1964 Nissan Patrol soft top restoration
- Thread starter RMP&O
- Start date
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
So working through my punch list to finalize the 64 chassis now that everything came back from the platers.
NOS detent balls and zinc plated springs. In front of my hand is the cap bolts which I had zinc/yellow chromate plated. This if for t-case shifters, restored to like new condition and it works like brand new!
Just about finalized with the trans & t-case
50yr old trans dipstick restored
fully restored e-brake, works like brand new! Brand new Spicer u-joints went into the driveline, spec'ed for a dana44, I modified them slightly to fit. New felt slip joint seal also went into both drivelines, custom made by myself.
Cheers
NOS detent balls and zinc plated springs. In front of my hand is the cap bolts which I had zinc/yellow chromate plated. This if for t-case shifters, restored to like new condition and it works like brand new!
Just about finalized with the trans & t-case
50yr old trans dipstick restored
fully restored e-brake, works like brand new! Brand new Spicer u-joints went into the driveline, spec'ed for a dana44, I modified them slightly to fit. New felt slip joint seal also went into both drivelines, custom made by myself.
Cheers
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
Bit of info on this one...
Early (pre-66) oil filter housings base did not have a check valve built into them. This particular housing base is from a later model Patrol P engine due to this. Without the check valve the oil drains back down into the sump and every time you start it, it is a dry start. This was an obvious oversight/design flaw by Nissan early on in the G60's By 1966 it had been re-designed. As such we felt it critical to use the later style oil filter base with the check valve. Yet, to keep it authentic for the early year of the truck we went for retaining the early style oil filter housing and center rod. It is slightly different then the later style. The oil filter housings are made from pot metal/alloy and I think I will remove this one, polish it up with the wire brush and clear coat to finish it off. As you see it the housing base it simply sand blasted and is in raw form. I had the pin and guts for the oil filter housing zinc plated to re-new the parts. I plan on having the stock sticker found on the housing replicated to finish it off. Little details that I feel make all the difference in a restoration like this.
In addition to this we upgraded the t-case nose cone and speedo pinion drive gear and flange in the t-case. Early Patrols (pre-1966) came with a very sub-standard pinion on the speedo and it was set up in front of the t-case (before free wheeling hubs) plus was a "crush" sleeve design which honestly plain sucked. By 1966 Nissan had re-designed this to correct the crappy design, a major improvement being a splined gear for the pinion which rides behind the 4wd drive flange in the t-case nose cone. Uh-ya, f/w hubs are no probs now! Early on f/w hubs were simply not something offered so pulling the speedo pinion from the very front of the t-case worked but f/w hubs are being used on this truck so it had to be upgraded. We felt it was an important upgrade not just for the use of f/w hubs but also in the overall design of the speedo & it's pinion which obviously Nissan did too so we upgraded the t-case and speedo pinion to the post-66 style. Not 100% correct for any anal pursuists out there but upgrades we felt important and needed in this project. Bonus for us was the parts we used are suited for 7.50 tires due to speedo pinion teeth count while the trashed and worn out one we had from the 64 was for 6.00 tires. We are running 7.50's on this truck.
Cheers
Early (pre-66) oil filter housings base did not have a check valve built into them. This particular housing base is from a later model Patrol P engine due to this. Without the check valve the oil drains back down into the sump and every time you start it, it is a dry start. This was an obvious oversight/design flaw by Nissan early on in the G60's By 1966 it had been re-designed. As such we felt it critical to use the later style oil filter base with the check valve. Yet, to keep it authentic for the early year of the truck we went for retaining the early style oil filter housing and center rod. It is slightly different then the later style. The oil filter housings are made from pot metal/alloy and I think I will remove this one, polish it up with the wire brush and clear coat to finish it off. As you see it the housing base it simply sand blasted and is in raw form. I had the pin and guts for the oil filter housing zinc plated to re-new the parts. I plan on having the stock sticker found on the housing replicated to finish it off. Little details that I feel make all the difference in a restoration like this.
