Old Jimmy to a new one......

Let me explain!

I’m a 27 year old female that has no idea when it comes to cars. (Maybe a little bit) Last April during lock down a bright kinetic yellow little Jimny drove past me on my way back home from Tesco’s. I was instantly obsessed. F
ast forward to a year and a bit later, endless hours of googling and autotrader. Being heart broken when I found out that they were no longer in production, and even more heart broken when my two nearest Suzuki garages told me that I couldn’t be put on a wait list for the new commercial version and that it would cost me a small fortune. I can happily spend £10000-12000 on one and then I’ll just modified as I can afford, but £25000 plus for a new one I just can’t justify, even if I have thought about it on many occasions. So this is my last attempt at getting my small little bundle of fun. My partner has mechanical and body work experience, so somethings can be done at home. Others I’ll take to a garage or specialist that knows what they are doing. (Recommendations for east of England wouldn’t go a miss!) Im thinking this is going to be a on going project for the next year or so. I have seen a couple of videos on YouTube of an engineer doing exactly this, but never an end result. Just some of the process, so my question is.....

Can I modify a gen 3 to look like gen 4 and by how much?

I would be happy with the following
-grill
-front bumper
-headlights
-fender flares

Things I’d like to change but not too bothered:
-back bumper

Electronics I’d like installed 
-sat nav/ some sort of touch screen radio system

I get that this maybe absolute sacrilege, to some jimny owners.... but I like the new ones 

any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated! 

 

Hi there DB

The new Jimny is completely different to the previous model, so it would be a lot of work to fit the bumpers and trim, and would take a lot of fabrication.

You might fit the wheel arch extensions but it's not going to look like the new model, which is a different design altogether.

You could look at an alternative such as the Land Rover Defender, which is larger but a similar type of vehicle.
£12,000 would get you a nice one, if you shop around, and you sound like someone who is happy to maintain the vehicle and do work on it.
Another alternative would be to look at the original Jimny, which the new version was modelled on. I am not sure how much the original one sells for nowadays but l am sure someone on here will know.

A 12k budget would get you a nice top end build with the guys that converted my car to a truck cab. Excellent quality work, inside and out, it is as if it came from factory...

Terry Lofley & Son Bodyworks, Shirebrook.....  01623 742292

 

If you have fallen in love with the gen4, have a look at the old SJ, whose lines it copied.....

 

A good clean example might be 3k, you could then do a custom build that would outperform a gen4 with the kudos of the early car. A complete ground up build with everything new or refurbished.... I'd enjoy doing it for you lol,  the build would be as much fun as the finished thing...

Good luck,

sniper

I think the short answer is, no, you can't.

In order to build an even half decent facsimile you'd probably end up spending more than a Gen4 would have cost you outright.

An SJ might give you some of the look, but remember they're getting hard to find, old and leaf sprung, so not something I'd consider as a daily driver.

have a look at this video, he is converting a gen 3 to a gen 4.

wrote:

Let me explain!

I’m a 27 year old female that has no idea when it comes to cars. (Maybe a little bit) Last April during lock down a bright kinetic yellow little Jimny drove past me on my way back home from Tesco’s. I was instantly obsessed. F
ast forward to a year and a bit later, endless hours of googling and autotrader. Being heart broken when I found out that they were no longer in production, and even more heart broken when my two nearest Suzuki garages told me that I couldn’t be put on a wait list for the new commercial version and that it would cost me a small fortune. I can happily spend £10000-12000 on one and then I’ll just modified as I can afford, but £25000 plus for a new one I just can’t justify, even if I have thought about it on many occasions. So this is my last attempt at getting my small little bundle of fun. My partner has mechanical and body work experience, so somethings can be done at home. Others I’ll take to a garage or specialist that knows what they are doing. (Recommendations for east of England wouldn’t go a miss!) Im thinking this is going to be a on going project for the next year or so. I have seen a couple of videos on YouTube of an engineer doing exactly this, but never an end result. Just some of the process, so my question is.....

Can I modify a gen 3 to look like gen 4 and by how much?

I would be happy with the following
-grill
-front bumper
-headlights
-fender flares

Things I’d like to change but not too bothered:
-back bumper

Electronics I’d like installed 
-sat nav/ some sort of touch screen radio system

I get that this maybe absolute sacrilege, to some jimny owners.... but I like the new ones 

any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated! 


 

Whilst possible the cost of getting the parts to make a Gen 3 look like a Gen 4 will probably exceed the cost of a Gen 4.  The shape of the Gen 4 is quite different in the back, much more squared off, so just changing the front end might not make it look like a Gen 4.

The new commerical version is just under £20k, you should be able to get added to the list, but delivery might take a while, so perhaps Suzuki aren't accepting new orders until they have visibility of supply, someone on here will know.

You could change the tyres for something chunkier and even pick up a set of Gen 4 wheels, perhaps add a 2" lift kit, that would go someway towards the Gen 4 look.  The radio is easy to change, just get a double DIN with curved corners.  Perhaps you need to create your own style?  Have a look in the picture gallery for some ideas/inspiration.

When I was looking for a Jimny, I actually prefered the shape of the Gen 3 to the Gen 4, but now I have seen the Gen 4 up close I quite like it and would be happy with either.  After the styling differences and apart from the engine (Gen 4 has more power), they are quite similar, so perhaps you could fall in love with a Gen 3, save a bit of cash and customise it to your own taste?