V8-powered Patrol walks tall on 35s and portals

Like many Australian four-wheel drivers, Craig Bartlett recognises that Nissan’s GQ and GU series of Patrols are some of the toughest, go-anywhere 4x4 vehicles ever made.

With big diffs, oversized gearboxes and sturdy chassis, these are almost the perfect vehicles for off-road travel anywhere you want to go in Australia.

We say almost as, while the TD42 engines are strong and reliable, they aren’t what you would call powerful, so motivating a heavily loaded Patrol with one is usually a slow affair. And let’s not even mention the many and varied smaller capacity engines Nissan once offered in these Patrols.

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Craig, or CB as he is known to most, saw the potential of a Patrol as the perfect bush tourer but also knew the weaknesses in them.

“Other than poorly designed engines, front hubs and rear semi-float axles, these are hands down the strongest and most capable road going four-wheel drive ever made,” Craig says of the Patrol. “I waited forever to find an example with no ABS in white, as I wanted the larger, more modern cabin of the GU over a GQ.”

Craig eventually tracked down a GU wagon that he describes as being “mint”, however it had a blown ZD30 four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine. But that didn’t worry him as he already had plans to do away with the Nissan powertrain.

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Craig didn’t just flick the Nissan engine and transmission, in fact the whole rear section of the Patrol wagon was lopped off and an extra-cab body was fabricated using a rear wall and window from a GU coil cab with custom side windows.

It’s a super neat conversion that gives 600mm of extra space in the ute’s cabin, enough to allow the fitment of a rear seat adapted from two-door Jeep Wrangler. The factory Nissan rear seatbelts were repurposed for the new rear seat, which allowed the setup to be engineer approved and legal.

To keep everything in proportion with the extended cab, the chassis received a 400mm stretch which also ensures that the rear axle is better placed under the load on the back of the chassis.

“The aim was for the cabin to look totally OE and clean like Nissan made an extra cab from the factory,” Craig says, and we reckon he has nailed the look. But there’s more to this Nissan than just a neat body and a unique look. A lot more!

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Portal fix

High-riding Patrols on big off-road tyres are nothing unusual but CB’s Patrol has a stance that gives it a look all of its own.

This comes thanks to a set of portal axles from Marks 4WD in Melbourne. While Marks portals have become popular under 70 Series LandCruisers of late, they were originally designed and made to fit under Nissan Patrols, which were the go-to hardcore rigs of the day.

The Marks 4WD portals have evolved over the years to be very different to the originals and, significantly, the later units use LandCruiser 70 Series hubs and brakes for both added strength and improved stopping power. This allows for the best wheel offset to be used, gives better (Toyota) brakes, and steps up the axles from semi-floating Nissan to full-floating 70 Series.

Since the demise of the GU Patrol and the rise of the VDJ 70 Series in popularity, Marks 4WD no longer makes portals for Patrols, but they still produce other products to improve Nissans for off road use…

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Mighty mill

As mentioned, CB’s Patrol had a blown engine when he bought it, and his plans didn’t call for a Nissan mill to replace it.

A written-off SS Commodore was sourced for its driveline which included a 6.2-litre LS3 V8 engine and 6L80 automatic transmission.

Marks 4WD still manufactures its engine and transmission conversion kit for the LS into Patrol, and CB used this including Marks 4WD extractors and dual alternator mounting kit.

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The front and rear Nissan diff housings have been braced for extra strength

Before the General Motors engine and trans went into the Patrol, the engine was sent to Taylor’s Precision Engines where it was freshened up with a Torque Spec camshaft, titanium pushrods, roller rockers, double-row timing chain, upgraded oil pump, FAST long runner intake, and a Yella Terra electronic throttle body.

A custom torque converter better suited to 4x4 use sits ahead of the six-speed auto transmission while at the back it is adapted to the Nissan transfer case which has been fitted with Marks 4WD reduction gears.

The front and rear Nissan diff housings have been braced for extra strength and fitted with heavy duty chrome-moly axles which link up with the portal boxes and LandCruiser 70 stub axles and brakes. The now full floating axles also give the Patrol a higher load capacity with the GVM now rated at 3780kg.

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High life

With the increased ground clearance afforded by the portal axles and 35-inch Mickey Thompsons, a huge suspension lift wasn’t really needed for CB’s Patrol. That said, quality suspension components have been used to control the vehicle over rough terrain and give the best ride possible.

Height adjustable Firestone airbags are fitted at each corner offering 10-inches of travel in the front and 13-inches at the back. These are controlled electronically from inside the cabin. Radflo remote reservoir shocks have been specifically revalved to match the air springs by Down South Motorsports, while BASF Cellasto bump stops cushion the blow should Craig decide to jump the Patrol or hit an unexpected rut a bit too hard.

Adjustable arms and links from Superior Engineering hold everything in place and control the steering.

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Fully loaded

It would be a waste of time chopping a wagon into a ute if Craig didn’t make the most of the new load space on the back.

CB has capitalised on it with a pair of large tool boxes sitting on the custom tray to carry everything he needs. One of them contains an 80-litre upright Dometic fridge (there’s a 30L fridge in the cabin, too) while all of the camping, cooking and recovery gear also fits into or onto the boxes.

For more serious off-road trips, Craig removes the tool boxes and swaps out the 35-inch tyres for a set of 37s, which are easily accommodated thanks to the height-adjustable suspension.

Under the tray are three Brown Davis fuel tanks giving a total of 300 litres of fuel, so Craig should never run low even when feeding the thirsty V8. There’s also 60-litres of water storage in the headboard of the tray.

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Many hands...

Massive vehicle builds like this don’t happen single-handedly and Craig had plenty of help along the way with his Patrol.

He’s quick to thank the team at his family business; Jan, John and Mark Bartlett at Bartlett Earthmovers; Jay Fagan at Conversion Electrics; Darren at Smithies Outdoors; Tom and Milan at Wholesale 4WD; Ben and Andy at Black Mamba Racing; Kevin at Brown Davis; Drew Pritchard at TJM; Coxie at TIG Industries, Mt Gambier; Rob at Raslarr Engineering; Ash Tappin, Automotive Wholesaler; and Sot Kavuki at Modified Vehicle Engineering.

When Craig originally embarked on the Patrol build it was planned that there would be another vehicle in the making, with his father building a LandCruiser 105 along similar lines.

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But his dad’s health slowed progress and the pair decided to pool their talents and focus on the Nissan, and the result is what you see here.

It’s a vehicle that they both enjoy and immediately after our shoot the pair of them set out for a weekend camp and off-roading in the forests around Cobaw.

“We got lost and ended up winching into the night!,” CB told us later. “It was tiring but a fun adventure.”

We reckon any drive in this weapon of a Patrol would be a fun adventure!