Honey Badger the Y60

[BrazilianY60]

Hello everyone. This is the build topic, or rather, restoration topic, for my 1997 LHD wagon Y60. From what I have learnt online, the very last year of the Y60 series.

Patrols are pretty rare around where I live, but I managed to get ahold of one to call my own. It is LHD, so a bit weirdo for you good folks, but don't let that make you loose interest. It is SGL-D trim with the 3rd row seat (missing), over the top A/C for the 2nd and 3rd rows and the cooler box on the trunk. It came with a non-functioning blacktop TD42.

I would be lying if I said it has been beaten to death. If it had nine lives like a cat, it would be more appropriate to say it had been beaten to death eight and a half times... No rust though, which all in all, is a blessing. Also, at first impression, nothing worked, but it was absolutely complete, not missing a single bolt, which would help a lot a restoration project of a rare car since I didn't have the least chance to have another car to look and compare, nor to create parts or to discover what was supposed to go here and there. Whatever part was there, I would test it, if it worked, good, if not, I would go ahead and try to fix it.

This is how it looked:
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Every single panel need some sort of panel beating, some more, some less, some a lot... They manage to bend, crush or ding even the roof and the fuel door.

This is my very first attempt at car restauration, and having lost an opportunity to by a little better condition than this LC80, that is also very rare around here, I decided to man up and write the check. Loaded in to a car transport truck I have hired and drove back home to wait for the Patrol to be delivered and see what the missus and the kids would say about it...

[BrazilianY60]

I was told that, for absolutely pure negligence (aka stupidity), the engine has been run without the rad cap on.
At a first look I thought the engine was without the head, but at closer inspection it was without the valve cover and I could see no cam.

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Deep breath, let the anxiety fade away... kept looking around the car for bad surprises and actually had a good one. The valve cover was on the backseat, with all the rockers and whatnot inside.

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Back to the engine to inspect the head, and I figured it out... the cam was not overhead, so it was not missing. I had zero TD42 knowledge then. Also, the exposed top of the head was totally clean of dust or debris, just oil, and it was not dry. That reminded me to check the dipstick and the pan was full of oil up to the max mark. Good sign...

A whole lot of thoughts going through my mind as I drove back home...

[BrazilianY60]

While the car was still in transit to my location, I started to gather information about the car, the engine, etc. Downloaded the FSMs, started reading forum topics, etc.

I have decoded my VIN on Partsouq to learn that my Y60 color was actually "Dark Blue + Yellowish Gray". Searched for some references online and this is what my Patrol used to look colorwise when new:

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What a darn good looking color combo! Wow!

At some point in it's life it has been painted blue over the yellowish gray details and the decorative plastic stuff under the doors belt line (forgot how it is named) was painted plain silver. Not that it matters, since the paint was in super bad shape, sunburnt, clear coat peeling, etc, so it had to go anyway.

[BrazilianY60]

The truck driver, being a very conscious person, advised me to take with me in my car all the loose ends from inside the Patrol before loading it into the truck, to avoid the risk of losing small items during the transport, so I did it.

These arrived at home with me on the next day, two weeks prior to the Patrol being delivered:
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Being able to do nothing but wait, I decided to give the airbox a good clean, and was amazed with the amount of dust it was holding.
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With zero availability of parts locally, I started searching on nearby South America countries where Nissan have sold Patrols in a quest for either OEM or alternative parts suppliers. I knew I could always count with Aussie vendors, but being on the opposite side of the globe, shipping would be a major factor. Whatever I could find closer, would be a bonus. Right from the beginning I knew I would need at least an engine gasket kit, air filters and a brake booster/master cylinder. The later being for when I saw the car, I noticed the brake booster/master cylinder were adapted from another truck available in Brazil.

First thing I was able to source was the engine gasket kit, from an local parts supplier that was used to import parts for Toyota 4x4s. Not that he had it available, being a Toyota parts vendor, but he was able to find it with his suppliers. No-name gasket kit, but a complete kit nevertheless, with this car I am not in the position to choose parts brands, I have to take whatever I find. He would have nothing else, this was all of Nissan he could help me with.
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To be fair, it does have a name, PEACE GASKETS.

