Nissan 1964 Nissan Patrol soft top frame off restoration

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nothing like a bit of naked metal in the morning !
 
Pacer said:
I don't know what half those parts are, but they look just awesome. Good work man.

Hows the wood stove and shop been treating you?
you had me in a frenzy this fall thinking I would need seven, plus cords of wood to get us through the winter here. Luckily it's been mild in PA up till now. Barely a cord and a half so far...
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Apologies, kind of missed your post.

Most of the parts are linkages like; throttle, clutch (mechanical), pivot points and the like then we have; heater box, springs, stock hose clamps and things like kick vent latches or hood latch hardware. Some scuff plates for the tire carrier, and so forth. A lot of this stuff like I say is getting painted.

As far as wood, been through a solid 2 cords or so thus far. A lot of time not spent in my shop though and early on I didn't have it sealed up well. I should make it through the winter because I got a solid 2+ cords left and there is going to be lot's of time working in another shop. Six cords would probably be good for full time in my shop over a winter. We have had a lot of sub-zero here this winter.

Cheers
 
We got the diff's all set up today, new bearing, seals, ect. It took some work but they came out good.

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Cheers
 
So I had some stuff cadmium plated along with the zinc load of parts. However, I held off on posting pictures because it came back not as expected. A friend had told me the yellow coating you see often on stuff is cadmium, so that is what I ordered up. Unknown to me it is zinc with yellow chromate added to it. The cadmium also has the yellow chromate added to it but the finish is darker or more gold in color. The color also varies a bit between items, my thoughts on this are it is due to how dirty an item was before coating and or the type of metal it is. The cadmium is supposed to be at least 2x a superior coating to the zinc. So anyways, we needed to make some decisions about the parts. Since most of this stuff gets painted we are going to leave most of it alone. But a few key items are going back to get the zinc with yellow chromate. Main reason being is we are after a certain color and finish on these items.

Now that decisions have been made....here are pictures of the cadmium coated parts.

soft top pins for body, some misc hardware and a fuel filler neck.

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early door latch mechanisms before...

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and after, I think they came out beautiful.

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these are part of the mounts for the dual horns. Items like this replated will give a real nice overall look.

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these are turn signal and tail light backing plates.

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Here you can see the dip sticks didn't turn out as planned...the yellow handle one is OEM from the late 70's.

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these were the items we were considering to send back for replating. Not all of this is being sent back, just some of it.

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So I had never had anything plated before. I would say now I know at least a little something about it!

Cheers
 
So our order of chromed parts showed up today. Here are pictures...

In the first few pictures for comparison is old vs new.

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The back of the mirror head gets painted black.

Cheers
 
Small update...cell phone pics so not as good.

I got the carrier bearing bolts wired down so was able to mount the diff cover. We lock tighted the carrier bolts so they probably don't need the wire but stock they are wired so I bought a rolled of safety wire and did them up. New bolts on the cover and there is a stock NOS gasket in there. Still kind of planning to do something witht he plugs.

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I got new u-joint recently so went to work on rebuilding the drivelines. The u-joint is a Spicer. When I bought it we put the digital calipers on the old ones and matched it up. Seemed to be a perfect match but once I went to install them ran into a problem. Basically they were 3mm to wide. So I removed 3mm from them between the stud on the actual u-joint and the caps. Worked out good but took some time. Will post some more pictures of driveline rebuild and problems encountered when I do the rear. All I got done was the front driveline, planning to do the rear tomorrow. They are now tight and just like new, simply killer! I painted the actual u-joint with Rust Bullet. I think they look good.

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Every step of the way lately has been like pulling teeth. Went to buy new hardware for the axles and got about half of it at Napa. rest is on order. The damn Patrol has a unique wheel stud in that it is not spilned and has a flat spot on one side of the cap or top. Found one that will work but like I say had to order them, ordered up one to make sure it will work, and it will with a bit of modification. Now waiting on 24 more plus some other hardware before I can jump into the axles. Alcan only offers red poly bushings with their leaves. Owner of the truck doesn't want red bushings so had to located 1.25"x3/4" blacks. Thought I had 3/4" sleeves as Alcan had sent them to me. Get the bushings, not sold as a set, sold individually so need 8 more! Sleeves are not suited for 3/4" od and 5/8" id so need new sleeves. Like I say pulling teeth!! I knew a butt ton about Patrols going into this but am getting a phd with this build! :hillbilly:

:cheers:
 
ah, the joys of wrenching on older vehicles ...
even old Cruisers can be a challenge, especially in the middle of farm country.
love your build.
 
Obviously, absolutely gorgeous...

couple notes:

What a tease to show us chrome....at least in my mind that implies close to done.:p

If you had to modify the u-joints, it may be a good idea to do a couple extra so the client doesn't have to figure that out on the trail if he breaks one. Just a thought.
(Unless, of course this is headed for a museum.)
 
