Suitable motor swap alternatives

[Surfamtn]

Hello all,

I'm looking for suggestions on replacement motor options for a '66 Patrol.

Brand new on the forum here. Forgive me if this has been exhaustivey covered before and thanks in advance for directing me to those threads. (quick search didn't net me this information)

My wife's family has a pair of Patrols that have been sitting for some time since her dad passed away. One is a '61 that I believe is mostly original motor and drive train. It is a classic "ran fine when parked 14 years ago" story. This one will stay with another family member and I hope it to be back running soon.

The other is a '66 (we think) that was aquired 25 years ago as a parts car for the '61 mentioned above.
This one I would like to restore as a daily driver for my wife, she learned to drive in the '61 patrol and has significant sentimental attachment to these trucks. The body of this truck is in reasonable shape, the interior needs a full resto, and the reason for my post here is that it only has a lower half of the I6 motor is present, I assume the trany is intact but can't be sure right now.
Ideally I would like to swap in a more modern motor, ideally with EFI. Open to all reasonable options, GM, Toyota or other later model Nismo would be fine. Maybe a turbo V6?

This truck will need to be able to cruise highway speeds, won't really be an off road vehicle but the four wheel drive will be used on snowy roads in Colorado.
This will be a frame off ground up resto, and I think it makes sense to use some type of overdrive gearing in the rebuild.

[RiverPatrol]

Welcome to 60Patrol!

There really isn't a standard go-to engine for a swap in a 60 series Patrol. There have been several tried, but other than possibly an Australian mod I don't know of any that are reliable/successful enough to be daily drivers. Anything you attempt will be totally custom.

Here are a couple of current projects: Rawml's build and 2869ral's build. There is one that had a SD33 diesel and an auto trans put in it, but the owner was disappointed with the performance and the 4WD didn't work..

[Surfamtn]

Thanks much, I will look this builds over and.... Of course.... Post more rudimentary questions here.

Is anybody doing a whole fJ40 body swap? Meaning Patrol body on a running Toyota chassis and drive line?
I'm sure that's blasphemy to this group, but I really need to explore all options before I get started.

[RiverPatrol]

Haha! Don't let ferdy hear you say that.

It's probably been done, I don't know of one though. I've seen an FJ40 engine in a Patrol, and a few with FJ40 rear axles.

[L60Boerne]

Not shy of discussing topics I have no first hand knowledge of....allows me to offer the following. First, my wife drives 80 as often as 40 mph. Based on my experience do you really want your wife driving a 66 Patrol 75 or 80? Her tolerance for high road noise must be equaled only by her tungsten plated nerves. I'd think it would be like riding a lion. But... if you, as a family, agree that lion riding is your thing then one of my mechanics gave me a Texas guarantee that he can put an LS motor into your Patrol. He just put one into a Nissan sedan (sky something or other) with total success. Patrols to paradise, L60Boerne

[sjsharpe]

Saw this this thread looking for LS in a 60 Patrol info. Swapping an aluminum block LS in my 67 l60 and was wondering if anyone else had done it. For the Colorado guy looking for a drive line, I have a complete 67 drive line with under 18,000 miles I want to sell and I am in Colorado. Let me know if you are interested and also has anyone done an LS swap yet? Thanks

[Johnny Roadkill]

Personally I like to keep a Nissan with a Nissan engine...I'm going to ignore the FJ chassis-swap idea

Lately I've been dreaming about Nissan / UD truck diesels...namely the FD46 ( 4.6L inline 4 ), FD6 ( 5.7L inline 6 ) and FE6 ( 6.9L inline 6 ), with or without turbo. Not sure if they were sold in the US, and I have yet to go to the truck wrecker and get measurements - but there are 6-speed wide-range boxes ( MLS61/62 ) that go with them which have a 6.7:1 first gear - which would make transfer case crawler gears obsolete even with big tires - and a 0.74:1 6th for cruising...not sure about mating the gearbox and transfer, more research to be done there, but I have read of people dropping an FD6 into old Land Rovers so it should be possible...

