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ROCKET

Looks like one, goes like one...

WORDS BY MARK ALLEN PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBB COX

Ya know, there are fellas that want to go fast and then there are fellas that wanna go REAL fast. Phil Swindale, pilot of this GQ shorty, slips into the latter description of people that are in a hurry to go everywhere as fast as humanly possible. Obviously, being a competition 4WD built for outback-style events, speed is everything if you’re going to have half a chance of standing on the podium at the end of a dusty day.Reliability is also a major factor when building any 4WD, so when swapping the old oiler engine for a stonkin’ 5L V8, ‘mild’ rather than ‘wild’ were the instructions given to the spanner-man.

As the proprietor of ARB Tamworth, Phil has a great knowledge of what to use and what not to touch when it comes to aftermarket accessories and custom parts alike. He is also the first to admit he has relied heavily (easily done with pizza and beer bribery) on his staff to help with the dirty work of building a racer from scratch.

He has also relied on the fellas from Binskins 4WD Centre in Port Macquarie, Setos 4WD in Dubbo, ARB Northside in Sydney and State Tyres up in Brizzie. Talk about a broad range of people getting involved with one truck. If you’ve got access to the industry pros (which, of course, the public does too), you may as well pick their brains to have the best chance of building a winning truck.

To date, Phil hasn’t managed a spot on the podium to crack a bottle of bubbly, though he has pre-entered into a heap of winch and challenge events throughout 2006 to push his cause. Time will tell whether his crew has double-checked every nut ‘n’ bolt, tweaked the 5L just right and dialled in exactly the right amount of suspension travel to make it all happen.

DRIVELINE
From the pics, it’s pretty obvious Phil has dusted the original 4.2L diesel, replacing it with an electronic fuel-injected 5L V8 courtesy of the General’s parts bin. What’s not apparent is all the internal tickling that Macquarie Valley Engines, in Dubbo, has performed. Phil gave it a pretty strict set of guidelines to follow, which entailed maximum reliability and longevity, combined with plenty of extra horses. There’s no point building a bomb engine only to have it go off before the finish line.
 
The engine has been fully balanced and blueprinted, and utilises a Crow torque cam and aftermarket EFI module. Although Phil used a Marks Adaptors kit (which he has fitted to many previous conversions), he did need to convert or modify some parts to suit this particular set-up. The Marks Adaptors kit has the power steering running off a secondary pulley belt on the passenger’s side, whereas Phil has managed to fit the power-steering pump on the driver’s side. This was only possible because his comp truck doesn’t run air-conditioning, which was dumped in favour of running a 24V alternator in combination with the standard 12V alternator.

The V8 runs twin fuel filters and twin fuel pumps for back-up during competition, both of which are located up high out of harm’s way. All fuel lines run through the chassis for protection from errant sticks and stones.
Fresh air is delivered via a Safari snorkel, through a standard GU Nissan air cleaner. Used gases are dumped through a 2.5in twin pipe into a 3in single pipe and Genie muffler.

The engine mounts were modified to suit the body lift to ensure correct driveline angles and suitable clearance between the engine sump and front diff.

The crew did have a few small problems with the cooling system - initially a Nissan fan cowling and a custom extended hub were used to position the standard Nissan fan next to the radiator. After an initial test drive and failure of the pump, Phil changed the set-up to a steel Holden V8 fan blade and a handmade shroud. While this set-up has been effective, Phil is still keen to play around with electric thermofans to rid the steel fan blades from the system.

Phil decided to stick with the standard Nissan auto, as it’s a stronger unit than a Holden box, which was fitted with an off-the-shelf Marks Adaptors kit.

It runs twin oil coolers - one in front of the radiator and one under the bonnet - though the latter one will be moved up in front of the spare wheel to help keep it clean from mud. The Nissan transfer case did have a set of reduction gears fitted, but they were soon removed to allow a ‘faster’ low-range for competition. These reduction gears were not really suited to the fast outback-style comps this rig is built for. More so, they are ideal for rock-hopping competition rigs. A set of 4.6:1 ring and pinion gears is used in the front and rear diffs, which also sport ARB Air Lockers. The whole front diff housing is courtesy of a GU Coil Cab and has been fully laminated and strengthened.

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