James' MK Patrols (The Three Amigos)

[james008]

Here's my thread for posting about my old Patrols. I'll give a little history on each one and some pics for good measure. My build thread on Patrol 4x4 is up to 10 pages and nothing too interesting has happened, so no ones missed much.

1. 1984 Nissan Patrol MK SWB SD33T - "Old Red" - Purchased June 2011.
This is the first Patrol I ever bought, the first car I ever bought in fact. I remember going to look at it and it really was a sight for sore eyes! Faded paint, bit of rust, rough inside and out, but from the first time I went for a ride in it I loved it! It was rough and loud but it was great! Before buying it I was leaning towards a GQ, but this thing really kick started my love (obsession? addiction?) for these old Patrols. I picked her up for the sum of $900 and then drove it 2.5 hours home where it didn't miss a beat.... Until the next day when I found out about the cracked head gasket it had. What started as a quick fix and rego turned into a major 6 month restoration project, as annoying as it was as an 18 year old to have no car, the first time I drove it with my plates on it I knew every second spent on it was worth it. I loved that car, and still do. It was beautifully restored, the detail and effort that went into that car was immense.
Unfortunately at some point teenage stupidity and a lack of experience came into play and I crashed her... A really bad rollover, the car rolled onto its back, then back onto the wheels. I still have the car and give the engine a run once a month or so, I can't bring myself to scrap it. I one day hope to rebuild it again, even if it doesn't see the road.









2. 1982 Nissan Patrol MQ SWB - "Yella" - Purchased March 2013
This one wasn't my best decision if I'm honest... No engine, busted front diff (PO never mentioned that...) 5 speed, had a 308 and straight LPG conversion at some point. It was originally purchased to donate its body and possibly chassis to Old Red to bring her back, but this thing was too rough (I'm not so much a perfectionist, but I like my cars to be in the best possible nick). I ended up selling it as is. It needed new doors, glass, interior and a huge clean up, the paint job was rough too so ideally that would need doing. I sold this car at a small loss, and its currently on Gumtree for a lot more than I sold it for...



3. 1986 Nissan Patrol MK SWB L28 - Never got a name - Purchased July 2013
I must say I really like this car, its almost original, interior is near perfect, steel canopy, only 150,000km. Unfortunately the PO treated the car pretty rough and it sustained a fair amount of panel damage. This was my project for a few months, and it won't take much to get it on the road, but its money I just don't have at the moment. Aside from the L28 (I love my SD's) I really like this car and am very reluctant to sell it, but i might be forced to soon.



4. 1986 Nissan Patrol MK SWB SD33T - "The Albino" - Purchased November 2013
My newest edition, once again steel canopy being a late model deluxe. This car is little bit rougher than the other 1986 I have, and the dash is the worst colour in history as its been painted bright blue! This car has clearly been restored from a paddock bomb and done on the cheap. The paint isn't great, interior is mismatched, many parts are not original. However aside from that it is a good unit, very little rust, the engine has 380,000km on it and feels very strong, it goes well for an 80kw 4x4 and has virtually no blowby. It's also very close to roadworthy, the most major issue being loose wheel bearings and worn king pin bearings.





Well, there they are. More updates will certainly come!
All questions and comments are appreciated.

[NP99]

I hate people that have concrete floors , good pic and words mate.

[james008]

Thanks mate.
I love concrete floors! Much nicer to work on than dirt or grass.

[james008]

Fixed up a few little issues to get The Albino a bit closer to roadworthy.
The list I got was
1. One tail light appearing as bright as brake light - easy fix, replaced the 21w globe with a 5w
2. Top up brake fluid - Done, I forgot to do that after I bled the brakes last week... Oops.
3. Fuel leak at lift pump - Hose clamp wasn't properly tightened
4. Horn not operational - Had a little fiddle with the combination switch, it was too far back and needed to be moved forward about 10mm
5. Oil leak near turbo - I still need to fix this.
6. Wheel bearings loose and king pin bearings worn - swivel hub rebuild kit ordered. $170 and it includes wheel bearings, very happy with that!
7. Spongey brake pedal - I assume this is because of the loose wheel bearings.
8. Wiper blades - Done, another easy fix.

Unfortiunately I can't do any more work until the weekend as I am heading away for a couple of days - Going to a resort in Falls Creek, so I guess that makes up for it!

[The Viking]

Doing the swivel hub rebuild is a feel good task once completed and a good excuse to buy a lot of special tools, just ask my wife

Keep the pics coming!!!

6. Wheel bearings loose and king pin bearings worn - swivel hub rebuild kit ordered. $170 and it includes wheel bearings, very happy with that!

[james008]

I do feel good now that I've done the swivel hubs, cheers The Viking.
There was a bit of swearing and cursing though!

I've also pulled all the intake piping off the car to see where the oil leak around the turbo is. It will either be blow by or a blown oil seal. I removed all the intake piping to check if there was still oil getting through, but of course I sprayed carby cleaner in the turbo first to get rid of the muck, so I don't know if what sprayed me in the face was carby cleaner or carby cleaner + oil! I will have to double check this tomorrow. There were also a couple of loose bolts on the compressor housing, so I tightened those up, but I doubt that will make a difference.

I have also ordered a catch can, which hopefully will stop oil getting into (and out of) my turbo. The engine seems fairly strong and doesn't feel down on compression, but its got a lot of blow by too.... Ah well, it should hold on for a while yet and if it doesn't I've got a nice young (295,000km) engine to drop in with almost new (25,000km) head and gasket.

[james008]

Turbo's have been swapped, turns out the old one was stuffed and brakes have been bled.
Booked it in for RWC again on Monday which is unfortunate as I was hoping to have the car rego'd by the weekend.

Either way, I'm just glad its almost ready.

[happygu]

Lookin good James ...... brings back memories of mine and my brother's first Patrols.

Mic

[edsnm]

My first car was a MK too *-* . Yours look very nice!

[james008]

Lookin good James ...... brings back memories of mine and my brother's first Patrols.

Mic

Cheers mate!

My first car was a MK too *-* . Yours look very nice!

Thanks mate. They're good old things!
It looks okay in the photos, but the white car really needs a heavy cut and polish. The paint has the texture of house paint!