Nav80's, aka vSAHARAx, D22...

[NAV80]

Nav80's, aka vSAHARAx Wet D22 Project...

Hey everyone...

Well i will try and keep it short and sweet.

My name is Troy, 22 years of age, I am a Sparky (nearly qualified). I live in Brisbane and have been a 4wd head since i was knee high short of a grasshopper...

I am a Landcruiser fella through and through but do have a soft spot for the old D22's... please dont hold it against me.

I have an 80 Series cruiser, which is my pride and joy, it's a weekend warrior, tourer, toy all in one... It was featured in issue 136 of 4wd action about 2 years ago... Although it is not my daily driver i do still spend way too much time tinkering and modifying it...

So the time come in my apprenticeship where i needed a ute, so being a typical young male, went straight after a clean, unmodified XR6 Turbo ute.... As fun as it was to drive i soon learnt it was not very practical when it come to work duties. I sometimes used to scratch my head wondering how i would get on some jobsites due to being rediculously low.... Not to mention how to leave the site after it had rained/stormed as it didnt handle mud too well...

So after chosing to sell the XR I was on the hunt for a relatively late model, turbo diesel, dual cab, 4wd with less then 100 000kms. I didnt really want to go into debt either as i'm slowly saving for a house deposit... After looking around for a few months nothing really took my fancy as i suppose you could say i had wine tastes with beer pockets...

After looking at every possible online ad, I then thought i'd give the auctions a go... Always been a bit weary about auctions, but figured nothing ventured, nothing gained... I come across this 2006 ST-R 3.0L... A repairable write-off with 58,000kms... Water damaged as It was caught in a flash flood last december...
I was in two minds when viewing it pre auction. There were no signs of water in the intake, no water in the oil and a tide mark that was a couple of inches below the turbo in the engine bay. how ever the interior was disgusting!!!! Popping your head inside was enough to make you dry reach. Expected after being locked up wet for 3 months in the sun... I then found a rego certificate under the seat so managed to call the previous owner to find out exactly what happened... I had a bit of a think and thought bugger it, it'll take a bit of work but i love a challenge and seen it as a little project that should pay off!!! Next thing i remember, old mate yelling sold and wanting my bidders number...

Extreemly nervous with no sleep, I returned the following arvo with a cheque, the folks 200 series (as a bit too heavy for my 80) and a car trailer semi eager to pick up my boat anchor navara.

As the vehicles are not allowed to be started it had to be loaded by forklift.... not something you see every day...

 

[d22dave]

So how did it go on start up, Gut it and clean it and give it plenty of contact cleaner and silicone spray on all the switches and relays and anything else electrical and fish oil or lanoline in the doors and any other crevice you can think off. Have fun

 

[NAV80]

So how did it go on start up, Gut it and clean it and give it plenty of contact cleaner and silicone spray on all the switches and relays and anything else electrical and fish oil or lanoline in the doors and any other crevice you can think off. Have fun

Got home, rolled it off the trailer, battery had a bit of charge, flicked the key a few times, it cranked rather lazy, but enough for me to be happy that there was no water in any of the pots... needless to say to date i have had 10,000kms of happy motoring.... but i will slowly get up to date as i am a couple months behind

 

[NAV80]

So after I got home i was able to see closely in my own time what i had gotten myself into... I was feeling a little sick in the stomach....

tide mark in front wheel well

 

[NAV80]

Tide mark on firewall in engine bay

Soooo many leaves and debri caught in all sorts of places

Dad trying to convince me to start it

Was a little hard to start the first time im presuming just had to get fuel up.... (pumped the hand primer until it was hard)
I could have sworn i filmed it but i cant find it :-S

All up and running

 

[NAV80]

Next was the interior.... boy it stank!!!

LET THE CLEANING BEGIN!!!

 

[d22dave]

And cleaning and cleaning and when your sick off it there is some more cleaning

 

[nathand22]

Sound like you have landed a good nav once you have it all cleaned up. at least it didnt go under in salt water, and by the sounds of it, it wasnt running when it got a little swim.
it actually looks good in the pics, nice and straight.
good score i reckon.
when my D22 went under she was running and the water came up to the dash....... it reeked havoc as you can imagine with the electric's. the horn went off, the lights came on, the radio started at full volume and then the air bag exploded as i was climbing out the window. a week later the assessor couldnt even turn the key.

