Pajero NJ Escape (2000/04) Repairs

[TheJudge]

Hi guys. First time poster, long time lurker. I could use some knowledge from the Paj professors.

I had a bit of a disagreement with an immovable object in my Pajero. I took it to a body shop for a quote and they wanted $3400 for the body work, so it looks like I'm doing it myself!

My vehicle is a white 2000/04 (made 2000/03, one of the last off the line) NJ Escape. Damage is in the right front quarter.

I've managed to get a new headlight and indicator, but I need a new drivers side front guard at the very least. My questions are: 1) Are the front guards on a NL Escape the same as the NJ and 2) I mistakenly bought a right front guard off a 3.0L NJ and it has a grey paint line down the groove while my Escape doesn't... will it fit, and should I repaint it to match?

There aren't a lot of parts floating around for the Escapes so I'm in a bit of a corner trying to get all this fixed. Any recommendations?

Thanks guys,
Judge

[tomwithannl]

Hi Judge
I am a bit confused. If your vehicle is a 2000 (but still gen 2) it would have to be an NL.
The NK finished in 97, when the NL started which means that NJ were 96 or earlier.
NJ and NK petrol were either 3.0 or 3.5 DOHC. NL petrol were only 3.5 SOHC. What is yours?
I am also unaware of Escapes being produced in the NJ model.
Of course it could be an oddball grey import?

Tom

[nj swb]

Hi Judge,

Welcome to the forum; sorry it had to be such unfortunate circumstances for your first post.

I'm with Tom - everything you've posted leads me to believe you have an NL, not NJ. Regardless of which letter we use, I believe front guards for all other than the "Wide Body" NL GLS / Exceed should be the same. Earlier GLS / Exceed models had plastic flares, but I believe the underlying metalwork is the same. So your NJ guard should fit your Escape.

Good luck!

[erad]

I had an NL Escape from new. I had a growl in the gearbox which eventually the MMA man came from Sydney to listen and diagnose (he reckoned nothing was wrong and offered extended warranty, which was not needed). I asked him about commonality of parts and he said that only about 15% of the parts in the NL were the same as previous models. Personally, I think that the body panels in the NL Escape are the same as the base model GL spec Pajeros, so I think that the panel should fit. See if you can buy it o the proviso that it does fit and you can return it if it doesn't.

[gemster]

I saw some New Guards on Ebay the other day... While looking for parts for My NL after being attacked by a Landcruiser Mine is Left front corner.....

Gemster....

[nj swb]

I asked him about commonality of parts and he said that only about 15% of the parts in the NL were the same as previous models.

I find that very hard to believe. NL to NM, OK, but not NK to NL.

[aussieintas]

Hi The Judge

Just to clarify things. If your pajero is the NL Escape as per the pic below then the NJ panel you got should bolt straight on.

The NH, NJ, NK, and NL Escape and NL GL models are the same body basically. The NL in other spec levels (gls, exceed) had what most call the blister guards, which are different. 2nd pic below is blister.

[stumagoo]

I had an NL Escape from new. I had a growl in the gearbox which eventually the MMA man came from Sydney to listen and diagnose (he reckoned nothing was wrong and offered extended warranty, which was not needed). I asked him about commonality of parts and he said that only about 15% of the parts in the NL were the same as previous models. Personally, I think that the body panels in the NL Escape are the same as the base model GL spec Pajeros, so I think that the panel should fit. See if you can buy it o the proviso that it does fit and you can return it if it doesn't.

Having just swapped a heap of stuff from my NJ to my NL there are a lot of subtle differences, so yes there are a huge number of different parts but in all honesty many are still interchangeable - brake calipers are the same but different, they use the same pads and have the same mounts but there are small differences, the bracket that holds the brake line is angled a little there are 2 10mm bolts for the dust cover at the back where the NJ had 1 - I found may other small changes - the front brake line is about 2cm longer on the NL, I assume to allow for the extra stretch to go over the slightly bbigger front rotors. electric window switches are the modern sort where you lift the front to wind up where older NJ's etc are the rocker sort where you push the front to go down push the rear to go up (or similar - dont know when they changed styles though) All this said I have had no issues bolting NJ gear into my NL

And as a panel beater the rear bumper is the only panel part on a 3.0 NJ that wont fit correctly on a NL escape - If you have an escape with plastic flares get a pov pack earlier panel that has no holes for the earlier flares and glue the newer flares on or you will have holes from the old flares left uncovered

Also some Pov pack early gen 2's had a pillar radio antenna not the guard style in the latter models - so that is something to keep in mind, not a deal breaker but is something easy to miss