[RMP&O]

I imported this to the USA from New Zealand. It came from Nissan as a cab & chassis, ie no factory bed. I have a bunch of really good gear from building up my 83 Patrol that I plan to put in the Ute. SD33T engine, front & rear diffs both with 4.6s and ARBs. rebuilt MK 5spd that even got new Nissan syncros (damn expensive), rebuilt MQ t-case. The diffs are already set up with linked suspension mounts. I have all the rod ends for the suspension and the links but may need to make new links due to lengths in the Ute over my 83 MQ which they were in. I also have MQ power steering which is left hand drive. The rear diff has a disc brake conversion too! I also have some 35" Maxxis Creepies around on some pretty decent rims. All the Ute needs to be a finished project is body work, the SD33T rebuilt, a bed made and suspension mounts made on the chassis.

The Ute is right hand drive since it is a Kiwi Ute. I plan to convert it to LHD using the MQ p/s and also get a USA G60 Patrol body. I also plan to stretch the cab and make it an extra cab Ute. Then just do a small flat bed. I have a front and rear PTO box that will bolt on the MQ 5spd. The rear PTO box came off a fire truck. I have like 4 Nissan made MQ PTO winches too! I plan to run front and rear PTO winches on the Ute!

The project is a ways out from getting underway because I need to finish up my 83 Patrol first. But I have pretty much made up my mind on the build and the truck.

Here is a couple pictures of the Ute with the 35" Creepies on it....really flat old front suspension!

Oh yeah....and I plan to put duel t-cases in it using the divorced MQ LWB wagon t-case!

 

[RMP&O]

video of the Ute....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWLrFO7yQWU

 

[PaulnLou]

I cant wait to see what you do to this one. The other one is brilliant !

 

[HI HO]

Steering wheel conversion.....:driving:

 

[Swerve]

That is so uncool lol, They have even done pedal linkages.

 

[greeny_gu_ute]

looks great i'd love to get my hands on a g60 ute.
Any updates

 

[MQTray]

"Subscribed!!"

Bring it on! Sorry the MQ is being pulled apart to do so!

 

[RMP&O]

I am working on restoring a 1964 Patrol right now and it is pretty far along. As soon as it is done I will be bringing the Ute into the shop and start on it.

Cheers

 

[RMP&O]

The Ute is coming into the shop soon!

The 64 Patrol restoration is far from done but is out of my shop for the most part and into another shop for completion.

The donar trucks are an 83 MQ Patrol and an 84 MK Patrol.

I have decided to set the suspension up with leaf springs and spring over axle. I will be using MQ stock leaf springs and will likely flip the rears around to gain a bit of departure angle. I have some OME add a leaves around as well as a brand new OME leaf pack for a 60-series Cruiser. So I have plenty of extra leaves around to play with, cut up and fit the the stock leaf packs as or if I feel it is needed. I think I may do a shackle reversal in the front, won't decide for sure until it is in the shop. I got a spare set of MQ axles laying here so basically clean blank housings to play with. I pretty much have all my suspension bracketry, ie new leaf hangers and shackle hangers, new perches for the axles, new shock towers for the front, some new shock tabs for the rear, new 5/8" u-bolts and new 3/8" leaf spring plates. Most all of this is from RuffStuff here in the USA. The shock towers are from a Ford F250, I used them before on a Cruiser and they will work sweet for this build. Not to mention they only cost $30!!

I will be rotating pinions up as needed and also plan to do a cut & turn on the front axle to set castor where I want it.

I think I will also be sticking with my plan to fit front and rear PTO winches. The rear is pretty much a no brainer since the truck is a Ute.

Fuel tank comes in the way of a stainless 20 gallonish cell I had made for my 83 Patrol. I am thinking mount it to the bed behind the cab.

I will be plating the frame as needed, cutting out the #2 cross member and like I say cutting off all stock suspension hardware welded to the frame by Nissan in 1977!

