60Patrol

Hi fellas,

Have a third generation patrol my grandfather bought new in 1979 that was my dads, used for their business and to go camping in it and after wrangling with thoughts of buying a safer, more comfortable and less lethal thing for less than what it will cost me to rebuild, I decided to do the smart thing and rebuild the patrol.
Step one, buy a wrecker to start accumulating a pile of parts of which only 1-3% I'll need/will cost about the same to source new repro stuff somewhere.

Step two, get a parts list together of the needies so I don't you know, die, and will get me past Aus' tyrannical road worthy demands

Wheel cylinder set $151.95
R Wheels seals $93.15
F Wheels seals $67.95
F Brake linings $136.81
R Brake linings $144.31
Brake master cylinder kit $108.42
Clutch master cylinder kit $70.25
Carby kit $74.83
Points
Plugs
Fuel pump kit
tyres

... and this is without going in to the thoughts of the what if for motor and trans. It runs so initial thoughts are to keep it all stock and man up to the shitty economy and lack of synchro on 1st.

Here's some more photos to keep entertainment to follow with more questions...
They'd better load as that was some dicking around resizing them...

Anyway,

a) is it worth the (naughty word) around for the economy to replace 3 sp with a 4 or 5 (I know there's info on here but it's dense and I'm a bit lazy deducing exactly what I need out of it...) and the salient feature is 3rd is still 1:1 so it's just wider gaps and a decent final drive ratio

b) what can I do to make a slightly lazy but good potential P motor more fun without blowing it up (headers, exh, increased comp) but first things easyish, is there any easier mods besides exhaust? See above, lazy and pretty clueless so any pointers would be appreciated.

c) brakes. shit. suggestions?

Cheers fellas!

Welcome to 60Patrol!

You made the right decision to rebuild the Patrol. It looks to be in pretty good condition. If all it really needs is some mechanical work, you're already ahead of the game. You're fortunate in that you can source everything you need locally without having to order overseas. Big plus.

What do you plan on using it for? That's something to consider before deciding to swap motor and trans. My '79 ute has a custom built 4 speed in it, but 4th is still 1:1. I can cruise on the highway comfortably at 70 - 75 MPH/112 - 120 KPH. It does have a few added features that make that possible: Stromberg carby, extractors, electronic ignition, tall 235's. Here is the thread on it: Ozzie

Swerve has a great write-up on his '78 ute, HellPatrol. He documents traveling and towing with the stock motor and a Marks 5 speed. Here is the thread: HellPatrol

Brakes, done right are totally adequate for the Patrol.

Hope this helps narrow down some searching for you. Keep us posted on your progress.

Thanks for that mate, had had a flick through the Hellpatrol thread, cool back story with yours too.

I had plans for replacing the motor and gearbox with this that and the other. There's the dellow, marks and CRS conversion kits (basically mounts and still a bit of mucking around to get things to fit) that put old falcon, valiant and I think they had some for the holden 4.2l v8. Likewise, have seen a couple of the threads on here regarding the changes that need to be made putting 4 & 5 sp boxes in. I did work it down to meh, the P motor is thirsty but fine, maybe a bigger fuel tank, interesting to see the HP angle on that one and maybe change the box, though that is a bit of work...

So, on the general use thing, it will be a firewood, camper, occasional tower and weekender. Considering the 3sp is still 1:1 in top, the brakes will be getting rebuilt anyway and the motor is in good nick... I'm sorting of steering towards a keep it original resto because it won't be used daily, all the rough old bits add to the charm and with the wrecker car, I'll be getting a new P that at least still turns and 2 3 sp gearboxes that still worked (as of 10 years go!)

I figure get it on the road as cheap as possible, doing it sort of right/not completely road kill, and slowly improve it as bits annoy me.

So I'll start having a look at the parts section on here and will keep the thread updated as it (slowly) comes together (which won't be any particular hurry as the car is presently about 6000km away!) Once it's all together, the plan will be a big East Coast road trip from North Queensland to Tasmania.

Welcome to 60patrol. I like that body style.

Another G60 moving to Tassie

Hah, eventually!

On another note, my wrecker has arrived at where the build will happen. It literally broke in half on the way there (knew it was snapped) but the motor turns, it has two spare boxes, glass and some other bits. Waiting to get some info from my equally lazy old man (he's not, I'm a lot lazier).

Next step is sacking up blowing the $1k or so to commit to the whole thing. After that the when is next.

Oh and Mdawg, agree, it's classic Aussie pragmatism, born of fusion of American engineering, capital and Australian needs by Ford in about 1932 iirc - the uterus. Edit, had to google it and wiki delivers as always - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle)

We don't have much to give the world besides iron ore and drunk yobbos but the ute is something we can at least claim a hand in. In fact it's a big reason behind building this. I need a ute because a) Strayan and b) to do all of that stuff only a tray back utility does, from dumps to skids to camp.

So, the parts car developed a nice aesthetically pleasing crease on the way home. Herman (after the German I bought it off who told me the chassis was snapped) has seen better days and as such, a proper $100 wreck it is. With a motor and two gear boxes and other things like decent clutch master cylinder stuff. So, original build it is!

Also, Michael, sorry, no cab stuff for you. Looks pretty borked.

Dad stripped the tray off to have a proper look at the chassis. Hit it with the high pressure hose, a bit of surface rust but should be no dramas to rwc. Looks bad arse like that without it, just needs some slightly bigger not split-rim rims and want to get the headers and exhaust sorted too after looking at the build of that epic blue one on here... Will keep track of how much it all costs and little I have to spend to get/keep it going.

G'day mark,

Great to hear a bit's going on with the project, I wouldn't bother about surface rust on the chassis at all, my 1970 SWB chassis is all surface rust and passed no worries. Surface rust is found on almost 99% of unrestored g60's chassis regardless of where you live of come from. Surface rust doesn't effect the strength of the steelon the chassis as its only surface rust, on the other hand if its scaly rust then its a fail for a RWC.

As for the parts rig, Whoa !! Heck that chassis must of been stuffed to end up like that, don't know how a chassis could snap that badly without rust effecting the strength, cab looks relatively good for what it is, unfortunately not so much now

Id love to see a few pics of the snapped chassis that's made a g60 into a dogs breakfast

That is definitely one for the archives.