Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Its a 1981 MQ ute. Rego till April, engine seems to start and run fine. Doesn't really go more than 105-110, but I'm guessing that's normal? It's an SD33, 340 odd thousand on the clock, has had a respray in its life, looks like it might have started out a blueish color, now white. No rust that I could find in a short inspection. A/C is icy cold. Interior is ok, not flash. PS door doesn't open from the inside. Tray is in good nick, no bull bar and front bar is a bit damaged from a roo strike.

Now for the really bad bits..... seller said the brakes where a bit spongy, took it for a drive and well, they weren't spongy, they just weren't there . Pedal goes straight to the floor and does nothing. Checked the fluid and there's plenty there, I couldn't really find it leaking anywhere either. He said something about a boot that's broken, on the front d/s wheel and that's why the brakes are, his words "not so good". Smells like bs to me.

Then I put it in 4lo on a dirt road and did a u-turn. Click click click click click..... cv joint(s) broken I'm guessing.

P/S wheel has a lot of uneven wear on the outside of it, dunno if its just never had a wheel alignment or something more sinister.

Anyhow, I brought it back and expressed my dis-interest in it, considering all the problems. He said he'd 'give' it to me for 2k (had 2500 on the sign). I'm halfheartedly thinking about offering him 1k in a week or two, but I'm not really sure what its worth, and don't want to be rude about it, but I just think I could get something in better nick for that much money and at 1k its sorta worth me fixing it. Any more and I can't be bothered.


I can't find any MQ/MK utes on ebay or carsales at the moment to get an idea on price. And redbook says 1000-2300 as a guide, but doesn't list the diesel engine for the utes in an 1981 model


And just a question re the 24v system, how do you go about running 12v accessories? Like CD player, fridge, lights etc?

RockyF75 wrote:Its a 1981 MQ ute. Rego till April, engine seems to start and run fine. Doesn't really go more than 105-110, but I'm guessing that's normal? It's an SD33, 340 odd thousand on the clock, has had a respray in its life, looks like it might have started out a blueish color, now white. No rust that I could find in a short inspection. A/C is icy cold. Interior is ok, not flash. PS door doesn't open from the inside. Tray is in good nick, no bull bar and front bar is a bit damaged from a roo strike.

Now for the really bad bits..... seller said the brakes where a bit spongy, took it for a drive and well, they weren't spongy, they just weren't there . Pedal goes straight to the floor and does nothing. Checked the fluid and there's plenty there, I couldn't really find it leaking anywhere either. He said something about a boot that's broken, on the front d/s wheel and that's why the brakes are, his words "not so good". Smells like bs to me.

Then I put it in 4lo on a dirt road and did a u-turn. Click click click click click..... cv joint(s) broken I'm guessing.

P/S wheel has a lot of uneven wear on the outside of it, dunno if its just never had a wheel alignment or something more sinister.

Anyhow, I brought it back and expressed my dis-interest in it, considering all the problems. He said he'd 'give' it to me for 2k (had 2500 on the sign). I'm halfheartedly thinking about offering him 1k in a week or two, but I'm not really sure what its worth, and don't want to be rude about it, but I just think I could get something in better nick for that much money and at 1k its sorta worth me fixing it. Any more and I can't be bothered.


I can't find any MQ/MK utes on ebay or carsales at the moment to get an idea on price. And redbook says 1000-2300 as a guide, but doesn't list the diesel engine for the utes in an 1981 model


And just a question re the 24v system, how do you go about running 12v accessories? Like CD player, fridge, lights etc?

I just bought a 81 MQ SD33 a couple of months ago its 24 v too, in terms of running 12v UHF and a basic CD player you can just hard wire it onto one battery, Driving lights just get 24v truck globes ($8-$15 each) i don't have a fridge but i think that if you have to run a 12v one the drain from a fridge unbalances the batteries too much so you might have to get a "charge equalizer" google redarc they make one and are about $350.

One without rust is a big plus, the rust spots too look at are in the tailgate at the bottom near the hinges, in the sills at the bottom rear of the doors, around the windscreen, in the top of the firewall and in the corner braces of the engine bay.

110 will be about the top for a SD33, thats all mine gets but the gearing is good when your 4wheeling, nice and low.

If you do go back and have a look check what voltage it runs at underload should be about 28v, I had a hell of a time with mine just after i got it, 24v alternators are hard to come by and expensive to reco. And how easy is it to start? any smoke on startup?

