60Patrol

Here is another project I am working on. This is a 1967 Patrol from Colorado. I was contacted last fall by a man living in Colorado who had inherited two Patrols. A 1964 and a 1967. He wanted to do a restoration on the 1964 Patrol. Not long after both trucks arrived at my shop.

Both trucks were originally sold in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Odd enough, the spring before this (May 2014) I had gone down to Glenwood Springs to pick up two Patrols, both 66's. So that is a total of four Patrols at our shop, all originally sold in Glenwood Springs! Now the 64 had spent the last 40+ years in Aspen, serving as a snow plow for the original owner's driveway. It was very low mile and had a full engine rebuild back in the 1970's. When the engine was rebuilt the truck received a new speedo, mileage since rebuild is only 5700 miles! This Patrol has approximately 35,000 original miles on it. The 64 Patrol came with a 67 that was a parts truck, it lacked only an engine. Both trucks were originally hardtops but the 64 had a soft top frame on it. It has been decided that the hardtop will not be restored and the Patrol will become a soft top.

Now this project we have a defined "budget" and are doing our best to stay within that budget. The idea, concept and desire of the owner is simply a very nice Patrol that can be used, be it fun Sunday drives or nice tours in the mountains. This is a "light" restoration and won't be heavy on the detailing of the truck. The 64 Patrol engine runs pretty good but it does have a lot of leaks. Fuel tank is shot in it.

Here is the 64, still in snow plow form



mileage since engine rebuild



Here is the 67, it has been off the road at least 15yrs if not 20yrs. It is actually overall in really good condition.



The 67 shows approximately 23,600 miles, no idea if it ever rolled over.



At some point the seats in the 64 were recovered, they are still in good condition.



Here is the 64's motor, it doesn't look that good for only having 5700 miles on it but then again that was 40 some years ago!





Floor pans in the 64 were toast but pretty solid (better than solid) in the 67



The "Iconic" Patrol windshield



The 67 has original Koito headlights! Have not checked them yet to see if they work, we are of course hoping they do!





Good condition on the 67



Not even a crack in the steering wheel



After I cleaned up the 67



Some goodies that were found in the 64





really nice bulkhead on the 67



original dealership emblem on the back of the 67



This is from the other pair of Glenwood Springs Patrols, were there two Datsun dealerships in Glenwood Springs back in the day!?



Our plan obviously is to make one good Patrol from the two. So, the project begins!



these old studded tires have steel studs, not sure how long it has been since you could get those



The 64 is pretty rusty so it fought me during tear down.





After that it was time to tear down the 67















Cheers

After tear down it was time to clean up these two rolling chassis. I rented a very nice Hotsy hot water pressure washer and went to town on the trucks.





This drivetrain had close to a 1/2" of funk on it before cleaning







Here is the before picture



With the two chassis clean it was time to go to work on the trucks. The 64 had the snow plow on it when we received the truck. There were a couple of nasty plates welded to the frame on the front frame "horns". I removed these plates not knowing what I would find....















Not sure how well you can see it but the snow plow caused some serious damage to the frame at one point. It busted the frame on two sides on one of the horns and on the other it buckled and collapsed. It was repaired, hence the nasty plates but it was not a very good repair. The frame here is compromised, the damage occured right at the leaf spring shackle hanger. This is going to take a fair amount of work to make it strong again and look like original. In addition to this damage there is another part of the snow plow mount farther back on the frame that did more damage. Large holes were drilled through the frame to mount the plow and the rails around the holes are collapsed. That is a real bummer and increases repair time and costs even more. The owner was informed of all this, sent pictures and given options. In the end to keep cost down and stay on track budget wise it was decided to not use the 64's frame and use the 67's since it is in much better condition. That means this Patrol will not be a numbers matching truck, but hey this stuff happens sometimes when trying to restore these old trucks and tough decisions sometimes need to be made.

So, I went to work on the 67 and tearing it down to a bare frame. This was one of only about 4 bolts on the entire truck that gave me any problems. The 67 actually came apart really easily. In fact it took me 10 less hours to tear it down compared to the 64 due to not being badly rusted and rotten.