I got a vintage 1980's ARB bull bar in pretty good shape here. It is for an MQ but all I have to do to fit to is cut off the stock frame mounts and weld on new ones. I will also be modifying the bar to suit the PTO winch.

First order of business will be to strip the truck down the rest of the way. All that is left on the chassis is the body so it shouldn't take long. Right now the Ute has a MQ C200 rear axle under it (for rolling around purposes) and the stock C216 axle up front. I can have these out of the chassis in a few hours. I will then set up the axles, suspension and the MQ LHD steering box. I will also set the LHD firewall/dash on the chassis to make sure everything will work out well. After this it will be time to make engine mounts and gear box mounts. After that get the frame sand blasted and paint it up myself. Then reassemble the rolling chassis.

Cheers

 

[RMP&O]

The 84 Patrol donating the axle housings is in the shop! Time to work on pulling the motor and breaking down the truck. The motor is going in a different truck. But I am using the axle housings under this 84 and I got to break the truck down before pulling the 77 into the shop.

Cheers

 

[james008]

Sounds like both this and the cruiser will be awesome trucks.
You have to be tempted to stick that SD in the '77 though....

 

[Heavensent]

Very interested to see final product.

 

[Boo]

Awesome sounding plans mate! Keen on some pics when done.

 

[RMP&O]

Sounds like both this and the cruiser will be awesome trucks.
You have to be tempted to stick that SD in the '77 though....

Well ya....but the new SD33 needs to go into another truck that will be my flag ship. The Ute is more of a weekend basher so a good old stock SD33T will suit it well.

Pulling the bling motor from the 84 Patrol.

and the 84 ready to be chopped up into pieces!

Shouldn't take long now to gut the 84. A half case of beers, the sawzall and some loud music and it should be a done deal!

Cheers

 

[Jimmy07]

Everything is fine but the steering swap is really strange. i haven't see anything like that before. I don't know that how can someone drive like this. that really funny but nice try. But the drives are looking very good thanks for sharing guys and I am waiting for see the final photo of your project "RMP&O".

 

[RMP&O]

Start....

Finish....

Found this nasty looking Aussie spider under the hardtop, or what is left of him that is...

Glad this thing is long dead...

More Aussie nasties....

This was yesterdays work, today I start cutting up the body and frame on the 84 Patrol.

Cheers

 

[Squalo]

If you found that part of the spider be really careful - they shed their carapace each time they grow bigger. The thing could be huge by now and one bite can kill in minutes. They are sneaky buggers too and really good at waiting in ambush when they hear noise, like breathing - yep, they have awesome hearing too.

The mud stuff is from the spider, it catches deadly wasps and walls them up to eat later when there's no humans to feed on.

Oh, nice work so far, keep it up

 

[RMP&O]

If you found that part of the spider be really careful - they shed their carapace each time they grow bigger. The thing could be huge by now and one bite can kill in minutes. They are sneaky buggers too and really good at waiting in ambush when they hear noise, like breathing - yep, they have awesome hearing too.

The mud stuff is from the spider, it catches deadly wasps and walls them up to eat later when there's no humans to feed on.

Oh, nice work so far, keep it up

haha...nice try mate!!

Huntsman spider - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I didn't find any more Aussie nasties but did get the 84 Patrol nearly stripped to a rolling chassis. Got about $1.50 in Aussie change and a few .22 rounds.

Cheers

 

[Jelmer160]

To bad another 160 in the US is killed....

But good work on the Ute!

 

[RMP&O]

To bad another 160 in the US is killed....

But good work on the Ute!

It is being put to use, what is worth using that is. The body on the 84 MK was pretty well farked. There was the obvious rot but I found some other very deep rooted rot while tearing it down. Not worth saving and I didn't import the truck to the USA to save, rather to scrap for parts.

I am thinking I am going to do a shackle reversal on the front axle, just like you did on yours. I like the shackle hanger being sleeved through the frame to keep the truck lower. It is easy to get to tall with a SoA. So I may have some questions for you soon!

Cheers