pbdm4k Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Hi All, I've been snooping around the forum for the past week or so and I've finally registered and decided it was time to start posting. I became a Pathfinder owner by chance and luck! A 1995 Pathfinder found its new home on my driveway after my Uncle decided he wanted to throw is out. He was the original owner of the SUV from day 1, and I guess after he let it sit on his driveway neglected and rusting, he decided to give it away. A quick phone call ensured that the Pathfinder would find its way to me. After all, I need a winter car, seeing as my summer car is a 2004 BMW Z4 that I just picked up at the beginning of summer. So luck got me a winter beater so I could stow my Z4 for the winter months. Unfortunately, the Pathfinder was in less than tip top condition. Inspection found that there was quite a bit of surface rust underneath the car, a leaky cat, and a broken tension rod on the front driver side. Body work wise, the front and rear bumpers are rusted out and the rear driver quarter panel started rusting through from what looks like a parking accident that was never repaired. But the rest of the car is just absolutely mint. The engine still seems strong and the interior is in simply amazing condition! Surprisingly, the car still has every original lightbulb that came with it from the factory, never once having a burnt out bulb! Yesterday found me under the front of the car for a good 3 hours replacing the tension rod. Nice to know the car is safe to drive again. Today I spent a good 2 hours sanding down the driver's side rear fender and knocking out all the rust. After I got it down to bare metal, a liberal coating of Rust Converter got applied. Tomorrow I'll start with the body filler and then primer it when I get home from work. Things to do: - Replace cat (magnaflow replacements are cheap at $100 each. Avoid the dealer $800 cat and the private mechanic's no name brand $250 cat. ) - Suspension bushings are in dire need of replacing. I want to replace the other tension rod too as those bushings look shot. - Fix/replace front and rear bumpers. I would love to have tubular bumpers if someone can direct me to a supplier or someone who makes them. Sadly I don't have the welding skills or the tools to make it happen on my own. - New distributor cap, rotor, spark plugs and wires. (In the mail and on the way ) - I'm planning on a 3" suspension lift and so far from what I've seen and read, I'm leaning towards the Calmini suspension setup. This is like two birds with one stone as the rear shocks are blown and I'm pretty sure the torsion rods could use a re-torquing. So why not replace the two rusty poles with something stiffer? Anyways, I see a lot of crazy rigs out there, and all of them are an insprition to what I can do with my Pathfinder. After I fix all the body work and refresh the suspension, I would love to put on a Brush bar, some PIAA or Hella fog lights and head out to Algonquin park to do some trail driving and camping! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denisb Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Welcome aboard. Looks like you've already starte lots af researching and are well on your way to having lots of fun with your pathy! You'll find lots of resources here to help you along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzy Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Welcome to NPORA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 hello and welcome!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Locust Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Welcome !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerranoNZ Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Welcome to the family Get Hella's *Looks for 88 trying to push Piaa's* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbdm4k Posted September 10, 2007 Author Share Posted September 10, 2007 Thank you all for the warm welcome!! And so far, parts that go on the car are mainly dictated by price... seeing as I got the SUV for free, I'd like to keep it costing as little as possible. So PIAA or Hella, whichever will cost me less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 (edited) Hella will probably cost less. Also look at IPF lighting. They sometimes come with 100w H3 bulbs as well as the standard 55w bulbs. Excellent lights. Edited September 11, 2007 by Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 Welcome to the forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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