Popular Post DavidB Posted July 4, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 4, 2020 I bought a cheapish SJ As much as I love these, my god is it rough. Fortunately, the body is pretty much solid, as is the frame. I travelled 220 miles to collect, and then drove back. Did I say it was a 1.0 with 4 gears? I managed a comfortable 52mph all the way home. I think I could get more, but I was going 50/50 with crushed by artic doing 56mph and slight side wind pushing me into the central reservation at 60mph. The first time I drove it was terrifying, like the motoring equivalent of one of those dreams where you can't run. Prior to joining the motorway, it was weaving everywhere and I thought I would 100% crash/die before I got home, but I ended up getting quite confident and the fear went away. As said the worst threat on motorways, are side winds and passing HGVs. I think the squareness changes direction immediately by 20 degrees. Acceleration is like that Sesame Street song where they’re counting up to ten, and it didn’t help the seller turned up with six off-road wheels with massive tyres in the back. As soon as I offloaded them I noticed the difference, especially accelerating. At one point, a dickhead in one of those Mercedes offroad jeeps pull up alongside, revved his engine, and then accelerated away. My main concern is a very loud ‘whine’ from either the gearbox or more likely the transfer case on acceleration. It disappears on deceleration, but any increase in throttle results in a very loud GRRRRRRRR. It’s not much of a problem as they’re easy to obtain and replace. Im hoping to get some kind of storage soon where I’ll strip it down, fix whatever the body/running gear needs and give it a respray in any colour but OLLI YOLO brush painted black. It was originally yellow. Its also a van with no rear windows and has a tow bar. I’m not sure what it will tow, but I’m sure I’ll find a trailer in a toy shop or something. The PO also replaced the smashed drivers window with a piece of clear plastic. You can have it completely open or closed and flapping round comically. You can unlock the door by pushing the plastic in and pulling the latch up. The side mirrors are useless, they give a good view of the side of the van though, and with out and side rear windows, visibility is crap, and I’ve already pulled out on a couple of angry drivers. I'll end up liking it once I have it cleaned up, they’re unbelievably cute in un-OLLI’d form, and I want to get it back to factory spec, with normal wheels and some kind of carpeting on the floor, you can still buy every part new from rubber flooring, speedo units to body panels from India, as they had the Maruti Gypsy, they might still be making it today. 500tops, dome, Shep Shepherd and 53 others 55 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Norman Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 Fun wee things these, my mate bought a new one on an F reg which I christened 'Bouncer', not after the dog in Neighbours but because you travelled about a mile vertically for every five you went forwards in it. Just trying to drive it in a straight line was a challenge and that was a split new one. Fuck knows what a 35 year old one is like. DavidB, Volksy, face and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan_Green Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 I bid on that as it was MOT'd and just down the road. Best of luck with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollywobbler Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Wow. Watching with interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asimo Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 That is everything the new LandRover Defender should be. Fat_Pirate, DavidB, Carl1981 and 2 others 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New POD Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Can you fit a V8 range rover engine, gearbox and axles. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New POD Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Just now, Asimo said: That is everything the new LandRover Defender should be. Probably it will last longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_lihp Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 These used to be everywhere in the 90s, I remember one of the teachers at school had one with a canvas top which she replaced with a Ford Probe. They all seemed to be white with yellow graphics and a rhino on the spare wheel cover but I can't remember the last time I saw one on the road. spartacus and 500tops 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warch Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 That is fantastic, haven't seen one of those in years. The old gamekeeper had one on the country estate where I grew up, it went absolutely everywhere, there was this one route that really gave me the heebie jeebies, which was an unsurfaced track running directly along side and about 30 feet above a river. It had washed out in places and been 'repaired' by chucking brash and bits of old tree branches into the gaps. I'd never appreciated the benefits of a narrow light 4x4 so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Longbridge Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Love it. As for your driving experience, I raised a wry smile as I read about you having to fight it with the worry you may not make it home. I'm glad it wasn't just my old 94 Samurai which was single-handedly the most terrifying vehicle I've ever had the pleasure of driving. Mine felt like it was dancing and pirouetteing down the road and that two lanes would be easier to swerve around in, rather than just one. I always put the appalling driving experience with mine down to the home-made mild lift kit the PO had fitted, but it sounds like they are all characterful* to pilot. Looking forward to updates! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyrew Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 10 hours ago, DavidB said: My main concern is a very loud ‘whine’ from either the gearbox or more likely the transfer case on acceleration. It disappears on deceleration, but any increase in throttle results in a very loud GRRRRRRRR. It’s not much of a problem as they’re easy to obtain As an early b reg it looks like a tin dash aswell in the photo? Air intake vents on the passengers side of the scuttle? If it's a tin dash, and still maintains its original running gear then the Transfer case is different to the later C plate onwards SJ I'm afraid, the flanges and propshafts are smaller and non interchangeable with the later vehicles, the gearing is marginally different too. Chuck a pic up of the underside if you can. All the parts from India are for the later version of the SJ, they built lwb samurais with sj413 interiors as the maruti gypsy king. richardmorris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djoptix Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 That is lovely. Well bought. Think you mean OLLI