Slartibartfast

Looks like it'll keep you busy! Download the service manual from Nicoclub if you haven't yet, sounds like you're gonna need it.

I looked up the front U joints for an '02 on Nissanpartsdeal and found part number 37126-01G26 for the front prop shaft U joint (still available, but not cheap). They're listed for '96-'04, so there shouldn't be any mid-year-change confusion going on with the joints. Did the shop say what prevents the joints they've tried from fitting? If they just can't get the snap rings in, there's this whole thing in the R50 service manual about using color-coded snap rings of varying thicknesses to set the end-play in the joint. If the snap rings are too thin, the joint will have excessive play--if they're too thick, they may not go in at all. (PD section of the service manual, free download from Nicoclub.) Unfortunately the part numbers the manual gives for the special snap rings come back as both discontinued and for a WD21 (first gen Pathy), so that's bizarre/unhelpful. But, yeah, if the snap rings are the problem, and they can source thinner ones, that might be just what it needs. If that's not it, or they can't find thinner snap rings in that size, I would look for a used shaft from a wrecker. Even if the joints are bad, maybe you'll get lucky and find that the aftermarket joints fit the new-to-you shaft better than they fit your existing one. That said, I have heard of others having vibration issues after replacing front U joints (possibly due to the situation with the snap rings), so if you find a good used assembly, I would just slap it in there and be done with it.

The core support is just sheet metal. It'll move. You may have to get a little creative depending on the tools you have. You could probably do most of it with a hammer and a block of wood if that's all you've got. Go slow. Check the other side to see what it should look like. Make sure you know where the wiring is so you're not smashing something important with the hammer. Try not to kink stuff. Don't beat on the parts that aren't messed up. Looking at the picture, it looks like it's only messed up outboard of the headlight. I would try to get a ratchet strap on the part that's pushed in the most and pull it forwards (hook the other end to another truck or a tree or something), and/or start beating it from inside the wheel well with the deadblow. As you straighten that out, the twist at the top should start straightening out, too. The core support doesn't have to look good--you just need to make it line up to the new fender and get it straight enough that the headlight bolts up and points straight enough ahead that you can adjust it properly.

The parts that would be hard to fix aren't the parts you can see in the pictures. It obviously needs a bumper, a fender, and some work on the core support. Can't tell if the suspension, inner fender/strut tower, cooling system, or subframe are messed up. Check the alignment. Engine bay looks clean. Worth checking when the timing belt was done last. If it was done at the recommended mileage, it's about ready for another one.

That's gonna need some welding. Dbot had similar rust on his, and was planning to rebuild it, but it doesn't look like there's gonna be an update on that one sadly. There was more of his left, though, so his pictures may give you a better idea of what it's supposed to look like--and his measurements are a good example for what you'll need to do to make sure it goes back together afterwards. Take a bunch of measurements and make cardboard templates before cutting into it. Both will be good to have when you've got a bunch of rot cut out (there's always more than you think there is) and you realize you're building something important, from scratch, in empty space, and if it's not in the right place, other things won't fit right. The layered construction will make it a bit annoying, but at least the thinner metal's easier to bend. Rebuild with fresh steel of the same thickness as the original (measured where it's not rotten). Looks like you'll need a new bolt as well, and it would be a good time to do the bushings in the panhard rod if they need it.

You shouldn't need to pull the covers to do the belt, unless you're doing a cam swap or something. The timing's all outboard.

It wasn't my idea to make three flavors of cross-head that look identical but aren't! Given they're not seized and the torque spec is low, standard Phillips should do just fine regardless. I'm sure that's what I used when I did mine. I'd expect that rubber to squish out a bit when you tighten the screw. Even if it doesn't fill the cup entirely, the cup should still be spreading the load about the same.

Sorry to hear, and sorry to his family. I was just looking for this thread to see how the rust work was going.

I hadn't thought about it, but yeah, makes sense they used the Phillips (probably JIS actually) screw heads to prevent overtightening/warping the valve cover.

Looks like it's just squished a little by those tabs. The top picture looks like the gasket's got a clean/flat spot all through those areas, suggesting that it was making good enough contact with the head. And yeah, IIRC the gaskets I used were pretty soft anyway. Is the gasket cracked in the first pic, near the PCV nipple? Otherwise, it doesn't look that bad.

I put a link in the comparison thread to the video I made several years go when I installed mine, in my driveway, with mostly the wrong tools. If that idiot can do it, you can too You'll need an M6 Allen socket and a pair of snap ring pliers, and I think that's pretty much it. The hard part was getting the bolts out, and if yours have been out recently, then they shouldn't be anywhere near as difficult as mine were. The auto hubs were a neat idea, but even when they worked, they were more trouble than they were worth IMO.

