G'day folks,

Well, I am guessing you may not have heaps and heaps of Aussie members on here, but if you have a few you probably don't have many (if any) who are from the Outback. I know that in the US you know about the Outback from movies like Crocodile Dundee or Kangaroo Jack.

Ok, so the Outback isn't always as nice as those movies portray, it's usually hot, has a lot of flies, dehydrates you at an incredibly alarming rate (with the highest dehydration rate on earth basically) and it's got all manner of things that will kill you (snakes, spiders, centerpedes, scorpions, dropbears and hoopsnakes).

Anyway, I live in Alice Springs which is in the Northern Territory of Australia. That's basically right in the centre of the country if you look at a map. The drive from one side of Australia to the other is the same as from one side of the US to the other, in fact our continental landmass is about the same as the USA excluding Alaska.

I own an almost pristine 1989 WD21 Nissan Pathfinder 2 door (not sure of any trim codes or other model codes), it's the 2.4 litre Z24 engine (not fuel injected) with twin plugs.

It runs on the original petrol engine with 434,000 kms (270,000 miles) on the clock and it's still going strong. There are a couple of small spots of rust that I'm planning on getting fixed very soon. The vehicle has been re-sprayed at some point in it's life.

The best thing about the vehicle is that I bought it sight unseen, not test driven etc, but I was overseas at the time and bought it after almost an hour on the phone with the previous owner and about 25 emails before that call... and basically the history of the Pathfinder is that it was bought new by a friend of his fathers, that guy got in to financial difficulties and then sold it to his buddy (the father of the guy I bought it from), at the time the vehicle went to it's second owner it was barely a year old. That family then kept the car for the next 20 years! It was handed from husband to wife to son then daughter then youngest son who sold it to me..

So there you have it.. It's practically a 1 owner vehicle, it was maintained and cared for it's entire life... and now I've got it and carrying on the tradition of looking after it...

Anyway, I guess if you've managed to put up with reading all of that you are probably pretty keen to see the beasty itself........



Pic 1

Pic 2

(EDIT: sorry, found that I couldn't cross link the image thumbnail from my forum so I've just put a link to that image thumbnail, or you can click below for the full size pics in the thread (click them to see the full resolution pic))



Full size images can be seen on the 4x4WORLD forum.


Since I've owned the vehicle I've taken maintenance of the old girl very seriously and so far I've had half the exhaust replaced (it already had a bigger exhaust system so it's got a nice note to it), I've had the drivers seat re-stuffed so it's more comfortable and one of the cloth sections needed replacing. I have also fitted Rola roof racks to the vehicle and a roof cage. I have also had the front CV Joint half shafts replaced last week, along with new brake disc rotors, new pads, new wheel bearings... I've also replaced the front Torsion bars (which were sagged to hell and had to be wound up to MAX to maintain standard ride height) with new heavier duty Ironman torsion bars and last week the new 50mm (2 inch) lited, 25% heavier duty rear coil springs from Ironman were fitted and the front end was wound up to match the ride height.

I change the engine oil and oil filter every 5 - 6,000 kms, which is probably overdoing it a little but when I check the oil levels it's always clear engine oil running around in there, right up to the time I change it which makes me happy that such an old engine is running so nice and clean.

So my Pathfinder was my first car when I moved back home to Australia, but I've had plenty of other cars, my last 4WD while I was living in the UK was a Frontera (Holden, Vauxhall, Isuzu - you might know it as something like the MU) which had quite a bit of modification done to it.

My plans for the Pathy are to try and maintain it as best I can, get the little bits of rust fixed on it, and hopefully some day to get a full engine rebuild and if I am ever able to afford it I'd love to get the entire vehicle blueprinted (complete rebuild of the entire vehicle) or to at least send it to a vehicle restoration company to have it beautifully restored, but believe me when I say it still gets a good work out and always will, I love my 4WD's and I continue using them as designed.

I've owned a few 4WD's, they include Jeeps (a Cherokee and a Wrangler), the Frontera, the Pathfinder, a Daihatsu thing and Land Cruisers and Hiluxes.. so far though I think the Pathfinder is probably my favourite.

If you have a look at the link above you'll see there is a lot more pics of it and a lot more of a write up than this one.. but hey, this is a pretty in-depth write up.




Oh yeah, I'm currently trying to find somewhere to buy new front door window rubbers (the ones that are along the bottom edge of the window on the outside) and I'd like to get new window rubbers for both of the big long back windows as well, as I need to take one of them out to fix the bits of rust and I wouldn't mind re-sealing both of them... so if anyone has any idea where I can order these parts (don't care where in the world they come from, as long as I can get the parts!) then please let me know by PM, email, or whatever..

Cheers,
Simon

Welcome to the forum. I didn't know the outback was like that. I believed everything I saw in Crocodile Dundee. Not really but thanks for showing/informing us about the real outback.

welcome.

Thanks to the two users who have said hello.. (oh yeah, and the other hello on my help question in the 89 Pathfinder section).

welcome here again. hope you find your window rubbers.

Hi Simon,

First of all, I can't answer any of your questions. Sorry. But, I'm sure you are aware of the PCOA forums? Since we don't get any of the cool models in the US, along with no option other than petrol only, the guys on PCOA would probably be of a bit more help.

