[Swero]

Hi all!

My name’s Rob, I live in Belgium and I’ve got a Patrol 260 from 1988 with a SD33T engine, which I’m currently restoring. Mechanically it was in pretty good nick but it had quite some rust. I started working on it back in February and have accomplished the following things so far:

• Chassis has been blasted and repainted
• Engine has been repainted
• Brakes overhauled
• Installed a new clutch

I’m currently working on the body. As mentioned before it has quite somme rust so I’ve been welding heaps but I’ve (finally!) got the end in sight.

Keep you posted!

 

[bigcol]

I like your rims - very different and cool.........

 

[james008]

Nice work mate. Always good to see one more being saved.

 

[Swero]

So, first started with dismantling the car. Took off the canopy, seat carpets etc.

Then removed the engine and gearbox.

 

[Swero]

Currently I'm doing some bodywork but the whole botom is covered with a kind of rubber. Does anyone have an idea on how to remove it? I tried with a wirebrush on the grinder but it takes a lot of time as it gets soft and smeared out. Also used a heatgun and chisel to scrape it off but this is difficult in the corners.

 

[james008]

I have what sounds like a similar crap underneath one of my Patrols, and I am dreading having to remove it.
Everything I have read suggests it will be a lot of effort. Apparently a needler attachment for an air compressor will work if its a harder setting coating, I have also heard of using wire wheels on a drill or grinder, chemicals such as paint stripper, acetone, kerosene etc, using a heated paint scraper or heating the coating then scraping, chisel and hammer or even dry ice and a hammer.

Good luck.

 

[Swero]

It indeed was a lot of work, next time I'll think twice😜.
The pneumatic needle gun was the best option. When worked on the 'rubber' it became kind of soft and could be peeled off. Small corners and edges could also be reached. Unfortunately it didn't work on all spots, especially those where there was also some kind of tar on the body. When the layer was thicker, I first used the grinder with a wire wheel or a scrape. Sometimes it also would help when it was heated up with a burner. The last bits could be removed with thinner or WD40 and a rag..

Before

During

After

I removed all support beams by drilling out the spot welds. Then removed all rust and put a primer on. Next is to paint it all in a 2K-epoxyprimer and stone chip paint.
I also did a lot of body repair but will save this for another post😉.

 

[james008]

Great work, that looks excellent.
I spent more than enough time under my wagon with a grinder, drill and paint scraper to prepare it for repainting, its a very tedious job.

 

[Ewan]

Great to see an vehicle brought back to life.
Looks like some serious effort is going into it

 

[Swero]

So last weekend I sprayed the underbody in epoxyprimer and applied seam sealer. Today I applied black stonechip, I used Gravitex from Upol and was verry happy with the result. I have been doing weldjobs and cleaning for the last 2 months, it's so nice to finally see the result.

 

[Swero]

When I purchased the car, I did notice that the doorsteps and wheel arches were badly rusted.The doorsteps were actually half gone so they needed to be replaced, making some patches for the arches and just a bit of welding and ready for a paint job🤪. After removing the body from the chassis, it came clear there was much more rust than only those spots. None of the bodymounts were still intact so I needed to replace them as well.

 

[james008]

They are common rust spots on these old Patrols.
Have a good look around the firewall, radiator support, cabin intake plenum and roof if you have the roof liner out, particularly around panel joins and where dirt and water can collect.

 

[Swero]

So I decided to make some new ones.

Furthermore, I removed and replaced the front body and radiator mounts, bought new doorstep and welded them in, removed the supportbeams in the back, welded some patches,...

Then I applied some rust-convertor, anti corrosion coating on the weak spots, a 2K epoxy primer and finally stone chip coating as mentioned before. I think it will be rust-free for some years😜

 

[Swero]

They are common rust spots on these old Patrols.
Have a good look around the firewall, radiator support, cabin intake plenum and roof if you have the roof liner out, particularly around panel joins and where dirt and water can collect.

Yeah I know. I noticed a few spots but not to bad and hard to fix. I will probably just clean them up with a wire brush, if necessary weld it up, apply rustconvertor and seal it with seam sealer.

 

[Swero]

So, I spent the last weeks on removing the old paint and put the whole body in epoxyprimer. I sprayed the interior with rust protection paint.
The next step is to pull some big dents out. At the moment I'm still doubting on doing it myself or not. I actually don't have the right equipment for the job. This is what I tried with some smaller dents: to weld a little rod in the dent and pull it out but I wasn't satisfied with the result. I am also not sure yet about the colour, any suggestions?

Also started with fabricating a new exhaust

 

[Swero]

So, a few months passed by and a lot af work is done on the Patrol. Unfortunately, when I look back at my pictures, it doesn’t seem like much at all . Currently I’m working on the body, applying filler and sanding it down. A slowly and time consuming process.
I also cleaned the wire harness, gave it a good clean with water and soap, dried it with compressed air and sprayed it with contact spray. I already installed some parts but I don't know how the part to the back window (wiper motor etc) runs. Does it run through the hollow space of the body or beneath the carpet?
The inside of the cabin is coverred in butyl for sound deadening, next is to insulate it. I’ll probably use armaflex for this.

I restored the sidewindowframes by using a donor frame. It did work out really well.

 

[james008]

The wiring loom for the rear wiper etc runs under the carpet and the sill cover until the behind the door, then it is routed behind the cargo area trim panel.

 

[Swero]

Hi James,

Where the trim panel begins, there is an opening for the door switch I believe. Does the wire loom also cross the panel at this point?

 

[james008]

None of mine have a cut out or relief in the trim panel for the harness, it just runs in at the bottom of the panel.

Ignore the dirt and extra wiring in this photo, it's a car I haven't started work on yet lol.

 

[Swero]

Ok, now it's clear

I took advantage of the nice weather of the couple days to paint the engine bay.

I also put my girlfriend to work. She started to sew the interior panels and other parts.