Hi, Im thinking about my 1st Patrol

[Red Clay Rambler]

number

[RiverPatrol]

Worth it. Buy it.

It has a lot of original goodies on it still. It does have some rot, but not enough to condemn it. It is a 'true' '69. You will find another VIN plate on the driver's door 'B' post, just below where the door latches.

[zed]

Buy it or let us know where it is located. (There are several individuals on the Forum who are always looking for a Patrol in good condition.)
Keith

[moore_rb]

Seems to be a nice, unmolested truck- everything looks to be there...

and, it's red - that fact alone increases the likelihood that it will run another 100,000 miles ....

[Red Clay Rambler]

How bad are the frames on these as far as rusting out? I know the old Series Land Rovers almost always need alot of work/new frames. The part of the frame I looked at on this one looked rusty but no holes or anything. Also, is it a big problem that there are rust holes in the doors, and prob others that have been covered over in the past?

[RMP&O]

Frames rust/rot at the #2 cross member, that is the big one under the trans. Battery box under drivers seat tend to rot too if battery acid made a mess there. Otherwise not an issue on these trucks unless it saw salt. Fairly easy to repair, few threads here on the #2 cross member repairs.

Bodies rust around kick vents, seat belt mounts, rear jump seat mounts and around the back corner of the truck. Fender mount mirrors can also be a problem on the later trucks. The other areas are more of a problem on pre-68's though as Nissan redesigned the body in 68 and it is more rust proof. Pretty much all flat panels so not to hard to repair. It is the areas where the wheels toss crud and it gets between panels that causes the rust/rot.

In my honest opinion, a Patrol is 5x the truck a Rover is. Only thing a Rover has on a Patrol is lower gears in the t-case.

Cheers

[RiverPatrol]

Unless it's been used as a snow plow, the frame is solid. The only issue might be the center cross member under the bell housing. Stuff likes to collect in there and rot from the inside out. Other than that, no worries.

The rot in the doors is not necessarily an indication of other problems. There is a felt strip between the door skin and the reinforcement of the door. If that gets wet due to poor weatherstrip sealing, then it rots out the door skin like you see. There are other areas that are vulnerable to rot too, but they look pretty good on this one. They are the rear of the tub, behind the spare tire, below the outer seat belt mount, the tops of the front fenders and around the fender kick vents. You can check for bondo in those areas.

[SSCBadger]

I spotted this very Patrol over the weekend. slapped a deposit on it yesterday and i pick it up on friday. Prior to seeing this while flying down the road I first thought it was a Land Cruiser but after doing some reading over the weekend i decided i had to have it. Anyhow im new to the site and hope to learn a lot from you guys as move forward with this new chapter of classic vehicle ownership. As far as the general shape of this one it pretty solid, much better than the 67 Mustang i used to have

[RiverPatrol]

Congratulations! You landed a pretty nice Patrol. Keep us posted on it's progress.