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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

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

Agree. Bet you didn’t know@TowndawgR50 likes playing with life size Lincoln Logs

Looks like that's the same rack@TowndawgR50 uses on his rig with conduit clamps Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

The logs up top here are from a fresh fell tree, each about 2ft long and about 15-20lbs a piece. This was the only image i could find but i added more to my rack that day before we were done. @AlabamaDan

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!

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

I put a new passenger control arm on today. The bushing with a bolt running thru it was almost completely disintegrated. The driver side fell to pieces earlier this year.. I still need to change the ball joints. The steering is way better than it was. I really just wanted to tell you guys about my experience changing my universal joints today. So Autozone’s ujoint tool was bent badly so I couldn’t use it so I drove back home worrying about the beating I was about deliver to my drive shaft.. I did have to beat the original NSKs out but to my delight the SKFs I replaced them with slid in with weight of my body on one side and with light blows from the hammer on the other side. It was the same each time. One cap would slide in with my weight allowing me to seat the trunnion slightly in both caps while I hammered the second one down. Best experience installing ujoints ever. The new ujoints solved the low pitch rumble I had going on at 40mph and up. I was so afraid it was this transmission! The rumble started while my other transmission was dying it’s death and I knew it couldn’t be that big a coincidence but there was that sinking feeling in the back of my mind that this new transmission was suffering a problem that produced the same vibration. I’ve got new Moog OEM springs for the front and back I’ll be putting on next weekend and also trailing arm bushings for the uppers and lowers!

I tend carry 100-200lbs of fire wood while wheeling. Usually just cut and gather it as we go along the trails and get enough for 1-2 lengthy nights by the fire with no problem.

Alright second post. For the rack I used a Rola Rack with extension as the length almost fits perfectly on the roof of the pathy. For the hardware that I used were electrical conduit clamps that I picked up from Home Depot (they come in a pack of 5), lock washer, locking nut, bolt that threads into the stock sliders in the rails and a washer. Most of the hardware I had were Cerakoted black as I didn’t want a galvanized beacon on top of the truck which wouldn’t look so sharp. I chose Cerakote because it is extremely durable as it is a ceramic coating and they can withstand the abuse of the elements and tree branches. Cerakote also is flexible so when you clamp the conduits to the rack it doesn’t chip off. Cerakote application is a little involved as you have to get the materials for it and bake it but I have a certified Cerakote applicator at my work and he gave me a really good deal so I did that route. I used 10 clamps total and it holds the rack very securely, I can rock the whole vehicle by grabbing onto the rack and it doesn’t move or creak at all. I’ve driven up to 90 mph with it and had about 60 pounds of cargo up there and had no issues with it. I can flex the vehicle just fine without the unibody flexing the mounts off or ripping them out of the rail. The rack sits very low to the roof which could be a plus or minus. I can still open the sunroof but the glass touches the bar ever so slightly. After a couple of deadlifts of bending the bar upwards the glass still touches it. The rubber mouldings along the roof sit maybe a ¼ inch or less between the rack. I’m going to fix this issue by probably getting thicker washers and slightly longer bolts to help sit the rack a little bit higher so I can fit straps underneath the lower bar and the stock roof rack rails. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

That is so cool Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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

Looks the same. I think mine is made by Curt. Same folks who make receivers and towing equipment. Downside with this rack is that its slightly narrower than the rola and has a taller profile but the conduit clamps work. They will give and conform. Just try to center it before tightening the clamps One thing i feel like may have been overlooked is the fasteners that come with conduit clamps. Theyre usually garbage and not designed for these kinds of applications. I replaced all of the fasteners with stainless hardware- hex head bolts with flat&lock washers, including the bolts that hold the conuits to the rails.

I'm interested in something similar...

Hooked my pods for my reverse light now time to put the bumper back on. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Fantastic work!

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.

Nice clean truck! interior looks beautiful. ps is that a police ram bar lol

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??

My guy changed the fluid twice and the filter, said it got better and then a third time even better. He said the fluid smelled a little funny and there was a lot of sediment in the pan but no metal or anything alarming. He thought the selenoid might have been gunked up.

Well I went with warm white for the gauge cluster but I think there is a blue hue in the actual cluster itself because it’s slightly more blue now.. but not much. Here’s a pic, you can see the 4WD diagram there has the warmer looking light and that’s what it all looked like before and now it’s a tiny bit more bluish: Superbrighrleds.com spec section said that the ones I bought are dimmable and they do dim when I roll the dimmer switch. Here’s the ones I got: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/instrument-cluster-gauge/74-led-bulb-3-smd-led-miniature-wedge-retrofit-car/228/1068/ Here what the spec section says: So are you saying the LED burns out or the dimmer switch itself? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Love that XROX bumper. @KiwiTerrano

That's great you figured out an obstinate problem, and it was an inexpensive fix. I always feel a lot better when I finally do. I wouldn't be too down on" internet pros". They can't diagnose your problem in person. Also like a doctor, multiple problems can cause similar symptoms, so generally you start with the cheapest and easiest and most common fixes. Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Just found this old post on a google search for TD27. FWIW. In my newly aquired 1994 D21 pathfinder I have a TD27t. It has done 203000 km. Just got back from a 3600 km return trip Adelaide to Alice Springs. It didn't use a drop of oil. Very impressed with it.It just ate up the KM. Was 38* on way back had the A/C on and the temp didn't move. A really low stress diesel. .