereo, etc. ran off them. As for extra lights 4 sets in addition to the std ones i changed with 24 globes so there was a lot less drain on the batt

Joined: 27 Jun 2003 Location: cen vic

thanks for the quick replies
all noted will check.
cheers Laughing

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2003 8:38 am

remember ASK if ya not sure....

Mechanicls.... Bearings,

1/ front & rear wheel bearings... jack it up, then with ya hands at 12 & 6 oclock on the wheel ...wriggle, you'll "feel" the movement if they are on there way out.

2/ kingpin bearings, jack up one side of the front diff.. 12 & 6 oclock grip again and wriggle firmly... best to have someone do the wriggling so you can see the movement.

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2003 8:51 am

Motor...

There's been a few tech disscussions on this so "search" is ya friend here..

basics to look for..

1/ White smoke at inital startup ( cold motor ) with a motor this old there will be some... dont panic, a set of new glowplugs may solve this !... the white smoke should clear within around 10 secs... if its still there after a minute , she's not well !

2/ overheating.... usually due to the radiator being stuffed, again LOOK ! the fins between the cores in the radiator may be gone ! A recored radiator costs around $450.

3/ overheating 2.... injector pump running rich.. a tuneup should fix that, look for excessive clouds of black smoke under acceleration or is there black smoke under normal driving IE @ say 60 kph . ( there will be some black smoke @ 60kph... but it should be "just" visiable). Best way to check this is get someone else to drive it and you follow em.

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2003 9:04 am

General appearence....

A 2nd hand car usually sells itself just by appearence, ya look for things like the interior, is it abused, stained, torn, worn out... Seatbelts..are they frayed? this shows how fussy the previous owner was... IE if the rig looks rough then more n likely thats how it was maintained mechanically.

tyres... roadworthy or not
quality of tyres ... cheapies or good name brand, again if they are stuffed cheapies , then more n likely thats the way the rest of the rig was treated.

windscreen and windscreen rubber... is the glass in road worthy condition?, if not then it will need replacing, this then may means that the rubber need replacing too, ... is the rubber "hard" or cracked... if its hard then youll need a new rubber with a new screen, ... cost of a rubber is around the $130 mark... a new screen is around the $150 mark.. + fitting

Joined: 26 Jun 2003 Location: traralgon victoria

dont forget to check the l/h front spring mount as they crack and eventually come away from the chassis Shocked

Joined: 27 Jun 2003 Location: cen vic

thanks again yep done all the searching via the forum and others all noted and will be checking shortly
noted the cracks and many rust spots , will recheck these but looked ok first glance at radiator support brackets and rubber could be used again around wind screen maybe new screen a little pitted,
will check the smoke situation when i start it up.
what size fuel tank are they?-swb sd33.
how hard to fit a rear spare wheel holder?

thanks again Smile

Joined: 26 Jun 2003

toonfish wrote:

thanks again yep done all the searching via the forum and others all noted and will be checking shortly
noted the cracks and many rust spots , will recheck these but looked ok first glance at radiator support brackets and rubber could be used again around wind screen maybe new screen a little pitted,
will check the smoke situation when i start it up.
what size fuel tank are they?-swb sd33.
how hard to fit a rear spare wheel holder?

thanks again Smile

Spare wheel carrier is not hard to fit. I picked up a Kaymar one from bouncer spares in sydney $120.

Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2003 9:56 am

MQ Patrol SD 33 fuel tank holds 82 lits

Joined: 27 Jun 2003 Location: cen vic

ok cheers

Joined: 02 Jun 2003 Location: Hobart

$1000.00 bucks who gives a shite if it goes buy it if you dont want it ill buy it for spares

Joined: 01 Nov 2003 Location: Sydney South

Ihave a bunch of spares if you buy the shorty Regards

Joined: 27 Jun 2003 Location: cen vic

all done farmer comes back tommorow and we will see if its ok .
so far (on phone seems ok ).the farmer who owns it that is.
will do some tests in the morning,
thanks in regards to spares, either to sell or buy.
cheers

in the process of a good job offerr (allows 3 days for 4by oh and family doh!)

Razz