Finishing off

I had trouble finding an ignition live to power up the Maverick ECU, I used a red wire from the ignition relay in the end. The only problem is a short delay switching off the engine, I will work on that one, just that this wire was easy to get at and the only one that I could find that stayed live when starting. I have got to find the rev counter and water temp wires from the Maverick ECU and try them in the Navara dash, then everything should work except the engine management light.

How many hours have I spent on this project, I would have to guess 95 spread over the last couple of months The mechanical side has been straight forward although having to do everything twice was tiresome. I suppose if you bought every thing you needed already removed from a donor that would be easier, but I suspect a lot more expensive. I will make a list of the bits I used in another post.

The electrics have been a greater challenge, mainly the fear of cutting an important wire or sensor. But working slowly and methodically with constant testing it has been successful, only time will tell about reliability. At the end of the day I can still fit a mechanical pump if this set up proves problematic.

It has been my aim to keep the costs as low as possible, I will recover my investment by selling the old Navara engine gearbox and unwanted ancillary's and of course the Maverick still has a scrap value, I should be a couple of hundred up on the deal and have a usable and unblowupable pickup. I am lucky I have not had to count my time in monetary terms, though there is a long list of other jobs that has built up.

My advice to anyone thinking of a project like this, if you are confident with your mechanical skills and can modify some brackets the engine change is quite straight forward. However it gets a bit harder with the electrics, I spent a long time on this section. Removing the maverick loom took a day and trying to workout which bits to use on the bench with a wiring diagram wasted a few more hours. So don't try to work it out just connect it all in and them slowly remove components whilst constantly testing. When it fails to start put that bit back and mark it necessary. Eventually you will end up with a much smaller and lighter loom which will tuck away neatly.