1969 Patrol, Take 2: Action!

[yitzac1990]

Spring over conversion? Any concern for drive line vibrations to to drive shaft angles?

I'm basically just gonna send it and see what happens lol. I had a Suzuki samurai with a spoa swap and unbalanced and crooked driveshafts (previous owner) and it definitely shook a lot, but it was just a toy, like the patrol will be. Once I get everything together and on the ground I will check angles and all that, and add shims if needed.

[mdawg4x4]

Spring over conversion? Any concern for drive line vibrations to to drive shaft angles?

I'm basically just gonna send it and see what happens lol. I had a Suzuki samurai with a spoa swap and unbalanced and crooked driveshafts (previous owner) and it definitely shook a lot, but it was just a toy, like the patrol will be. Once I get everything together and on the ground I will check angles and all that, and add shims if needed.

And it's not like you are going to be doing 75 down the interstate every day.

[yitzac1990]

back from vacation, and back to work. I took some measurements of the front spindle, hub, and caliper to create a 3d model to help with bracket creation:







I also put the front axle back on the patrol last night! big difference Id say!

[moore_rb]

honestly I think the v8 weighs less or the same as the P engine.

The P engine (and the chevy I6) actually weigh about 50% more than a SBC with iron heads.

Nissan 6: 640 pounds (Chevy inline 6 is just a few pounds lighter- about 630)
Iron head Chevy small block: 430
aluminum head Chevy: 400

regarding the springs- the perfect neutral stance for a SOA conversion is for the springs to be horizontal (zero arch) on flat ground, and for the spring rate to allow equal amounts of compression and droop travel. Any positive arch on the front springs at final ride height increases droop travel, and decreases compression travel, which results in increased likelihood of bump steer.

and this geometry should really be set with your final powertrain choice all mocked up in the vehicle

[yitzac1990]

and this geometry should really be set with your final powertrain choice all mocked up in the vehicle

yes sir, the whole drivetrain (engine, trans, TC) is in and set already.

[yitzac1990]

the rear SPOA swap is done. I had the axle out, welded, and back in in about an hour, much easier than the front. The axle shafts are currently out because the hubs need to be turned down a bit to fit the rear rotors for the disc brake swap. Also, does anyone have or know where I can get another rear axle nut lock washer? one of mine is a bit chewed up!

[yitzac1990]

the nissan patrol community is great...just ordered new parts for the rear: axle shaft nuts, axle shaft lock washers, inner and outer seals.

[yitzac1990]

i got the hard brake lines in tonight, from brake master cylinder to the frame rails. ordered some fittings and SS braided line to go to the axles. then of course have to finish the brake swap to finish off the rest of the line. Good progress though! I cant wait until I get to drive this thing.

One thing I find really weird about the Patrol, is that there is actually a lot of SAE fittings/hardware on this thing...

[Esteban]

...One thing I find really weird about the Patrol, is that there is actually a lot of SAE fittings/hardware on this thing...

That's one of the beauties of the Patrol. Everything is SAE in Patrols up to ~1977, when they switched to metric (a weird change for a few years of remaining production). There's probably a couple of other Datsun vehicles with SAE, since they built Austins in Japan that ended up being of better quality than the British ones.

The engine on the Patrol has an American soul. It's based on a 1938 Graham-Paige engine (flat) that later on in the 50s was modified by an American engineer into the overhead cam one that we have in ours.

[Flaggoni]

My 64 Datsun pickup (model L320) also is 99% SAE.
The 1200 cc engine also shares a few Austin-like parts.
Our Patrols do have a few metric fasteners, mostly on electrical accessories.
Mild Bill