 Just as a vegetarian wouldn’t last long working at a butcher shop, to write for Australian 4WD Action magazine you not only have to be able to spin a sentence – you also need to live and breathe 4WDs.
If you don’t, you won’t last one pub lunch on a Friday full of arguments over coil verses leaf suspension, petrol verses diesel engines or whether having an open centre diff makes Glenn’s Rangie as capable off road as a Commodore.
So, when Nathan came in for an interview for a gig here, naturally we got chatting as to what he drives. He undersold himself a bit, saying he had a petrol 80 Series that he had put a bit of gear on, some of which he made himself.
That sparked our interest, so out into the car park we went, looking for a mildly modified ’Cruiser. To our surprise, Nathan’s ‘mildly modified’ 80 turned out to be an absolute weapon. More than worthy of gracing the pages of the magazine!
It was obvious he was a 4WD nut, judging by the amount of work he put into the truck, so we offered him a job… on the proviso we got to shoot the 80.
From far away, it looks impressive, but it is as you get closer that it truly dawns on you exactly how much effort has gone into the truck. First, you notice it’s bigger than normal, and it is riding on fat off-road rubber.
Then, as you get closer, you realise all the bar work is custom, from the tube front bar and sliders to the bulletproof rear bar and wheel carrier. Pop the bonnet and you will see everything from a triple-battery set-up to a hot water shower lurking in the shadows.
Of course, build ups like these would never happen without the help of mates, so Nathan wants to send a shout out to Dale, Neil, Rob and Quinna for the hard work they’ve put in over the past couple of years. With a truck this tough, there’s no doubt that you will be seeing Nathan out on trips in the magazine again soon.
And for all you budding journos out there wanting to land a gig at 4WD Action? Easy! Just build something this tough, and then we will talk.
Inside
Many 4WDers spend thousands of dollars customising the exterior and mechanical aspects of their rigs, but they often neglect to modify the interior because there’s always something more pressing to attend. Not so for Nathan. He has put just as much work into the inside of the cab as any other area of the vehicle.
The driver and passenger seats have been replaced with Monza sports bucket seats. Nathan reckons that is one of the best modifications he has done to the 80 because it makes driving a much more enjoyable experience.
The rear seats are long gone, and they were ditched in favour of a custom storage system that ex-chippy Nathan knocked up himself. The drawers are as trick as any professionally made units, and cost Nathan half of what it would have to buy a ready-made set.
On the driver’s side is an Engel 80L fridge, and this sits on a custom-made fridge slide that Nathan knocked up for the cost of two hours and $20 in materials. Down the passenger side are drawers that keep all the cooking, camping and recovery gear.
Keeping things in the rear during an emergency stop is a modified GQ Patrol cargo barrier, which is bolted slightly rearward of the B pillars. In between the barrier and the front seats is a 70L stainless steel water tank that supplies water to a pump in the rear quarter panel. This can be used for drinking and washing up, or to the engine bay for a hot shower.
Looking to upgrade the stock stereo system, Nathan fitted a couple of custom-made pods that he again constructed himself. They’ve come up a treat and would even do a performance-car freak proud.
The pods house a pair of Infinity 6in splits either side, which take their audio signal from a Sony flip-face head unit.
Keeping an eye on the batteries are a pair of voltmeters, and handling car-to-car communications on trips is a Vertex UHF running through a GME 6dB aerial. Keeping the 80’s nose pointed in the right direction is a Magellan eXplorist 600 GPS that provides data to OziExplorer mapping software on a Toshiba laptop.
» Continue to Page 2
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