All in all try and figure out what it will cost to get a RWC, add a couple of hundred for what you havn't thought of and go from there!

If I were to do it again i would hold out for a 5 speed turbo diesel 12 volt cos thats what i want to do to mine anyway! but then again thats more cash up front.

Cheers Craig

Thanks for that mate.

SWBMQCraig wrote: 110 will be about the top for a SD33, thats all mine gets but the gearing is good when your 4wheeling, nice and low.

Yeah thats my main attraction to patrols at the moment. Low gearing. This is prolly only the 3rd time I've driven one but its just awesome compared to the Rocky's 4Lo. And I'm sick of having 31" tires as a max.

SWBMQCraig wrote:
All in all try and figure out what it will cost to get a RWC, add a couple of hundred for what you havn't thought of and go from there!

Doesn't need RWC here, not until April at least.

SWBMQCraig wrote: If I were to do it again i would hold out for a 5 speed turbo diesel 12 volt cos thats what i want to do to mine anyway! but then again thats more cash up front.

Cheers Craig

Is the 4spd revving too hard on hwy driving you think? That's another thing that sort of puts me off at the moment. I want to do a fair bit of touring, well, as much as I can. And I hate having a car that revs its tits off at 100.

dont worry, the 4spd can sit at 110 easy, i had mine at 120 90% of the time on the highway and it was happy with that.

for 12v acc, just run them off your cig lighter of you not using much, or grab an inverter from jaycar if ya wanna run a fridge etc. the radio and dash cluster and cig lighter are all 12v in the 24v buses anyway.

when ya put it in 4lo, did you actualy have the hubs locked in? coz they can click a lil bit if they are not locked in properly...

macca81 wrote: when ya put it in 4lo, did you actualy have the hubs locked in? coz they can click a lil bit if they are not locked in properly...

Yeah had em both locked in properly I think, turned em as far as they would go.


Any ideas on the brakes issue? Thats the biggest turn off for me I think. Like, I reckon I could change the CV easily enough. But I hate stuffing around with brakes.

brakes might just need to b bleed or maybe the the master cylender needs to b replaced

macca81 wrote:dont worry, the 4spd can sit at 110 easy, i had mine at 120 90% of the time on the highway and it was happy with that.

Sorry Macca but going to have to disagree with you here 4sp can sit at 110-120 but that is just about flat to the floor (well mine anyway) i know it gets to me a bit and I don't do any touring.. Rocky does say a car that revs too much at 100 will annoy him I reckon its well worth getting the 5 sp if he is gona tour a bit.

Cheers Craig

those back brake drums may need some attention the shoes could backed off over there lifespan that causes a bad pedal
as far as the passenger tire wearing, i have always took it as the way the road is made
other than that the swivel hub bearings maybe on the way out

other than that there quite a good truck i just finished a MQ shorty for a mate of mine she's got plenty down low nothing over 2500 tho but that's good revvy power makes a mess of things

SWBMQCraig wrote:

macca81 wrote:dont worry, the 4spd can sit at 110 easy, i had mine at 120 90% of the time on the highway and it was happy with that.

Sorry Macca but going to have to disagree with you here 4sp can sit at 110-120 but that is just about flat to the floor (well mine anyway) i know it gets to me a bit and I don't do any touring.. Rocky does say a car that revs too much at 100 will annoy him I reckon its well worth getting the 5 sp if he is gona tour a bit.

Cheers Craig

agree 5spd is a nicer option, but if your foot is flat to the floor at 120, you should see about getting a tune-up. i had mine up around 160 one more than one occasion, and only backed off because i thought a door was gunna fall off, not because the engine didnt wanna go faster. PM screwy on here and ask him how fast a 4spd sd33 can go... i had his old engine, and i know he has had other ones goin faster.



p.s. please note, that i dont condone traveling at speeds in excess of 120kph. particularly in a vehicle of this age...

Hmm. This one didn't seem to keen to go above 110

Been doing a bit of a read through some old threads and now I've found out that MQ/MK's don't have reduction gears available for them . Sorta another nail in this coffin, bit less enthusiastic about it now.

What about diffs, is there a common low ratio swap if I wanted to run say 33-35"s ?

Then I put it in 4lo on a dirt road and did a u-turn. Click click click click click..... cv joint(s) broken I'm guessing.

