Special Japanese Coily Samurai SJ80

Although this isn't the JB33 / JB43 / JB53 Jimny which is the focus of this forum, it's such a striking case and also it's a late edition "coily" Samurai (a half-breed between a regular Samurai and a Jimny).

So I thought it might "pass" in this forum section. And they don't call it "Samurai" over there in Japan - they call them all generations and editions "Jimny".


Here it is:

Very cool.

I have a 1996 Jimny from Japan. Not the Sierra but the slightly narrower track with the 660 turbo engine instead of 1300 cc. Do you happen to know if the chasis is the same and so if the suspension of for the SJ80 would work on the Japanese Jimny,. Having a hard time finding direct swap suspension components for the coily version which mine is. (E-JA22W).

JA22WCanada wrote: I have a 1996 Jimny from Japan. Not the Sierra but the slightly narrower track with the 660 turbo engine instead of 1300 cc. Do you happen to know if the chasis is the same and so if the suspension of for the SJ80 would work on the Japanese Jimny,. Having a hard time finding direct swap suspension components for the coily version which mine is. (E-JA22W).

To my knowledge there is only one chassi layout for the coily samurai. Some pieces are the same or similar as the Gen3 Jimny but this is only things I have noted as I heard or read it and not what i know.
I thought the coily only had one chassi width and that the difference was the wheel offset and the arches/fenders.
The coily samurai was only made in Japan I think. Elsewhere the samurai had leaf springs.
The width is not the same as the Gen3 Jimny.

Thanks, I think you are correct. Looks like the slight width and length increase is strictly bumper and fenders. The SJ80 in Australia had a coil suspension for 3 or 4 years and I think same chasis as my JImny. Going to hope so and give it a try on matching front struts. Definitely gen 3 is different and would be much easier to match up.

looked into this as i have a ja22w jimny from japan here in the UK with the 660c. the sj80 suspension is straight bolt on. the mounts are all the same location on the axles and the body. google partsouq as it has all parts diagrams when you chuck in your vin to look at axles etc, and then find the diagrams for the sj80.

i searched for ages for suspension parts and other than japan, australia was the next best place for it. also found some in croatia that could sort me out.

the front strut on the sj80 is completely different to gen 3 jimnys (look up kyb shocks), but the rear setup is a simple shock and coil which you could figure out how to change from any specialist quite easily i'd say. the picture is a front shock, where the spring sits on the bottom plate and then sits inside the cup on the body. only thing i was unsure of was the weight of the engine in an sj80 and spring rates.



with a bit of digging from cross matching part numbers etc. i am sure that i found that the trailing arms were the same from sj80 to gen3 by part number too, so anybody selling upgraded ones should be good.

i put a hold fire on lifting/updating like for like at this stage as mine has an upgraded set already from Japan and rides just fine.

shoot me a pm if you have any questions.