When I had the intake off my VG30, I did the plugs, cleaned up the casting around the plug holes so dirt/water could escape more easily (the drains into the valley were mostly blocked by casting flash, so there was a lot of junk packed in around the plugs), did the valve cover gaskets, and cleaned out some rodent mess. Look for rodent damage or anything else obviously scabby with the injector harness. Inspect anything rubber that you have to mess with--I don't remember finding much wrong, but your climate may be harder on rubber than mine. Look for cracks, look for coolant residue. If the vacuum lines to the EGR and FPR are original, go ahead and replace those while you're in there. Might be a good time to replace the rubber line between the two fuel rails, or at least check the clamps. Make sure you mark where the distributor was before you pull it out. If you pull the lower intake, make sure you get the right gaskets. The VG33 lower intake gaskets are thin and made from stamped steel. Make sure you don't get the VG30 gaskets that are thicker steel with rubber seals. (If you get the wrong ones, nothing will line up. I made the opposite mistake and got to take it all apart again.) While the lower intake was off, I relocated the knock sensor to the back of one of the heads. I'm not sure if this was a good idea, but I didn't want to have to dig back down to it if it acted up later. Make sure you bleed the coolant properly afterwards. Should be a marked bleeder bolt on the intake. I did my timing belt at the same time--but that's the front of the engine, not the top, and having the top apart didn't make it easier. If anything it just made for a larger jigsaw puzzle.

Sounds like the hubs to me. Backing up is supposed to disengage them, driving forward in 4x is supposed to engage them. Sounds like one of them isn't disengaging all the way. The CV axle installation may be related, if the shop put the hubs back together wrong, or if they attempted to service them while they were apart. I made that mistake on my '95, hoping that a wipe-down and some fresh grease would make my worn-out hubs a little more reliable. My attempted half-ass rebuild turned an unreliable hub into an outright malevolent one that randomly tried to engage while I was driving and made me think the wheel was about to fall off from the godawful noise it made. What I did, and what I recommend, is to chuck the auto hubs in the bin where they belong and replace them with manual hubs. Hawairish started a comparison thread for the various manual options. While you're in there, check your wheel bearings (play, smoothness) and brakes. Most of your symptoms match the hubs, but I don't remember mine feeling bound up when the hubs were playing games. Your gearbox oils shouldn't have anything to do with this. That said, if the rear end has LSD, did you use the additive for it? Without it, the clutches in the diff can bind and chatter when you turn, though from what I've read the synthetic oil may be nerfing them anyway.

From what I've read, no, it should be a simple plug-and-play. Limp mode puts it in third IIRC. Does the light in the E-AT switch flash when you start the truck? Check your transmission fluid level when the transmission is warm. Too high or too low can both make a slushbox act weird, and they're easy to overfill. I filled mine to what seemed about right when it was cold and had to drain about a quart once it warmed up to get the level correct on the dipstick.

I looked up some part numbers on nissanpartsdeal to see what was up with this. The short version is I don't see why they wouldn't fit. I've heard of people doing dash and interior swaps, and I don't remember anyone complaining that the seat belts didn't bolt up afterwards. If you want to be sure, you could pick up a few grey belt parts from a wrecker or a part-out to confirm that they mount up the same before you shell out for fresh ones. I swapped '95 seat belts into my '93, but they were the same parts, just cleaner (PO was a smoker). For the most part, they're not that tough to work with, but be careful with the belt guide clips halfway up the B pillars. Gotta ease those out gently. And take a picture of the rear belts before taking them out, so you don't mix up the three in the middle. The long version: I looked up the same part (left-hand front belt buckle, color code K) for '87, '90, '93, and '95, and found three part numbers. '87 is 86843-03G60. '90 is 86843-12G60, but the listing suggests that the 12G60 replaces the 03G60, suggesting it's just a minor design change from the original. '95 pulled up 86843-61G00, which for some reason isn't listed as a replacement for 12G60. '93 pulled up 12G60 and 61G00, because transition year, but searching with my VIN pulled up 61G00 only. NPD has an actual photo (for a change!) of 12G60. I compared it to my grey 61G00, and so far as I can compare a low-res picture on a laptop screen to a scuffed-up original IRL and determine which one is which shade of grey, I'm like 90% sure the 12G60 is in fact the brown one. I don't think they changed the part number just for the color, though, because the blue and red buckles also have early and late variants listed for '93. So, yeah, as is often the case with part numbers... something changed around '92/'93. Give it a shot, let us know if it works!