R50 Regulus RS-R 'Escape Pod' from New Zealand

[Woots]

Gidday all. Long time reader, first-time poster, thought i'd finally share my R50. Used to frequent g20.net (had three P11s and a P10), I miss trawling forums and it's really cool to see such an active one in 2018!

 

Anyway, here's my 1997 Nissan Regulus RS-R (JDM Infiniti QX4, badged as such), 3.2 turbo diesel (QD32ETI) & 4sp Auto. Currently sitting on 250k kms (155k miles) with no signs of letting go. Had it for two years now, has hardly seen any off-road action from either of the previous owners or myself and to be honest it probably won't (i'm too scared to scratch it!) but it does venture off-tarmac ever now and then.

 

Have spent the last month building a bed platform for it, trying to keep it as tidy and professional looking as possible while being practical as well. Still has a usable rear seat with the bed out, and the bed can be retracted to make it a five-seater on the fly (though still working on hinging the front platform so I can actually store it in the back when removed). Managed to find a sturdy fabric that matches the leather/plastics which was a bonus. Rear electrics include two voltmeters for each battery (currently only has one, however), two thermometers (in/out), a clock, red/white interior lighting, a mini safe, cooling fan, usb/12v power outlets, controls for exterior lighting and yet to be wired: second ignition, window switches, monitor with 4x cameras and a power inverter. Also have insulated the side & rear glass and added a small viewing window. Made a custom mattress to fit and it's comfy enough!

 

Far from complete though, still many things to add, will start a proper build thread in the R50 section in due course  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ta!

Dan

 

 

[TowndawgR50]

Wow, great looking rig! Id love to see more of the rear area. Looks very well done! @Woots

[onespiritbrain]

Wow, that is amazing, I really like it! Super clean

 

I am curious about how jealous I might be of that motor you have.. how does it do in traffic? Do you have to redline it to pass a dump truck or does it hold its own on the highway??

[JackFletcher]

Nice clean truck! interior looks beautiful. 

 

ps is that a police ram bar lol 

Edited October 15, 2018 by JackFletcher

[AlabamaDan]

All I can say is wow!  I would love to see more of all of that, especially what you've built in the back!  What have you done with the windows?  What kind of bar is that?  Maybe you could post a video walking around and describing it.

[Woots]

52 minutes ago, onespiritbrain said:

Wow, that is amazing, I really like it! Super clean

 

I am curious about how jealous I might be of that motor you have.. how does it do in traffic? Do you have to redline it to pass a dump truck or does it hold its own on the highway??

 

I think it's fair to say it's pretty powerful, especially for its era. Easily chirps tyres and will full on lose traction if you hoof it in the rain (oops) Runs out of puff at the top end though, and I don't do too much passing. Makes 150hp & 350nm, far better option than the VG33 but maybe not the VQ35. 

 

And yeah i'll be making a video when it's closer to completion! For now, I have taken photos of most of the build process and happy to share the design with anyone looking to do something similar to their R50.

 

I'll grab a couple more pics in a minute and throw em up

 

Thanks everyone!

[hawairish]

Fantastic work!

[AlabamaDan]

I'm interested in something similar...

 

[RainGoat]

Looks great! As you can see, alot of us are very interested in what you’ve done. Especially that stuff in back.

[Woots]

10 hours ago, JackFletcher said:

Nice clean truck! interior looks beautiful. 

 

ps is that a police ram bar lol 

 

Thanks! The push bar came off a Ford Escape from Japan, but I think the it's US made. No idea if it's police issue but it certainly looks like one, which is why I liked it haha. Fits the look of the rest of the truck with the chrome center caps and whatnot. Less obvious in New Zealand though because our police vehicles look nothing like that.

 

Here's a bit of a pic dump of photos from my phone. This is how the retraction works, the front panel is lifted off the support which slides back on drawer runners. The front part of the panel rests on the top of the lower-rear seat when folded forward, and the support's legs rest on the back of the upper-rear seat when folded down. Forgive me if that makes no sense! I'm yet to design a method to secure the front panel, presently the front seat is reclined against it to stop it sliding forward. I'm 6' exactly and my feet protrude just past the front seat, so once I come up with a way of holding it on then I can slide it forward to sleep. 

 

Also, I need to cut the front panel in half, (something I wish I'd come up with before upholstering it) and possibly add hinges so it can fold and fit in the back when the whole thing is retracted.

 

Anyway, here it is: (with the carpet insulation)

 

 

And here it is in the truck, you can see what I mean by the front seat holding it back at the moment. 