Even though the 67 has a really nice frame there are still a few repairs needed.









Cheers

So time to start doing repairs to the frame.

















Did a little sand blasting to give me some clean steel to work with





weld through primer



3/16s plate for reinforcement



patches welded in



ground back to give a smoother surface with no rough edges for the dirt, mud and funk to cling to



patches as seen from the outside, still a little work to do





nearly finished cross member



Cheers

The 64 was stripped of it's motor, trans, t-case, drivelines and axle shafts. I found that new front wheel cylinders had been installed in the truck which is excellent.





harvesting parts for rebuild, all parts have been through the parts washer





Axle tubes were cleaned out on both the front and rear axle





more parts harvesting



The 64 had these very funky but kind of cool Husky hubs. These are rare, only set I have ever seen on a Patrol





bought some NOS Selectro hubs for the project





and these NOS fog lights



That is about it for now and where I am on the project. The frame is about done, after I complete the repairs the frame can go for sand blasting. Right now a large order of parts is being waited on including, bearings and seals to rebuild the trans, t-case, front and rear axles as well as lot's of other misc parts. New leaf springs from Alcan are also in the works. Body has been prep'ed for the body shop, every single nut, bolt and bracket removed for all the body pieces.

I hope you enjoy this build and follow along!

Cheers

RMP&O wrote: were there two Datsun dealerships in Glenwood Springs back in the day!?

No - I worked in Glenwood Springs for a summer back in 1991, doing civil surveying when the tunnels on I-70 west of town were being built. Fischer Motors was still there when I lived there- It was a used car dealership, so I imagine that Patrol had probably been a trade-in/resale at some point. I don't recall Dick Wheeler Motors, But I passed by the Fischer dealership every day on my way to and from work...

And, Ya just HAD to throw in a picture of those infamous Ebay fog lights, didn't ya...



That was a great score...

An odd thing on both the 64 & the 67 is the rear axle shaft on the short side. Both are seized in the bearing cage with the backing plate on there too. Bearings are wasted in both short side shafts too. Both long sides popped out real easy but the short sides and seized up badly. Never had this problem before but I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later. I did manage to get one of them apart today, here was my method.



Wouldn't fit in my freezer with the backing plate on it. So I went with the ice. You probably can't tell in this next picture but the axle has popped free of the bearing cage. We let a loud HELL YA and gave a few high fives when it popped loose. Had both rear short sides in and out of the press 4-5x and soaking in penetrating oil for days with no luck. Bit of ice is all it took.



In case you didn't know, the backing plates on the rear axle are universal. On the front axle they are not.

Cheers

moore_rb wrote:

RMP&O wrote: were there two Datsun dealerships in Glenwood Springs back in the day!?

No - I worked in Glenwood Springs for a summer back in 1991, doing civil surveying when the tunnels on I-70 west of town were being built. Fischer Motors was still there when I lived there- It was a used car dealership, so I imagine that Patrol had probably been a trade-in/resale at some point. I don't recall Dick Wheeler Motors, But I passed by the Fischer dealership every day on my way to and from work...

And, Ya just HAD to throw in a picture of those infamous Ebay fog lights, didn't ya...



That was a great score...

Hey that is awesome info on the Fischer Motors. So I am still betting Dick Wheeler was there and was a Datsun dealership but who knows. Somewhere I may have a brochure that on the back lists all the Datsun dealerships in the USA at that time. If I don't have it I know I have seen it before. All four Patrols are supposed to have always been around Glenwood Springs and Aspen. For sure the 64 has always been in the area since the 60's.

All I can say on the fog lights is Leslie made a post, the guy had like 5 or 6 sets of them.

Cheers

Looking good. That Dick Wheeler badge is amazing! Please tell me it's going back on when done??

miller wrote:Looking good. That Dick Wheeler badge is amazing! Please tell me it's going back on when done??

x 2

X3

My 65 has one of those cast steel dealership badges as well, from Roger Mauro's long-gone Chrysler/Datsun dealership in Denver. I'm definitely going to re-mount it.