Convert or Restore?

[npca-fud]

I hear you guys about the seats....not to mention Patrol seats are not comfortable in the slightest. On my 66 and other orginal Patrols it has to stay stock for me....my 64 though I plan to do same thing as Vike. Nice comfortable seats with shoulder harness belts, probily no roll bar though. I'll do same thing, keep all old org seat stuff but use something better....I am thinking a console be nice too.   For my 64 I have plans for an onboard compressor also. Some custom tools boxes and maybe some custom skid plates on the diffs. I do hear you guys about the brakes and MC. If braking and safty are main concern disc brakes are the way to go yet it will be converted. RickG has some intresting photos and stuff of disc brake conversion, it looks like it worked out pretty well. I don't know about dual MC, one for the front and one for the rear??   Ian

[npca-patrolguy]

Hello AllI have been trying for many months to send messages to the list about patrols I have and parts I have for sale will someone respond and tell me if this message makes it to the list.Les-- Les CannadayClassic Datsun Motorsports345 Olive AveVista, CA 92083(760) 940-6365 (208) 988-5507(fax)http://www.classicdatsun.com

[npca-fud]

Hey Les,   I don't see anything listed from you on this site for Patrols or parts. Nice site you have, I have stopped by it before. Great pictures of the Datsun show, really nice looking Fairladies and 510's! I don't see any Patrols at the show though.....were some there? I would bet a few of the members here would enjoy bringing their rigs to that show...I sure would if it was closer to me.   Curious....what do yo have for parts and rigs??   Ian

[npca-scooter dave]

To convert or restore, hmmmmm that is the question?My answer goes something like this.Considering the small number of these rigs imported into the U.S. originally.Why convert if you can restore? It would seem to me that the more originality one can maintane on their Patrol. The more value it should retain. If its already fubar then how much of a Patrol is it? and why call it such? If its not, then it's still a Patrol and deserves the care and attention a proper resto will bring it just for the very fact that it has survived this long and remains mostly intact. Not only that but done in this manner it will bring the owner many years of fairly reliable service and aggravation. Not to mention the great conversation piece they make whether they are sitting in the drive-way, the shop out back or moving down the street. Plus, should you need to sell it later, chances are you'll find that prospective buyers are more likely to open their wallets for an original piece of equipment as opposedto one thats been hacked. Besides if your lookin' for something to convert, why not find anold Blazer or Bronco? There's plenty of them around and its alot easier to find and retro fitafter market gear to them anyway. Not to mention they're alot easier to replace should one happen to make an err in judgement while building or driving.Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.Scooter.

[npca-jeepy]

Well, I have found many Patrols in farmer's fields and somehow managed to take them home.  Or parked in the backyard of some inner-city person and they just wanted it towed off...  In any case, I have owned my fair share now and have certainly seen some interesting conversions and screwups.  I own one Patrol that has a 327" in it bolted into the original drivetrain.  It has not run in years though and will be a huge project to get rolling again.  I can't imagine how mcuh power it will have though.  I am about ready to conduct a conversion on a Patrol that has only minimal original parts left on it.  It will see a 258" straight six from a Scout II.  It will also have the original Torqueflight 727 and Dana 20 t-case from the Scout bolted into it.  I have the complete setup already bolted together from a truck I pulled it out of.  Just a matter of drop it in, weld the mounts in and wire up the coil, etc...  I will be putting a set of Toyota 81/4" axles under it with electric lockers front and rear.  It will ride on 35" tires.  Of course this is all on hold until I am able to strip down what is left of this truck.  On the part about having a vehicle with safe seats, that is not my largest concern.  I placed CRX seats in one of my Patrols (Oscar) though.  A very nice fit with some custom brackets made to fit the original brackets as to avoid drilling into the seat boxes.  I also have an original rollbar for a Nissan Patrol.  I have not decided what to do with it yet though.  I am certainly keeping it and will place it in a vehicle eventually.  I placed a rollbar in another one of my Patrols (Sandy) though.  Works very well with some minor mods.  I also placed seat belt harnesses in it.  The part about Patrols that really scares me (besides the brakes) is the rigid steering column.  I read Unsafe at Any Speed and then realized that my Patrol has the same rigid steering column that killed MANY people long before the Patrol was built.  In a front end accident the steering column is pushed back into the driver and impales the driver through the chest.  This is very likely to happen since the steering column is on the same side as oncoming traffic and is also located in front of the front axle.  The frame CAN collapse (but might not) and the steering column shifts backwards.  Much more likely to DIE from that than die from a low back seat.  That just seams to be a priority I suppose...  Just my opinion after reading and researching lots of information on lot's of different vehicles and scenarios...  jeepcj_6@yahoo.com -Jeff

[npca-fud]

Hey guys....   One thing that makes our country so great is that we all have opinions about things and there is nothing wrong with an individuals opinion. Some counties you get killed just for having and voicing one. So I really don't think there is any wronge or bad awnser here....just opinions.   I agree with Scooter Dave about the value of an original Patrol. Yet there sure are alot of hacked and converted Patrols out there....why not keep them going?  My 64 just doesn't have matching numbers for the engine so to me the value will never be there. I personally don't like diffrent engines and things in a Patrol so I am trying to beef it up and make it more trail worthy while sticking to the Patrol theme and use Patrol parts. This should at least give it some small value over a totally converted Patrol. Yet I have seen L/C all decked out with 327's and dana's and all that, they had a big value and sell well. Simply because somebody put tons of money in it and the result is a nice rig even if only a shell of the original.   I hear what Jeff says about the steering colum. I was wondering when somone was gonna mention it. My 67 Patrol has two dents in the dash, they appear to be from someones knees smashing into the dash and if that is the case they had to eat the steering wheel. Ugly picture.....I don't see how to fix the steering colum issue without completely changing things around. For me I just drive my Patrols on country roads and take my time, be safe and careful. The main thing in my head is not impaling myself but smashing my Patrol. It's to hard to fix! I suppose I am lucky that I don't have to drive a Patrol for transportation, mine are stricly recreation vehicles so my chances of smashing the rig or killing myself in one are slim. Plus I consider myself a pretty good driver and live in a rural area.   Ian

[npca-alex]

I am with David P. on this one. Some Patrols out there need to kept original and nice for historic and preservation purposes, but we also need some to play with! I tell you, I thought long and hard about buying that '80 Scout that was just on eBay and taking the SD33 out of it and putting it into my baby, but....