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Specification

05' 1.3 VVT JLX, 80,000 miles, 3rd owner

Engine - Standard running Mobil One 0w40 oil, K&N oil filter, K&N Panel air filter.

Gearbox - Standard R72, reconditioned at M&T Sheffield with closed Koyo bearings. Fully synthetic oil.

Transfer box - Standard ratio from an 07' car 20,000 less miles. Fully synthetic oil, Jimnybits H/D guard on bolt through polybush mounts.

Suspension - Eibach ProLift springs +30mm, AVO adjustable dampers +30mm, 15mm Superpro seats, Superpro ARB bushes, new standard drop links,

Front axle - Drilled and grooved Mintex discs, EBC greenstuff pads, New callipers, HEL braided lines, AVM HP manual locking hubs, Polybush panhard rod bushes, Polybush castor correction bushes, Suzuki rubber chassis mount bushes, Rough Country steering damper with Polybush mounts, new nearside CV, full bearing set nearside hub,

Rear axle - Quaife ATB differential with full axle rebuild on fitting at M&T Sheffield. Mintex shoes, new wheel cylinders, Superpro bushes on axle Suzuki rubber on chassis, Polybush panhard bushes, shock absorber drop brackets through bolted,

Wheels - BF Goodrich KO2 All Terrain in 215/75x15, standard JLX alloys, 32mm alloy spacers.

Interior - Sony WBX900 double din bluetooth head unit, 4 x 100mm Clarion speakers, rear seats removed.

This is going to be good

Lambert wrote: Not wishing to state the obvious but the back half of your car seems to have fallen on the floor!?!

It certainly solves the rust at usual point issue!

Lambert wrote: Not wishing to state the obvious but the back half of your car seems to have fallen on the floor!?!

The reason will become evident Lambert, it was a bit of a shock when I first saw it.....

sniper

Fossie wrote:

Lambert wrote: Not wishing to state the obvious but the back half of your car seems to have fallen on the floor!?!

It certainly solves the rust at usual point issue!

Again a little further in to the story you'll see how apt your comment is Fossie.

sniper

I have been green lane driving with a few of the other forum members a few times and the bug has bitten. These guys take the hobby seriously and run great days out, always in very picturesque landscapes. Sometimes challenging, sometimes wet, seen snow on a trip too.... Always a good craic with a bunch of great blokes.







As I started to lane more and gain confidence, I started to go on the more challenging routes which generally included a ford or river crossing. I'm not talking about the Trent but often water around the upper part of the wheel.



So my first golden nugget......

Forum members are generally at fault for everything that happens from here on......

jackonlyjack (pictured at the ford above) gave me a nudge when I was last out in the Lakes with Riccy. We had completed a river crossing and jack mentioned that I was pushing my luck with the amount of wading I did, not having a snorkel....

I didn't want to fit a snorkel, they seemed to mark the point where your car stops looking like a road car and takes on the persona of an "off roader".

The look of these aggressive big tyre cars turns heads, I was happy to be out with them and enjoyed the gawky looks we sometimes get when we have to go through a tourist hotspot whilst out on a days laning. They turn heads, it was a bit like hanging out with the bigger lads as a kid, cool to be there in the moment but lacking the confidence to be that person full time.

When I was away from the "off roaders" I was just a Miss Daisy, an old girls shopping car..... very unremarkable and ignored. I liked that.

jackonlyjack was only partially right, wading was going to cause me a problem, but not from the lack of a snorkel. Breathers or the lack of extended breathers was the thing that bit me on the bum....

My front axle had a faulty breather and flooded, causing the dreaded death wobble to return. I had rebuilt one hub and the other was stripped and greased at the same time, a big and costly job.

I considered just repairing the offside hub but felt that the dirty water would have contaminated the bearings on both sides. I decided to rebuild the full axle and fit breathers.

sniper

I can't work on the car myself, not through lack of knowledge, my heart is knackered...... so off to JP 4x4 in Skegby.

I asked John to fit all new Suzuki / Koyo bearings and seals to the driveshafts and kingpins. John understands beam axles and stripped it right down, washed it all out with solvents and rebuilt it.

A mate had invited me to visit him at work, so I popped in, had a cuppa and raided his engineering stores........

A bag full of 8mm push fit fittings and a mile of clear tube were delivered to John and he fitted extended breathers to both axles, transfer box and gearbox. They join to an alloy manifold on the back of the bulkhead. Normally, they go from that point to a snorkel, the highest, driest point.

John was surprised that I was going to town on the breathers without a snorkel, he felt they went hand in hand....

That comment on top of what jack had been saying about drowning my engine, I decided I would bite the bullet and fit a snorkel. That would be on another occasion but on this visit there were still a couple of bits to sort.

TrailGear H/D steering bars were fitted, they use a much bigger track rod end than standard Suzuki ones. John fitted them using the reamer that comes with the kit and refitted the steering damper using new Poly bushes. The steering bars are also much stronger than standard.

Steering felt very different, as if it were a bigger vehicle, more solid. Most importantly, not a sign of any feedback through the steering wheel. Not a cheap kit but with excellent results.

sniper

Whilst at JP 4x4, John had noticed some rust on a rear mount and gave it a poke as mechanics do, it pushed through.....

I had removed the front inner arches and found some rust on the front mounts, I intended to get that welded before this years MOT in June.

It was beginning to look like the £200 pounds I had guessed at for rust repairs was not going to be enough. Enquiries were made and estimates received, £700 was going to be closer to the mark.

At this point I called in to see a local bodyshop, Terry Lofely & Son in Shirebrook. Terry and his son Reece have been working with Jimny's for some time, completing amongst others, a very high standard pick conversion that they now use as a shop truck.



This truck had a total strip down and rebuild with all new or reconditioned parts.



As you can see, proper work, done by tradesmen. The chassis on the pick up is extended giving a 90' wheelbase, gives a more usable load bed but also imbues the car with a very different driving experience, much smoother and less prone to bouncing about. (It's for sale at 10k)

I made my mind up that this was where I wanted to spend my money.

sniper

Now we bring Riccy to the story....



His car (in front of mine) had always impressed me, it is a cracking build and I like the "truck cab" look. A lot.

My thoughts about the snorkel had a fair bit to do with a change in myself, I had grown into the hobby of green lane driving and become more confident. I no longer felt the need to be invisible, unnoticed, even hidden, behind my very plain exterior.

I spoke to Terry Lofely and agreed a price that would see my car have a full cab off restoration on the underside of the body, with a Raptor respray.

It was also agreed that given the amount of rust repair that was required, it would be just as easy to do a cab conversion and not much more money.

The car was delivered to Terry last Monday.





The front was found to be pretty bad and well, as for the back.....



That was the only thing to do with it.......



This was the end of day one.....

sniper

Part of my thinking about the car was this....

I had spent £2900 on purchasing the car, I had easily doubled that spend on modifications, so I had a £6000 Jimny that was worth bugger all in it's present condition. So it was repair or break and loose probably 4k.

I could have bodged it and sold it on, but I'm not that kind of a bloke.

I could go the whole hog with the repairs even though they were beyond my finances, at least I would have a car that would last another 10 years.

So it was the last option, money was sorted with the Finance Fhurer, it meant me loosing my beer money for 10 months..... 10 months...

I had to cancel my arranged trips for the year and get used to self imposed austerity.

Should any of you be in a similar place, where you have a lot of money in your car and the body lets it down. Speak to Terry, he is considering having a standard shell, fully repaired and rust treated on the shelf as it were. A full re-shell could be done for as little as 3K.

sniper

As the job progressed......



sniper