1964 Nissan Patrol soft top restoration
- Thread starter RMP&O
- Start date
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
So I went to work on the 64 chassis today.
I had set the Ute's motor/trans in the 64 chassis last summer since I don't want the Ute motor and it was part of the sale of this truck. To get to work I need it out of my way, so I pulled it first.
I then pulled the steering box since I also want that out of my way.
Notice the wear on the pitman arm, very typical on old Patrols from what I have seen over the years. I am hoping to find a replacement pitman arm.
Here is a better look at the junk leaf hangers that are going byebye
A few oval'ed out holes in the 64's chassis. Also very typical from what I have seen. These will get welded up and then re-drilled.
This is actually lower shock mount on rear axle.
and the front shock tower.
A few more shots of the chassis before I tore into it.
The battery box on the 64 is rotten like many old Patrols I have seen, so it has to go and a new shelf fabricated.
Rear axle out....
and the rear suspension cut out....plenty more work to do on it though.
and with the junk farmer leaf hangers cut off.
That is all I had time for today!
I had set the Ute's motor/trans in the 64 chassis last summer since I don't want the Ute motor and it was part of the sale of this truck. To get to work I need it out of my way, so I pulled it first.
I then pulled the steering box since I also want that out of my way.
Notice the wear on the pitman arm, very typical on old Patrols from what I have seen over the years. I am hoping to find a replacement pitman arm.
Here is a better look at the junk leaf hangers that are going byebye
A few oval'ed out holes in the 64's chassis. Also very typical from what I have seen. These will get welded up and then re-drilled.
This is actually lower shock mount on rear axle.
and the front shock tower.
A few more shots of the chassis before I tore into it.
The battery box on the 64 is rotten like many old Patrols I have seen, so it has to go and a new shelf fabricated.
Rear axle out....
and the rear suspension cut out....plenty more work to do on it though.
and with the junk farmer leaf hangers cut off.
That is all I had time for today!
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
I hear that! It is fairly thin though and only two holes I see need fixing. I got about a half dozen busted bolts in the bottom of the frame rail, that is going to be fun too!
Any time bro, anytime....beer is waiting for ya!
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
*EDIT* 12-27-12: At this point in the rebuild the frame was free of everything and no longer a rolling chassis for the first time. It was at this point a lot of issues were found on the frame, flipping the frame over made them obvious! It was decided that the frame would be restored to the best of our ability and that any previous repairs that basically were not up to par would be re-done.
So got off work a bit early today and I tore into the 64 Patrol more.
Pulled front axle and suspension out. Moved Ute motor out of my way and out of the middle of the driveway. Flipped the frame over so the bottom is on top. Cut the junk leaf hangers off and ground it back with a flap disc. All in all a pretty productive afternoon!
I was very careful cutting off the junk leaf hangers and impressed myself! They came off fairly easy and clean. Bit of rust and scale under them but no rot. However, found some bad stuff when I flipped the frame over. Whomever cut off the stock leaf hangers did a super sloppy job of it with a torch. They gouged the frame in a number of spots. It isn't structurally weakened but it is damn ugly. So I will be patching up these areas and giving the frame a good once over to clean up any nasty spots before the new leaf hangers go on.
Here are pictures....
Front axle out of my way
Ute motor (spare) too...my dog supervising!
frame flipped over and set up to work on.
needing repair
what was left of the hangers to cut off, you can see gouging from the torch by p/o when they cut off the stock leaf hangers and made their own.
more gouging, the front leaf hangers on the rear leaf springs is the worst.
coming off nice and clean
seriously sloppy torch work, bit of scale and rust under the hanger. No rot! These hangers were welded on top of the stock side step mounts. Luckily none of the gouging in the frame by sloppy torch work damaged the frame rails. Only the thinner cross members were damaged. This is what out back of the barn farmer fabrication looks like!
cleaned up with a flap disc.
the other side
and the back of the frame....
As mentioned, plan is patch pieces cut for those areas where the holes are from sloppy torch work. I will very carefully cut out these areas and make new patch pieces with the plasma cutter. Weld them in, clean up and then on to welding on the new leaf hangers!
Cheers
So got off work a bit early today and I tore into the 64 Patrol more.
Pulled front axle and suspension out. Moved Ute motor out of my way and out of the middle of the driveway. Flipped the frame over so the bottom is on top. Cut the junk leaf hangers off and ground it back with a flap disc. All in all a pretty productive afternoon!
I was very careful cutting off the junk leaf hangers and impressed myself! They came off fairly easy and clean. Bit of rust and scale under them but no rot. However, found some bad stuff when I flipped the frame over. Whomever cut off the stock leaf hangers did a super sloppy job of it with a torch. They gouged the frame in a number of spots. It isn't structurally weakened but it is damn ugly. So I will be patching up these areas and giving the frame a good once over to clean up any nasty spots before the new leaf hangers go on.
Here are pictures....
Front axle out of my way
Ute motor (spare) too...my dog supervising!
frame flipped over and set up to work on.
needing repair
what was left of the hangers to cut off, you can see gouging from the torch by p/o when they cut off the stock leaf hangers and made their own.
more gouging, the front leaf hangers on the rear leaf springs is the worst.
coming off nice and clean
seriously sloppy torch work, bit of scale and rust under the hanger. No rot! These hangers were welded on top of the stock side step mounts. Luckily none of the gouging in the frame by sloppy torch work damaged the frame rails. Only the thinner cross members were damaged. This is what out back of the barn farmer fabrication looks like!
cleaned up with a flap disc.
the other side
and the back of the frame....
As mentioned, plan is patch pieces cut for those areas where the holes are from sloppy torch work. I will very carefully cut out these areas and make new patch pieces with the plasma cutter. Weld them in, clean up and then on to welding on the new leaf hangers!
