Deluxs new black Jimny, Project KZA

When I advertised my last Jimny on ebay I stated...

'Not interested in swaps/silly offers. The car drives great so I am in no hurry to sell it. The car was never repaired to sell at a profit and I have somewhere to keep it. Not interested in swapping for anything. I never seem to have a problem with my next project finding me, LOL!'

Well, it appears I was right and this little beastie found me...

KZA by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

It looks pretty straight, low mileage and I have a pile of receipts so the previous owners have looked after it well. However, it is still an old Jimny so there are a few things to be put right like the toolkit ventilation aperture...

KZA boot by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

and the cracked rear bumper, blatantly sticking brakes, snapped aerial etc.

At least this time I might be able to do a few guides as long as you dont mind my bloody, oily fingers and tiny garage featuring in the pics too! LOL!

Plan, at present is to get it to a usable, tidy condition. I've posted a 'Wanted' thread if anyone has stuff lying about.

Update, with pics after I have given it a check over!

A Nupdate!

Had to check a few bits before ordering anything so thought I'd grab a few snaps.

Now its dried out a bit as you can see from this excellent pic...

20181129_210100 by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

I dont want to make an issue of it but as you can see, the size of my hotrod shop means the only thing I can really work on is Suzuki Jimnys. I know the matter is settled Mrs.Delux but I still think we should have moved to the other house!

Surveying the damage...

20181129_205830 by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

Its not really that bad, the inner sills have been patched recently and the repairs look ok. Everything else seems pretty solid which is good news! Also spotted my new Jimny has a pair of Monroe shock absorbers on the rear and is equipped with ABS. That cheered me up a bit!

20181129_205930 by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

KZA under by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

Until I noticed something pretty important missing from the interior...

20181129_210031 by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

Rattling noise from the rear explained...

20181129_205942 by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

Not much bumper under the tape...

20181129_205959 by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

Thats all for now. Jimny is accompanying me to work on Saturday when it will be steam cleaned to within an inch of its life!
If there is anything left I'll do another installment.

Anyway, I'm off to ebay/big Jimny shop!

Looking forward to following this along

A update!

Not that much has happened really, too early for any parts to have arrived so while it is still mobile I took it to work on Saturday for a good steam cleaning. Turned everything up on the steam cleaner and soaked the wheels in alloy wheel acid...

20181202_121540 by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

Was pleased to see the underside isnt too bad. Factory underseal mostly intact. No additions to the 'need to weld' list.
Talking of welding, I removed the remains of the rear bumper...

20181202_113614 by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

Ohya! Wont be trying to repair that! After removal I could see the underside of the boot hole...

20181202_114001 by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

20181202_113628 by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

Had a good poke about and I think I should be able to get away with a patch, a clean up and a decent coat of paint.

I had to investigate the cause of the hole, the poorly fitting roof. The roof its self isnt torn or damaged and I'm gonna try my refitting method before blowing £300ish on a replacement. Before I do I'm gonna have to sort out the poppers! One of the causes of roof problems is rusting or missing poppers like this...

20181202_103504 by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

So they will be attended to soon. Otherwise the roof seemed ok

20181202_103514 by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

But it needed to come off. After unclipping/unpopping it you take out these screws...

20181202_103611 by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

I need anything flammable out the road before welding and I want to clean the carpet properly so the seats were quickly dispatched with. Its like when you are moving home or having new carpet fitted, the room always seems bigger with nothing in it...

20181202_111210 by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

Found this under the passenger seat, think Adam is trying to warn me...

20181202_111527 by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

In other news, I had to find a replacement for the missing rear seat section and I managed to procure this lovely half leather interior from the scrapyard. After digging it out from under bits of exhaust, broken glass, trim off another car I secured a decent price. Pretty sure recent rainfall has trebled its weight though! Its drying out in my spare room now!

20181202_122923 by deeelux deeelux , on Flickr

They all rot out in the jack holder fella but yours isn’t as bad as most and the rest of the rear floor seems in good condition so you’ve obviously found a decent one.

The start of the corrosion you can see at the edge of the stone chip underseal
Often creeps behind the underseal which lifts and holds water accelerating the corrosion out of sight.
When you come to clean it up and treat it I’d remove the stone chip further back from the corroded area until you hit clean steel.

Seems like you have time to get on top of rot before it’s spreads and becomes a bigger job.

What’s your sills,under headlamps and body mounts like?

Great pics Delux, but if you're hoping to salvage that hood, stop folding/bending it on the transparencies!

If you replace those press n snap studs, get yourself some stainless ones - they're far better and last longer; I've changed two on that MG Midget of mine in 39 years (and I live up to the name of Max Headroom - the roof on that car was up and down like a yoyo between rain and shine - even in winter),
Oh yes, and wet-assemble the rivet and stud with a suitable sealant

I get all my stuff from J Clarke Marine but any decent yacht chandler should have them.

I'm thinking of putting proper Tenax fasteners around the corners on my hood as the press-studs are under too much tension really

Paradox

Body mountings ok, rears have surface rust round the bit that usually dissolves but I will treat and paint them before they become a problem.
Sills have a patch either side in front of the rear wheel arch but its a decent repair, rest of sills are fine.
Under headlamps are perfect, still painted the colour they should be!

I think, because this one is 5 years newer than my last I keep expecting the corrosion to be worse than it is!

Max

In light of the car being better than I thought I was going to treat it to a new set of these . My reasoning being...

1. Nice new ones will give me a better chance of reattaching the original roof
2. If that plan fails I'll probably fit one of these instead!

If jimnybits wants to PM me about a discount for advertising their parts I'll tell everyone about the fantastic quality and ease of fitting etc...

Anyway, plenty more work/swearing/tea/blurry pics before I need to consider the roof. Start with the foundations, do the walls then put the roof on!

Sounds like you have a good base to work from then
Treating and sealing underneath and plenty of cavity wax should see it good for years to come.

I’d recommend dynax s50 sprayed via a pressure pot cavity wax gun

The dynax is a lot easier to use than waxoyl cavity wax and creeps so much better.
A pressure pot gun is more efficient than the cheaper suction types and can also run at a higher pressure
I run mine at 90 psi and the mist it makes fills box sections clinging to all the surfaces.
It’s a night and day difference to waxoyl coughing and spluttering the wax in.

For the underside of vehicles I’ve stuck with hammerite no1 rust beater and hammerite underseal with added waxoyl
I’ve always had good results with it so felt no need to change what works.

I’ve used these on my vw camper project as I have a hell of a lot of time and money invested in it and I want it to last.

Yep, I'll second the recommendation for Hammerite Underseal With Added Waxoyl - messy stuff to apply but it does form a skin so you shouldn't get too filthy every time you get under the car .

BTW the soft-top fitting kit is what I have on mine with a conventional Monsoon hood.
The fitting kit is pretty good but I would recommend removing the velcro and put a better paint finish on it before re-applying the velcro - the fitting kit frames WILL go very rusty otherwise.