*** new pics 09/12/08 ***

Project 1990 Nissan Pathfinder

This truck belongs to another friend of mine named Sherman. He is in NC and thats Negative Camber for the uninformed. This truck Sherman bought to do a complete buildup on. This was a running and driving truck complete with a V-6 and as a 2 door we knew it would be very nice dropped. Sherman did pretty much all the work at BYC himself. He got advice from all of his friends and made sure he did everything he could do himself. He stripped the truck down, cut up the frame removing the front clip and bodydropping the cab/body. He also made the tube frame himself. The front clip is 1979-1995 Toyota. Sherman installed the tubs in the front of the body, the rear of the body and even did all the sheet metal himself. Sherman even built the control arms with a little help and advice from me on the dimensions. I built some jigs off of the original Toyota parts Sherman bought for this truck.

Sherman took more pics than me so I will get some from him and post them here. You can also check out Sherman's web page at wormtronix.com Sherman is a vehicle and also home wiring guru. He helps guys who have wiring issues such as wiring burned or rubbed through by a tire or other fried wiring.

Sherman used 4x4 fenders on this truck and a Toyota grille and bumper combo. It certainly is taking lots of sheet metal massaging to make it all fit correctly but Sherm says he has a vision of how he wants the truck to look. I certainly wish good luck to Sherman on this project. Look for a feature on this truck in a magazine soon.

The front end showing the nice chrome work on the engine and tube arms also shows off the tubs that Sherman installed and bodyworked himself. No better way to learn bodywork than to get some filler and work it yourself. My compliments to Sherman for even trying to install tubs and bodywork them. I think they look very nice in the engine bay.

The rear frame section of this truck has the air tanks mounted vertically just forward of the rear Toyota axle. Sherman built the tube structure that goes from frame rail to frame rail and actually bolts in. All the sharp edges were cut with a plasma cutter and grinded by hand. Yes Sherman did all this himself.

This is a pic of the rear section with the body off. The Toyota front clip was mated to 3"x3"x1/4" thick tube under the floor. Sherm made all the frame cab mounts and used the stock Pathfinder rubber mounts on them. All the lines are chrome.

*** Update 09/12/08 ***

Right side bodywork done. I used some Urofill primer on it and gave it 3 coats. I will now guide coat it and block it down smooth. I will finish the rest of the bodywork then spray primer/sealer on the whole thing and paint it. Im sure it will be nice. Look for updated bodywork pics as I finish the rest of this project.

Front corner marker shaved and corner molded to fit the narrowed, yes narrowed Toyota bumper. Most of the time when people put a Toy bumber on a Pathfinder, they leave it stock. Sherman wanted his narrower. I helped him narrow it and TIG weld it back together.

The sliding roof is from a Mercedes SUV. All the panels are steel and slide back and angle into place in a row. Very sweet looking open, closed or in between.

This is the roof open. As it opens the last panel tilts up, then the rest of the panels slide back and tilt up one at a time. This is a very cool thing to watch especially when the truck is layed out.

I shaved the front corner markers at a kind of natural down angle. I got this idea from a Nissan Hardbody I saw many years ago. Heres the pic of that front end. This truck I think used to have a normal styled phantom grille but in this pic it appears to have vertical bars.

This front end is my favorite of any Nissan of the Hardbody style. It just seems like it was made by Nissan that way and someone added the grille. If the turn signals and headlights in the grille are or were round this would have a very nice street rod look at night lit up.

I have been working on this truck again lately. I am doing the left side bodywork right now and also the tailgate. Below are pics from the last few days.

I used a Roloc disc to cut down to bare metal. I know this truck has not been painted but Id rather get it to bare metal and then cover it where needed. I am wiping most of the side to get the panels to blend together. This truck should be straight enough to be painted black.

Look for more pics to come. The next thing I will be doing this week is to remove the roof panel and wekd in some solid rod along the edge of the metal to brace it. I will then bodywork the roof. The next step is to bodywork the left side, shave the front left corner marker and also work the tailgate. Look for pics here soon.

I will always like this truck and how it was done all by the owner and much of it is different than the normal and same old tired mods people are performing. Sherman does his own thing and I am glad to see that in this sport.

For more info on this or any of the other projects on our projects pages, please feel free to email me at

Mike@Dallashotrodparts.com