Once upon a time there was an eBay listing for a Patrol located in Canberra, Australia. This Patrol was different from most of the other Patrols because not only was it a ute, it also had a full cargo bed instead of a flat tray. But what really made this Patrol different was that the cargo bed was longer than the others with cargo beds; it was a full 12 inches longer. It sits on a long wheel base frame.
Deeper research revealed that this extra long bed Patrol was only produced in 1979, which was the last year that the 60 series Patrol was manufactured. This meant that this Patrol model was only produced for one year. And the Date of Manufacture on this truck was September, 1979, making it one of the last 60 series made, period.
The Patrol was in seemingly good condition. It didn't appear to have much if any cactus/cancer rot in the body, the engine, body and interior appeared to be fairly unmolested. The mileage was 62,062 kilometers/38,563 miles; that's hardly even broken in. It had a shell/canopy on the cargo bed that might have been used for camping, it had an odd looking snorkel of sorts sitting on the right fender, it had a rear tow bar/bumper and of course it had the obligatory bull bar. These are the pictures from the Ebay listing:
I was never really interested in importing a Patrol from anywhere overseas, mainly due to the added costs and the overall hassle. But this Patrol kept calling to me, like the song of the mythological sirens. So many reasons not to bid on it: a) transportation - I wouldn't have a clue where to start, b) it was early January and funds were short due to Christmas spending, c) I really don't need another Patrol, d) I really don't need a right-hand-drive Patrol, e) what am I going to do with another Patrol, f) I already have too many Patrols - anyway, you get the point.
And still it kept gnawing at me, I couldn't get it out of my mind. And things started happening that were signs that it should happen. The listing wasn't getting any action, there were no bids on it, so chances were that it would go for a pretty low bid. The exchange rate was still strong in the US dollar's favor, so I would be saving $$$ that way. I got an unexpected year-end bonus from my employer. I started thinking about transportation and I remembered that my friend Marv, the owner of Spector Off-Road, had told me that he brings containers full of Land Cruiser parts over from Australia from time to time. So I called him. I asked him if he had any containers lined up to bring over from Oz, and he said yes!. He said that they were actually just starting to line one up, and that it would be loaded and ready in a few weeks. I asked him if by chance there would be room for a Patrol in that container, and he said he didn't know why not. So now my transportation just got a whole lot simpler; the truck could come in as used auto parts. No customs or DOT or brokers to deal with.
So I bid on and won the Patrol truck and the rest is history. There were some issues with Paypal because the seller was a new user but we got past that. Now I had to figure out how to get the truck from Canberra down to Melbourne where Marv's container was being loaded. I enlisted Swerve's help to get a better understanding of how things work down under. He talked to the seller and had a plan laid out for traveling to Canberra, driving the truck to Melbourne and traveling back to Sydney. He let me know what I needed in the way of paperwork to transfer ownership of the vehicle. I ended up using a transport service that the contact in Melbourne recommended, so Steve didn't have to burn up a weekend traveling all over the country.
About April I get a call from Marv telling me the container has arrived, please come get my Patrol.
As it happens we have a mutual friend that does the vehicle inspections for DMV. I have him meet me at SOR when I picked up the Patrol and he does the inspection then and there for me. Haha! Too easy! The Patrol is here, and I have the necessary paperwork to make the State of California happy and officially become the proud owner of this fine beast.There is a video on SOR.com of the container with the Patrol in it being unloaded. I can't link to it though. Fun stuff. It's on this page: http://www.sor.com/catSVindex.sor?backto=CATINDEX.sor Scroll down to the April 2009 Aussie container video.
So I hook up the auto trailer to the Titan and go pick up my prize. Before I loaded it on the trailer I took it for a brief spin up and down the street. It ran amazingly well. Here it is arriving at it's new home, half way around the world.
The monster H260 diff, in person:
Once I got it home I didn't do much to it right away, other than name it Ozzie. I removed the snorkel and the shell/canopy; California has registration issues for trucks with and without a shell/canopy. I fixed a couple electrical issues that was causing the battery to drain and removed the aftermarket gauges. I replaced the hoses and thermostat and flushed the cooling system, changed the engine oil. I tried to remove the shag carpet from the inside of the cab but that stuff is stuck on good, it will be there forever.
Love the tailgate chains.
Headers/extracters, a Stromberg carb power brakes with a dual master. I know, the brakes are nothing new for the Aussies but I had never seen it on a Patrol in person before.
A non-water protect distributor, and some sort of electronic ignition.
Sans shell/canopy.
Sans fender snorkel.
Ozzies' first video:
I decided to put the personalized 'RVR PTRL' license plate on Ozzie, which meant I needed to get it street legal so I could drive it. The tail lights had been mounted in the shell/canopy and I needed to remount them somewhere else since the shell/canopy was removed. The original brackets for the tail lights had been removed at some point prior. Looking at what I had to work with I determined that mounting the lights in the rear bumper was probably the best way to go, for visibility and preservation of the light assemblies. This decision required quite a bit of forethought and planning, so it took several months to accomplish. I finally mustered up the courage to cut holes in the rear bumper, which was surprisingly easier than I had expected. And now I have tail lights and a working license light. Woohoo! We're legal!
Ready to rock 'n roll!
I really, really love this truck. I have no desire whatsoever to fix any dents and holes drilled and have it painted; I like it just as it is. I has character this way. I will probably have the seats reupholstered for convenience sake. The hand brake needs attention, as usual, the speakers need rewiring, the steering is a little sloppy, but otherwise the things it needs are very minor. I want to use this truck as much as possible. Since I don't have the Titan any longer, this truck will be my only truck available. I used it the other day to bring a load of firewood up and it performed beautifully. I had to drop it into 4wd, and it went in without any gripes. The 4wd light on the dash even works!
I need to replace the Stromberg carb with something a little bigger - still trying to get the cable linkage for a VHA - to make highway driving a little better. If I can't get the linkage I need I might look into putting a Weber on it, if the linkage will work with the Weber. The Stromberg is pretty anemic on hills, which I live on. It's also very cold blooded - it really needs some good warm up time in chilly weather. Maybe I've just gotten used to driving fuel injected vehicles and have forgotten that carbureted vehicles need time to warm up.
I'm looking forward to getting some good use out of this old beast.
Woohoo! I had to round up some metric hardware yesterday, and today I installed the steps. The added bonus? I don't even need to do any clean up or paint on the steps because the patina matches Ozzie's existing color scheme already: black and rust. 
