Minion Missile - 1973 Colombian Patrol Project

[RiverPatrol]

It looks like you are taking that project further than you intended to. That's a good thing though.

I've never removed floors myself before but from what I've seen others do here it doesn't look too involved. I don't believe they are welded originally anywhere. Are you getting new floors from Citroa?

[mad4hws]

Are you getting new floors from Citroa?

Well.... I did go to their website and inquired of a few parts: Floor Bed, Torpedo Pillars, Floors...

The initial response I received was "sorry, not available at this time". I sent a follow-up asking when they might be in-stock. Here's the reply I received from Al (presumably the owner): " I decided to focus all my production resources to Toyota Land Cruiser that is in high demand. I am seriously thinking to not manufacture this brand again."

So, I am going to outsource some of the bigger metal work to a local custom shop. The biggest of these is the floor bed. It's a big piece of sheet metal (although not as big as the bed in my F250 that I replaced last fall). I still want to tackle some of the smaller things that are within my capabilities.

[rdarnell]

I sold some parts to a guy in upper Sandusky that was working on a 1972 and had purchased a bunch of metal from them and the fits were all wrong and he had to make a lot of modifications. You might be better off getting local shop to make metal.

[mad4hws]

I sold some parts to a guy in upper Sandusky that was working on a 1972 and had purchased a bunch of metal from them and the fits were all wrong and he had to make a lot of modifications. You might be better off getting local shop to make metal.

Probably right. the prices were pretty high too. For the floor (not the whole tub), he wanted $1500. For the F250, I paid around $400. That would be okay if it was a great fit. I have heard similar fitment stories. Still, sometimes having it 95% and having to do some tweaks is better than not having anything at all. Too bad that it looks like we won't have that option any longer.

[mad4hws]

While the rear tub is off, I can easily assess the frame issues I had earlier. This rear cross member needs to come off. It is rusted severely in the back and the holes cut for the tail light housings are "less than precise". That being said, I want to do something different on the back, maybe update it a little. Would appreciate comments/feedback from the forum members:

* Pintle hook or no pintle hook?
* I don't want to put the same tail lights back on. I'm thinking of doing some recessed round lights.
* bolt on step, or a step integrated into the rear cross member?
* whatever I do with the rear crossmember, that exhaust tip has to be saved.

[rdarnell]

I like the looks of pintle hitches on older 4x4's

[L60Boerne]

Agreed....the battery access is a pain. Those external terminals are hot! I just glad they ruled out putting the battery between the fuel tank and tub bed.
Patrolling again soon,
L60Boerne

[RiverPatrol]

The initial response I received was "sorry, not available at this time". I sent a follow-up asking when they might be in-stock. Here's the reply I received from Al (presumably the owner): " I decided to focus all my production resources to Toyota Land Cruiser that is in high demand. I am seriously thinking to not manufacture this brand again."

Well disappointing but not surprising. That's been the reason for the lack of aftermarket anything for the Patrols - low demand. And he's having to deal with variations in models that make fitment making customer service a nightmare, I'm sure that was a large part of the decision also.

Save the exhaust tip but do yourself a favor and reroute the exhaust to exit to the side behind the rear wheel. With the exhaust exiting to the rear you are getting the exhaust fumes circling back into the vehicle cabin. We all know carbon monoxide is a no-no.

[mad4hws]

.....do yourself a favor and reroute the exhaust to exit to the side behind the rear wheel. With the exhaust exiting to the rear you are getting the exhaust fumes circling back into the vehicle cabin. We all know carbon monoxide is a no-no.

Thanks River. Once we get the new TDI engine transplanted, that's the plan. I have the engine. I am waiting on an adapter plate that is being designed/manufactured by NorthwestFabWorks up in British Columbia. They are close to having the adapter plate designed, but were having some difficulties with the gear on the high performance starter that their design calls for. Hopefully they get that ironed out soon.

[mad4hws]

did a little more work on the rear cross member today. We dropped the fuel tank and cut out the majority of the old rusty crossmember. I'm so glad we did this because it revealed a ticking time bomb. A little more rust, or a hard pot hole hit and the rear shackles would have come detached from the frame.

From the outside, doesn't look too too bad.


With the center of the rear cross member removed - the terror is revealed. Looks like somewhere along the line a bunch of scrap metal was just jammed up in there with a lot of weld and they called it a day.


With the angle iron along the frame removed, you can see the rust hole that they were attempting to patch.


Right underneath that rust hole is the shackle mount! I am going to have to remove the rear shackle mounts, patch and reinforce the frame and then re-attach the shackle mounts. The good news is that it looks like the rust is confined to the very end of the frame. I am so so glad that I cut off that metal hard top that was welded on. There was a lot of rust at the extreme rear of the vehicle that I suspect was caused by that hard top. Because it was welded on, there was no other way that the rear tub could have been removed to address this issue.

On a separate note. I am considering putting Land Rover Defender 90 tail lights/turn signal lights on the rear when it is re-assembled. They are slightly larger than the Patrol assemblies and I have seen some pretty cool aftermarket metal cages that can be added to protect them. I have a new piece of channel steel that will be my new crossmember once I get the rust and shackle issue addressed. It is slightly taller than the 3.5 inch one that was just removed. Otherwise it will look very similar, although it is also much beefier than the original. After thinking about Rdarnell's suggestion, I think the pintel hook is going to be put back on. It is pretty banged up, but that patina will add great character to the back of this rig.