Thread: OKA owners

You are Tins,

Regards,
Tote

oka374 and Deano are two that I can think of off the top of my head.

Chris

Yes I'm here, Deano is around somewhere too.

Originally Posted by oka374

Yes I'm here, Deano is around somewhere too.

Yours is 300 newer than mine.... Is it an LT?

Yes an LT, the XT's went up to around the 250 mark, LT's to just past 430 and NT's have a totally different numbering system aligned with the national VIN system. There were only about 16 NT's made from memory.
374 was built as a panelvan and spent the first 11 years of its life in the RAAF, had 70k on it when I bought it, PO did approximately 10k from when the RAAF sold it looking at the log books.
It now has a Cummins 6BT with a W2A intercooler driving through a 6 speed Allison auto, GU Patrol transfer case and the original Dana diffs. The 6BT is pumping out well in excess of twice the Perky's supposed 110 neddies so it cruises on the road really well running 37x 12.5 AT's on 17" alloy rims.
I've fitted it out as a camper/motorhome with most of the home comforts, poptop, rear slideout, loo, 1100w solar, 400ah Lithium house battery, diesel cooktop, HWS and central heating. We use mostly 240v appliances through a 1800w PSW inverter. No gas, any barbequeing is done on a portable induction cooktop or very PA280219 (Medium).jpgoccasionally on a fire.

Originally Posted by oka374

Yes an LT, the XT's went up to around the 250 mark, LT's to just past 430 and NT's have a totally different numbering system aligned with the national VIN system. There were only about 16 NT's made from memory.
374 was built as a panelvan and spent the first 11 years of its life in the RAAF, had 70k on it when I bought it, PO did approximately 10k from when the RAAF sold it looking at the log books.
It now has a Cummins 6BT with a W2A intercooler driving through a 6 speed Allison auto, GU Patrol transfer case and the original Dana diffs. The 6BT is pumping out well in excess of twice the Perky's supposed 110 neddies so it cruises on the road really well running 37x 12.5 AT's on 17" alloy rims.
I've fitted it out as a camper/motorhome with most of the home comforts, poptop, rear slideout, loo, 1100w solar, 400ah Lithium house battery, diesel cooktop, HWS and central heating. We use mostly 240v appliances through a 1800w PSW inverter. No gas, any barbequeing is done on a portable induction cooktop or very PA280219 (Medium).jpgoccasionally on a fire.

I think I'm in love...

Mine started as a 9 seat with short tray. It had the rear part of the body added later, which is a bit rough. Still got the Perky, but it's a new one. Married transfer case. Non WG turbo. Going to see how much I like it before doing any major mods. Currently it's fine on the flat roads, cruising at 110, but dies on hills. There are a couple of options for drivetrain upgrades. Locally I can get a 6BT with the Allison for around $40K+, or there's the option of a 6 cyl Perkins instead. It's an easier change, and has the Bosch VE pump. But I'm leaning to the RAM engine..
It also has a pop top, a good diesel heater, but it still has gas, which I don't want either.

What 17" rims did you get? I can get some 16x8 or 16x10 rims to replace the 19s on it now. But I doubt the Phaser could pull bigger tyres.

I have a lot of work to do, but I already love the thing, love the way it drives, the way it handles corrugations. I think it's contagious. The bloody thing drives better than either of my Discos.

