This month we feature Shaun Whale's Dirty 30 build from Australia in which Shaun has used HGM's COMPUSHIFT transmission controller to manage his Toyota 5 Speed A750F transmission using a genuine tiptronic style gear shifter.
Shaun writes: "I’ve been 4WDing and exploring around Australia for over 15 years now, clocking up hundreds of thousands of off road kilometres to some of the most remote places you can take a vehicle. I have always had a passion for old LandCrusiers, which started when I bought an old HJ61. I literally drove that vehicle over 400,000km through many of the toughest tracks in Australia to the point where I needed to retire the vehicle as it had such a hard life. The first major rebuild of that vehicle was when the body was looking very second hand as it had many off road battle scars and dints, so I made the decision to chop the vehicle in half and transform it into a ute. Fast forward another 6 hard years of use and the chassis was cracked in multiple places as well as the body and rust had started to take over. It was time to retire this vehicle off the road.
Despite owning other 4WDs, the old 60 series – or Dirty 30, as it was known by many (half a 60 and always dirty) was always my favourite vehicle. There was just so many memories with that vehicle over the years, that it always held a special place in my heart, no matter how beat up it was. After the vehicle sat unregistered, wasting away beside my shed for a few years it was time to start a new build to carry on the legendary name of the Dirty 30. The Dirty 30 mk II was born.
The aim for this vehicle was to build the ultimate Landcruiser. My plan was to utilise all of the best LandCruiser parts to make one serious off road machine. It had to be able to drive tough tracks, but also travel to some of the most remote locations in Australia and be able to live out of the vehicle for weeks at a time. It’s always a big ask to build a vehicle that can do everything, but after a 4 year build I reckon this build is about as good as it gets.
The Dirty 30 mk II has the Toyota 1HD-FTE engine matched to a 5-speed Tiptronic auto from a 100 Series. Probably the first time this conversion has ever ended up in a 60 Series body, sitting on an 80 Series chassis.
Working with Wholesale Automatics through the whole process, I could see that this was all going to come together and be effective and driveable. Thanks to the COMPUSHIFT standalone transmission controller we were able to match the auto up to the 1HDFTE engine with ease and were able to tune it specifically for my needs, along with the Extreme valve body I can drive the auto as a full manual and ultimately have the best of both worlds.
2 years on after the build was complete I have travelled over 30,000km in this vehicle to places like Cape York, the Kimberley and Fraser Island and I can honestly say that this is the best 4WD I have ever driven off road. Having full control over the auto off road means I’ve got amazing control on technical driving, like over rocks and ruts. The auto and tune on the engine means that I’m making boost and maximum torque very early in the rev range, giving me plenty of poke when I need it.
For the full build of Shaun's Dirty 30 in detail check out this YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgoyNYoZtbg
Rodney and Shaun chat about what makes the COMPUSHIFT Controller perfect for engine and auto conversions.
Check Out the COMPUSHIFT Controller: COMPUSHIFT Transmission Controllers for the A750F.
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