In addition to this we upgraded the t-case nose cone and speedo pinion drive gear and flange in the t-case. Early Patrols (pre-1966) came with a very sub-standard pinion on the speedo and it was set up in front of the t-case (before free wheeling hubs) plus was a "crush" sleeve design which honestly plain sucked. By 1966 Nissan had re-designed this to correct the crappy design, a major improvement being a splined gear for the pinion which rides behind the 4wd drive flange in the t-case nose cone. Uh-ya, f/w hubs are no probs now! Early on f/w hubs were simply not something offered so pulling the speedo pinion from the very front of the t-case worked but f/w hubs are being used on this truck so it had to be upgraded. We felt it was an important upgrade not just for the use of f/w hubs but also in the overall design of the speedo & it's pinion which obviously Nissan did too so we upgraded the t-case and speedo pinion to the post-66 style. Not 100% correct for any anal pursuists out there but upgrades we felt important and needed in this project. Bonus for us was the parts we used are suited for 7.50 tires due to speedo pinion teeth count while the trashed and worn out one we had from the 64 was for 6.00 tires. We are running 7.50's on this truck.
Cheers
Co-opski
Expedition Leader
Agree, way to much plastic these days. Hence one of the reasons I love old trucks! And on that note, this Patrol should outlast most 2014 vehicles by a long shot.
Cheers
Ian don't sell yourself short, in 2044 I would want you restoring a Nissan Juke for me. I'm sure you could do it all with a 3D printer. :elkgrin:
Still one of the best builds on expo.
Last edited:
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
heh, no Juke's man. I am strictly Patrols. Good point though about the 3d printer, thats hows you re-make plastic for sure. Oh and I will be 82 in 2044 so plan to be retired for sometime by then!
Cheers
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
Well, starter and generator are fully rebuilt and re-furbished. Down to the last washer!
The before picture
and finally mounted up on the engine
I guess didn't take any pics of the generator yet. I will today. Water pump is also permanently mounted up on the engine along with it's pulley installed. Geez, that means I am just about ready to install this 50yr old NOS fan belt!
Cheers
The before picture
and finally mounted up on the engine
I guess didn't take any pics of the generator yet. I will today. Water pump is also permanently mounted up on the engine along with it's pulley installed. Geez, that means I am just about ready to install this 50yr old NOS fan belt!
Cheers
brushogger
Explorer
I can't wait to see the finished truck. You do great work. What are your plans for it when complete? Keep it, sell it, or museum piece?
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
Thanks!
The truck is not mine, I am restoring it for a client. So when done, I will be handing the keys over to him.
Cheers
brushogger
Explorer
Your client was smart to hire someone as skilled as yourself. Once again, beautiful work.
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
Thank you for the kind words. Finalizing the chassis is well under way and as soon as I have it done it is going back to the body guy for full paint of body and assembly onto the chassis. A lot going on to get it assembled and drive-able but working towards that goal and will be smiles ear to ear the first day I fire it up! Hoping in less than 2 weeks wheels are painted and tires mounted up to them. Also hoping to finish up brake lines soon but found I am lacking one set of rubber lines I thought I had, mix up on the two types of rubber lines found on the truck. So before the week is done I am heading to the hose shop to get those made. After that will be fairly fast to finish up the brakes by making all new steel lines. Got a really nice flare kit I am just itching to test out. Very few things I am chasing at this point but one is some felt that is thick for under the floor pans between the frame rails. Think I have the right stuff found though at Grainger. Any ways, working to the goal of a finished Patrol and I can almost guarantee with 100% certainty this 1964 Patrol is going to look and drive like a brand new truck!
Cheers
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
Well, this project has not seen a lot of love the last month or two. I have been busy with the normal job (pays for my life) as well as getting my shop in order and working on another clients Patrols.
Nissan made ALOT and I mean a lot of changes to these trucks during the 1960's. Pretty major change years during the 60's were 1966 and 1968. All of your pre-1966 Patrols are pretty specific to these years. I won't list all the changes here because I doubt they are of interest to readers of this thread but one of the major changes was in 1966 Nissan started wrapping the wiring harness in black. Before this it was wrapped in gray. Took me a little while to find some gray electrical tape but I found some on Ebay and it is in route.
I have the rear wiring harness stripped and when the gray tape shows up I will re-wrap the harness. The original harness from the 64 is a bit worked over and not in the best condition. So I am using one from a 1965 in much better shape. I need to get the rear harness restored and on the chassis before the truck goes back to the body shop.
