1968 Black Plate Patrol

[RMP&O]

Had myself a fairly big day of Patrol stuff over the hill in Idaho today. Stopped off at machine shop to drop off gaskets for the 67 Patrol resto I am working on. Dropped fuel tank off at the radiator shop so they can run it through the tanks and clean it out. Also stopped off at the fab shop to check out the roll cage being made for that project. Then stopped at my machinists shop to get a set of spindles spun up to check for run out. Last bit was.....


two days ago on craigslist two Patrols show up in Idaho Falls. Well, that is only 100 miles from me and where I go to get things done like I just mentioned. So I had called the guy and made arrangements to go see the Patrols. By 5pm today a deal was struck and arrangements made. I will be picking both these Patrols up this weekend and hauling them back to the property here in Wyoming.





















Unfortunately there is not a lot on both these trucks body wise that is any good. Both tubs are wasted beyond repair and there is plenty of rust and rot present. Funny thing is, I have been within 1/2-1 mile of both these Patrols more than 20x in the last 19yrs but never knew either one was there. Both trucks the plates expired in 1989. I will be headed over on Saturday to grab the first one and then on Sunday to grab the other. Both trucks have drivetrains and supposedly the green one could run but to me these two Patrols are strictly parts rigs.

I thought this was a cool picture.



Cheers

[zed]

So, you bought a tool box and had two Patrols thrown in the deal?
In the next few years I what to buy a UAV (drone) and scout some of the rural properties around here. There's gold in dem darn hills.
Keith

[jwgreen]

I almost PM'd you to see if you would be in the area and could check those out! But after the guy sent me a couple more pics I decided against it. Good find though.

[moore_rb]

So, you bought a tool box and had two Patrols thrown in the deal?

HAHA -- He actually bought a tool box, two sets of fender and hood emblems, and a PTO winch... that all just happened to be surrounded by rusty Patrols.

Excellent score, Ian !

[RMP&O]

You guys got that right!

I seriously doubt it would have been worth shipping these trucks anywhere. Difficult to extract and expensive, the red one is missing a wheel so you would need one for it to even move. I will be taking a spare with me. It is going to take a bit of work to get both trucks up on a trailer and going to cost me well over $200 to retrieve both these Patrols. I am going to scrap anything and everything not worth much and save the rest. There is some good parts in both trucks but not much in the way of body parts. Just all smashed up and very rusty. The green one doesn't seem worthy of a resto to me and the red one is way to far gone for that too, wait till you see the tubs on these Patrols!

Cheers

[RMP&O]

Well, time to go extract these Patrols and get them back here to my place.

Cheers

[RMP&O]

It is rougher than it looks



Rad support, hood and maybe the windshield frame about the only parts half way decent. The rest is pretty shot. This one was sold originally in Idaho Falls, in October of 1966. It came with the old warranty book showing when/where it was sold and where got it's first few services. It had about 2300 miles on it in July of 67. Truck shows 54,000 now which I believe is original.

Was pretty surprised when we showed up to get it today and the owner had it running. Actually sounded like it runs decent even with no exhaust.

Picking the other one up tomorrow.

Cheers

[RMP&O]

Both Patrols are back here at my place and have been pressure washed. They were really funky but I got them cleaned up. Some good items here and there but will be scrapping at least 1/3 of both trucks, maybe more. Both frames look wasted, both tubs are way beyond history and more. I am in need of shower and cleaning up the Patrol mess in my yard, will post some more pics soon.

Cheers

[RMP&O]

You might wonder why I am posting these trucks here in my 68 project thread. The reason is that these two Patrols are basically parts for my 68. I didn't need much for the 68 but did need a few things, these Patrols have most all of that except for the rear jump seat I am after. Sooner or later i will tear down these two Patrols to the frame. Parts will be set aside for any future projects, spares, trading parts or perhaps sell some stuff off. I will even offer some stuff for free before it gets tossed out. Any ways, here is some picture spam of the trucks with my comments.


Original warranty book from the green one and where it was purchased.





Some of the good parts I needed.



Old green's motor, it is a filthy mess. Notice no vin plate, first Patrol I have ever had with no vin plate. Don't think I will even bother titling this truck so it doesn't matter much to me.



Poor old green is such a rusty mess. Almost no body pieces worth a darn on it.









There is more than just rot around the kick vent, the seams are rotting too.


There was grass growing on the floor boards and in other places.


firewall is shot too


hood and rad support are worth saving


Green has one original Toshiba headlight, it works! Red has one Toshiba too but I have not checked to see if it works yet.


winch is busted and missing the free spool lever, drum is damaged too, bummer.





Old red's motor, supposedly it will run


Needed this for my 68, Rob is making these but I want at least one set of originals.


Probably the most wasted tub I have ever seen on a Patrol



steering wheel is un-cracked, some of the dash is good


Floor pans are not completely gone but not very good either


Fenders, hood, rad support, windshield frame are worth saving for sure


fenders though have rot setting in arund the kick vents


I waxed a spot on the door on my 68, just out of curiosity. It is obvious the paint could be cleaned up but for me, it is just to far gone with some rusty dings and so forth.


Cheers

[RMP&O]

By the way, I think Miller has done this and has one in his shed. That is the nose of a Patrol cut and welded and mounted up on the wall in his shed. Between these two Patrols and some other parts I have, I have enough stuff to do that myself now. Always wanted to do it and make the wall hanging from the nose of a Patrol just never felt like sacrificing the parts, now I can and my shop will be a better place because of it!

Saw some really cool stuff recently too that gave me some ideas, a BBQ made from the nose of a Mustang being one of them. Now that would be fun and super cool but not so sure I will go that far with any of it or sacrifice the parts to do it.

Cheers