Did it only do that going round a corner as a lot of the mq's will have a bit of wear in the front driveshaft, both of mine rattle pretty noisy.
Also check the motor is dead cold when you start it - put your hand on the radiator, my sd33 when cold (0-5 degrees ambient) needs about 20 seconds glow plugs and then still pumps out a load of white smoke until it warms a little and starts to burn efficiently. When warm it'll start with no glow easy as pie.
Utes will always be worth a bit more than a wagon.
As for brakes, they can add up if you need new drums and shoes - may get second hand drums.
Have a look at the back of the motor also, mine leaks a little oil, nothing to worry about, mine doesn't need topping up between 5000k changes, but could be something else to haggle.

Patroler wrote: Utes will always be worth a bit more than a wagon

Yeah thats what I was thinking, and one of the few things that makes this seem like a decent buy even with the work needed.

My other option - as in patrol's that I like in my price range - is a SWB MQ/MK, take the canopy off and get a soft top. But then that overhang in the rear, wow! Just can't see a way around it. At least in the ute its just a tray to go bang and not panels while sliding down a rock face.

So what do you guys think a MQ utes worth in general, or this one? I can't find any for sale online, only shortys and wagons. And their going for anywhere from 1k-6k. Assuming it was in good nick, 3k? 4k??

Patroler wrote: Did it only do that going round a corner as a lot of the mq's will have a bit of wear in the front driveshaft, both of mine rattle pretty noisy.

Yeah it did it doing a slow u turn. Don't think it did it when the wheels where straight, can't really remember. Might have still been there just quieter.

I checked both drive shafts before I drove it, couldn't feel any play in em.

agree 5spd is a nicer option, but if your foot is flat to the floor at 120, you should see about getting a tune-up. i had mine up around 160 one more than one occasion, and only backed off because i thought a door was gunna fall off, not because the engine didnt wanna go faster. PM screwy on here and ask him how fast a 4spd sd33 can go... i had his old engine, and i know he has had other ones goin faster.



p.s. please note, that i dont condone traveling at speeds in excess of 120kph. particularly in a vehicle of this age...

Hmm no idea how you could get to 160 maybe mine is a bit sick.. i do need to change the fuel filter ive been meaning to do that for a month.. not sure it would make that much difference tho..

What about diffs, is there a common low ratio swap if I wanted to run say 33-35"s ?

Im running 35" tyres atm and the gearing is still pretty damn good! was easily crawling up really steep slopes last week with 4 ppl and gear on board!

Cheers Craig

RockyF75 wrote:I can't find any MQ/MK utes on ebay or carsales at the moment

Didnt ask me did ya


seen 3 exchange ownership in the last 10days




Pity it has to be a ute...... would a SWB with a mountain of spares be tempting ( you'll need a tandem, 1.5ton truck, a 2nd driver .... and 2K !)


Kingy

kingy, do you ever NOT have an MQ for sale?

V8Patrol wrote:
Pity it has to be a ute...... would a SWB with a mountain of spares be tempting ( you'll need a tandem, 1.5ton truck, a 2nd driver .... and 2K !)


Kingy

Yes actually

RockyF75 wrote:
My other option - as in patrol's that I like in my price range - is a SWB MQ/MK,

Send me pics and more details. Only problem i can see is that VIC rego is as good as no rego here, need blue slip And all the stations I know here are pretty fussy.

Utes also really suck for inside space - leg room etc - shortys are waaay more comfortable in that regard, also obviously a shorty will have a fair bit tighter turning circle, shortys really don't have that much rear overhang at all - especially if you were to run bigger tyres, lengthen the wheelbase or do a gaurd chop.

macca81 wrote:kingy, do you ever NOT have an MQ for sale?

remember the one like your avatar ??????

Last one to go and it comes with ALL the spare parts I have left !!!
( there's probably enough stuff to build another MQ and still have spares left over !!! )


need it all gone before the next big project can start ....
so either someone gets a deal & a half, or the scrap yard gets it ....

V8Patrol wrote:

macca81 wrote:kingy, do you ever NOT have an MQ for sale?

remember the one like your avatar ??????

Last one to go and it comes with ALL the spare parts I have left !!!
( there's probably enough stuff to build another MQ and still have spares left over !!! )


need it all gone before the next big project can start ....
so either someone gets a deal & a half, or the scrap yard gets it ....

thats one hell of a lot of spares... if i had the coin and the time id do another trip up to see ya... good luck to thebloke who ends up buying the stuff tho, will be a good buy