I Guess the best place to start is at the beginning.
For those who dont know me, the name is Paul, I had a nikname of 'wolfman' at work, hence the paulwolf350. I am from over in the Land of Oz, in Queensland, great countryside to go wheeling.
When I was a young lad (about 4, in 1978) my father started taking us to the bush where he and his brother had a bit of land, they built a shack, we rode motor bikes, and drove around in a jeep, it was basically a buggy, no body at all, flat steel deck all the way round. It was a big flat tray with a hump for the motor, drivers seat and steering wheel.
Diving up and down hills in this jeep must have ignited something in them because my uncle bought a FJ55 and my dad bought a FJ45 Tray back in 1980. From there I grew up with my dad driving that 45 until 1989. It was a pretty reliable beast, the only mods my dad made were a set of 31x10r 15s on white rims. he did a lot of miles in that thing, going fishing and to the bush. Eventually he sold it, his boat, our family home and bought a Pajero and moved us all interstate, 12hrs drive away.
We went fishing, a lot, dad did a couple of 4wd holidays. But I mainly went to school and played street cars until my 21st bithday party. My cousin rocked up in his 1st gen 4 Runner, all decked out, 33s, rear locked, 2.4 turbo diesel with heaps of stories to tell. These stories festered in my head for a while, He sent me a video of his latest trip to Wirriba Ridge, well this just blew me away, 16 hours to go 20 miles, body damage, trees, rocks, rain, mud, you name it it was there, great stuff.
This was the turning point, about 6 months later, my wife and I were thinking of buying a new car, after looking at a few cars, I said to my wife that I really wanted a 4wd, she was not convinced that we needed one. In the end she relented, stating that if it didnt get used, it got sold.
We looked at a few, I wanted an 80 series or at the very least would settle for a 4 runner. We couldnd affort an 80, and we eventually bought a 1991 2nd gen 4 runner for $14500, it had a 2.8 diesel engine and was bone stock. I was off and running, we packed it up and went on a 4wd holiday to Fraser Island, the largest sand Island in the world.
Around this time my dad bought a 1991 Hilux and we both joind the local 4wd club. I went on heaps of trips and after about 12 months, I realised we needed a bigger more powerful 4wd than we had now, we needed a cruiser and it was gonna be an 80!
Enter my 1997 80 series, also bone stock, 1HZ diesel 5 speed. First thing I did was install a set of drawers in the back, a new uhf, and a set of cibie spot lights.
Here it is today, 33 inch muds, 3.5 inch lift, 12000 pound warn, ARB, rear swingaway, intercooled turbo diesel, double air lockers and lots of other fruit.
About 3 years ago, my 4wding took a harder edge, with double lockers, and my wife got a bit sick of the body damage and potential for ruining our pride and joy, SO I decided to build something a bit meaner to take out and bash. I couldnt afford another 80, The 75 series utes were out due to not enough room, 60 series seemed to be pretty cheap so decided to buy one and cut it down ot a ute (pickup).
I got a silver 1985 HJ60, factory auto.
This is what I thought it should have looked like, But with 500 000 km on the Odo, it was well used with dents in every panel
( sorry for the very long introduction, from here we get into the ROTW proper )
The first thing I did was remove the old 2H, wheels and ARB bull bar, fornt and rear diffs and sell them
pretty soon it looked like this
I had installed 80 series diffs front and rear, giving me 5 inchs more width, an efi 5 litre V8, and 15x8 sunrasia rims
Engine
extra width from using 80 series diff
One weekend I went and watched a Winching competion, I was inspired, I had an explosion of faith in my ability
and attacked the body with gusto, thinking the whole process would be done in a couple of weeks
Some months later this was the result.
From here I went on to move to a bigger house, build a bigger shed and about 18 months later here is the warthog today
Unfortunately it is still not up and running, but it is slowly getting there
Specs are as follows -
- 1985 HJ60, standard chassis lopped at the rear hangers.
- 1989 Holden EFI V8 308 ci (Aussie GM product similar to oldsmobile V8)
- turbo 400, full manual, reverse pattern mated to 1985 split transfer case
- Front Coils, Diff, Steering box and lincages all Nissan Patrol
- Chromoly steering arm and panhard rod
- Rear diff, 80 series, converted to leaf spring with extended shackles
- Custom body chop with 18 inchs room behind front seats
- Custom tray
- 36 inch simex centrepede tyres with staun beadlocks on 15x8 sunnies
- Canary Yellow paint (my son picked the colour)
-2 inch body lift
some more pics
The 80 series front was removed after a mate destroyed 2 of his crownwheels whilst in a comp. Although I am not happy about using Nissan parts, they are much much stronger, and easy to source over here. The front coil conversion was completed by cutting all of the spring buckets, brackets and mounts of a nissan chassis and transfering them to my 60 series chassis
a couple of shots TRYING to show the front end and coils
a couple more pics before I go
I like the stance
Not sure why but I like this pic so I put it in
I would like to say a big thankyou to all the guys on MUD in the 60 series section, I was origonally only in the 80 series section, but you guys have converted me
Mace, Lowtide, Iaintscared - you guys have inspired me
Serenity - thanks for swapping ROTW with me, I appreciate the extra time you gave me
I hope I can inspire someone with my work, this car is all built by me, motor, tranny , paint, fab work, body work, all build in my backyard. A big thanks to my wife and neighbours
Sorry its a bit long winded, but that is the story from go to whoa, thanks for sticking with me
Paul
For those who dont know me, the name is Paul, I had a nikname of 'wolfman' at work, hence the paulwolf350. I am from over in the Land of Oz, in Queensland, great countryside to go wheeling.