I digress, it doesn't sound like they would suit your needs though - how about a VG30DET from a Nissan Cima ? Nissan Pathfinders were sold in Australia with a VG30/VG33 and would have a matching gearbox and transfer to retain 4wd ( not sure about diff center offset ) ? I used to see JDM Nissan Leopard front-cuts in wrecking yards for peanuts ( 4.1L V8 and 5-spd auto ) ? I'm assuming the Nissan Altima is sold in the US, if not with that badge ( modern V6 ) ?

ok, enough dreaming, back to work...
cheers,
D

[Grenadier]

Saw this this thread looking for LS in a 60 Patrol info. Swapping an aluminum block LS in my 67 l60 and was wondering if anyone else had done it. For the Colorado guy looking for a drive line, I have a complete 67 drive line with under 18,000 miles I want to sell and I am in Colorado. Let me know if you are interested and also has anyone done an LS swap yet? Thanks

I'm in the midst of of an LS-1 swap right now. When I got my Patrol it did not have the original engine, so it wasn't as blasphemous .

I'm mating the LS-1 to a 700r4 transmission and NP242 transfer case.

Still have plenty of work to do, but happy to share my experiences so far.

And btw, I'm in Longmont.

-Wade

[Grenadier]

Hello all,

I'm looking for suggestions on replacement motor options for a '66 Patrol.

Brand new on the forum here. Forgive me if this has been exhaustivey covered before and thanks in advance for directing me to those threads. (quick search didn't net me this information)

My wife's family has a pair of Patrols that have been sitting for some time since her dad passed away. One is a '61 that I believe is mostly original motor and drive train. It is a classic "ran fine when parked 14 years ago" story. This one will stay with another family member and I hope it to be back running soon.

The other is a '66 (we think) that was aquired 25 years ago as a parts car for the '61 mentioned above.
This one I would like to restore as a daily driver for my wife, she learned to drive in the '61 patrol and has significant sentimental attachment to these trucks. The body of this truck is in reasonable shape, the interior needs a full resto, and the reason for my post here is that it only has a lower half of the I6 motor is present, I assume the trany is intact but can't be sure right now.
Ideally I would like to swap in a more modern motor, ideally with EFI. Open to all reasonable options, GM, Toyota or other later model Nismo would be fine. Maybe a turbo V6?

This truck will need to be able to cruise highway speeds, won't really be an off road vehicle but the four wheel drive will be used on snowy roads in Colorado.
This will be a frame off ground up resto, and I think it makes sense to use some type of overdrive gearing in the rebuild.

Just basing this on my own experience, but if you're looking at an engine and transmission swap, you should probably look at an axle swap while you're at it (and note the slippery slope this quickly becomes). This is what I am doing and along with the LS-1 and 700r4, I put a dana 30 up front and a Ford 8.8 in the rear. But I'm planning on a little more off-roading than you're talking about doing and wanted a beefier rear axle and 4-wheel disc brakes.

The Dana 30 (front) and 35 (rear) from an early 90's Jeep XJ are within a half inch of the stock Patrol axles and would at least give you disc brakes in the front (and an easier disc brake conversion for the rear). And, I would think, give you/your wife a little more peace of mind at highway speeds. The LS-1 maybe overkill in terms of power for how light the Patrol is, so you could certainly do a different engine and transmission/transfer case package. Also note that changing to those axles most surely means new wheels as these are 5 lugs at 5 on 4.5 (see what I mean by slippery slope?).

[sjsharpe]

I was thinking the Nissan axles are probably strong enough for a daily driver. Problem with the right drop rear axle is I am limited to a Dana 18 or Toyota split case. Those are old transfer cases now, some are 70 years old, and most for sale had a lot of abuse.

I think the way to go is an AX-15 5 speed with a Dana 300 gear driven case. They are 'only' 30 years old so I think I have a better chance of getting a good case. They are short and the adapter is only 1" thick. Then I will use an Isuzu Dana 44 rear. They are same bolt pattern and close in width. Or a Hard body 233 axle which is super strong.

As far as the LS in a Nissan, figure since they get double the mileage and have double the power and weigh 300lbs less - I have an aluminum block 5.3 - how bad can it be. And someone can get a neglected Patrol back on the road with my low mileage drive train. 1 more old Patrol running around would be great. I have seen a couple parked beside houses, behind barns, on trailer, etc but I have never seen another one on the road moving under it's own power in Colorado.