Big Whitey - Another White 150 GXL

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

Hi All,
Since I have had the car for nearly 12 months with a whole host of mods complete (and many ideas stolen from others on here), I figured it's about time I started a build thread to share what I have done with the community...

First a bit of a background, I currently live in the Hunter Valley in NSW, although soon to be returning to my real *home* in WA. I purchased the 150 after about 6 months of trying to decide what we wanted and with the missus constantly nagging that she didn't care as long as it didn't cost too much, I couldn't go past the Prado as it ticked most of the boxes on my want/need list. The challenger was the more *financially pleasing* second place option, but since purchasing the Prado, not once have I thought "Gee, I wish I brought the Challenger" (well I lie, I did think this after reading of the cracked guards in the 150's, but the thought passed as quickly as it came)...

After much ringing around and playing off all the local dealers (and many questions asked on the forum), the deal was done in Feb 2012 with Maitland Toyota for a Glacier White 150 TDA GXL with no factory options apart from the clear bonnet protector and factory rubber mats (only because I'm a tight-arse and that was where they drew the line and said "no more"). Unfortunately I purchased in the midst of the "minimum 3 month wait for a new Prado period" so delivery was not until the end of June for a May build. The wait period has obviously passed as there was 3 sitting at the dealer I purchased from when I went in there today.

As for the name, our kids (two beautiful girls, currently 5 and 6) like to name our cars so the Prado is known to the family as "Big Whitey" and sits alongside "Big Red" (a red VY Commodore) and "Little Blue" (a Focus, yes a blue one!).

The mod list started about 6 weeks after purchasing and much to the missus disgust is still going strong. I like to do all my work myself, I think I do a better job and put a lot more thought into doing it right and the way I want it, instead of just rushing through to get this car out of the workshop and the next one in (*cough* ARB *cough*). I have learnt a lot from working on this car and I'm even starting to surprise myself with some of the things I have had a crack at that I thought I wouldn't touch in a million years, especially on a brand new $60K car!

Completed so far:
Black/Silver Wetseat covers front and second row
ARB Deluxe winch bar (the only thing I paid ARB to do and they still couldn't get it right...)
Safari Snorkel
2" Lift with Bilstein shocks and King Springs (HD front and medium rear)
Firestone Airbags
Icom 440N UHF with RFI CDQ5000/CDQ34
ARB CKMA12 Compressor under the rear
Redarc SBI12 Dual Battery system with Odyssey PC1400 AGM and Leighw voltage booster
Wiring to rear Fuse panel and Anderson
Tekonsha P3
Toyota Towbar
Tint-a-car Octane Tint (UV tint in rear due to privacy glass)
Roadsafe recovery points
MT ATZ 4 Rib 265/70/17
AMTS Spacer (waiting on modified light bracket)
Brown Davis Bash Plates (engine, transmission and transfer)
Provent Catch Can
Stanadyne Pre-Filter (bracket needs a few improvements before finishing)
Diff breathers (got all the stuff, just gotta find some time)
PP Sticker

On the Purchasing List in the next few weeks (before the big drive West):
Rhino Pioneer Platform Rack with HD Feet
Side Awning (probably Rhino, still not 100% sure yet)
Lightforce Genesis Custom 70W HID's (from Lightforce, not the chinese conversions)
ORS Double Draw's and Half Barrier
ARB Steps and Scrub Bars
Runva Winch

Later on down the track (probably when the warranty runs out):
285/70/17's (not sure what yet)
Fuel Hostage 17x8.5's Rims to solve clearance issues from above
Superior 4" kit with UCA's and a few extra bits
Lightforce 140 roof lights
OL Dual wheel carrier for the 33's
E-Lockers

I'll post some pics below...

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

Big Whitey Today (about a month ago on the Killingworth Loop out of Newie...)


Yes, I do use it as a 4WD (just not as much as I would like to)

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

Compressor install behind rear fuel tank

I purchased an ARB CKMA12 compressor, just needed somewhere to put it. Engine bay was out due to catch can, second battery and pre-filter. I was going to mount it behind the plastic trim on the LHS below the cup holder, but when pulling the trim off the mounting points didn't look strong enough, so I went looking for other ideas.

Bracket (I don't weld, I join steel, theres a BIG difference...)


