67 Patrol On Top

fnoff · Apr 10, 2023

Hopefully this can stay in the Toyota section since everything underneath the body so far is Toyota and there is hardly any traffic in the Nissan section.. Long story short, I bought this 1967 Patrol on eBay a few years ago sight unseen for like $1500 and shipped it to Ohio from Minnesota. It came with a scout 44 front hacked in place and a fairly decent body minus a little rust. For some reason I couldn't bring myself to sell it and came across a 4 runner on marketplace I picked up for $900. So the plan is to use the Toyota frame/ axles and hopefully squeeze a 4.8/5.3, sm465/ 205 combo underneath unless I find a deal on something that catches my eye. Not really going crazy on this build but I'm also not going to hack it together.

I just started working on it last week and I'm probably going to forget everything I do along the way so I'm trying to document it so that doesn't happen. Anyways, this weekend I cut the body off, gave my buddy the 350/th350 combo that came in it, and stripped everything I didn't need off the frame. Tonight after work I step cut the frame, shortened it, and welded it out. Hoping I can get the body separated off the old chassis this week and fab up some new body mounts to get some of this shit out of my way.

fnoff · Apr 11, 2023

Got a little carried away tonight and set the body on the 4 runner frame. It fits okay... I need to play around with the rear shackle angle and body mount heights. I also feel like the 35s look way too small, but I will play around with it a little more this week. My buddy has a set of 39.5 I might mock up this weekend. The rear has a 2" block I want to pull out as well and trim the rear fenders to match the fronts a bit better. Guess I'll start tweaking things and see how it comes together. Any input would be appreciated. The Nissan has such a weird body shape the proportions are throwing me all off... lol.

Tech Tim · Apr 12, 2023

Cool build, keep at it!

00nissanguy · Apr 12, 2023

Thats awesome. Will be following along

NorCalJalopy · Apr 12, 2023

Awesome, my buddy had a patrol, we drove it around and pulled the axles. I’ve always wondered what happened to it. Keep the posts coming!

fnoff · Apr 12, 2023

After thinking about it all day I'm truly not sure why I even tried to use the 4 runner frame but whatever hindsight is 20/20. I hate the way it fits and by the time I try adjusting everything to fit I may as well utilize the stock frame. So, I'm going to clean the stock frame down to bare rails and start fresh. I'll probably work on that this weekend. I think I was just trying to save time which in turn made me realize it looked and fit like shit lol. Here's some nice fab work from the previous owner and the ride height I'm trying to achieve. The plan as of now is leafs all around unless I get crazy and decide to 3 link the front. Still deciding if I should run shackles in standard position or out front.

Projectjunkie · Apr 13, 2023

I get what you're saying about the proportions being funky and throwing you off. I'd say you're pretty close to that gray one as is, though looking at the sidewalls I'm thinking he's running 37s...

Cool build, keep it coming

Very jealous of your shop :smokin:

fnoff · Apr 15, 2023

Weather was nice today and didn't have any side work so I took the day to myself and decided to clean the stock frame up. Of course, I ran out of oxygen so I had to cut everything off with a grinder lol. There was so much shit welded on here from who knows when. I plan on putting the frame on casters so I can roll it with the body on it around my shop. Ideally, I would be able to set the frame close to ride height so I can build the suspension right off that without a bunch of messing around. Will try to figure out my ride height this week if the weathers shitty and set the body back on the original frame and order some suspension parts. Ive got YJ leafs and these Toyota leafs now so I' probably end up using either of those. I'm probably going to build all my mounts off the side of the frame instead of under it to save height and keep the stock front Toyota perches. I haven't measured anything too in depth yet. Here's some boring pics of the cleaned up frame lol

V30crewcab · Apr 23, 2023

sweet. I've got a 67 patrol now. my first 4wd was also a 67 patrol.

fnoff · Apr 23, 2023

Man it feels good getting some of this shit out of my way. Got the 4 runner frame all stripped and put the Patrol back on its original frame today. Really glad I went this route so I can have a fresh start. Going to order some leaf spring brackets and try to find a set of mockup 37s or 39s without paying a million dollars for them and see where it goes from there. Here's some pics