Once the engine and loom were in place, it was time to turn my attention to the transmission, and get that installed. Overall it was straight forward, as I had previously had them both mated up on the old dmax chassis, and everything went well there. Yet when it came time to put it all together, we just couldn't get the box to mate up with the engine. In the end we found that the supplied dmax torque converter was bent on the front pin (noting that I hadnt put the TC in when doing the test fit on the dmax chassis). I had a spare 4jx1 torque converter from a parts gearbox, so we installed that and everything slid together no problems.
On to the interior, again, in the background, I had been removing the Jackaroo dash unit in preparation for the wiring loom to be installed. This part wasn't overly difficult, basically it was a case of remove the dash unit, replace the old loom with the new, and re install. But before reinstalling the dash unit, the new body loom was installed, which meant that all the HVAC had to be removed, along with the steering column. Heres where all the fun mixing and matching really began!
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As the dmax motor is somewhat wider on the top half (being twin cam 16 valve n all), it meant that I was unable to use the diesel Jackaroo heater core as its ports point stright through the firewall and into the intake manifold. This wasnt going to work, so, havin wrecked a few Jackaroos over the years, it was out to the parts bin to find a v6 heater core with the right angle outlets that go through the firewall. Super, worked a treat!
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Next was to replace the old steering column with a late model one. My reasoning for this was so that I could use the column mounted indicator/headlight switch, and wiper switches which were mounted up on the dash facia on the early gen2 Jackaroos. This would also blend in better with the wiring loom for the dmax.
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Once all the looms and hvac were buttoned down, I reinstalled the dash unit.
This is where all the fun starts with integrating the Dmax wiring loom and Jackaroo switchgear. Now, I'm no sparky, and wiring is definitely not one of my strong points, but, I can read and kinda learn stuff. So, time to hit the books!
I got myself a set of factory workshop manuals for early gen2 jacks, post 98 jacks, and for the dmax. Read up on all the different wiring systems, and hooked into mating everything up, one system at a time, going through all the basic hookup items like security control boxes and the like, to hooking up indicators, lighting, wipers, hvac, windows, mirrors, everything! I had a mate of mine who is right into electronics and whatnot come in and do all the soldering (he saw me doing it, and basically said, that it would be better if he did it).
While all this was going on, I installed the new instrument cluster. This was sourced from a top of the line Holden Colorado of the same vintage as the Dmax (they were basically the same vehicle).
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Once all of the major electrical connections were made we were good for a start. However, I hadnt attended to the fuel situation yet. Next job, install fuel lift pump. Now, in the diesel Jackaroos, there was never any in tack fuel pump, yet in the Dmax there was (much like a petrol Jackaroo), to the easiest way around this was to install an external fuel pump. Once this was done, battery temporarily installed, we could prime the fuel lines, and go for a start.
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