Project Pajero
30 July 2009
A lot has been happening since my last update on this exciting project. Over a period of two weeks I looked at a number of 4WD’s for around $10,000 only to find most of them were more trouble than they were worth. I saw everything from rolled over and repaired 4WDrives to vehicles full of rust, some that you couldn’t select low range on to some so plastered with Amor All it had even rubbed off on the salesman’s hand shake Yuck!
The full story of my search for a $10,000 4WD will appear in the September issue of Overlander Magazine, so I won’t spoil it here. Suffice to say I was about to give up when Tony spotted a hopeful prospect on carsales.com.au.
 The result is the amazing jade green Pajero GLS you have seen in the accompanying photographs. This vehicle has been fastidiously maintained by its sole owners from new in 1997, not only is it the powerful 3.5 litre V6 version, but it also boasts auto transmission, and power everything and includes cruise control. But wait, there’s more, it was also upgraded when new with the luxury pack which gave it leather seats, electric adjust on the driver’s seat, woodgrain dash and dual zone AC.
With just 108,000 K on the clock it was the lowest mileage vehicle I had seen and whilst the asking price was $11,300 the owners accepted my offer of $10,500. Fortunately, Tony trusted my judgement and purchased the vehicle sight unseen, he was pretty happy to see such a great vehicle for his hard earned cash (I was pretty glad he was happy too!)
 As you know we were seeking sponsorship to try to dress up the Pajero and make it more outback touring compliant. I had sent the sponsorship proposal to the major after market suppliers but without much luck. Fortunately the NSW Adverting Manager for Overlander Magazine saw the potential in the marketing aspect of the Pajero and took my case to his numerous advertisers. Suddenly things started to happen.
Now I can safely say that we have had incredible support from the after market industry with Project Pajero.
Here is just some of the support that has been offered.
East Coast Bull Bars is supplying one of their fantastic alloy bull bars specially sprayed silver to match the trim on the exquisite Pajero www.ecb.com.au
 East Coast Bull Bars are also supply a new brand of HID driving lights, these will actually be tested on my Landcruiser over the next few months with reports both here and in Overlander on their performance. www.ecb.com.au
Lightforce lights actually beat ECB to the driving light offer with a set of 170 Striker driving lights going onto the Pajero. www.lightforce.com.au
My old mate John Agostino from 4Way Suspension has come to the fore with a set of springs and shocks for the Pajero, thanks John. www.4waysuspension.com.au
 And to help keep the rear end up when Tony hooks up his caravan a set of Polyair Air Bags from Polyair Springs Pty Ltd will also be fitted. www.polyair.com.au
Internally Off Road Systems have offered a storage system for the rear of the Pajero, including drawers for the recovery gear, space for the fridge and more storage space above the fridge, I’ll have a photo real soon. www.offroadsystems.com.au
Comms will be maintained with GME www.gme.net.au providing a UHF radio, whilst we will keep track of Project Pajero’s epic journey around Australia via the SPOT tracking courtesy of GPS OZ www.gpsoz.com.au , and as mentioned GPSOZ also supplied a HEMA Navigation system so Tony and Carol won’t get lost. To ensure the oldies don’t get into trouble I’ll be putting one of my Globalstar Satellite phones in the vehicle also www.4wd.net.au .
 Up top Rhino Roof Racks have really gone overboard with the provision of one of their excellent rack systems and to keep T&C cool in the Top End they have fitted one of the brand new foxwing awning systems to the rack. This is an awesome piece of gear. www.rhinorack.com.au
For the times when T&C can’t drag the caravan any further, OZTENT has supplied one of their amazing 30 second RV3 tents along with a couple of their excellent Goanna camp chairs. www.oztent.com.au
Bushranger are making sure Tony and Carol stay safe with a full recovery kit including hand winch, snatch straps, shackles, pulley and tree protector. They have also supplied a fantastic Bushranger air compressor and tyre plugga repair kit and of course their heavy duty car mats. www.bushranger.com.au
I also spoke to my mate Andrew at OZICOZI about protecting the beautifully maintained body work and he will be fitting an OZICOZI to its gleaming metal flake finish next week. www.ozicozi.com.au
Like I said, we are overwhelmed with the way the industry has embraced this concept and we will be giving all of their gear a real work out in the Australian outback and reporting on its performance both here on my website and in the pages of Overlander Magazine from September through to December 09.
We are still chasing a few essential such as tyres, tow bar and fridge but we remain hopeful of acquiring some top notch gear in this respect also.
In the meantime Eddy and Chris at Artarmon Automotive (02 9439 2995) have been giving the Pajero its 100,000k service which means the timing belt, platinum plugs and water pump are being overhauled. They have put in some new brake pads also. The boys at 63 Whiting street Artarmon are doing most of the fitout work bolting on all of the above bits and using their extensive skill to set up this Pajero as a true outback tourer.
Eddy & Chris are also squeezing in a second battery under the bonnet and fitting some extra power outlets around the vehicle, I had a spare inverter kicking around my garage so that is being fitted also to keep the digital camera and laptop batteries fully charged. The boys are doing a fabulous job getting the Pajero off road ready, but they have even found time to design a special fold down table at the rear of the Pajero and some lighting for the rear section, I’ll get photos of their handy work as soon as they have completed it.
I’ve been working on Tony & Carol’s 3 month itinerary for their amazing trip around Australia as well and it looks like they might need 6 months!
So as you see, the last week has been pretty hectic, but not as hectic as the next 10 days will be before Tony comes back down from Coffs to collect his transformed Pajero.
Stay tuned for more updates and in the meantime check out Eric and Wayne on their outback safaris via SPOT on my home page.
Regards
Vic Widman
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The Pajero as Purchased
Some of the Junk
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