fresh-bought MQ: pics, and mod questions

[prossett]

Here's the MQ I've just bought - full bone stock, in very good shape.

If you had $ 1,000 to plough in, please list me the first 5 mods you'd do for sand desert driving. Appreciated.

[mattstar]

body lift, tyre's and recovery equipment.
the basics for under a $1000 that will let you have some fun, MQ's are pretty capable and that one looks pretty straight, Nice.

[Brendan-s]

Nah forget tyres, those look fine for sand driving. They'll skim across the top rather than dig into the sand.

By the looks of it the suspension is pretty tired, how about a new set of 2in-lifted shocks and springs? Should total around 1k. Then maybe a snatch strap

[Tiny]

definatly would suggest new spring and shocks, tyres at the right pressure will be fine for the sand, when you have more $$ you can look at bigger \ different tyres etc, but a decent suspension set up will make the trips far more enjoyable and comfortable imo

[Screwy]

I think a snorkel will help your cause. SD33s get hot quick and u already have the right sort of intake to put one on it.

then id say u want UHF radios and recovery gear etc....

id prob lean towards a new set of 2 inch lifted springs....

then another thing u want to look at is a set of extractors and a 3 inch exaust...

again the SD33 motors love to heat up and tend to do it very very quickly if your working them very very very hard like usual on sand driving....
a new exaust will open her up give her abit more guts and hense wont be working as hard and will help in your efforts to make it up some big dunes....

screwy

[badger]

should probably spend the 1k on moving the steering wheel to the correct side of the car

if it were me id look into new suspension and mab a turbo because power is great in sand. oh and recovery gear.

[macca81]

I think a snorkel will help your cause. SD33s get hot quick and u already have the right sort of intake to put one on it.
screwy

iv not once had a prob with my sd33 overheating, iv only seen it past 1/2 way once, and then it wasnt by much and it was towing nearly 2 tonne uphill for about 40 mins...


but yes, shift the steering wheel to the right side

add a snorkle

add an air compressor for pumpin those tyres back up

get a UHF

new springs




my list may be slightly over 1k tho

[chops]

engine looks like a p40 to me

[prossett]

Thanks guys - good advice.

Yes, it's a P40, just been rebuilt. Tires are Pirelli Scorpion 31x10.50 and in good shape, so they'll stay for a while.

Definitely need to work on suspension and power. Terrain is flowing sand dunes, some 300 feet high.

My options for suspension from over here (I'm in the middle of nowhere) are to re-arch the tired stock springs or add a thick truck leaf. Which one will keep my ride smoother?

My options for more power are to let more air in and out. Who has tried K&N high-flow air filters in place of the stock one? Also, is it worth messing with the exhaust headers (extractors?) or should I just work from the collector onwards?

Recovery gear is normally a good butch strap, and your buddy gives you a good tug. Winch is too heavy up front. The MQ has a good pintle hook up back but I'll have to check the front tow points.

I'll also look to lose the roof and relocate the spare to the rear bed. Maybe also remove the tailgate and replace with net. Will need to fab rollcage.

So,

Suspension: re-arch or add-a-leaf?
Engine: K&N type filter or stock?
Exhaust: new headers or just 3" pipe after stock extractors?
Safety: rollcage / bars.

Let me thank the forum again - believe it or not, you guys are my link to sanity... scary thought, eh???

[badger]

in relation to your suspension. neither will make it smoother nor better
try get some new leaves and shocks it will be worth the money expecially for sand driving.

sorry about the turbo comments i didnt even look at the pics just assumed from screwys comments it was a diesel.
as far as i kno there isnt alot commonly done to p40's to make more power.
ours has extractors. and you could probably get a better carby and a cam or the like.
it might be worth putting in a different more powerful motor if these smaller mods dont gain enough power (something common to where you are) if you can get people to make you an adaptor plate and the like

[V8Patrol]

If you had $ 1,000 to plough in, please list me the first 5 mods you'd do for sand desert driving. Appreciated.