Many years ago, on my first Patrol, I had a strange issue. A wobble in the front end at any speed over 20mph. At the time I purchased new tie rods & drag link + pitman arm, new leaf spring shackles and a few other bits to try and fix it. Nothing worked. Then we discovered that the spindle was bent. So I found a used one, installed it and the problem was fixed. Many years later (and many Patrols later) I think I have figured out that a bent spindle is not so uncommon on these old trucks. Perhaps it is the weak link in the front axle or perhaps it is just the part the bends before anything else. Any ways, pint is, I discovered on the 64 that I have installed a bent spindle when the axle rebuild took place. Now I have a bunch of 2nd hand spindles here but which are bent and which are not!? Since the bend or damage will always be very minor it is just about impossible to see with the naked eye. So I took 4 spindles to my machinist and had him spin them. He did and two are great condition. The other two had very slight damage to the flange. Odd as I would have thought the bend would be on the shaft. Any ways, I now have 4 good spindles and need to tear out the bad one in the 64 and put one of these good ones in. Little lesson learned, get these suckers checked for true before installing!
The steering box will get rebuilt fairly soon too. The only issues at this point are I need to locate a few o-rings that are large and a bit of an odd size. These are not available anymore anywhere from Nissan so I must try to match them up to something else. I also found some NOS steering box shims for setting up the bearing preloads. Those are in route now. So here before to much longer the steering box should be rebuilt and mounted on the chassis.
The brake lines have been a little bit of a drama too. Original steel lines are wrapped with a fairly thick rubber along most of their lengths for abrasion protection. Now finding new steel lines with this rubber has proved to be impossible. I did find some vacuum hose that fits just about perfect over new steel lines. Going to see if this will work to get the rubber on the lines and make it look as close to stock as I can.
I have been working with a guy who makes rubber parts for old Datsuns. He has taken on the very large project of making all new rubber for the whole truck on the classic Patrol's. I have probably put in over 25hrs in the last 10-days rounding up rubber for him, pulling it from trucks, cleaning it, organizing it, selecting the best samples and packaging plus labeling it all for him. He has already been sent one load but another is headed his way soon which will be the last of the rubber on the truck. Timing wise his new stuff probably won't be ready in time for assembly of the 64. So I will have to use old original rubber I have restored. In the future though I can be using new re-produced rubber on these trucks which is a HUGE step to overcome in restoring these old Patrols.
Not much else to tell. I have got to get the above done in the next month. I am headed to Baja in January for 3-weeks and the 64's chassis needs to be at the body shop by then.
Cheers
Nissan made ALOT and I mean a lot of changes to these trucks during the 1960's. Pretty major change years during the 60's were 1966 and 1968. All of your pre-1966 Patrols are pretty specific to these years. I won't list all the changes here because I doubt they are of interest to readers of this thread but one of the major changes was in 1966 Nissan started wrapping the wiring harness in black. Before this it was wrapped in gray. Took me a little while to find some gray electrical tape but I found some on Ebay and it is in route.
I have the rear wiring harness stripped and when the gray tape shows up I will re-wrap the harness. The original harness from the 64 is a bit worked over and not in the best condition. So I am using one from a 1965 in much better shape. I need to get the rear harness restored and on the chassis before the truck goes back to the body shop.
Many years ago, on my first Patrol, I had a strange issue. A wobble in the front end at any speed over 20mph. At the time I purchased new tie rods & drag link + pitman arm, new leaf spring shackles and a few other bits to try and fix it. Nothing worked. Then we discovered that the spindle was bent. So I found a used one, installed it and the problem was fixed. Many years later (and many Patrols later) I think I have figured out that a bent spindle is not so uncommon on these old trucks. Perhaps it is the weak link in the front axle or perhaps it is just the part the bends before anything else. Any ways, pint is, I discovered on the 64 that I have installed a bent spindle when the axle rebuild took place. Now I have a bunch of 2nd hand spindles here but which are bent and which are not!? Since the bend or damage will always be very minor it is just about impossible to see with the naked eye. So I took 4 spindles to my machinist and had him spin them. He did and two are great condition. The other two had very slight damage to the flange. Odd as I would have thought the bend would be on the shaft. Any ways, I now have 4 good spindles and need to tear out the bad one in the 64 and put one of these good ones in. Little lesson learned, get these suckers checked for true before installing!
