Cheap Jimny off road/weekend toy

Hi all,

I've just recently bought a super cheap Jimny for some off road fun.

After heading out in my mates Series 2a a couple of times, I got a bug for off roading!

Found a local cheap Jimny, needs some pretty major welding in the boot and some around headlights, but fairly sound other wise.

The idea with it is to make it as capable off road as possible, but on a very tight budget.

Here's a pic of how I bought it:

Completely standard, except for painted wheels and wheel nuts, and a rubbish stereo.

It's within the last year or two had headgasket, water pump, radiator, timing belt and a few other jobs, so hopefully I won't need to do them for a while.

Here's a couple of pics on a local byway:

Despite it being a fairly easy byway, I was amazed how capable it was for a standard truck on road tyres!

There was another area I went and had a play on local too and the truck did great, except it did struggle with ground clearance and scraped the panhard mounts a lot.

Current progress is a couple of mud tyres:

Truck looks a lot meaner already!

I have another two in the garage which will be going on this weekend. Different tread but same size. I want to eventually have 4 of the Malatesta Tracs.

After a couple of outings I spotted this:

So I ordered a kingpin bearing kit and half shaft seal Monday, it came Tuesday and I fitted it, along with a diff oil change. No play and no leaks now. Oil looked like watery chicken korma!

Rounded the diff fill plug off during the process so am picking a new one up from Suzuki today.

Next jobs are:
Fit and wire in CB radio and aeriel
Fit and wire in remote central locking kit, I hate opening and closing the doors with the key
Fit new tyres
Service Jimny, oil filter, air filter, spark plugs and rear diff oil
Sand and paint wiper arms (they've got surface rust)
Fit new wipers
Good hoover/wash of seats and carpets as it smells like dog and is full of dog hairs
Refit a wiper motor and arm to rear door
Clean and polish

Despite me never washing it since owning it, it started beading the other day when it rained!

Comments and advise, constructive of course is always welcome!

Hi Tom, welcome to the club, nice jimny great start. I look forward to your progress. Keep the pics comeing mate

Welcome to the forum nice.little list you have there
Even if the tyres say the same on the tyre if they are different makes they could be different sizes

Stick a locking diff in the back axle and it'll be pretty much unstoppable!

I would like one, the ARB are way too much for me so plan is to invest in a Lockright when I get chance. The difference I can see with a locker off road is incredible!

With the tyres, I'll measure the circumference on the weekend, the insa's have a bigger tread but are part worn so was hoping they would suffice for the time being.. Plan is to have 4 of the Malatesta Trac. If there's very little difference I may keep them longer, they're so loud though!

I have got some other off road tyres here, but they're a different size and circumstance difference was 3inch, so they're a no go! I made a bit of an error in my purchase there, I thought I'd be alright as you only use 4x4 in low grip situations but since learnt it'll still damage stuff so couldn't use the full set I bought.

Got the service done this weekend, Oil, Oil Filter, Spark Plugs and Air Filter.

Also fitted my tyres, which to my surprise didn't need much weight at all to balance, one needed 70g and the other just 20g, fairly impressed at that for chunky remolds! I'll get a better pic this weekend hopefully. Looks much better with chunky tyres! Steering feel, not so great.

Also quickly freshened up my rusty wiper arms:
The Hammerite paint is pricier than normal paint, but saves worrying about buying primer and colour etc. And if I get a stone chip, you won't see grey primer through them.

L]

Also fitted my CB Radio:

Had my breakfast at the top of a hill on Sunday thanks to the Jimny, with nice views:

Also went and found some new local byways, including a ford which looked much worse than it was, barely went over the tyres:

Also I measured the circumference of the tyres, jacked car up and put a tape around and they're exactly the same

Front wheels didn't seem to be being driven, checked and I had a split hose on the offside hub, cut the bad bit off and popped it back on and all is working now. I was very impressed at what it did in 2 wheel drive!

Way to go!

Found the picture of the beading quite hypnotic!

Few little additions recently, transfer box guard turned up, quick wire brush and a couple of coats of Hammerite later:

The drivers bolsters are very poor on my Jimny seat and I can feel metal through them, so a friend of mine has very kindly given me a pair of these full leather electric seats from a Saab 93 Aero he's breaking. With (much) modifications they'll be made to fit! They're a LOT comfier but similar size, slightly taller and wider but not massively. They're from a 3 door too so can still be folded forward.

Also, went and had another play recently, tried to get the Jimny stuck to test my mates new winch, we failed to get it stuck! Very impressed again.

Changed the discs and pads recently too. Noticed I missed a bit while cleaning!

Came up nice with a polish

My back box was leaking, it was very rusty and needed to be changed, fortunately my friend also donated the Saab 93 Aero mid box, which with some chopping and changing fitted, out with the old:

On with the new:

It's slightly louder which wasn't the intention, but it's not too bad. I had to make quite a reducer to go from the Jimny's minuscule pipe to the Saab pipe! All fitted on with the original mounts and clamp so can be removed easily if needed.

Also, got my first pay and play this weekend, excited and also a little apprehensive!

Good work those seats will look really good in the Jim photos ASAP pls

Yeah those seats look lovely! Get lots of pics of how you fit them please