"BOBYS" – D21 King Cab 4x4 VG33E Buildlog

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Update;

The cluster we could obtain at a good price for this swap was from an R50 Pathfinder VG33E. The plugs on these modern clusters are much smaller than the older style plugs and I didn't have any looms with appropriate connectors, so I chose to just splice standard connectors onto it.

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The first way I experimented with to acheive this was casting glue in the holes with acrylic holding the pins against the copper contacts:

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But this came out a little messy, so I tried another method using crimps that I found at a fishing tackle shop:
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And then heatshrinking over them. The connectors are then glued to the back of the cluster so that there is no stress on the splices:

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Wired in the fuel pump relay to run the EFI fuel pump. Since it's controlled by the ECU, the layout is, 12V supplied to one side of the coil, and the ECU connected to the other so that when it is connected to ground by the ECU the pump will run.

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Taking shape mate, i wonder what sort of note we end up with from the exhaust? hope its not too tinny or loud lol
 
Update:- had rather timely problems getting VG33e wiring and ECU to mate up with the Dash Cluster of the old girl. So in Dion's wisdom, he has used the whole dash board assembly from 04 Nav and installed it into the D21. Cabin size is the same, but a heap of mods were needed. Upside is the the whole interior is going to look late model. Looking at having bobys back on the road by the end of the month. Just thought people might be interested. Thanks Steve
 
Custom addon harness being assembled (interfaces ECU with main harness, and adapts D22 cluster to D21):
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Addon wiring harness now patched into the main harness (just enough fuse and relay locations for the ECU). Engine, AC, etc. runs now, no codes from the ECU, finished installing the wiring harness last week and started to wrap it:

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Whats the specs on it, looks pretty fun.

The basic specs are:
Engine is WR450, drives through a 1.5way LSD
Chassis is a carbon fibre monocoque (made in-house)
Tyres are Hoosier LC0 slicks on 10" carbon rims (aluminium centre), made in-house.
Weighs 170kg without a driver.

Back on topic, more progress pics:

Installing the D22 dash:
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Most of the way towards installed. Still need to mount the ECU and the fuse panel:
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Overall shot of the engine since I haven't added one yet:
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Hours?

Lookin good dion.
You must've put in a ton of hours !!
yes Cworf quite a few hours and coin. Dion is a marvel mate. She's almost done now, but because of work and other commitments, it's been near 2 years in he making. Be well worth it though. Coz it means my late Dads ute will live on for many years to come. And will be able to go up hills without getting overtaken by semi trailers lol. Cheers steve :)
 
Hey Dave, looks like Dion has built that D22 king cab you wanted :congrats:
Maybe have a crack at the D22 front sheet metal :rock:
 
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Just tying off a thousand loose ends at the moment. The coolant temp sensor doesn't match the cluster so it misreads, just putting in one that matches. Mounting various electrical stuff up and tidying the plastics in the cabin up to match the D22 dash, etc.
 

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