Cheers
Last edited:
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
So I got out the replacement leaf hangers and set them on the frame, mostly just for a visual. This is just about where they are going to end up though. As per the Nissan Service manual the spread on the leaf hangers from eye to eye is 1252mm or 49.3". So this is roughly where they will end up being welded to the frame.
We got the front leaf hangers (front for rear axle) from About Times Spares in Australia, it is NOS.
The rear is from RuffStuff and is their "way back" shackle hanger. It is very close to stock but uses a poly bushing rather then the steel Nissan used.
This weekend I will cut out areas needing cutting out! I will clean them up too and make a template for each area so come early next week new steel can be cut and then welded in place. After this I am going to put the axles back under the frame along with the new leaf springs from Alcan. This will simply be for test fitting purposes. Once I am happy with the new leaf springs I will tear it all out again and start on final prep for painting the last coat of chassis black.
Cheers
We got the front leaf hangers (front for rear axle) from About Times Spares in Australia, it is NOS.
The rear is from RuffStuff and is their "way back" shackle hanger. It is very close to stock but uses a poly bushing rather then the steel Nissan used.
This weekend I will cut out areas needing cutting out! I will clean them up too and make a template for each area so come early next week new steel can be cut and then welded in place. After this I am going to put the axles back under the frame along with the new leaf springs from Alcan. This will simply be for test fitting purposes. Once I am happy with the new leaf springs I will tear it all out again and start on final prep for painting the last coat of chassis black.
Cheers
blue bomber
Adventurer
Toot your horn as much as you want. Looks great. I'm a series rover guy( not stock by any means) , but I have always liked the patrols. I cannot understand why they are considered so obscure. I think they are great. I just wish we could get 1990's GU's here. In my opinion they are the best truck you can buy. Just from what I have read and compared data. I used to be a medium duty truck mechanic, specializing in UD, (Nissan)Isuzu and GMC. The nissans were the best. I worked on the 4.2 diesels,the same as installed into current patrols. Great engines. It's just shameful that the selection nissan trucks we have here is so limited.
Disclaimer: I had a hardbody for years,loved it until I was "t" boned in it. A sad day.
Tapatalk sucks, sent from Matthew's IPhone
Disclaimer: I had a hardbody for years,loved it until I was "t" boned in it. A sad day.
Tapatalk sucks, sent from Matthew's IPhone
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
Thanks Blue Bomber and I totally agree with you! The TD42 is a great motor, someday I may have one and put it in something! And if I could get a GU, I wouldn't even be building my other truck, aka The Mongrel. I almost bought a Rover once, over 20yrs ago. I had found a 109 wagon with a Safari top. I could have got it for $2-3k but at the time that was a lot of money for me. On top of that at the time I had a 67 Patrol that was sucking me dry anyways and the 109 needed lots of money. If I had never found the Patrol back then and got the 109 instead, well I may just be a Rover guy these days!
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
Another action packed day of Patrol restoration! :lol:
First up....last night it was decided the #2 cross member shall be replaced. I had it rebuilt years ago but it would appear the job was half assed. The cross member is still showing some thin spots from rot and is full of dents. The dents were beat out of it but still, just look to see how lumpy and bumpy it is.
A thin spot....
Ugly patch jobs...
So today I built a "jig" from card board in order to build a new cross member. The top and trans mounts are good in the cross member so only planning to build this three sided bottom replacement as you see. It won't have such sharp edges once done since I will grind all that back and then sand it too. I am happy with the jig and confident we can build a new cross member that matches stock, is stronger then stock and has no lumps! Just like the card board jig this will be built from three pieces and then shaped or contoured with the grinder and sander to remove any sharp edges.
Templates for the patch pieces on the #3 cross member...
Fun times drilling busted bolts! All eight are now done though...
I will defeat you bolt!!!
I got out the stock early style fuel tank in preparation for a sand blast and restoration of the tank and skid plate.
And I happened to come across the original and very cool horns...
Twas a good day!!
First up....last night it was decided the #2 cross member shall be replaced. I had it rebuilt years ago but it would appear the job was half assed. The cross member is still showing some thin spots from rot and is full of dents. The dents were beat out of it but still, just look to see how lumpy and bumpy it is.
A thin spot....
Ugly patch jobs...
So today I built a "jig" from card board in order to build a new cross member. The top and trans mounts are good in the cross member so only planning to build this three sided bottom replacement as you see. It won't have such sharp edges once done since I will grind all that back and then sand it too. I am happy with the jig and confident we can build a new cross member that matches stock, is stronger then stock and has no lumps! Just like the card board jig this will be built from three pieces and then shaped or contoured with the grinder and sander to remove any sharp edges.
Templates for the patch pieces on the #3 cross member...
Fun times drilling busted bolts! All eight are now done though...
I will defeat you bolt!!!
I got out the stock early style fuel tank in preparation for a sand blast and restoration of the tank and skid plate.
And I happened to come across the original and very cool horns...
Twas a good day!!
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
More Patrol restoration photos!! :crazy:
I cut the #2 cross member out...
and the new one in the process of being fabricated, next to the old one...
Built it out of 3/16s, nice and strong...
what was left on the frame...
and the new cross member after a bit of shaping with the grinder/sander.
Next to the stock one I cut out, keep in mind the new one is not finished yet.
I am very happy with how the cross member is turning out so far!!
Cheers
I cut the #2 cross member out...
and the new one in the process of being fabricated, next to the old one...
Built it out of 3/16s, nice and strong...
what was left on the frame...
and the new cross member after a bit of shaping with the grinder/sander.
Next to the stock one I cut out, keep in mind the new one is not finished yet.
I am very happy with how the cross member is turning out so far!!
Cheers