 

[KraftyPg]

There was someone on here a while ago that was asking peoples thoughts on buying a flooded Nav, can't remember if that was you or not but if it was it looks like the purchase might have paid off.

 

[scottybobcat]

Good stuff mate.How long did it take to clean it.Did you replace the under lay and carpet.How much did you get it for from auction.

 

[RustyNav09]

Sounds like a good score for. Flooded nav. I'm the same when it comes to auctions bit funny on not knowing it real condition. By any chance does your old man work for Queensland Rail? The lanyard around the back of the neck looks familiar :S?

Keep us posted on got progress with the nav. Remember all the info your need for it I'm sure you'll find answers on here somewhere.

Goodluck
Rusty

 

[04SilverSTR]

nice score i reckon, but be for you go too far change all the oils, diffs gearbox, transfer incase of water ingress and i would be also repacking the wheel bearing as well to be on the safe side!!

bryan

 

[d22dave]

. at least it didnt go under in salt water, .

Pretty sure it becomes a statutory write off with a salt water bath

 

[nathand22]

Pretty sure it becomes a statutory write off with a salt water bath

not sure about other states but there is no longer any thing else but a statutory write off in NSW. something to do with trying to stop car re-birthing.
which is a bummer for any one trying to buy cars like the one in this thread.

 

[d22dave]

statutory write off in NSW. something to do with trying to stop car re-birthing.

Those laws are bullshit my nav was/is a repairable write off out of Canberra. Bought it last year the wife and kids gutted it. Bought new/ second hand parts where needed, Panel beater done the repair work and spraying. To get it registered i needed to supply photos of damaged car photos during repair and receipts for all replacement parts and a report on the repairs from the panel beater. Then car goes in for a viv check (vehicular identification validation ) $485 dollars, They are supposed to be checking for any bull shit work or re-birthing plus air bag check from dealer ship that sells said cars. Then you need your roadworthy for rego as normal, Have been told by a panel beater that NSW may change the laws again as insurance companys are losing a fortune. Why these cars save you money is because you do most of the grunt work your self thats why at the auctions they sometimes refer to them as economic writeoffs

 

[NAV80]

Hey all thanks for the comments... Im am very late in setting up this members page, I bought it back at the end of march...

I got hold of the previous owner just prior to picking it up... If i remember correctly, It was parked near the Darra train station on the 16th of december, along with a bunch of other cars. He parked it there early in the morning. At around 2:30pm there was 2 or three storms came through dumping a heap of rain which caused a storm surge down the little spoon drain where the nav was kind of nosed into... He said in the years he had been in the area he had only ever seen a trickle flow down the drain in heavy rain...

I picked it up for $14 250... I know it is alot for a flooded car, but considering it had 58 000kms, a canopy, late model, I am still stoked! I knew what happened to it and it seemed like it had potential. I figured it was better than paying $15,000 on a falcon RTV with 120,000kms which i was also looking at (private sale)...

So I will continue with the progress...

The afternoon i picked it up I made sure it started... that was first and foremost... The water never went to the bottom of the seats... being a flash flood and the water was running the doors created a bow wave and stopped the water level getting too high inside. The water level inside was just below half way up the front speaker grills... The problem was it being locked up wet for 3 months waiting to be auctioned!

So i stripped the interior

before i knew it there was bits and pieces everywhere

 

[NAV80]

Then the cleaning started!!!

Oil of cloves, soap, interior cleaner, deodoriser, mould killer.... chemical galore!!!

inside the cab cleaned up

Shampoo'd the carpets twice, Gerni'd them twice, wet vac, and sun

 

[d22dave]

Stripped mine the same, Plus head lining front and rear glass, A couple of doors and guards. Worst part is keeping track of all the nuts and bolts

 

[NAV80]

Stripped mine the same, Plus head lining front and rear glass, A couple of doors and guards. Worst part is keeping track of all the nuts and bolts

Mate your not wrong... but i recon i could have it all pulled apart again in record time if i needed too ... now know how every little panel comes off

 

[NAV80]

Sounds like a good score for. Flooded nav. I'm the same when it comes to auctions bit funny on not knowing it real condition. By any chance does your old man work for Queensland Rail? The lanyard around the back of the neck looks familiar :S?

Keep us posted on got progress with the nav. Remember all the info your need for it I'm sure you'll find answers on here somewhere.

Goodluck
Rusty

Hey mate, nahhh He is the super visor for global cranes... Even though he had a broken leg at the time he was a huge help! Couldnt have done it without him!!!