The steering box will get rebuilt fairly soon too. The only issues at this point are I need to locate a few o-rings that are large and a bit of an odd size. These are not available anymore anywhere from Nissan so I must try to match them up to something else. I also found some NOS steering box shims for setting up the bearing preloads. Those are in route now. So here before to much longer the steering box should be rebuilt and mounted on the chassis.
The brake lines have been a little bit of a drama too. Original steel lines are wrapped with a fairly thick rubber along most of their lengths for abrasion protection. Now finding new steel lines with this rubber has proved to be impossible. I did find some vacuum hose that fits just about perfect over new steel lines. Going to see if this will work to get the rubber on the lines and make it look as close to stock as I can.
I have been working with a guy who makes rubber parts for old Datsuns. He has taken on the very large project of making all new rubber for the whole truck on the classic Patrol's. I have probably put in over 25hrs in the last 10-days rounding up rubber for him, pulling it from trucks, cleaning it, organizing it, selecting the best samples and packaging plus labeling it all for him. He has already been sent one load but another is headed his way soon which will be the last of the rubber on the truck. Timing wise his new stuff probably won't be ready in time for assembly of the 64. So I will have to use old original rubber I have restored. In the future though I can be using new re-produced rubber on these trucks which is a HUGE step to overcome in restoring these old Patrols.
Not much else to tell. I have got to get the above done in the next month. I am headed to Baja in January for 3-weeks and the 64's chassis needs to be at the body shop by then.
Cheers
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
I left last month and went on a trip on down to Baja in Mexico. A 3-week overland trip in my v8 80-series Cruiser. Right before I left the 64 Patrol went back to the body shop. The body guy is just about to paint. Next week he thinks. The tub, floor pans and firewall are being installed and painted. I will then get it back and start on assembly. Brake lines are done in the back of the chassis along with the fuel line. All new stuff, quality and we even went as far as to replicate the original rubber sheath on the steel lines. Rear wiring harness got new wrap in the correct grey colored tape. I did that before I left. Good harness that checked out great so it simply got new wrap.
Seats are nearly done, upholstery shop has new stuffings and hardware on them and they are restored. Just need to get the correct covering and they will get finished. Stock covering is very thick, 1/16" vinyl so right now they are sourcing that and then seats will be a done deal. Soft top canvas has been selected by client. That took some work to find the right grade and color. I should have his selection back to me in the next couple weeks. After this we can get the new soft top started.
New rubber parts are in production too. A Datsun guy here in the USA I have been working with is re-producing all the rubber for these old Patrols. Super stoked on that!! He already has one batch done and things are looking really nice! Can't wait to see this truck with all new rubber. It has been a monumental task to make this happen and get it done.
Sorry no pics yet but you can be sure they are coming. It is going to be one hell of a restored Patrol too! Literally a brand new 1964 Patrol soft top!
By the way, I know my picture hosting sucks. As this project progresses I will host them on a better website. I will even go and update some of the older pics so the full process can be seen in pics.
Cheers
Seats are nearly done, upholstery shop has new stuffings and hardware on them and they are restored. Just need to get the correct covering and they will get finished. Stock covering is very thick, 1/16" vinyl so right now they are sourcing that and then seats will be a done deal. Soft top canvas has been selected by client. That took some work to find the right grade and color. I should have his selection back to me in the next couple weeks. After this we can get the new soft top started.
New rubber parts are in production too. A Datsun guy here in the USA I have been working with is re-producing all the rubber for these old Patrols. Super stoked on that!! He already has one batch done and things are looking really nice! Can't wait to see this truck with all new rubber. It has been a monumental task to make this happen and get it done.
Sorry no pics yet but you can be sure they are coming. It is going to be one hell of a restored Patrol too! Literally a brand new 1964 Patrol soft top!
By the way, I know my picture hosting sucks. As this project progresses I will host them on a better website. I will even go and update some of the older pics so the full process can be seen in pics.
Cheers
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
The 64 is headed back to me this week! I am very excited to see it in paint. It is just the tub, floor pans and firewall but still, should be starting to look like a truck again. Wheels have been painted too. XZL tires should be mounted up as well. Originally these had tubes and flaps, so we used new tubes and flaps on the wheels/tires.
So before long I will post some pics and everyone can finally see what color this Patrol is!
Cheers
So before long I will post some pics and everyone can finally see what color this Patrol is!
Cheers