1/
New springpaks all round ..... NEW ... NOT RE CURVED SHYTE

2/
New shockers

( Item 1 + item 2 now means it will be drivable off-road )


3/
New radiator,
sand has a nasty habbit of making things hotter than normal so a new radiator would be a wise investment to prevent that expensive motor blow up & rebuild.
get an all alloy job if ya can.

4/
A winch and a decent front bar
Self recovery is a huge plus......
that front bar will dig in at the bottom of the bigger dunes, either loose it of modify the bejesus out of it !

5/
A 12volt air compressor
for the blowing up of tires after a fun day playing in the sand dunes


oh.......
and that list will set ya back more than ya $1000 too by the way


Kingy

[prossett]

Cheers, good stuff.

I've got the compressor, winch really is not needed nobody has one. Besides we never go alone. Guys, I should have said at the beginning, I'm in the interior of the UAE so availability of mods: zero! Everything must come by post, but I have good access to scraps from GU/GQ and other makes.

Radiator definitely a priority - do you reckon a flush should be enough? I'm out here for the money so don't want to blow too much on something I'll have to leave behind. I can fit a larger one from another make.

So, new spring pack gonna be hard and $$$ to ship - can I fit back leafs from Hilux or Wrangler YJ or some other ute? What if I measure them and get new ones cut?

Shocks, yep, I'll pay for those...

Here's a pic of one of the dunes we get around here:

[David_S]

If you are doing serious desert work you won't just be on sand but on gravel plains, rutted tracks, salt flats, khabra and the dreaded sabkha, so sand tyres are not always helpful.

My priorities would be.

1) Long range fuel tank. Lo ratio sand work drinks up the gas.
2) Drinking water tank
3) A second spare wheel and several spare tubes plus the tools to change tyres as well as tubes and a pump to blow them up. Desert driving is very very hard on tyres.
4) Sand mats. Pieces of old conveyor belt make excellent ones
5) Long handled shovel
6) Snatch rope
7) Spare radiator hoses, fan belts etc etc
8) Hi lift jack and hydraulic jack plus ply base plates.
9) A second battery connected in parallel with an isolation switch which you should use every time you stop for the night in case you inadvertently drain your battery. Push starting in sand is no fun.
10) A dash mounted compass properly adjusted and/or sun compass a la the long range desert group.
11) A working air conditioner
12) Upgraded suspension if possible. If you can't afford new springs at least fit new shocks. These early Nissans were bone shaking on corrugations.

Forget body lifts. Winches are not much use without anchors. (I never fancied digging a hole to bury my spare wheel in 40ºC). A radiator flush and new hoses (including that little by-pass hose beside the thermostat) are good ideas but I have only once had my P40 boil and that was in extreme heat after much low gear work and it cooled down as soon as I stopped and faced into the breeze with the engine running.

I went all over Saudi Arabia and down to the Yemen in my stock P40 with open diffs and the basic equipment listed and always managed to extricate myself from trouble. It's always better to go in company. 3 is ideal. 2 is Ok. More than 3 is usually a PITA with extra stops for punctures, discussions on routes, etc not to mention the unwanrted attention a large convoy attracts. My wife and I did many trips on our own but always left a detailed route plan and schedule with a trusted friend. If something went wrong we planned to just sit by the truck and await the arrival of the friend.

You should have a lot of fun. The desert has a fascination which is hard to describe. Keep an eye open for neolithic flint tools and rock drawings, desert "diamonds" etc.

And yes that is definitely a P40 just like mine apart from the colour. I still have my original truck with the original engine which has now been all ove the ME and Europe and is now my off-road truck back home. And thanks for the picture showing the tacho. Mine had a clock there until I replaced it with a modified one from the diesel. I always wondered where the redline was for the P40. I guessed 4200rpm running out at 5000rpm which is pretty close to your tach.

Have fun

David

PS A Pertonix ignitor (points replacement) works wonders on the P40 especially at the higher rpms.
PPS Wish my truck had your truck's body