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Jul 10, 2014 21:13:32 GMT
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I've had my Patrol for over a year. Now that I'm doing a few more interesting bits and pieces on it I thought it was about time I made a Reader's Rides thread. I was looking for a sensible, economical daily driver. The Patrol was located about 270 miles away, and ticked pretty much none of the boxes, but I had to have it!  ^ Here it is at RRG 13  ^ The winter before last. This thing is unstoppable in the snow!  ^ Blending in at the Retro Show 2013    I've done a few bits of welding that needed sorting - this truck is amazingly rust-free due to it being imported from (according to Nissan) South Africa. One rear arch / sill had a hole which I cut out and welded (it turned into a bit of a bigger job as they all do, but it's solid now) and the other sill needed a repair for the MOT. At that time I didn't have access to my unit so the MOT garage put a fairly crude patch on it which I'll be re-doing. I still have a few scraps of rust here and there which will be getting tackled before they turn into something worse. The first major job I'll be doing (and will be covering in this thread) is a full respray. The paint is very faded and beyond any kind of polishing to bring it back. I'll be getting a professional to do the actual paint, as my spraying skills are pretty rudimentary, but leading up to that there's plenty of other bits of bodywork that will be being attended to. This is very much a rolling project and will be kept running and on the road throughout, but I'm aiming to get it looking the way I want in time for RRG14. Best get cracking then... |
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Last Edit: Sept 5, 2021 15:39:45 GMT by BenzBoy
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Mike
East Midlands
Posts: 3,387
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Jul 10, 2014 21:44:45 GMT
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That's pretty damn cool! I've started to get a hankering for something off-roady and this isn't helping... Will you be keeping it the same colour(s)?
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Jul 10, 2014 22:16:46 GMT
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I gather you don't go off roading, which is such a waste (IMO), given how capable these beasts are. If you respray, then you will be crying as soon as something scratches it.
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Jul 10, 2014 22:56:19 GMT
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It is good to see a thread up about this beast. However, before you give it a respray I would be tempted to give the roof a good old mop. By tackling my hard top on the Stag with 3M Fast Cut Plus followed by Meguiars 205 (the latter adds a little more bling in addition to removing minor hologramming) my roof went from this:  to somewhere halfway ( the patch I polished with 3M Fast Cut Plus)  Before finally this I think you will agree it looks alot better:  I admit the paintwork on that roof is not perfect but it does now at least look presentable, which I guess is what you are after on the Patrol  . There is more information regarding how I acheived this on page 10 of my Stag thread in my signature . |
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Last Edit: Jul 10, 2014 23:06:38 GMT by ChasR
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Copey
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,845
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Jul 11, 2014 14:16:01 GMT
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Awesome, love the boxy Patrols! Went off roading in one years ago and always wanted one ever since!!
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1990 Ford Sierra Sapphire GLSi with 2.0 Zetec
1985 Ford Capri 3.0 (was a 2.0 Laser originally)
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Aug 22, 2014 22:17:37 GMT
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Sorry about the lack of updates, I've been busy and RRG is approaching! Mike - Thanks! I love it. The thirst is insane but it's worth it. Haven't quite decided on the colour yet, which is worrying as it's being painted in a few days! I'm swaying towards keeping the stock colour. Sciclone - I'd love to get her muddy, and certainly will at some point, but I don't think it's been seriously offroaded in its life which is probably the main reason it's survived. I love seeing what the Aussies do with them over there and I'm envious of how easy parts are to come by over there! They are pretty rare in the UK. Chas - I did give the polish a go but there's visible primer rubbing through in places. The paint is too far gone! Copey - Get one if you can find one! It feels like driving a bank vault. Probably with the performance of one... OK, update time... In order to get it ready for paint, I needed to sort a few bits and pieces out on the body. It had been well rust-proofed which I think had saved it, but there were a few areas that needed attention. First was the tailgate sill:  ^ Pretty rusty. The panel sat directly over the chassis member. Years of collecting mud and moisture has rotted it out.  ^ Tailgate off...  ^ Rusty bits chopped out  ^ New steel welded in, filled and painted. I was experimenting with different colours on the truck to see what might look good for the whole thing. White was one consideration. The Patrol had a patch on the sill done by the MOT garage which I really wanted to make look better. It was solid but not that pretty...   ^ Paint taken back and welds ground down  ^ Filler and paint. Much tidier. I have a new pair of sills for the Patrol but I didn't feel it was worth putting one on for this as it was solid. All of the black parts - bullbar, bumpers etc - were in need of attention and needed to come off and get repainted.  ^ Front end stripped  ^ All off and ready to be media blasted...   ^ Blasted and zinc primed. I need to do a bit of work on a few bits before they get fresh satin black paint. The corners of the front slam panel in the engine bay were corroding so I decided to tackle those too...   ^ Offending panel removed. If left unchecked I think this would have spread to the inner wing.  ^ Welded and seam sealed. I didn't replicate the original pieces as most of it is hidden anyway. Again, trying out paint colours. This darker red looks nice.  ^ Repeat for the other side... I still need to put a skim of filler on these bits.  ^ The wings had to come off for the above repair, which allowed me to inspect what was under them... no nasty surprises...  ^ What's this little scab here though?...  ^ ...oh.  ^ Nothing for it - out with the grinder!  ^ Solid again  ^ Seam sealer and that snazzy red paint to finish it off.  ^ Front wings both had small areas of rust.  ^ New metal in   ^ Repaired. Ready for paint.  ^ Tailgate surface rust was dealt with   That's pretty much where we are at the moment. I've got a fair bit to do, and a week to do it in before the Gathering... DON'T PANIC!! |
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Aug 22, 2014 22:20:46 GMT
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Oh yeah, I got these NOS tail lights from Latvia too!  |
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Rob M
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,915
Club RR Member Number: 41
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Aug 22, 2014 22:31:22 GMT
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I'm always seriously impressed with your choices of vehicle, nothing "a bit samey" for you, is there. You are a class act fella. Keep up the good work!! |
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Rob M
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,915
Club RR Member Number: 41
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Aug 22, 2014 22:31:58 GMT
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Oh, any plans to give the mechanical side a boost? Just wondering, like.......  |
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Last Edit: Aug 22, 2014 22:33:31 GMT by Rob M
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tigran
Club Retro Rides Member
In rust we trust. Amen.