Compressor bracket in place


Compressor mounted to chassis above tow bar with wiring and air lines


Air hose attachment, air bag fill points, anderson plug all on an angle bracket off the tow bar


I know I need a smaller "quick connect" for the air hose, but I spent enough on this project so I just used the ARB supplied one. A job for another day.

It was suggested in another thread that a small bash plate over the compressor would be a good idea, it is something I might look into but I'm not really sure it is required. The compressor sits right up high out of the way with reasonably well protected wiring, put it this way, if I manage to damage that then my rear fuel tank, towbar, chassis rear cross member and rear bumper are all buggered so I will have bigger problems to worry about than a $300 compressor.

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

Compressor Wiring

Spaghetti Incident?


Compressor Air Intake Filter and relay (fridge relay now there as well). I stuffed up here (RTFM), purchased all my fittings and hose BEFORE flicking through the install manual and reading about the remote intake tube sizes. I used 8mm tube, which the manual states should only extend 150mm, I used about 2m of it. I will change it if it causes problems but I am guessing it will just be a bit slower to air up, which doesn't really worry me.


Rear fuse box, has 6BS twin run from Aux battery, fused in engine bay and terminated here.


Back of switch panel


Switches and sockets, the switch internal lights are hooked up to the "Rear Light" switch (for when AMTS finishes his light bracket for the spacer) and light up when that is on, they also have a red indicator that comes on when in use. Fridge cord is hard wired to fuse panel and switched via a relay off the "fridge" switch. Pretty happy with how the switches turned out.


I purchased all my switches from www.otrattw.com (not through the GB), can't recommend these guys enough.

[craigm Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close craigm]

Nice tidy work with the back of the switch panel rwo...

[Jeffers Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jeffers]

Looks great rwo, nice work mate.

Cheers,

Jeff

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Very nice. Neat install. From memory you will need 20mm hose or thereabouts for the suction to the compressor. When I had the twin head compressor in the winch space I used some reinforced hose and a unifilter off a 150cc motorbike. 2 x 1/4" BSP (close enough to NPT for this black duck) to 1/2" hose tail and then 1/2" hose to a 3/4" tee with corresponding hose tails on two sides and a 3/4" hosetail on the other and then 3/4" to the airfilter.

What you should do is run the compressor without the 2m of hose but with the filter on and time how long it takes to pump a couple of tyres up. Let the ocmpressor cool and then do the same test with the extended breather. If it takes longer (lots longer) then it is likely you are starving the compressor of air and should increase the inlet size. If you were local we could do a deal on the bits I don't need anymore but I don't have 2m of hose.

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

UHF Install

The UHF install was done a few months ago but I have a couple of pics of the process. I will take some "finished product" pics and upload too. UHF is an Icom 440N and the aerial is an RFI CDQ5000. I recently purchased the matching RFI CDQ34 "Rubber Whip", believe it or not this thing had a longer wait than the car! I was talking to Lake Mac Comms at last years Sydney 4WD show and they said this aerial would be available start of Jan 2012, I had it on order from not much later than then and received it last week (Friday), it must be made of unobtanium or something!

Brain box mounted next to glove box, a few more holes were required in the Icom bracket to match existing nutserts, but it went in ok.


Power is run from the rear fuse panel (you can't really see it but there is 4mm twin in conduit stuffed under the carpet. On a side note, Yes you can fit 2 x 6BS TWIN cables in the cable tray but it requires removal of the center pillar plastics during installation and some support lugs cut off the bottom of the scuff plates (but it has power cable to support it now ). It's stretching the phrase "yes it fits" to the limits, but that's what life is about isn't it?


Modifications to Scuff plate, the one on the right is the un-modified one, spot the difference? I purchased replacement front and rear scuff plates for the LHS as they have a tendency to break the plastic clips on the end and don't clip down properly, probably due to the amount of cable I have stuffed in there. When I have finished my mods I will put the new one's on and leave them there.


Antenna cable run through the grill and tied up along the front underneath the bit with rubber lugs in it. This is all covered by the big black plastic trim piece.


Cable runs nicely through the outer guard skin brackets and enters through the firewall at the big rubber grommet on the LHS, which is right next to the brain box. This path kept the coax well away from the bulk power cables that now run around the main battery.