 

Cut to fit:

 

Here's the insulated rear glass. Not sure the insulation will actually do much considering it only covers 3/4 of the window, but it used to drip with condensation during a cold night and now it doesn't so it does something. The little window is just one of those cheap aftermarket sun visors and two aftermarket curtain slides stuck to the glass, works really well. The exterior side of the glass is wrapped in gloss black vinyl with a cutout for the window.

 

The mattress is just 2" foam wrapped in cotton canvas fabric, with a few diagonal cuts to fit. 

 

Note the split down the middle of the mattress in anticipation of modifying the panel to fold. The side glass has since been insulated in the same way as the rear. The quarter windows will also be insulated, and retractable blinds to cover the wind-down part.

 

Lastly, a random interior shot showing the 'sleeping quarters' (lol). Few things yet to add here but you get the idea. The round slot on the panel by the glass is where the second ignition barrel will go, and to the left of that - the window switches. 

 

Oh and a shot here to show the vinyl wrap on the glass.

 

Will have a build thread soon!

 

Ta,

Dan

Edited October 15, 2018 by Woots

[onespiritbrain]

That is so cool


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TowndawgR50]

Excellent work. Love the aesthetic.  Almost aircraft/cockpit like. And the vinyl wrap on the windows for stealth is genius. Love this. 

[Slartibartfast]

Man that's clean! Nice work. The wheels really suit it.

 

[ramdala]

Real nice work you have done with the qx4!!

[KiwiTerrano]

That is incredibly tidy! Another Christchurch-based R50 owner here myself. 

Mine's the Terrano G3M-R Limited, also with the QD32 and 4-mode lever + dial 4wd.

Mine's also nowhere near as tidy as yours... although it has been modified and used offroad so that's my own fault.

I have a (cheaply and quickly) made rear shelf setup with a hinged lid to keep things from sliding around when offroad, but no bed setup like yours.

 

My father has a Regulus, a 1996 model with the QD32. His is the basic RS-R, not the Limited with leather like yours. He bought it in 1997 as a fresh import with 3,000 km on it! Has now done 340,000 km with nothing but basic maintenance and suspension. Great trucks. Mine's done 240,000.

 

[Woots]

On 10/20/2018 at 7:05 PM, KiwiTerrano said:

That is incredibly tidy! Another Christchurch-based R50 owner here myself. 

Mine's the Terrano G3M-R Limited, also with the QD32 and 4-mode lever + dial 4wd.

Mine's also nowhere near as tidy as yours... although it has been modified and used offroad so that's my own fault.

I have a (cheaply and quickly) made rear shelf setup with a hinged lid to keep things from sliding around when offroad, but no bed setup like yours.

 

My father has a Regulus, a 1996 model with the QD32. His is the basic RS-R, not the Limited with leather like yours. He bought it in 1997 as a fresh import with 3,000 km on it! Has now done 340,000 km with nothing but basic maintenance and suspension. Great trucks. Mine's done 240,000.

 

 

Aha! I wondered if there were any active Christchurch members. Some people say my truck is too tidy..

 

Mine isn't a limited either, the leather came from a wrecked facelift R50 in Dunedin. Fun fact - I owned the full leather interior well before I bought the truck, knowing it'd be hard to find a good, tidy diesel limited. Well worth it 'cos I can't stand the cloth interior haha. Now to find some HID headlights and digital climate control.

 

I'd have to agree though, great trucks. Have also only ever had basic servicing, the previous owner had it serviced every WOF, and she owned it for 10 years or so. Does have a bit of a shaky idle though, probably because of the aftermarket engine mounts. From 3k to 340k is impressive!

[KiwiTerrano]

15 hours ago, Woots said:

 

Aha! I wondered if there were any active Christchurch members. Some people say my truck is too tidy..

 

Mine isn't a limited either, the leather came from a wrecked facelift R50 in Dunedin. Fun fact - I owned the full leather interior well before I bought the truck, knowing it'd be hard to find a good, tidy diesel limited. Well worth it 'cos I can't stand the cloth interior haha. Now to find some HID headlights and digital climate control.

 

I'd have to agree though, great trucks. Have also only ever had basic servicing, the previous owner had it serviced every WOF, and she owned it for 10 years or so. Does have a bit of a shaky idle though, probably because of the aftermarket engine mounts. From 3k to 340k is impressive!

I think the idle is just a QD thing, dad's has always been rough. 

Here's a pic side by side 

[Zraver]

whoa!