Tins you had better join the Oka forum and come to next years get together, we had one earlier this year and over 30 Oka's turned up, no two the same and a wide variety of bodies and all models from XT's right through to an NT.
There have been a few fit a 6 cylinder Perkins but the 5.9 6BT's seem to be more popular with in excess of 40 that we know having been fitted to Oka's.
374 is happier at 110 on the freeway as it is spot on max torque at 1850 rpm, 100kph which is legal maximum for heavy vehicles is 1750rpm.
I've only recently gone to the 17" Method alloys with the 37x12.5 Yokohama G016 AT's and was worried that it would be too tall as 5th and 6th gear in my Allison are .71 and .61 but it doesn't seem to worry the engine at all, it still pulls well up hills. The 19.5's when fitted with the 315 tyres are about the same diameter as my 37's.
When ours had the Perky we reckoned we should cover the headlights so it couldn't see the hills coming up and slow down. With the 6BT it will only change back to 5th on the steepest hills at touring speeds but still at the legal speed limit. In travelling trim loaded we weigh in at around 5.5 tonne but still well shy of the 6 tonne GVM.
My 6BT started life as a genset, I scrounged all the Ram bits to turn it into a vehicle engine and changed the CAV IP to a VE IP, a well tuned VE pumped 5.9 can easily put out in excess of 350hp without serious mods. I still have the original non wastegated turbo, injectors and the engine internals were not touched and it's still probably putting out around 250hp with the W2A intercooler. Needs a 4" exhaust to allow it to breather better and possibly enable another turn of the fuel screw ;-)) but really it goes well enough as is with a straight through 3".
There are a few things you can do to a Perky to get back to something approaching its rated output, 1/ ensure that when the pedal is flat to the floor that you are getting full throttle at the engine, the pedals bend over time and hit the floor before full throttle is reached, just bend the top section rearwards on the shaft, 2/ fit a bigger air cleaner (a lot are running Optiair 1100 series) and simplify and enlarge the snorkel setup, 3/straight through exhaust and possibly ditch the existing muffler and/or fit a straight through muffler. On the last point a lot of Perky's had a narrow section in the exhaust as it joined the engine, removing that will allow it to breath better.
A standard Perky should pull around 17-18lb of boost at WOT with around 650 C post turbo under load and can do that all day, coming from Landcruisers I was horrified when I fitted an EGT and boost gauge and saw the temps and pressure it was putting out but all the spurts assured me it was fine.
The 6BT is a similar temp but max boost is currently around 28lb the 3" exhaust limits it but they can handle well over 30 in standard form.

Originally Posted by oka374

Tins you had better join the Oka forum and come to next years get together, we had one earlier this year and over 30 Oka's turned up, no two the same and a wide variety of bodies and all models from XT's right through to an NT.
There have been a few fit a 6 cylinder Perkins but the 5.9 6BT's seem to be more popular with in excess of 40 that we know having been fitted to Oka's.
374 is happier at 110 on the freeway as it is spot on max torque at 1850 rpm, 100kph which is legal maximum for heavy vehicles is 1750rpm.
I've only recently gone to the 17" Method alloys with the 37x12.5 Yokohama G016 AT's and was worried that it would be too tall as 5th and 6th gear in my Allison are .71 and .61 but it doesn't seem to worry the engine at all, it still pulls well up hills. The 19.5's when fitted with the 315 tyres are about the same diameter as my 37's.
When ours had the Perky we reckoned we should cover the headlights so it couldn't see the hills coming up and slow down. With the 6BT it will only change back to 5th on the steepest hills at touring speeds but still at the legal speed limit. In travelling trim loaded we weigh in at around 5.5 tonne but still well shy of the 6 tonne GVM.
My 6BT started life as a genset, I scrounged all the Ram bits to turn it into a vehicle engine and changed the CAV IP to a VE IP, a well tuned VE pumped 5.9 can easily put out in excess of 350hp without serious mods. I still have the original non wastegated turbo, injectors and the engine internals were not touched and it's still probably putting out around 250hp with the W2A intercooler. Needs a 4" exhaust to allow it to breather better and possibly enable another turn of the fuel screw ;-)) but really it goes well enough as is with a straight through 3".
There are a few things you can do to a Perky to get back to something approaching its rated output, 1/ ensure that when the pedal is flat to the floor that you are getting full throttle at the engine, the pedals bend over time and hit the floor before full throttle is reached, just bend the top section rearwards on the shaft, 2/ fit a bigger air cleaner (a lot are running Optiair 1100 series) and simplify and enlarge the snorkel setup, 3/straight through exhaust and possibly ditch the existing muffler and/or fit a straight through muffler. On the last point a lot of Perky's had a narrow section in the exhaust as it joined the engine, removing that will allow it to breath better.
A standard Perky should pull around 17-18lb of boost at WOT with around 650 C post turbo under load and can do that all day, coming from Landcruisers I was horrified when I fitted an EGT and boost gauge and saw the temps and pressure it was putting out but all the spurts assured me it was fine.
The 6BT is a similar temp but max boost is currently around 28lb the 3" exhaust limits it but they can handle well over 30 in standard form.

Quick answer while I take all that in. I'm on the OKA forum. I joined while I was looking. The COVID stuff meant I couldn't actually see the OKA I bought, but I'd missed too many so I grabbed this one. Rather than pursue your ideas here, I'll maybe look you up on Byles. Thank you for your response. The OKA forum is not as intuitive to me as this one, but I'll find you.