Not a Bruiser, but you may find it interesting

[mettisse]

A fellow overlander who is a good friend favours Nissan Patrols, and recently has had to rebuild his truck, (we had a very successful trip a few years ago to Morroco, me in the Bruiser and he in the Patrol) . About a year ago the 4.2 turbo diesel motor gave up, ( don’t know why, yet) Nissan motors are long life jobs so it was unexpected, looking around he found a Mazda Rotary engined vehicle that someone had shoehorned a GMC V8 into, cheap enough to buy and put the engine into the Nissan, seeds sown, off he went and got the Mazda. Now Steve is a bit of a tradesman and after putting his hard experience into the Mazda, tidying up etc, he decided it was nice enough to keep, it is very quick and comfortable. With that, falls in love with V8 and promptly buys another V8 and grafts it into the Nissan, a conversion bell house kit from Oz made that part a bit easier, He painted it himself and it’s in a pseudo works colours for the early Paris Dakar with a few of the right stickers etc. I love the vehicle, what’s your thoughts, hopefully the pics follow. (The supercharger was added as it was bought “ good value” ie cheap off the net, ) Forgot to say the Mazda has an LPG kit on it and returns the equivalent of 35mpg, pretty impressive eh? And the Patrol doesn’t, I would love a restoration on my Bruiser as good as this, bearing in mind this is now his daily driver, and when we are able will be his overlander.
what makes this build so remarkable is he did all the mechanical work, welding himself, the stainless exhaust was built from components off the auction sites, in fact everything that was needed is off the net. ( and to a budget) However thank goodness we have a pal who dabbles with electronics and he ” sorted” the ECUs and new engine wiring loom. ( information gleaned from the net) Well, it started on the button, with the only “fault” being cured by adding a second fuel pump to assist the primary one. Then passed its MOT, straight through no advisories.

 

[frank rabbets]

Excellent!! The sort of builds I used to do back in 70's 80's. Such opportunities and skills are dying out now especially in this country. No digital cameras back then so I've only got the odd picture.

 

[tonytoyota]

Hi I like that I had one a long-term back it looking a lot of fun thanks for that .

 

[Shayne]

Every time i see a swb patrol i wonder if i'd ever have owned a cruiser had one come up for sale first and if i drove your mates truck i reckon i'd be ruined for life .

 

[Juddian]

How the heck has that Patrol stayed so rust free, or has it been extensively reworked, is the chassis brand new? to say i'm seriously impressed at the paintwork of chassis and body as well as the engine conversion work is an understatement.
Fantastic looking vehicle, but i wouldn't want the fuel bill.

Had Nissan not hobbled later Patrols by fitting only the 3 litre 4 pot for the UK i might well have plumped for a Patrol mesen.

 

[mettisse]

Not a new chassis, just cleaned with a wire brush ( electric of course) hand finished with Emery cloth etc, then spray painted, proper undercoat etc. The body had a little rust worm in the usual places for Patrols, you might might note he is single and if he wants to work on his truck to midnight , nobody cares or moans! For me the robust chassis is a winner and the big axles are legendary. Another point worth noting, when we were in the Sahara we swapped Co- drivers so we could get pictures of our own trucks, bearing in mind both the Bruiser and the Patrol had Old Man Emu Springs and shocks, BFG All Terrains etc. My own Co- driver said when he returned that the Bruiser was a more “civilised” ride for a passenger. I also prefer the constant four wheel drive, however , the Patrol is still a magnificent vehicle. Unfortunately he won’t do the same to my Bruiser, ( rebuild not the engine swap) He has another Toy, based on a R/R chassis, auto box, 300tdi, with all the upgrades drive shafts, lockers etc. a mix of series 2 and 3 body for the retro look, it has an extended 2 seat cab with slam (suicide?) doors , not a 4 seater, the space behind the seats for kit and tools, it looks brand fire new, he built that one about 2 years ago, when you see it you believe it’s a new car.

 

[Grimbo]

"you might might note he is single and if he wants to work on his truck to midnight , nobody cares or moans!"

;-) ;-) Explains a lot ;-) ....those were the days .

Building rally cars , driving rally cars , spending all my money on rally cars , bikes etc .....

Properly talented chap ....

 

[StarCruiser]

Nice work.
Nice space to work in.
Nice to have the time to complete the project.