FT’s Patrol Project

[Flying Torquewrench]

A new day today with reasonable weather. Got quite a lot done today and the schedule at the moment is that the body is back on the chassis before the end of September.

Started off today with a painting the fuel tank protector and the towbar.

 

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After the final coat has been applied.

 

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After that I moved on to installing the rear anti rollbar with its associated wiring.

 

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Electrical connection on the chassis. During installation one of the bolts from the right hand box sheared of. Another job for the extractor when it comes in.

 

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Unfortunately, during disassembly a lot of the tubing clips fixing bolts sheared off. So a reroute of the tubing was the most convenient. New route is visible with new tubing clips.

 

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Some new brake lines.

 

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And a general overview of the chassis. It is around 80% ready. At the moment I am waiting for the exptractor to arrive so that I can remove the sheared off bolts from the gearbox support.

Items to be installed at the moment are:
Tow bar,
Fuel tank,
Fuel tank guard,
Front anti rollbar,
Engine and gearbox,
Exhaust,
Some brake lines and
wiring bits and bobs.

A couple days of hard work should be enough.

Very good to see that people like the topic. :clap

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

Got told off by the supervisor. He wants to have his photo on the forum too.

 

[Terranical]

LOL

 

[Dynamics]

Yes, as said by other members, a great thread, you are an inspiration to us all.

 

[solarman216]

Absolutely brilliant thread, and I know how much effort you are putting in to take meaningful pictures, whilst at the same time doing the work, very well done, and believe me praise does not come easy from me, Rick

 

[Adz]

Yes, as said by other members, a great thread, you are an inspiration to us all.

I've been on & helped starting & started my own forum's & this is by miles the best ever thread I've read :clap :bow :bow :bow :thumbs

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

Thank you all for the very kind words. However as I have said before, without your input the project would be nearly impossible. So thank you very much. :thumbs

Cleaned the underside of the body and sprayed it with Dinitrol last week. Photo's to follow, only have the 'before' photo's at the moment. In general the underside was in reasonable shape, only one bit of rust that needs cutting out but nothing major. A fairly simple repair of a box section.

The extractors have arrived today so hopefully I can try them tomorrow to get the gearbox support bolts removed. When that is done is will allow me to swap the engine over from the old to the 'new' chassis.

The big plan is to have the body back on the chassis before the end of the month as I haven't got any time at all to work on the car for most of October. So fingers crossed.

With regards to swapping the engine over I need some help. I need to remove the exhaust to be able to swap the engine. What is the best place to disconnect the exhaust from the engine? I have been thinking about removing it from thr turbo. But the screws which hold the plate that covers the exhaust bolts are rusted in a bad way and you can't get them out without installing new bolts. Obviously not the end of the world and I am sure it will be relatively easy with the extractor set but before tackling that has anybody got any other ideas? The bolts on the exhaust system itself are pretty much one big blob of rust so a bit of a no go area.

Exhaust itself is in reasonable condition and I have been thinking about replacing it but on the other hand it would be a shame as it is not required just yet. Planned to give it a nice clean an a shiny coat of exhaust paint instead.

 

[solarman216]

I would remove the three manifold to exhaust bolts, even if they shear with the engine out access is good and you can extract/drill out and replace easily, and when you do come to replace the exhaust system later the studs and nuts will be ok, Rick

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

Rick, thanks for your reply. At the moment I removed the exhaust by disconnecting it at the exhaust of the turbo. This gives me access to clean up the remaining threads before romoving the three manifold to exhaust bolts.

However, cleaning up the exhaust there is a bit of rust on the catalytic converter and I don't know if it is possible to weld or just replace the exhaust. Exhaust as such is in not to bad a shape. The gaskets between exhaust pipes are coming apart but are not leaking yet.

Had a quick look on the net and these guys (link below) claim to supply a complete Patrol exhaust system for £161.63 http://www.onlineautomotive.co.uk/Nissan_Patrol_Exhaust System.aspx?gclid=CPH4lYW8jqsCFaQmtAod_WZ8vA

The price seems very cheap as the price of individual pipes at parts shops are more expensive. Maybe I am missing something. Will call them anyway if I would decide that a new exhaust is required.

This is the top of the catalytic converter.

 

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Some of the spot welds on the catalytic converter started rusting.

 

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Front exhaust section painted with very high temperature paint.

 

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A couple of photo's from the underside of the body before cleaning it with a wirebrush on the angle grinder.

 

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More......

 

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more......