When I was a young lad (about 4, in 1978) my father started taking us to the bush where he and his brother had a bit of land, they built a shack, we rode motor bikes, and drove around in a jeep, it was basically a buggy, no body at all, flat steel deck all the way round. It was a big flat tray with a hump for the motor, drivers seat and steering wheel.
Diving up and down hills in this jeep must have ignited something in them because my uncle bought a FJ55 and my dad bought a FJ45 Tray back in 1980. From there I grew up with my dad driving that 45 until 1989. It was a pretty reliable beast, the only mods my dad made were a set of 31x10r 15s on white rims. he did a lot of miles in that thing, going fishing and to the bush. Eventually he sold it, his boat, our family home and bought a Pajero and moved us all interstate, 12hrs drive away.
We went fishing, a lot, dad did a couple of 4wd holidays. But I mainly went to school and played street cars until my 21st bithday party. My cousin rocked up in his 1st gen 4 Runner, all decked out, 33s, rear locked, 2.4 turbo diesel with heaps of stories to tell. These stories festered in my head for a while, He sent me a video of his latest trip to Wirriba Ridge, well this just blew me away, 16 hours to go 20 miles, body damage, trees, rocks, rain, mud, you name it it was there, great stuff.
This was the turning point, about 6 months later, my wife and I were thinking of buying a new car, after looking at a few cars, I said to my wife that I really wanted a 4wd, she was not convinced that we needed one. In the end she relented, stating that if it didnt get used, it got sold.
We looked at a few, I wanted an 80 series or at the very least would settle for a 4 runner. We couldnd affort an 80, and we eventually bought a 1991 2nd gen 4 runner for $14500, it had a 2.8 diesel engine and was bone stock. I was off and running, we packed it up and went on a 4wd holiday to Fraser Island, the largest sand Island in the world.
Around this time my dad bought a 1991 Hilux and we both joind the local 4wd club. I went on heaps of trips and after about 12 months, I realised we needed a bigger more powerful 4wd than we had now, we needed a cruiser and it was gonna be an 80!
Enter my 1997 80 series, also bone stock, 1HZ diesel 5 speed. First thing I did was install a set of drawers in the back, a new uhf, and a set of cibie spot lights.
Here it is today, 33 inch muds, 3.5 inch lift, 12000 pound warn, ARB, rear swingaway, intercooled turbo diesel, double air lockers and lots of other fruit.
About 3 years ago, my 4wding took a harder edge, with double lockers, and my wife got a bit sick of the body damage and potential for ruining our pride and joy, SO I decided to build something a bit meaner to take out and bash. I couldnt afford another 80, The 75 series utes were out due to not enough room, 60 series seemed to be pretty cheap so decided to buy one and cut it down ot a ute (pickup).
I got a silver 1985 HJ60, factory auto.
This is what I thought it should have looked like, But with 500 000 km on the Odo, it was well used with dents in every panel
( sorry for the very long introduction, from here we get into the ROTW proper )
The first thing I did was remove the old 2H, wheels and ARB bull bar, fornt and rear diffs and sell them
pretty soon it looked like this
I had installed 80 series diffs front and rear, giving me 5 inchs more width, an efi 5 litre V8, and 15x8 sunrasia rims
Engine
extra width from using 80 series diff
One weekend I went and watched a Winching competion, I was inspired, I had an explosion of faith in my ability
and attacked the body with gusto, thinking the whole process would be done in a couple of weeks
Some months later this was the result.
From here I went on to move to a bigger house, build a bigger shed and about 18 months later here is the warthog today
Unfortunately it is still not up and running, but it is slowly getting there
Specs are as follows -
- 1985 HJ60, standard chassis lopped at the rear hangers.
- 1989 Holden EFI V8 308 ci (Aussie GM product similar to oldsmobile V8)
- turbo 400, full manual, reverse pattern mated to 1985 split transfer case
- Front Coils, Diff, Steering box and lincages all Nissan Patrol
- Chromoly steering arm and panhard rod
- Rear diff, 80 series, converted to leaf spring with extended shackles
- Custom body chop with 18 inchs room behind front seats
- Custom tray
- 36 inch simex centrepede tyres with staun beadlocks on 15x8 sunnies
- Canary Yellow paint (my son picked the colour)
-2 inch body lift
some more pics
The 80 series front was removed after a mate destroyed 2 of his crownwheels whilst in a comp. Although I am not happy about using Nissan parts, they are much much stronger, and easy to source over here. The front coil conversion was completed by cutting all of the spring buckets, brackets and mounts of a nissan chassis and transfering them to my 60 series chassis
a couple of shots TRYING to show the front end and coils
a couple more pics before I go
I like the stance
Not sure why but I like this pic so I put it in
I would like to say a big thankyou to all the guys on MUD in the 60 series section, I was origonally only in the 80 series section, but you guys have converted me
Mace, Lowtide, Iaintscared - you guys have inspired me
Serenity - thanks for swapping ROTW with me, I appreciate the extra time you gave me
I hope I can inspire someone with my work, this car is all built by me, motor, tranny , paint, fab work, body work, all build in my backyard. A big thanks to my wife and neighbours
Sorry its a bit long winded, but that is the story from go to whoa, thanks for sticking with me
Paul
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