Posts: 6,444
Club RR Member Number: 142
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Aug 22, 2014 23:07:12 GMT
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Did not really clock on to your vehicle choice at RRG '13 - as zed said - there is no guessing what your next wheels are going to be is there?
Cool truck, great work and looking forward to a catchup and a poke around in about a week!
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1964 Rover P5 i6
1987 BMW 525e - The Rusty Streak
1992 Micra K10
2001 BMW E46 316i
2002 BMW E46 330Ci
2013 BMW F31 320d
2018 BMW G31 530d
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I'm always seriously impressed with your choices of vehicle, nothing "a bit samey" for you, is there. You are a class act fella. Keep up the good work!! Thanks! My cars tend to find me, rather than the other way round... Oh, any plans to give the mechanical side a boost? Just wondering, like....... Haha! You read my mind... Did not really clock on to your vehicle choice at RRG '13 - as zed said - there is no guessing what your next wheels are going to be is there? Cool truck, great work and looking forward to a catchup and a poke around in about a week! Cheers dude! Yeah looking forward to catching up next weekend! |
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Sept 27, 2014 21:33:34 GMT
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OK so the plan to get the Patrol finished for the Gathering didn't happen. A few late nights were put in but in the end I had to take a step back and accept it wasn't worth rushing it just to get it done. A paintjob is for life, not just for the Gathering... I went to the Gathering in my awfully dull daily driver which I was rightfully shamed for by all my friends. But after I got back, I continued with the work... The corner pieces in the side windows were pretty rotten. As with most things on this truck, new body parts are unavailable and any Patrols being broken have the same parts in worse condition!  The only option was to rebuild them!  ^ The corners form the tops of the glass runners. The rest of the channel is OK so it was just a case of remaking the corner section and replacing the tops of the channels.   I didn't take many pics of the process but I basically folded and welded the metal together to make something that resembled the original! The part needs to fit snugly into the window frame so some accuracy was needed.  ^ Trial fit, seems to go together OK!  ^ A bit of filler and primer and we're set. These will be painted satin black along with the bumpers etc. More local rust was tackled. A blister on the B-pillar turned out to be a hole when wire-wheeled...    More coming when my uploads have finished... |
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Sept 27, 2014 21:53:43 GMT
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A bit more progress getting the body ready for paint. Although this is by far the most rust-free classic I've ever had, there was still plenty of little bits that needed attention before it was ready for paint. Both rear arches had some small areas of rust despite the whole truck being pumped full of rust-preventative wax.   The rear roof needed to come off to get prepped for paint. It makes a great pick-up truck, don't you think?!   As you can see there's lots of correctional work being done on the body. As mentioned before, I'm leaving the painting in professional hands and they are also putting some work into the prep, such as correcting dents and dings (it's amazing what a body guy can spot that I'd miss!). I'm doing as much as possible to keep costs down, plus I'm supposed to enjoy doing this sort of thing! Here's the next bit of grot to be tackled, at the base of the B-pillar:  Which brings us up to date. We'll be painting soon, promise! |
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Last Edit: Sept 27, 2014 21:56:40 GMT by BenzBoy
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orangecords
Part of things
yawner extraordinaire
Posts: 892
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Sept 28, 2014 15:00:41 GMT
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Seriously jealous.in 1992 I used to trailer cars around the country for a nissan dealer with a 1990 one. When they replaced it with a lwb 1992 fully loaded beast I couldn't afford their original swb and it went to a local farmer......trashed and dead within 3 years! Love these motors!
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I then wanted to start cleaning the interior as it stinks of wood (the material not the smell of a boner) best quote ever! |
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Sept 29, 2014 0:52:43 GMT
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Cool, shorty Patrols are a great bit of fun. On a camping trip at the start of the year, there was one running around with the unmissable howl of an RB26DETT in it..
If I had this thing, after getting all the rot out, I would consider buying vinyl from China, then wrapping it for myself.. I think we worked it out and to do a larger car/4wd, it would be about $200 in vinyl with left overs. Would be a fun choice, then you could go to town in the bush and not worry about stacks of scratches.
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Speedle
Posted a lot
Need a Country Rock band in the Hampshire Area? https://www.facebook.com/DirtRoadDiaryUK
Posts: 2,221
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Sept 29, 2014 12:23:08 GMT
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Awesome work here! Great to see this getting some love, can't wait to see it in paint and yes it does make an awesome pickup!  |
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street
Posted a lot
6.2 ft/lbs of talk
Posts: 4,662
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Sept 29, 2014 16:01:39 GMT
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Awesome work Dean! Those rebuilt window frames are brilliant. Nearly time for all that graft to pay off with the nice new paint. It's gonna look mint!
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Sept 29, 2014 16:12:10 GMT
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enjoying yours and the shogun thread variety |
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Sept 29, 2014 19:28:26 GMT
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Love these, along with the landcruisers probably the toughest off-roaders available.
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Sept 30, 2014 19:39:07 GMT
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Thanks for the interest everyone! I'm really looking forward to getting it in paint. I've got some plans for it after that but I'll probably just concentrate on my other project for a while after this one's painted.
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. There is more information regarding how I acheived this on page 10 of my Stag thread in my signature 