The "Red" things are my under bonnet fuses, I will post some more pictures of these when I take some photo's of the battery install.

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

Very nice Prado. I have never laid eyes on it around the valley. That's a shame, I love how neat and tidy everything has been done and the future mods sound wild.

Top job so far

[vxcruiser08 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vxcruiser08]

Very nice rig there! Good to see it being used for what its made for.

I noticed you were looking at the ORS drawers - I just had the ORS false floor installed, it's great. However while I was there tested out their drawers... Once i did, I decided i won't be touching them.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

On a side note, Yes you can fit 2 x 6BS TWIN cables in the cable tray but it requires removal of the center pillar plastics during installation and some support lugs cut off the bottom of the scuff plates (but it has power cable to support it now ). It's stretching the phrase "yes it fits" to the limits, but that's what life is about isn't it?

I'm amazed, I struggled with one!

Love to see that fuse block in detail, can you post a supplier/part? I want to tidy up my feeds off the battery. I bought the Protector fused terminal but the factory cables are too tight and would need some modifying so I have parked it at the moment. So I have the 6B&S to the DC DC charger, twin 6mm2 cables to the ARB compressor, Spot lights, voltmeter feed and something else 'hidden' around the battery box. Not to mention the manual cct breaker for the DC DC feed.

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

Very nice rig there! Good to see it being used for what its made for.

I noticed you were looking at the ORS drawers - I just had the ORS false floor installed, it's great. However while I was there tested out their drawers... Once i did, I decided i won't be touching them.

That's interesting vxcruiser08, I'm not sure I have actually read anything bad about them yet. I still haven't seen them in person (would be a priority before dropping nearly 3k on a set), what were the issues you noticed that were no good, I may have to rethink my potential purchase?

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

UHF - Part 2

Icom 440N Hand-piece


Click-On Mounting Bracket with hand-piece clip. Mount is available at http://www.holdmyphone.com.au/Prado-...html?addcart=1, definitely not worth the price they charge but it keeps the install neat with no extra holes drilled.


The latest addition, a CDQ34 Rubber Whip that is interchangeable with the CDQ5000 (and the CDQ8000 if you have one of those monsters!). The CDQ5000 is too long to fit in my garage without scraping the roof so I got this to save me having to put the big aerial up when just running around town. I previously just had it capped off with the provided caps when not in use.


I don't have any pictures, but the hand-piece extension cable runs from the main unit, under the scuff plate (as I said, it's mighty crowded in there) and is stuck under the passanger seat rail with double sided tape. The flexi-cable sits nicely out of the way along the console but due to the location of the plug, you don't have to stretch it too far when using the mic.

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

Brown Davis Bash Plates

After looking at all the bash plate options (and getting sick of waiting for AMTS, sorry Andrew), I decided these plates offered the best protection of all vital components. After an extensive search around Newcastle (I called one shop), I came to the conclusion they were not available locally so order through a dealer in Melbourne and couriered up. While the set is nothing more than expensive bent and welded 3mm steel plate (about $1K for the 3), I consider it cheap insurance so didn't hesitate handing over the coin for a quality product.

Full Set


Transfer Case Plate


Transmission Plate, received a few battle scars to the top of the powder coat from shipping so I touched up with a spray can before install to prevent mud sitting on top of the plate encouraging rust


Front Engine Plate, notice how it comes up at the front, this matches up to the radiator for extra protection


These plates are a credit to the quality of Brown Davis' work, apart from a minor logistical issue (they sent two identical brackets for the transfer case plate when one needs slightly wider holes, nothing a phone call and express post package couldn't fix) they fitted up perfectly with all holes drilled in the correct places for the vehicle and HT nuts, bolts and washers supplied. The plates even match up to the piss weak centre skid plate that comes from the ARB bar, although ARB bent my front plate to fit it back to the OEM bash plate, it now as a concave curve in it since the BD ones are on. I will get a stronger plate made up with the correct bend one day to replace the ARB one, but probably wont bother until it is damaged beyond repair as it's more for looks and doesn't protect anything now the BD plates are installed.

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

Provent Catch Can

Catch can bracket made up and fitted for when I get around to ordering a *GENUINE* Provent Catch Can (I won't go into details here as there is already enough info on the forum).