Should i acquire a seriously ancient Daihatsu or not?

[BabyGodzillaGTi-R]

Hey guys i've managed to spot an old Daihatsu after exhaustive search for one for 2 years. Not sure what's the model really but all it say is 1600 on the side.

So the million dollar question is should i get it or not? Coz quite sometime back i was told that the axles are the same as the Rocky F85(That's my ride). Hence i can change the ring and pinion from 1:3.9 to 1:4.8... So should i acquire it or not?

I hope Area 54 is reading this. Coz he mentioned something that our axles are similiar to Salisbury axles or something like that. Was hoping he could elaborate more on it.

Besides that any idea how can i get more lift from the springs? I've added longer shackles and longer spring eye mounts. Would it help if i add an extra leaf? Coz i dont really wanna go SPOA, only as a last resort.

This is the truck in question.

[BabyGodzillaGTi-R]

The axles seems quite similiar visually. This is my front axle, F85.
The other is the front axle of that ancient Daihatsu.

[BabyGodzillaGTi-R]

And this is pics of the rear axles. The above is my F85, and the bottom is the ancient junk.

So the millior dollar question. To get it or not? And looking at it, good chance it has a 4.8 or even a 5.2 final drive assuming it's stock?

[rOd]

Chances are the diffs are stuffed if its that old.

Can you pull the diffs out and check if it has the ratios you want?

Its a shame to acquire it only to find out that its completely useless to you.

[BIg StEvE]

looks a bit ruff roung the edges but would be a nice project! Check out Chris' white beast in the f20 pix thread! Its coming along nicely.








































Buy It!

[elgordomuygrande]

If the decals say its a 1600 then it's a F20 with 1:4.777 r&p. Whether you should buy it or not, depends on what the seller wants for it. If it's reasonable, buy it. Worst case scenario, wreck it, parts will probably sell for more than twice you've paid. But if all works out, you have that ultra low gearing you've always wanted in your hatsu

[BabyGodzillaGTi-R]

And i think that junk still works even it's rusty as the road tax on that junk is valid for another 3 months.....

My only concern is that with the gearing upgraded to 4.7, i heard they are very prone to breaking as there's less surface or something like that. Well that's what the Rover guys are complaining when they upgrade their 3.5 on their Rangies to Series III 4.7.....
Can they be strengthen or treated or something to take the abuse?
Coz i intend to upgrade my tyres from crapy 31inches to 35 MT117...
And i'm sure there's plenty of stress with the Detroit Locker too...

Well if it cost pittance why not.... Anyone wants parts from it?
Hehehe

[PigDog]

i got a f55 deisel with diff's that look identical and run 35 extrems and havent done a diff yet but i hav maniged 2 kill 2 front drive shaft and snap all of me hub studs off with them

[BabyGodzillaGTi-R]

oh dear.... i dunno it seems i'm quite lucky so far considering the detroit locker on my car is probably 350-300k mileage on it and so far no dramas, and my dad really did some offroading in it since the day he bought it in 1984 and now i'm continuing with the passion.
So imagine 20 years of offroading. But we never went anythign higher than 31inch.