How did Nissan paint a Patrol?

[RMP&O]

I am sure we might have some different opinions on this subject but here is what I have learned over the years.

First it is obvious if you have seen a Patrol in original paint or fairly untouched that all the hardware on the truck was painted with the body. Everything from tire carrier to windshield latches to seat mounts were all painted on the body. If you have ever taken a Patrol apart it becomes even more obvious. Under all this hardware is primer, usually red oxide primer. So obviously, individual parts were painted in primer and the all bolted on the truck and painted. This goes for the entire body minus hard top or soft top and perhaps windshield frame and doors. It was a mystery for many years for me, did they dip these things? How did they do it?


Patrols were not dipped. They were sprayed on an assembly line. They were assembled as far as tub, floor pans, firewall, front inner and out fenders and the rad support. Hardware was put on like door hinges. It would have had to been done on a "jig" to support the body. They went down the assembly line on this jig and got sprayed. After this the mostly complete body would have been lowered down onto a completed and built chassis. Picture if you can an overhead assembly line in terms of how things are moved around. Meaning rail road type tracks on the ceiling that the bodies are hung from on the jig and moved around the plant. I know they were painted with front fenders on and even the rad support on because the gaskets between these body panels on an untouched Patrol has paint on it.

There is simply no other way to paint the truck with all the body hardware painted and even paint on the body gaskets.

On top of this Nissan plated, mostly zinc, nearly every bit of hardware on the truck before assembly and painting. I know this from sand blasting it all, under many years of paint you will find the zinc coating before you get to raw steel. Now this was very smart of Nissan because as paint chips on wear items like the tire carrier or the door latches raw steel is not left behind under the paint. This stopped any bleeding of rust when paint chipped. Hood latch stuff is another great example. Some items they did leave in plain zinc such as the seat sliders or the springs inside the windshield vents or the rods/levers for the kick vents or the hood support rod or the throttle linkage.

The grey interior paint is an oddity if looking at 60 series Patrols on a world wide scale. Only N. America received it from everything I have seen. Very strange they would do this extra step in the paint process for just N. American Patrols but if somebody has a picture of a non-North American Patrol with grey interior paint I would love to see it! I personally really like the grey interior paint on N. American hardtops. I think it makes the trucks look that much better and makes N. American Patrols a bit special.

Another interesting thing is Nissan seam sealed these trucks. Depending on the year depends on how much seam sealer. Early trucks, say 62-64 didn't see a lot of sealer. But by 66 they were getting seam sealer where the floor pans mate to the seat frame as well as the firewall and the seat frame to the tub. In addition depending on year even the trans hump was seam sealed down. All those bolts to hold down the trans hump, they got painted with the rest of the truck, the exception being the small access panel that is part of the two piece trans hump covers. While these days we may say, man these trucks get rusty! Back in the 1960's Nissan was ahead of the game by doing the seam sealer. You won't find it on a Jeep of similar vintage that is for sure.

What say you!?

Cheers

[moore_rb]

My observations have lined up with yours pretty closely, Ian, with just the following few additional observations:

From the early brochures and promotional materials, I agree that It appears that on the early (60-66) softops, the lower body (tub, grill shell, front fenders) were primed, assembled, painted the final color, and then lowered onto an assembled chassis. - I have seen in the old photos that the rubber seal between the fenders and the firewall, as well as the rubber seal between the front fenders and the grill shell, were usually painted body color - To me this does imply that the body was assembled before it was sprayed.

However, from the images of these same early trucks, I usually see that the windshield hinges are body color, but the hinge bolts are bare, and the rubber behind the hinges is unpainted- I've also noticed the same thing regarding the softtop frame on early trucks - the rubber gaskets are unpainted, and there is body color paint beneath them. This suggests to me that the windshield and softtop frames were painted away from the vehicle (probably at the same time, just not attached) and were then bolted up after the paint was dry.

Regarding the "half gray" US market hardtops - One observation I have made on the "mid year" trucks (64-early 66) is that it seems that the assembly/painting process was similar, but had extra steps: Prime body panels, assemble lower body, paint the entire body gray... Then assemble the truck, minus the doors and hardtop, then mask it off, and spray the outside again with the exterior color- Again, I imagine they masked and sprayed the doors and the hardtop side panels the same time that they painted the truck, they just did them separate, and then attached them to the truck after the paint was dry... On trucks with the gray interiors,the windshield hinge bolts and gaskets are painted the exterior color, and I have found gray beneath the windshield hinge gaskets on two of my 3 hardtops (the third one had been sanded down and re-primered)- this suggests to me that the windshield frame was mounted before the truck was masked and shot in the exterior color

Aside from these subtle nuances, my observations have matched yours - Patrols were absolutely sprayed, not dipped, and the presence of "bare" zinc hardware indicates items that went onto the Patrol after painting.

