A question for the beautiful people.

[slobodan]

My Surf is standard, runs great, everything works as it should.
My wife has a Vauxhall Frontera/Isuzu extra cab pickup.
I am planning on taking the body off the pickup and dropping it onto the Surf's chassis.
Do you think this will be a difficult job?
Several reasons for doing so.
The pickup is registered here (difficult in itself)
It is registered with a smaller engine (don't ask don't tell)
The pickup is only rear wheel drive (no use in the winter)
This way I get the best of both worlds. A pickup with 4wd and a strong engine.
I can't see any major problems. I wont swap the AC, wind up windows.
Whadjyouthink?

[Chillitt]

Would it not be easier to steal a merc like everyone else does over there?

[slobodan]

Would it not be easier to steal a merc like everyone else does over there?

I don't have a moustache.

[puddlesurfer]

I don't have a moustache.

Borrow JUDWAK's it's got a life of it's own anyway - worst case it can provide an alibi!

[TonyN]

If the wheelbase is the same there isn't much stopping you.

If you can weld then moving the body mounts on the Surf chassis is no problem. Everthing else is just connecting things up. I'd try and fit the Surf center consol so all the shifters look ok.

Wiring could be an issue, you'd need to transplant all the loom and ECU to the pickup cab to get it work properly. Maybe be easier to fit a manual pump off a 4Runner.

[slobodan]

If the wheelbase is the same there isn't much stopping you.

If you can weld then moving the body mounts on the Surf chassis is no problem. Everthing else is just connecting things up. I'd try and fit the Surf center consol so all the shifters look ok.

Wiring could be an issue, you'd need to transplant all the loom and ECU to the pickup cab to get it work properly. Maybe be easier to fit a manual pump off a 4Runner.

Thanks Tony, I'll measure up and do a bit of homework in the coming weeks. Another spanner is that I'm going to convert the 'Vauxurf' to Left hand drive at the same time.
I'll have to do it anyway as right hand drive vehicles are illegal (won't pass an MOT) from next year.
I'm OK with the wiring, Explain to me about the pump issue?

edit: Vauxhall wheelbase 119"
Surf wheelbase 103"

That's quite a difference.
I'll have to cut and shut the bed.

[TonyN]

I'm OK with the wiring, Explain to me about the pump issue?

In a nutshell, a 4Runner manual fuel pump needs a +ive from the ignition and the motor runs, the Surf EFI pump needs lots of inputs from different sensors wired to the ECU, then the ECU works out how much fuel to tell the fuel pump to deliver to the injectors.

Makes life far easier to get a 1KZT to run, than a 1KZT/E, and the only difference between the motor is the /E which means a EFI pump.

The only fly in the soup is if your truck is a Auto, the ECU also works the autobox, so thinking about it you may need to keep the EFI pump and ECU after all, or fit a manual box.

If you could find the right pinouts for the ECU, you could wire the sensors it needs to run and ignore the wires it dosn't need, which leave you less of a loom transplanting headache, but Vince probably knows more about the ECU wiring than me and how it interfaces with the dash, accessories and engine controls.

Getting more complicated innit?

[flounderbout]

Don't know why this post was directed at me. I don't know anything about this sort of thing. I don't even know what a chassis is - isn't it some sort of blackcurrant liquour?

[TonyN]

Fool!

[Chillitt]

Fool!

What and yer man isn't for trying to graft a LH drive pile of rust onto a foot shorter RH drive surf chassis?

[TonyN]

LOL, Henry isn't as scary as someone living and seemingly living well in a mafia run, shifty place like Slobby does, I know who out of the two I'd rather call a fool...



The Right Horrible err, sorry Honorable Flounderbutt surely didn't expect anything else with a comment like that? Surely!

[JD_975]

To the best that I can tell the Isuzu extra cab is not the same as a frontera, not least in that the frontera is a full body cab, never available over here as a pickup, but from what I can see looking at the one`s at work the frontera body sticks past the chassis ends by quite a way, so the difference in length may not be such an issue. I`d measure the difference between the centre of the wheel hubs to gauge how compatible the body's will be, chopping a bit of the front or back is a chore but do-able, extending or shortening a body in the middle is another thing all together and may make the whole idea pointless.

Other than that though! Wouldn't be too concerned about the LHD RHD thing, surf`s are kicking about all over the world so it`d just be a case of tracking down a LHD steering box, idler and the pipe work to convert it over, wiring wise if your prepared to take on the challenge of a body swap then the wiring is the least of your issues! That said if you think about it more in the way that all you are doing is replacing the body on a surf with a different one, it will have all the same switches although you may have to move a few things to make it fit, try to make the surf things fit where the isuzu bit`s were will make life much easier for you

[flounderbout]

LOL, Henry isn't as scary as someone living and seemingly living well in a mafia run, shifty place like Slobby does, I know who out of the two I'd rather call a fool...



The Right Horrible err, sorry Honorable Flounderbutt surely didn't expect anything else with a comment like that? Surely!

I know where you live...

[slobodan]

I've been out with a tape measure all morning, it's not looking good.
My skilzz are limited when it comes to sheet metal.

[TonyN]

How about pickup'ing the Surf, grafting the Izuzu Grille on to the front of the Surf and just swapping data plates and number plates.