Daddy got a new pair of boots :D

[ORCGuide]

Greetings from Southern Alberta!

 

Long story short: The Terrorvan is dead and I have new wheels!

 

The long version:

After dumping $1200 into a 96 Caravan that is not long for this world, it died. One mechanic says don't bother throwing any more money at it. Another mechanic says it's probably just a bad injector. Whatever. . . I got a call from my dad (and he almost never calls) the same day. It went something like,

"Hello?"

"How do you feel about an '88 Pathfinder?"

"uh..."

"Its only got 168 thousand km on it."

"HELL YES! Buy it! How much?"

 

We chatted for another half hour or so and he agreed to pick it up, replace the windshield and bring it down to me.

His buddy blew an airbag (suspension) in his 94 Caddy and can't find a replacement. Buddy calls his friend at the used car lot needing wheels ASAP. It just so happens that the mother of the salesman at the lot has just moved into a home and no longer needs her '88 Patrhfinder. Buddy picks up the Pathfinder and drives it for a week before stumbling across his dream car, an '03 Mustang. Buddy buys the Mustang and on the way home it spits out the clutch. He needs money fast to replace the clutch and the logical solution is to sell the Pathfinder. And the rest, as they say, is history.

 

So here I am, new to 4 wheel drive, new to Pathfinders and new to this forum.

My last Nissan was a '77 Datsun 720 pickup. LIttle King cab rust bucket that was way underpowered and completely miled out. I loved that little truck. And I'm loving my new (to me) Pathfinder.

 

It has an automatic transmission and no aftermarket tranny cooler. Napa has me covered for $100 (in stock even!).

The body is near mint. There are 4 little rust patches that I can find (Drivers side front fender, forward of the wheel well; drivers side door; Passenger side just in front of the rear wheel well; bottom of the door covering the gas cap). No evidence of collision damage. No scratches in the paint (there are a few chips on the leading edge of the hood but no scratches).

The interior is immaculate. The only flaw I can find is a tear on the drives side door handle.

 

Sweet!

 

Anyway, for the most part I will lurk the forum. Occasionally, when I have something useful to add, I will post.

For now I'm a noob and I've got a lot to learn. . .

Cheers! KA

[nismothunder]

Welcome, check the frame for rust, if its showing it on the body the frame will have some.

[devonianwalk]

Welcome! And for the love ... post a pic or two of your ride. We need visuals!!

[Pav]

Welcome to the club. You will have to jack up the rear to get a good look at the frame behind the wheels, lots of road junk likes to get stuck in the rails. Also take a look underneath you might have a hole or two in the floor. Grab your screwdriver and head under the passenger side seat and do a computer diagnostic to make sure you are rolling safely. Post some pics...Cheers

[Slartibartfast]

Got pics?

 

There's a really clean 720 at a house near me... nice looking truck.

[ORCGuide]

Pics will come. . . SWMBO has locked herself in the bedroom on her exercise bike with her headphones on and a half dozen episodes of Desperate Housewives (seriously, I couldn't make this up if I tried). . . my other camera is in there. In the meantime, I took a few shots with my GoPro (and I really need to clean the lense ) It's almost dark and it's been overcast and rainy all day.

 

BTW, the kids like it. The wife hates it and the ground it rolls on. That's all that really matters

 

Hmmmm, why won't the forum let me link to pics on panoramio? This noobs got more reading to do.

 

Underneath looks good. I couldn't find any holes in the floor and the rust on the frame and suspension looks to be mostly surface rust. This thing lived most of its life in a garage as Grannys little grocery getter. I doubt it has ever been offroad (on gravel maybe, . . ). Seriously, it's bone stock. It even has the factory cassette deck. . . you know what that means. . . right? Yeah, my 80's cassette collection is back in play

[teixeira]

[RedPath88]

[tmoore4512]

I like this guy already... he seems to have a great sense of humor... will be a good addition to some of the rhetoric we have on a regular basis for sure!!!

 

Sounds like you got one hell of a deal!

[tmoore4512]

Oh yea, welcome...

[ORCGuide]

Drivers side from the front. You can't really see it but there is rust in front of the wheel well from the bottom of the fender to the top of the arch. There is also a rust bubble erupting under the "e" in Pathfinder. Bumpers are a bit rusty too. Some idiot tried (unsuccessfully) to punch out the drivers side door lock. It takes longer to find a coathanger than it does to open the door with one.

A little patch of rust at the bottom rear of the rear wheel well.

Another rust patch on the fuel cap door. And a little bit in front of the rear wheel well, right down at the bottom.

This end is nice and minty still.

Of course there is rust under here. Mostly surface rust though. No holes rusted through the floor or the frame. Nice newish muffler.

The only flaw I could find in the interior.

 

I finally got around to getting my Mechanical inspection done for insurance. The only problem they found was a burnt out horn relay.