Trapper50cal said:
Obviously, absolutely gorgeous...

couple notes:

What a tease to show us chrome....at least in my mind that implies close to done.:p

If you had to modify the u-joints, it may be a good idea to do a couple extra so the client doesn't have to figure that out on the trail if he breaks one. Just a thought.
(Unless, of course this is headed for a museum.)
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Thanks! Ya, maybe I should have held off on the chrome! :doh:

Really doubt this truck will see much in the way of trails. Maybe some trips in the Canadian Rockies up to the owners cabin, about it I think as far as "off-road". More than likely I picture it just being used during the summer. The owner might be driving this thing to his office all summer long. I think it is going to be pretty well babied once it is done and in his hands. So don't see a need to prepare spare u-joints. If they ever do fail I know what we used and how much needs to come off them for them to fit like a glove. I could easily prepare some for him if he needed them in the future. The stock ones lasted 40yrs or so, doubt these Spicers will fail anytime soon if ever.

Didn't make it back down to the shop today, felling like ass. But back at it full time on Monday. Got an engine stand rounded up today though for the purpose of painting the gear boxes and motor.

Cheers
 
Still waiting on hardware to rebuild the axles. :roll:

But I am slowly making progress on stuff anyways.

Tons of little parts all sand blasted and ready for black paint.

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Bell housing before sand blasting

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and after...

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Rear brake adjusters, Few of the pistons were seized but no more!

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Selected the axle shafts I want to use and then spent a lot of time polishing them up.

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Getting ready to tear down the steering box.

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Cheers
 
Here are pictures of the steering box tear down...

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Brass bushings were a major pita to remove but I got it done, having these two made. Tried the press, tried beating them out, tried a number of methods....

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and after several hours of fighting it, this is the tool that made it happen.

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Cheers
 
Most amazing restoration. I admire your skill level and attention to detail .
Not many would have the stamina to pull this off.
I bet it will be nicer than any Patrol that ever left the factory.
 
dragoncruiser said:
Most amazing restoration. I admire your skill level and attention to detail .
Not many would have the stamina to pull this off.
I bet it will be nicer than any Patrol that ever left the factory.
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Thank you!

Got a lot done these last few days. It never looks like it though... :rolleyes:

All hardware that is not being replaced for the axles has been selected, best of 4 axles worth. A fair share of that sand blasted to just remove any corrosion. A bit of it that is exterior I think I am going to paint with RB next week. All the other hardware, a huge pile, has been bagged and put away. Almost everything on the truck that gets black is now prepped for paint. Did a 6hr day of sand blasting yesterday. The only things not prepared for black paint at this point is the master cylinder body and the wiper motor housings. PTO prop shafts and related gear is all broke down, de-greased and sand blasted plus the best from two sets selected.

Any ways, here are a few pictures.

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Cheers
 
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Met with a machinist yesterday. He had a beautiful shop and equipment. An older gentleman who is retired now but still does this on the side. Turns out he is only about a 10 minute drive from the shop.

Crappy cell phone pic but you get the idea...

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The infamous "trunion" bushing.

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The tool I am making for the rear axle wheel bearing nut...2" pipe is a perfect fit once modified.

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Very soon the rest of the rear axle will be assembled.

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Brake shoes have all been de-greased, old pads removed, sand blasted and painted. All that is left now is new pads.

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Cheers
 
Trapper50cal said:
So cool....

It feels like I will have seen every part that makes a Nissan Patrol after this thread is at an end.
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Heh, you probably will the way i am going with this build and build thread. :o


So...more pictures! :D

Here is a rear axle wheel bearing nut that has seen a chisel on it.

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Here it is after cleaning up with a file.

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Here is the finished tool I made for the rear axle wheel bearing nut. Forgive my welds, they really are embarrassing, still learning. :o The tool came out good though and as you can see a 1/2" drive torque wrench fits perfect. IIRC, the manual specs this nut at 157ftlbs, hard to get that just right with a chisel and hammer. :rolleyes:

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This is the flange/tool I made to press the rear wheel bearings on the axle shaft. An 1-1/2" pipe fits perfect on the bearing but we lacked a long enough piece of it in the scrap pile. We have lot's of 2" on hand though so I made this plate to allow for the 2" to come down onto the 1-1/2",I will press the bearings on using this tool & a piece of 2" pipe.

Every once in awhile I can lay a nice bead...just need some more practice to get more consistent. ;)

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Here are pictures of the old stock wheel studs next to the replacements I found. As you can see the new ones will work great...

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So that is it, I am armed and ready to go next week for axle rebuilds. The rear will come together quickly, the front I will get new/re-freshed knuckle cap/king pin bushings next week. Monday or Tuesday eta on those bushings. That is all I need to assemble the front axle.

Cheers
 
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