Minion Missile - 1973 Colombian Patrol Project

Builds, refurbishments, restorations, upgrades

Postby RiverPatrol » Thu May 21, 2020 5:26 pm

Great, that means they'll bolt up to the frame. I would've sworn the box changed in the way it mounts in the later model. Where the shaft is different is at the steering wheel end, the splines are different. Many folks have wanted the early steering wheel on their '69 Patrol but it can't happen because of that. Of course, if you go with an earlier box you can always go with the earlier steering wheel.
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Postby Esteban » Thu May 21, 2020 8:27 pm

mad4hws wrote:The earlier version is different - it looks like it is two pieces whereas the later version is just one. I put the 1967 gearbox on my frame and it bolted right up. The steering shaft is cut, but it looks like it lines up and is angled identically to the later version.


The two part housing was a clever trick from Nissan to make only one box to be used on left hand drive or right hand. Only the bottom housing was different, and of course, the sector shaft inside.
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Postby mad4hws » Thu May 21, 2020 8:51 pm

Esteban wrote:The two part housing was a clever trick from Nissan to make only one box to be used on left hand drive or right hand. Only the bottom housing was different, and of course, the sector shaft inside.


That makes sense... I just wonder how you came to learn this. I'm sure there is a story there. If there was a category called "Patrol" on Jeopardy, I would not bet against you... or River.
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Postby Esteban » Thu May 21, 2020 9:37 pm

mad4hws wrote:
Esteban wrote:The two part housing was a clever trick from Nissan to make only one box to be used on left hand drive or right hand. Only the bottom housing was different, and of course, the sector shaft inside.


That makes sense... I just wonder how you came to learn this. I'm sure there is a story there. If there was a category called "Patrol" on Jeopardy, I would not bet against you... or River.


Thanks!

You're right, since there is a story behind. I have a spare main housing of the two part type steering box. The Nissan dealership in Ecuador, more than 35 years ago decided to get rid of the old parts inventory. Since I was friends with some of the guys there, they gave me a list of all the parts, and I found among a few other items, the steering box housing. I bought it for pennies on the dollar! just because of the bushings that are inside (easier to replace the housing than change the bushings) They are so well built that to this day I haven't use it. But going back to how I came to the conclusion that it was the same part, it was a deduction on my own, since once you see it alone, one side of the housing is a mirror of the other one, and the bearings and shims are the same on both sides, top and bottom so to speak.

Among other odd items I bought at that time, was a sector shaft for RHD models (a paper weight at the moment) and also got three tie rods (the short one) that were also for the RHD models, so they collected dust at the dealership. The only thing different from the LHD tie rods is the position of the grease zerk! And since you can dismantle them, I have used the guts to repair the long one! Also got them for pennies.
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Postby mad4hws » Thu May 21, 2020 10:11 pm

what a great story! Not only that, it's a testement to how well these things were built that they're now collecting dust in your shop all these years later. Thanks Esteban.
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Postby mad4hws » Fri May 29, 2020 5:56 pm

Box 1 of 2 showed up from the Show Me state today. So, let me show you what was inside:

7054

7055




Now what might be a little bit worn to some of you is pure gold to me. The most important thing is that the splines on the inside of the wheel look fantastic. Should mate up beautifully to box #2 when it shows up on Monday. In that time, Ann and I are going to work on filling those cracks and refurbishing the wheel with this stuff: (can you say Ronco? I think I may have seen Billy Mays pitching this as some point.....). I picked up two because there's a lot of voids to fill. We'll see how it works.
7056

Special shout out to CBlake who answered my APB and offered the wheel, the shaft and the gear in order to get the Minion Missile back on the road.
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Postby mad4hws » Sun May 31, 2020 6:16 pm

Today we started applying the plastifix. The directions first called for a deep cleaning of the wheel with soap and water and denatured alcohol. This turned the wheel sort of gray/white. A lot more cracks were visible once we did this. I'm glad we used the plastifix in stead of epoxy. With the needle applicator, it was able to penetrate really small cracks without having to open them up more with a dremel tool. It's similar to epoxy in that there are two parts to mix together, but it smells much worse - so be sure to be in a well ventilated space. After a couple of hours, we got the big cracks filled. I'm hoping that the epoxy primer paint will fill in a lot of the smaller cracks when we're ready to paint.

7057
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Postby mad4hws » Sun May 31, 2020 6:22 pm

We also got the shaft in today and started getting it cleaned up and ready for its new home. The first thing I did was to test fit it into the Patrol - It fit great, no issues at all.

Interestingly, the replacement shaft is 1 inch longer and narrower than the one it is replacing. So, the steering wheel will be 1" closer to the driver. I also need to order a new firewall grommet to accommodate the narrower shaft. This shaft also has a wire protruding from it, which I understand is for the horn. I didn't think about the turn signal assembly, but I think I need to put the turn signal assembly that goes with this shaft and not use the one I took off of the old shaft. I also need to figure out how to hook-up the horn as it is much different from the newer patrols. In the end, it will be worth it as the older style wheel has much more style than the later ones. :dance:
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Postby jwgreen » Sun May 31, 2020 9:05 pm

Looking good!!! Keep up the good work!! I might have an extra old style turn signal if you want it. I'll dig around for it tomorrow sometime.
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Postby RiverPatrol » Mon Jun 01, 2020 8:57 am

Interesting about the size differences. I didn't even consider the horn and turn signal differences. Adapting the early turn signal assembly might be tricky, the wiring is quite different due to the later models having hazard lights, the hazard lights run through the turn signal assembly. Of course the connectors are entirely different as well.
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