Other than that, welcome! I did the Adelaide>Darwin drive about 1.5 years ago. That's some beautiful country you have. Those damned wot flies about the most annoying thing ever, but the rest of the wildlife is just amazing. One of my mates lives in Alice. You happen to know anyone with the first name of Mick (Michael)? Not sure what you do for a living, but seeing as how small the town is, you may have crossed paths.

Hey Steve,

I know a couple of people called Mick

I drive buses at the moment, it suits my need for peace and quiet as my buses travel about 800km on a single run, often taking 2 - 300km between bus stops, hahah.

Is your friend into 4wds?

Yeah, I noticed that the US gets a lot more petrol models of things, must be because your petrol is so cheap.. at the moment I'm paying $1.74 per LITRE for petrol.. and that'd probably be about $7 a Gallon

Do you go out 4wding very often?

Simon

Simon wrote:Hey Steve,

I know a couple of people called Mick

Last name is Gallagher. He was married about a year ago. He works as a travel agent.

Is your friend into 4wds?

I can't really tell. He has a ute, but is always complaining because people keep vandalizing the thing. All I know is he moved to Alice a few years ago to escape the insanity of Sydney & absolutely loves it out there.

Do you go out 4wding very often?

Not as much as I'd like. I also have far too many other activities that consume much of my free time. The link in my signature will send you to a bunch of galleries showing the places I frequent. A lot of the places here look pretty similar to Oz.

Hmmm, I don't think I know Mick, but I will keep it in the back of my mind in case I meet him.. is he American? cos that narrows things down a little in the outback (not that we have a shortage of Americans here with one heck of a big off-shore base just up the road - who's name I won't mention)

Ahhh, I know the feeling about people vandalising stuff out here, it happens.. if he lives in the main part of town and can't put his car behind a 10 foot fence he's shit outta luck sadly. It's a long story but I could explain it all if you really wanna know.
Ok, I've got to know, is the Ute a Holden or a Ford? (it makes a MASSIVE difference here in Oz, hahaha)

I know exactly how you feel about too many other activities consuming all your free time - happens too much that. On top of that it's the eternally depressing lack of $$$ which takes some of the fun away as well, but hey, we have to do what we have to do!
I do get out and go 4wding when I can, even if it's just up the road for an hour or so, though not been since I've had the front drive 'half' shafts replaced.

I'll have a look at the pics from the link in your sig and get back to you.. I've got THOUSANDS of pics from driving across the continent here as well, did a 3,300 km trip from the East coast to Alice Springs.. There are a few threads in my forum with pics such as my recent trip out to Lake Eyre while it was almost full of water... astonishing and must see is pretty much the some total of what I can say!

Ok, I didn't get far, got a question..

In the Death Valley pictures there is a wild looking dog thing, is that a Coyote?

Someone was trying to tell me that our Dingos in Australia looked a bit like a Fox, which I thought was very, very odd.. anyway, we've not got any big wild dogs other than the Dingos, but they are very smart and hunt anything... they are also very affectionate when they've been raised as a pet from a pup.. and very pretty dogs!

Simon wrote:Hmmm, I don't think I know Mick, but I will keep it in the back of my mind in case I meet him.. is he American? cos that narrows things down a little in the outback (not that we have a shortage of Americans here with one heck of a big off-shore base just up the road - who's name I won't mention)

Mick's 100% Aussie. I know of the base you mentioned, or I guess I don't know of it. It's funny that it's so hush-hush, yet the thing stands out like a sore thumb.

Ahhh, I know the feeling about people vandalising stuff out here, it happens.. if he lives in the main part of town and can't put his car behind a 10 foot fence he's shit outta luck sadly. It's a long story but I could explain it all if you really wanna know.
Ok, I've got to know, is the Ute a Holden or a Ford? (it makes a MASSIVE difference here in Oz, hahaha)

He's given me a rundown of why crap keeps happening to his ute, but I honestly don't know if it's a Ford or Holden.

I know exactly how you feel about too many other activities consuming all your free time - happens too much that. On top of that it's the eternally depressing lack of $$$ which takes some of the fun away as well, but hey, we have to do what we have to do!
I do get out and go 4wding when I can, even if it's just up the road for an hour or so, though not been since I've had the front drive 'half' shafts replaced.

You've certainly got some beautiful country around Alice-I'd probably be out every weekend. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like spending the money for a 4x4 rental when I was there last. Damned 4x4 rentals are 3-4x more than a simple campervan. I know Mick is just in love with everything around Alice-maybe I should hook the two of you up?

I'll have a look at the pics from the link in your sig and get back to you.. I've got THOUSANDS of pics from driving across the continent here as well, did a 3,300 km trip from the East coast to Alice Springs.. There are a few threads in my forum with pics such as my recent trip out to Lake Eyre while it was almost full of water... astonishing and must see is pretty much the some total of what I can say!

I'd love to see the pics. Do you have a link?

Simon wrote:In the Death Valley pictures there is a wild looking dog thing, is that a Coyote?

Yep, a very scrawny coyote. Totally harmless & more scared of their own shadow than anything.

Fox & dingo? Not even close. The fox is a pretty magnificent looking animal, whereas the dingo looks like a dog that's been beaten with an ugly stick.

Nah, while the foxes look quite pretty seeing them after starving a bit and when they sneak around your farm to find food they look ugly as hell..
However, dingos are a very pretty looking dog, generally about the same size as a normal dog, and if they are well fed (and out here at the moment after all the rain there is no shortage of food!) they are a magnificent creature..
I don't think they are ugly

Wow, didn't know the Coyote was the sort of wild dog that would be scared..