Later on, I got to know through a 4x4 online community of a bloke that owns an Auto Repair shop in neighbor country that from time to time have had helped some guys around here to find parts. He was available to quote parts in local (to him) stores and even on wreckers if needed for a fair fee. Through him, I was able to source a brand new non-OEM master cylinder, air-filters and an used brake booster. Yes, used... He searched around even in specialized brake places in his town and could not find a new booster, but happened to find a Patrol in a wrecker. That was good info also, there was the possibility of this parts car having something I may need in the future.
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The booster is still a bit of a mystery. It does look equal to Y60 brake booster pictures I see online, but it has a part number that I checked and belongs to a Nissan Frontier truck (which is available in Brazil, BTW). On Partsouq they are not the same part number though. Maybe it was already adapted on the wrecked car? Who knows... Maybe you good fellows can tell me about you being using Frontier boosters on Patrols...

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[BrazilianY60]

...when I saw the car, I noticed the brake booster/master cylinder were adapted from another truck available in Brazil.

The booster is still a bit of a mystery. It does look equal to Y60 brake booster pictures I see online, but it has a part number that I checked and belongs to a Nissan Frontier truck (which is available in Brazil, BTW). On Partsouq they are not the same part number though. Maybe it was already adapted on the wrecked car? Who knows... Maybe you good fellows can tell me about you being using Frontier boosters on Patrols...

Time to do some body work on the firewall, so it was time to access the brake booster situation again. The car came with an adapted brake booster from a local Chevy C10 truck from the 80's. The booster seemed to be somehow shorter and then the lip of where the firewall upper and lower sheet metal sections meet was hammered to make it fit. Time for a fix...

This is the booster that came out. Note the stack of washers used to do spacing to some degree. What a rattling can of loosen parts, LOL. I can only imagine how silent my Patrol will be when I sort out all the crap stuff that has been done to it. Also note the weld at the tip of the shaft. It seems to have been shortened. Can´t complain about the brake pedal position though, it was spot on when driving.
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This was the firewall situation. The goal was to fix that lip on the sheet metal but I was surprised to realize that the firewall booster holes were also fckd-up to fit the adapted booster, something that honestly never occurred me. I was naively thinking boosters bolt pattern were somewhat of an industry standard.
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But wait... the firewall is sandwiched between the booster and the brake pedal bracket... if it is like this on the engine bay side, the cab side must have been fckd-up as well, right?
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Here is an OEM pedal side by side with the "creative people" pedal.
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The lip and the sheet metal with the offending holes were beaten back to place.
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[BrazilianY60]

Car arrived a little bit less sad looking than it was on the yard, it probably liked it's new garage.
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Pretty dirty everywhere, a lot of dust, a lot of dirt, a lot of iron ore, a lot of spider webs.
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Cooled glovebox and a cooler on the trunk.
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Some decent amount of Kms on the clock.
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At this time I was mostly trying not to freak out and "see the beauty" behind that dirt mask.

[BrazilianY60]

With the help of the kids, we gave the car a good wash. Only laundry machine powder soap and pressure washer. No specialized products as I didn't knew any. Here you can see a good "before & after".
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[BrazilianY60]

All the grass on the area used to wash the car died on the following week... I thought all that iron ore was going to be "a mineral supplement" for the yard... bummer...

[BrazilianY60]

First time I saw a free wheel hub like this. I was used to either only manual or only auto hubs.
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Rotary injection pump.
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The day ended with some tears.
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[BrazilianY60]

Interior disassembly kept going for a few weeks.

A lot of dirt with some parts of the carpet also soaked in hydraulic fluid. They used to carry hydraulic pistons out of heavy tractors/bulldozers to maintenance in the car, carelessly leaking fluid everywhere.
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Found an rotten orange...
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Found out the reason for no handbrake was no handbrake cable... at least, the conduit was there.
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Some very nasty seats. Bear in mind that these are not of TAN trimming LOL, they were supposed to be light gray.
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Found out that one of the barn doors was poorly reinforced for spare tire weight or most probably bad rutted dirt roads. This was later all taken apart, fixed, mig welded.
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