ryandavenport's Cheapo R50 Build

ryandavenport

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Middle Tennessee
Hey guys,

Been gone for quite a while after getting rid of both Xterras. Some of you are Facebook friends so you know the deal, others do not. Basically my wife and I decided that we are going to get completely out of debt. We sold my Xterra because it had a loan out on it and we needed some margin in our lives. My company lease is up in March, so we decided to get back into a Nissan and we happened to come across a killer deal on an R50 Pathfinder on Craigslist. Details below:

2001 Pathfinder LE 4WD
Mileage: 245000
Purchase price: $2100

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I will post updates here as I have them available. The most important part of this build will be to stay inexpensive as we are still in the process of paying off debt.

Thanks!


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ryandavenport

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Middle Tennessee
So the current state of the vehicle is disassembled. I began working on repairing the minor impact damage on the front of the vehicle. I have a few Pull-A-Parts to go and visit tomorrow, but I think most parts will end up coming from Amazon. Replacement parts will be:

Headlights
Bumper Reinforcement
Bumper Cover
Fog Light Trim Pieces

Parts minus paint comes out to less than $200. I have a friend of a friend that does body work so hopefully I can get the paint done for similar. I'm not terribly worried about it matching perfectly as the vehicle is 16 years old.

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Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
Hey man, welcome back! Been a while. Completely understand financial decisions, and it's awesome that you came back.

Interested to see what you do with that R50. Was doing some research for a buddy of mine on those and there's a guy that does a 4" spacer lift for like $300. Heh.
 

dixie1865

Bought an X
Location
Lockport, IL
I hated to see you sell your X (loved the color). We had an 01 R50 and it was an exceptional vehicle. My wife still mentions regretting selling it from time to time.
 

ryandavenport

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Middle Tennessee
I was able to get the front bumper reinforcement, some brackets, a coolant reservoir cap, and a center armrest (for my father-in-law's R50) from the LKQ Pick Your Part in Nashville today. For anyone in the area, there are quite a few Nissan SUVs out on their lot.


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TheFauxFox

Titan Swapped / SAS'd
Founding Member
Location
Huntsville, AL
I was able to get the front bumper reinforcement, some brackets, a coolant reservoir cap, and a center armrest (for my father-in-law's R50) from the LKQ Pick Your Part in Nashville today. For anyone in the area, there are quite a few Nissan SUVs out on their lot.


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Last time I was at the PAP over by John Tune, they had a bunch of N50s that looked like they were mostly intact.
 

Timrich

Super Duper Moderator
Founding Member
Location
Central FL
Welcome back Ryan! Glad you are back in a nissan! (Not that you were ever completely out of a nissan )

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ryandavenport

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Middle Tennessee
Last time I was at the PAP over by John Tune, they had a bunch of N50s that looked like they were mostly intact.

I didn't even think of looking for any Xterras when I was out there. I just had a pretty short list. Happy to report all of my components for the front end rebuild (headlights, bumper cover, bumper, cradle end caps, coolant reservoir cap, and miscellaneous trim pieces) all cost me less than $200. That is before paint, so if anyone in the Nashville area has a recommendation for good body shops that aren't terribly pricy, let me know please.

Thanks!


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ryandavenport

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Middle Tennessee
Update:

Got the new headlights and marker lights on tonight. Tomorrow morning or afternoon should be the bumper. I had originally planned to do it tonight, but I was late leaving work and had to take some Japanese coworkers to the airport. Should be back on the roads this weekend. Now taking all terrain tire recommendations. Size will be 245/75R16 or 265/70R16.

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Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
I've been happy with everything Cooper as of late. Put Cooper ATPs on the wife's Pathy last year and they've been GREAT tires. Wonderful road manners, quiet, responsive, and didn't miss a beat in 8" of snow.
 

ryandavenport

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Middle Tennessee
I've been happy with everything Cooper as of late. Put Cooper ATPs on the wife's Pathy last year and they've been GREAT tires. Wonderful road manners, quiet, responsive, and didn't miss a beat in 8" of snow.

I'll look into those. The truck will spend most days in the parking lot at work, so I don't want something too expensive as it will probably dry rot before it runs out of tread.


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ryandavenport

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Middle Tennessee
Update: Bumper has been painted and should be installed tomorrow sometime. Also, an update on the financial side, we had originally planned on taking the first three months of this year off of debt pay down. The extra income from these three months was to be dedicated to my vehicle and tires for the wife's Rover. Luckily we will be able to resume our debt snowball during the month of February so that is super exciting.
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ryandavenport

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Middle Tennessee
Drove the Debt Snowball Express to work today and wouldn't you know it's just as good at moving me around as my company lease but saves me over $400 a month.


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ryandavenport

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Middle Tennessee
Just realized I have no photos in here showing the new bumper installed. Truck is now in my name. Total investment so far is as follows:

Purchase price:$2100
Front End Repair: $400
Taxes, Title, and Emissions: $300

It still needs new tires which I am figuring about $500, and also a few suspension components which should come out less than $300. Hoping to keep everything below $4000 total and I should be in a good place.
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SRStaff

Bought an X
Location
Central Alabama
Cooper AT3'S. Very streetable tire. Quiet, excellent in the rain, got me around on ice covered roads while everyone else "parked" their cars in the ditch, suprised many people off road with them, and very affordable. If you shop around and look for Cooper rebates; you should be able to get 5 for about $500.
 

ryandavenport

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Middle Tennessee
New tires go on tomorrow. I ended up with the Laufenn X Fit AT. Laufenn is Hankooks new economy line that is sold at discount tires. All 4 tires mounted and balanced out the door for about $460. Super excited to get some tires on that don't make me so nervous.


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ryandavenport

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Middle Tennessee
Tires were installed yesterday. Ended up with a killer deal. They accidentally sold mine to another guy, so they mounted Pathfinder ATs on there in the same size for the same price. I basically paid $460 for a $600 set of tires so not bad.

Today, sway bar end links and bushings go on, and running boards and maybe mud flaps come off.

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