One other thing that Leslie and I have both noticed, and has also been noticed on other early Datsun models, are "oddball" body panels that were clearly re-painted before the vehicle left the factory, suggesting to me the possibility that if a vehicle got dinged or dented before leaving the assembly line, then they ran back and grabbed a panel from another car that was on an earlier step, repainted it, and bolted it up to the damaged vehicle.-- In fact, my 62 Patrol seems to be evidence of this- my 62 has blue beneath the green on the windshield frame, and on one of the upper door frames - This originally indicated to me that the truck was blue, and that the odd metallic green color was a repaint, but the blue is found nowhere else on the entire truck - the underside of the hood has only red primer and green; The wheelwells and the bottom of the tub likewise are only primer and green, and the backside of the grill is the same- red under green. the windshield frame is green, over blue, over red primer... And, the reason I think my 62 came this way from the factory (as opposed to having the windshield frame replaced from a donor Patrol at some point) is that the wire harness to the windshield wipers is uncut, and there is no evidence that the windshield has ever been unbolted- no rounded corners on any of the hinge bolts, etc....


And, the one area where you and I totally disagree is in the "personal taste" department - I personally don't like the gray interiors, except on gray trucks ; and this has been eating at me for several months now, because I am torn regarding whether to make the paint on my 65 Hardtop look "correct", or should I paint it the way Rob wants to see it...?

My personal taste would be to paint both the interior and exterior the final color, including the engine bay and wheelwells, and just have the hardtop cap be a different color (bright white), and the gauge and glovebox panels in black... That's how I want to do it..... but the appearance of originality is nagging at me...

[RiverPatrol]

I don't have much to add, other than theory on the gray interior. I think the gray interior was not necessarily for the N. American market, but for the factory hard top models. One could say that's one and the same, because a factory hardtop was rarely seen outside of the N. American market.

[RMP&O]

I agree fully Rob, 100%. If you are planning to flip the truck once done, I say keep it as original as possible. If you plan to keep it awhile and enjoy it yourself, do it the "Rob" way!

I also agree with you Leslie. By 68 the grey interior paint was no more. So to prove or disprove it was just all hard tops or only N. American hardtops requires seeing a pre-68 factory hardtop outside N. America that has not been painted or that the grey lies under any repaint. That is defiantly a tough nut to crack.

Cheers

[Esteban]

...I also agree with you Leslie. By 68 the grey interior paint was no more. So to prove or disprove it was just all hard tops or only N. American hardtops requires seeing a pre-68 factory hardtop outside N. America that has not been painted or that the grey lies under any repaint. That is defiantly a tough nut to crack.

Cheers

Years ago, I'm talking over 35 years ago in Ecuador, I approached a guy with a nice white 65 Patrol, with a SWB hardtop. He told me that the paint was original, but the interior was gray, so I thought he was bs me. At that time I thought that the inside and outside were the same color, judging from my canvas top one, and the fact that all newer Patrols were painted the same color inside out.

So to answer Ian's question, I think that all over the world, hartops were painted gray on the interior, until around 68.

Maybe I should ask member Pancho, who has a 65 hardtop in Ecuador as well, if there are traces of the gray paint inside...

[RMP&O]

Well, I would say that solves it then, it was worldwide.

Cheers

[Rolly]

Think mine was sprayed with rust-accelerant

[Pancho]

Maybe I should ask member Pancho, who has a 65 hardtop in Ecuador as well, if there are traces of the gray paint inside...

Yes, in fact mine was grey in the interior and still it is in some parts like inside of the panel board. I didn't realize that grey was standard color until now.

[moore_rb]

So, we have covered the topic of gray interior hardtops pretty thoroughly, but what about gray WHEELS?

I have noticed in the old photographs that European and Australian market 60-Patrols that the 16-inch, one piece wheels, were painted gray; while Japanese and US brochures always showed 16 inch wheels painted the exterior body color...

[RMP&O]

Wheels on my 68 are silver and I do believe they are un-painted originals.

I would have to reference some of my brochures or pics to say on the gray but the gray was certainly a change made in the 70's. I personally like gray wheels and don't think choice of wheel color detracts much from value. If you like gray, go gray, or black or body color or whatever you like I also like white wheels but only with a white hardtop.

Cheers