Daihatsu Overland Build

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Godforsaken Customs

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Contributor I

60
Before we start I am not a professional mechanic, or a welder.

The base truck for this build is a 1996 Daihatsu Fourtrak 2.8 turbo diesel. Its coil sprung on the rear and Torsion bar independent up front. The DL-52 engine is tough as old boots and the axles etc are also very well built, a lot of similarity to Toyota quality as both companies were intermingled. The main issue I've had running them is that they literally end up rusting to bits (seems to be most Jap 4x4s are the same here). It is a light truck at around 1700kgs standard so is plenty powerful with a torquey 2.8 and will turn 33 inch tyres with ease. It is also plated to tow 3500kgs braked which is pretty mad for a truck of its size and will run heavily overladen with no issues.

So with regards to the build, knowing the weak spots of these trucks (I've saved and buried a few now) I managed to source a galvanised chassis (hen's teeth), and was given the donor in return for doing some work on a friends farm. The donor had been damaged and left to rust being used as an agricultural vehicle but that didn't matter with what I had planned. Please excuse the shanty I am working in!

The chassis came with axles and steering gear, but this had to come out as I wanted to paint the chassis, just not a fan of the look. This process first meant reaming all the drain holes and re-tapping all the threaded holes to remove the zinc deposits. Then the chassis had to be degreased, washed, dried, then a Mordant solution applied (phosphoric acid) to etch the surface, washed, dried, acid etch primered, dried, and top coated black.
For now I've loosely put the axles in and wheeled it back into the garden. I'm documenting everything on Youtube if anyones interested, its a bit easier to detail certain things, the videos do get better as they go. I can post links as I go.
Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJpqu8-xdEyrWK9AT1JTRAQ
Chassis prep videos

Galvanised chassis

Mordant solution applied

Etch primer


The next task was stripping the donor down and removing the body, not an easy task on your own with a jack and some stands.

Sorry if this is too in depth please let me know, got a bit more to bring you up to scratch yet!
 
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Godforsaken Customs

Rank 0

Contributor I

60
Once the body was on stands I set about the underbody, which as you can see was a state

I took the whole floorpan back to bare metal with an angle grinder and countless wire brush cups (lethal) a few rusty spots here and there
The whole floor was rust treated and painted.




As you can see to the right the sills are shot, luckily I had some Land Rover galvanised rock and tree sliders to replace these with there a reasonable gauge box section but not overly heavy. Obviously weight is always an issue in any travelling vehicle. This worked out very well as I was able to catch all the pillar supports (also rotted) on top of the box section and weld them back up (had to remove some of the quarter panel and remake to achieve this).




Starting to tack into place


Videos now have music and are somewhat watchable!

Sill finished



Then for the rear corners and arches (another common rust spot). As I'm rewiring the loom to run through the truck rather than under it these corners have become superfluous, I did have some heavy duty replacements I made but they were far too heavy, and then on closer inspection removing the outer there was no inner left to weld to



Simple solution, remove it all and cap off the bottom of the quarter. I've gained heaps of clearance doing this. Haven't put a photo of this up yet. The arches need to be opened at the bottom to clear the 285/75/16s that will be going on it. The original arch edge was gone so I bent up some 20mm concrete reinforcing bar to form the shape and started filling in. The tidying work will be done with lead loading/body solder (this is not a body filler job as it may come into contact with things). The tree slider has been formed back into the barwork for the arch (in theory I could drag the whole side across something without damaging it, not that I plan to but I'd rather be able to continue on if it does happen). I will have to make up some rubber extensions at some point to cover the tyres for legal purposes.

A picture of the arch just started, barwork being tacked into place



I've effectively narrowed the body by doing this and removed all signs of the dreaded rust!



Like I said I'm no professional, its going to look a bit agricultural but its more about function than form here. Pretty safe to say this will suit the rest of the truck which is also very agricultural. I'm not sure you'd want to drive one of these if you were used to something else but its what I know and what I like to drive (most important). They're a bit rough around the edges and sound like a bag of spanners running but they are a solid base to start from!

So this sides all welded (will get some pictures sorted somewhen), now to recreate on the other side, I am planning to let a metal toolbox into the quarter on this side to keep a compressor and maybe some recovery gear in to be accessed from the outside save opening the door all the time and keep the dirt out a bit.
But that's where it stands at the moment, heaps of future jobs to do but I've probably bored you enough by now! Please feel free to ask any questions etc, I'll do my best to answer them.
 
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TurboDiesel67

Rank I

Traveler I

154
Poole, Dorset, England
Godforsaken Customs said:
Before we start I am not a professional mechanic, or a welder.

The base truck for this build is a 1996 Daihatsu Fourtrak 2.8 turbo diesel. Its coil sprung on the rear and Torsion bar independent up front. The DL-52 engine is tough as old boots and the axles etc are also very well built, a lot of similarity to Toyota quality as both companies were intermingled. The main issue I've had running them is that they literally end up rusting to bits (seems to be most Jap 4x4s are the same here). It is a light truck at around 1700kgs standard so is plenty powerful with a torquey 2.8 and will turn 33 inch tyres with ease. It is also plated to tow 3500kgs braked which is pretty mad for a truck of its size and will run heavily overladen with no issues.

So with regards to the build, knowing the weak spots of these trucks (I've saved and buried a few now) I managed to source a galvanised chassis (hen's teeth), and was given the donor in return for doing some work on a friends farm. The donor had been damaged and left to rust being used as an agricultural vehicle but that didn't matter with what I had planned. Please excuse the shanty I am working in!

The chassis came with axles and steering gear, but this had to come out as I wanted to paint the chassis, just not a fan of the look. This process first meant reaming all the drain holes and re-tapping all the threaded holes to remove the zinc deposits. Then the chassis had to be degreased, washed, dried, then a Mordant solution applied (phosphoric acid) to etch the surface, washed, dried, acid etch primered, dried, and top coated black.
For now I've loosely put the axles in and wheeled it back into the garden. I'm documenting everything on Youtube if anyones interested, its a bit easier to detail certain things, the videos do get better as they go. I can post links as I go.
Channel Godforsaken Customs
Chassis prep videos

Galvanised chassis

Mordant solution applied

Etch primer


The next task was stripping the donor down and removing the body, not an easy task on your own with a jack and some stands.

Sorry if this is too in depth please let me know, got a bit more to bring you up to scratch yet!
Click to expand...
I feel like an idiot for scrapping my turbo charged 1993 fourtrack f73 now
 
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