though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-T Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 That is magnificent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyrew Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 1 hour ago, Dick Van Diesel said: but it sounds like they are all characterful* to pilot. They are, absolutely shite handling. But id say the most fun you Can have at low speeds, Although i Have had 2 of mine over the 80mph mark many years ago. Doors flapping, engine screaming true terror. I bloody love these thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Bell Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 2 hours ago, phil_lihp said: These used to be everywhere in the 90s, I remember one of the teachers at school had one with a canvas top which she replaced with a Ford Probe. Didn't that crush the rest of the SJ? Three Speed, Semi-C, Dick Longbridge and 21 others 2 22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meggersdog Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Fabulous, well bought. Back in the 80's we had a mate who was a salesman for a Lancia and Suzuki dealership.Occasionally he's rock up in a Delta HF turbo but mostly a White SJ soft top (with the yellow graphics and white hood). I remember a trip to the coast when the girls wanted to go in the Suzuki. They refused to go in it on the way back....Now I know why. ProgRocker 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Longbridge Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 20 minutes ago, Andyrew said: They are, absolutely shite handling. But id say the most fun you Can have at low speeds, Although i Have had 2 of mine over the 80mph mark many years ago. Doors flapping, engine screaming true terror. I bloody love these thing. You're a brave man. I was glad to pass mine on tbh. I don't think it helped that the exhaust was blowing and tickling my throat with a mild helping of monoxide. They truly are brilliant little things offroad though - my brother's mate defied gravity offroad many times with his. My old Samurai sold to a bloke in Germany- he won it on ebay, drove over with a trailer, purchased it from me at 6am and headed back to Deutschland to use it as a dedicated offroad trial vehicle. I won't mention the bit where he got shitty because 'it has no power and will not drive onto the trailer'. Daft bat had lobbed it into third as he was used to sitting on the other side and hadn't realised his error. Fortunately I picked up on it before he fried the clutch. Annnnyway, back to the SJ on here - B plate tin top must be a really early survivor I'd have thought? Earliest were 82/Y plate iirc. richardmorris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 Andrew that is bad news! It is the early dashboard with side vents. Its also filthy as an earth worm, it needs a good jet washing inside. I can’t even look at things like this: somewhatfoolish, Carlosfandango, privatewire and 16 others 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthecapriman Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 This is brilliant! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of these older than a C reg, the hard top van variant must be really rare by now. I still can’t believe they only have a 1.0 engine either! It sounds tiny but by the sounds of it they can still hold their own off road. Nice job on the sun visors too. How much to drink a shot of that rancid water!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dabooka Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Fantastic. I kept looking at these on eBay but knew I'd probably never get to own one. Again I know so many of these from back in the day. The famous humping rhinos wheel cover, was that on these? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aston Martin Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 It's been 13 hours, how many times has it rolled over? HarmonicCheeseburger, DavidB and Carl1981 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warch Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 It's a windy day, how many times has it rolled over? Aston Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamworthbay Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 2 hours ago, Jim Bell said: Didn't that crush the rest of the SJ? I now have an image in my mind of a Probe shagging a Suzuki........... Jim Bell and spartacus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter C Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 My dad had an SJ as a company car about 35 years ago, only for a couple of weeks mind you. I loved it (I was eleven), he hated it (he was about 35). Excellent buy, looking forward to more updates and photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Chocolate Teapot Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Great taste, real driving experience Here is my 1986 410sj. Parked next to his great grand son. spartacus, warch, djim and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMC Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 I’d like to hear about how these handle is that’s the correct term, first hand. We all know the pub lore; but is one of those cars where the number of opinions about them is vastly greater than people who have actually driven one regularly and lived with one. They look Like they match that reputation for on road waywardness which probably fuels it. Watching with interest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMC Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Was it originally yellow? Black looks (very slightly) more butch. edit- just re read - it was indeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 Yes it was, I wish it wasn’t. Here’s the underside/transfer case for @Andyrew Jim Bell and Coprolalia 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warch Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 I didn't know these had a transmission brake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyrew Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 That T box has been changed for a later box. The drive flange has been re drilled to suit the skinny props on yours. I've circled what looks like cut wires. Alot of Early boxes dont have a switch on them for the 4wd light on the dash. Later cars did. Its on the sticking our part where the selector lever goes into the case behind the flange in that picture. The 410 had a different ratio transfer,413 and samurai are the same ratio but the samurai was handbrake on the rear axle. To check what you have Sj410 box in low range 2 and a half turns input flange equals 1 full turn of the output. Sj413 box in low range is 2 and a quarter turns to 1 on the output High range differs aswell. 410 boxes are expensive as they used to be used to drop the ratio down to account foe larger tyre Or were used to build rocklobster /crawler transfer boxes which give a 4.1 ratio to make low actually low. DavidB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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