Update! I found it fitting that the flatbed was an old Nissan UD turbo diesel. I am editing a vid of her driving up the flat bed ramp under her own power. Coming soon! Only 1 pic though.



Green is now tucked away in paint jail.

UPDATE 5/5/2012

Riter's sent Green over to Panorama Collision to pull the inner fender back into shape using their frame machine. I got a phone call from Riter's last night saying they had gotten the truck back, drove back from Panorama under its own power. They hung some sheet metal on it to make sure everything lined up correctly. Looks way better than it did! Job well done! Now it's time to fix up a small rust spot and install the new core support which I will be covering for you guys.

Here's some a couple pic's while we had it in the shop. One 4wd fender on the passenger side. Waiting on LF 4wd fender to arrive.

Outdoor pic from this past Sunday.


Starting on core support this weekend.

Well, Riter's got ahead of me and welded in the core support this weekend. No pics but Saturday I will. We are moving right along!

As of today. Core support is fully welded in. Inner fender rust hole has been patched up and both 4wd fenders have been hung. Riter's doesn't like the used hood I got for it. It's clean but does need some work to be nice. I have decided to go with a OEM new 86.5-1992 style hood with the faux scoops on the front. I set a 1987 Pathfinder honey comb grille on it and everyone was knocked out by how sinister it made the truck look.

Awesome to hear some progress!! Goin the 80's theme huh? Can't wait to see it done and painted up!

Need I say more?

Well I am going to anyway.


Sanded my first fender ever!

New 'old style' hood. Hurry there are only 18 of these left at the Nissan warehouses.


This is how it looked when I walked in at 9AM this morning before we got to sanding the fenders. They were able to fix the original door!!

Sweet!

Are they painting the whole truck or trying to feather new to old?

Budget says feather. I bet they do an amazing job though, it seems like top notch work is the only thing they know how to do.

OK...I'm sure you are tired of waiting

the truck is looking better each time!! I like the older style hood and grile!!

Nice progress, keep us updated.

I sanded the hood yesterday and my whole body aches today. Won't be taking up car sanding as a profession anytime soon.

The hood in factory primer.


After 2 hours with the DA sander. 120 grit to 220 finally using 320 grit. I also scuffed up the bottom of the hood because paint doesn't stick to shiny stuff.


If all goes to plan the paint should be done by this coming Saturday. I could be driving this thing again by mid June if I play my cards right.

Too bad you can't just clear coat that! Delorean truck.

Heath

Well a HUGE update is needed in here. Lots of forward progress in the last two weeks.

For starts the big news is the truck is painted and in my garage now. Riters Restoration (http://www.riterrestorations.com/) in East Rochester, NY did all the work. I towed her home using my 02 Frontier which never broke a sweat the entire 30mile trip.


Painted!




















This is where I might go with it. Still so many parts to get before I can drive it.


For all you Frontier fans, here's the tow rig.



And the most recent pic since she came home...


Went to the JY this afternoon to grab a right side bumper bracket. Well stupid me forgot the bring the right size socket so I wasn't able to score today. I did score a decent cowl with the mounting clips still attached, one clip on mine is missing. I got two cowl vents in excellent shape, most you find are cracked these days. Also grabbed 2 decent condition chrome power mirrors, they will be donated to Riters next Hardbody project. Grabbed some good condition hood bumpers and some radiator screws. Gonna get this show on the road. Next weekend I will return to the JY for round 2 of the 'right side bumper bracket'. Got to POR15 the core supt and paint the condenser.

Check lists are your friend.

That paint work looks awesome! The underside of that hood has more shine than anything in my fleet...

Heath

That was a surprise to me too.

Here's a pic after painting the condenser and reinstalling the cowl and all it's related parts.


Hung a parking lamp for reference/brainstorming.

Looks awesome!!

Agreed on the paint. It looks good.

Thanks guys! Getting ready to paint the core support with POR15.

Painted with POR15.


I am now in the reassembly stage but I have no pics of it yet. I ordered a right side bumper bracket from Dorschel Nissan this afternoon. That should be here tomorrow. Every couple days I switch the front grille with one of the many different styles I have collected and I think I am most partial to the original 1986.5 2wd grille the most. I have so much trouble deciding because they all look good to me.

Quick update:

I have been installing removed parts all week. Too much to list so here's a pic. I was going to go Pathy front but decided to go 1986.5 2wd front.

Aww man so no pathy front end? The truck is looking really nice!

Honestly I am still partially on the fence. I haven't committed either way yet. In some lights it looks great in others it looks awkward. I wish I could make up my mind.

Flushed, mounted and refilled the radiator with all its fittings. Also finished fitting out the core support, lots of clips and I am so glad I kept the old one to use as a reference. I also did a minor swap to a 1996 Hardbody intake resonator. It eliminates the baffle box on the left front inner fender well so it's kind of a pseudo OEM cold air intake. The baffle box was to keep intake noise down. I don't expect any power gains from this. Lastly, I love the ITT racetrucks of the late 80's. I had an extra 'NISSAN' laying around so I used it.



Still waiting on bumper, headlight buckets, inner fender splash shields and from there it should be on the road.

Another update.

I test fitted the front 4wd flares and the fitment is excellent. I am just missing a few clips to properly secure them. I couldn't leave it alone though as I had to see what it looked like with the official wheels and tires on it. Still waiting on funds to get the bumper and headlight buckets. It's driving me nuts how slow money is coming in these days.

Any here's a few pics.






Thanks for looking!

The truck looks amazing!! Im jealous

The truck looks amazing!! Im jealous

Woah long time since update. Well in a nutshell check the latest Nissan Sport Mag, my truck was selected as Truck of the Quarter and is on page 6. From deer to magazine, this truck has had quite the ride. And this is only the beginning!

Congrats on the magazine feature!