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body swap


thatguy03
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ok heres the situation went to install jgc's on my 93 but found a big mess instead frame cracked on both sides right above rear wheel and fairly rusted frame from rear door area and back but the body is goodexcept for the traditional rust spot on the floor under rear seat..

 

thinkin about doin a body swap to my parts pathy of a 90 or 91 its frame is in real good shape as far as i can tell ive pounded on it with a hammer and screwdriver and the only thing fallin was dirt.... is doin a swap a good idea what am i gettin into and whats the best way to go about doin it

 

been tryin to find a manual or guide lines on how to remove the body off the parts pathy also are the frames the same arrrrgh i am so mad/sad i still have 2 years left on my loan so discarding the truk would mean loosing thousands of dollars ugggh

 

any info or direction will help and be very appreciated thank you all :shrug:

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If you're already starting with a truck with a trashed frame plus a rusted out body, you may be better off cutting your losses and stopping now. Not what you want to hear, I'm sure. It will be quite spendy to fix just these issues, plus the ton that will pop up once you start to tear into the truck. It all greatly depends on your location, your ability with a wrench, and your resolve to do it.

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give it hell!!! lot of work involved.. and if you do go ahead.. i HIGHLY suggest while you are frame off.. to POR 15 the ENTIRE frame that is good that you will be using. do it once...do it right ;)

 

or.. cut yer losses.. and run like hell P...

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Some of the other guys will know if the chassis are the same between the years you mentioned. If they are the same, given the right equiptment to lift the body off, the body swap will be fairly straight forward. Take the body off of the doner first. That way if you miss something it will not matter. It will be good practice.

 

Just make sure all your wiring loom is unplugged. The easy forget places are underneath. Fuel tank and gear box for example.

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Hey man! well Ive been working on a project similar to yours. I lifted my body off to re-finish my frame. There was no repairs needed but I sanded/grinded and coated it with ZRC. I suggest everytime you fix rust or have bare metal put ZRC... expensive but youll never see rust again. Yes this can be worth it if you know how to do it.. if not you need someone who is willing to do it cheap unless your willing to spend the money...

 

If you have any questions about body work/rebuilding let me know

Jay

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yah i know its gonna be alot of work ugh but i just cant throw it away and lose alot of dough so unless i get a real good trade in deal; it will be done....

 

have a buddy the is a heavy duty mechanic he says he will help where he can so that is good... as for lifting the body off i have ty's to a tow company i used to work for i might just see if i can use one of there truks for a little while or i will make sure everything is disconnected the will call the local scrap metal guy wioth a highyab to lift off and take away

 

slick good idea about the por-15 coating does anyone know how much this stuff will cost

 

gear box yah i forgot about that

 

i figure since im gonna do it might aswell put a bl in it too!

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Personally if I was going to be doing all this work I wouldnt mess around with the frame... cost like 1900$ new... would not mess with an old rusty one. Once you start taking out bolts and screws it just gets weaker and weaker... and if theres any rust on the body itself well theres chances you might twist it when its lifted then your doors wont close properly. Im just informing you... im very deep into a way bigger project then what your talking about and have gained alot of knowledge on the way, just thought id share. And for the ZRC stuff I was talking about its 250$ cdn a gallon and I beleive 35$ a gallon for the stuff to remove it.... like paint thinner but for this product.

 

Check out more info here

ZRC

 

It actually chemicaly bonds to the metal. My dad used it on our chimney id say 20 years ago and we have the only non-rusted chimney. It needs to be applied to bare metal.

 

diagram_steel.jpg

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slick  good idea about the por-15 coating  does anyone know how much this stuff will cost

 

gear box  yah  i forgot about that

 

i figure since im gonna do it  might aswell put a bl in it too!

we got 1 gallon of POR 15 for $90 brand new from POR 15's reps at a swap meet. the can had a small dent in it.

they have an ebay store too.. www.por15.com is their main site. they are on the east coast. go figure. great stuff. used it on 2 trucks now. pathy is next. ;)

 

here's the product reviews i did on it with comments http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=5534

Edited by Slick
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so how come the 2dr are a tad shorter?

Um, because they aren't, the body on the 2dr and 4dr are the same exact length. (BTW, just measured to double check that (nice haveing one of each 2 ft from each other to reference :D ).)

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The only reason I suggested that the chassis might be different is because I have seen (on here) that the rear most lift blocks are different. This to me suggests that something is at least different.

Same blocks, different bolt size. They changed the rears (and centers IIRC) from a 12mm to a 14mm. Those bolt into captive nuts welded in the body, but the mounts are in the same places.

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Wierd. I thought the wheelbase changed when they went to the 4-door style.

Unless they changed the length of the rear links by a fraction of an inch then nope (since we now know the went from steel I bars to aluminum tubes :laugh: ).

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