Jimny in Blackpool

I am a recent new forum member, I joined when I was looking for a little cheap run around to keep me on the road while my Vitara is undergoing an engine swap.
I am from Blackpool, so give me a shout if your ever travelling this way, the kettle is always on.

Ok the Jimny first, then some snaps of my Vitara
I bought this from Oxford a month ago. Its a 2003 16 valve Jimny
It has a detachable tow ball.

With a full set of 6 wheels and 215/75/15 BF Goodrich tyres.

ARB compressor under the bonnet.

With front and rear ARB lockers in the diffs. Out of interest, what is normally in that space in the dash?

ARB Winch bumper with a Warn Tabor 12k winch with synthetic rope.

Lightforce 170mm spotlamps and 140mm fog lamps.

All I have done so far is Garstang Ford, luckily it's summer now so the level is shallow.

I fitted an Off Road Armoury rear bumper this weekend.

and that is how it stands right now.
Spare wheel offset bracket on order, along with a Rocklobster transfer box, some underside protection is on its way, and I suspect that some time in the future I will be getting some bigger tyres and a body/suspension lift, a snorkel, a CB radio, brake upgrade... the list goes on.

Car number two is a 1.9 Diesel Vitara Commercial (van)
Which I don't seem to have many pictures of...




It is sat on 33x12.5x15 Kumho Road Venture KL71 MT tyres, with Suzuki Fatboy 5"arches to cover them. A 3" body lift and a similar suspension lift. It has an Off Road Armoury front winch bumper with 10k winch, and ORA rear bumper. Full Calmini suspension kit, Calmini Anvil front diff housing, with steel diff carrier, with 5.125 ratio differential and ARB lockers front and rear, supplied by an ARB compressor, Trail Tough crawler gears in transfer box, gearbox from a 1600 petrol, front brake upgrade from a LWB Vitara. Muddyzook rear disk conversion. diff guards, transmission guard, roof rack and basket with secure jerrycan holders. front and rear cameras displaying on a 6.5" touch screen DVD player in the dash. CB radio, HID headlights, roof mounted spotlights, snorkel, Calmini rock sliders. and the list goes on...
On the cards is a bigger body lift to squeeze in a rear mounted winch, some new rock sliders, Anderson jump lead connector, and a second battery with split charge system. but all that is going to have to wait till I find a new engine. As the con rod is poking out the side of mine at the moment.

does anyone have a low mileage 1.9 XUD engine going spare???

Both cracking trucks, that vit looks the business with the rear ladder and roof rack. I like how both have real useable mods and not just everything thrown at them.

The space you have the switches in is just that - a space - i think its a coin tray technically.

Hi from Warton, i'm sure i've seen the vitara going towards BAE and at squires gate Mc'Donalds, I drooled all over that Jimny on e'bay along with many other members on here, My Jimny is currently up in Sshore and having a full cage fitted next week, then up for some fun!
Lovely looking trucks!
You may have noticed a well sorted GV around, that's either me, my other half or my sister as her car is currently dead.

The space was original'y just a useless hole.

Welcome to Bigjimny!




thats my G Vitara some old fart on here is after buying.!!!!!

hello there, i remember them pics, it was with the N monkeys, did your CV give up as i remember you had to go early? I was in my L200

yes i saw that jimny, was tempted buy it myself for a more usable jimny lol

Yep I was on the Monkeys run, I snapped the offside halfshaft, and had to limp back down the hill in front wheel drive only. I didn't have the lockers fitted then or the crawler gears in the transfer box. So I was trying to rely on momentum to get over a cross-axle situation, and paid the price. I should have just used the winch off a Mitsubishi/Toyota/any of the other 3 litre diesel monster ground-anchors that got over it no problem...

I wasn’t looking for a modified car, I really did just want a run around, while I swapped the Vitara engine out. But got distracted and nearly bought a fairly standard Jimny, but got outbid. Nearly bought a slightly more modified Jimny from another member off here near Newcastle, but that sale fell through... By this point I had my heart set on a modified Jimny, and no other car would cross my mind. That one on ebay ticked all the right boxes. I don’t know if the previous owner uses this forum? but by all account (from the garage where it was part ex'd against a 30k Land Rover) it was an old boy who had it from new and added a different £500 modification, pretty much every year he owned it. I had to sort a smashed fog light, and have fitted the rear bumper; I have a CB to fit, but not decided where to mount it or which aerial to use. I have spent this afternoon extending the front and rear axle breathers using 8mm Nylon airline pipe and push fit connectors, I'll post a picture on Monday. And I think the o-rings in the rear locker have failed as there is oil in the airline when I vent the pressure, so after this weekend I will have to open it up and have a look.

I really want to get out and use the car(s) more this year. Pay and Play at Briercliffe this weekend in the Jimny, to really find the limits. But then I also enjoy laning in the Lakes or Dales or wherever really. I have a plan of one day taking a trip to the alps for a week or so. But have never planned anything like that before so would want to do a commercial organised trip, or tag along with someone else first. I wouldn’t want to drive all the way to the south of France and not find any god tracks or trails and be stuck on tarmac the whole time.

I work at BAE, so that explains that one. and I live in South Shore, near Morrisons. Next time you see me at Mcdonalds stop me and say hello.

Will do mate, the vitara is normally about between warton and south shore, My jimny is in a mates garage in south shore as it wont fit in my garage thanks to bluejimny . I am just seconds from BAE (noisy buggers!)

Hoping to get my jimny on the road in the next few weeks, and will be testing it out hopefully at hill n ditch once the cage is fitted. So keep your eyes out.

i thought you worked at BAE as when i saw you at the lakes i saw some chairmans award paper work wjem having a look in your vit, and thought that looks familiar lol, im sure your jimny will do well but be careful with the front diff lock the CV.s are quite weak!

I'm sure I will blow mine with special tracs and a lead foot with no lobster. Think I will be trailering my jimny everywhere.
When does the mods list ever end? or do we just keep going on&on
Rear prop,Uprated CV.s, Rock Lobster, Diff locks,Under body and axle protection, 1.6 engine.................................................................................

I'm never going to be rich! But its worth it

Have you thought about a diesel conversion? My Vitara is awesome with its diesel engine, loads of torque, no worries about deep wading,... well it was, till it turned itself inside out, but I still haven't worked out why that happened, it had no reason to.
Here is the front and rear axle breather I fitted yesterday, nothing special, I am sure you have all seen them before, but it might be the inspiration someone needs. The bottom line comes straight up off the front axle, the right side comes in from the rear axle and is cable tied to the chassis rail and along the radius arm. The left side goes round the back of the battery and up past the air box and ends just above the standard air intake. If I get water that high I have more trouble than water in the axle to worry about. If I ever get a snorkel, I will drill and tap the air box cover and plumb in into there. The pipe is 8mm airline, and the T-piece is push fit, I got elbows, tees any Y-connectors left over from my Vitara breathers.
Here is the full rear bumper, I need to get a number plate light sorted sharpish.

This is the CB that I installed yesterday. It is brand new, but it is only a cheap one (so cheap that if you press two buttons at the same time, it pops the fuse). But I had it lying round, I need to run the cable for the aerial and work out where and how to mount it.

I got a universal number plate light on my KAP cage/rear bumper to be fitted, that I will be removing tomorrow, it looks ok, If it is you are more than welcome to it.
Bit to much work for me to go diesel, the 1.6 baleno engine is a straight forward swap, at the moment my 1.3 is still only on 40000 and sweet, need to sort out the transfer box before engine swap ideas.

seeing as all you guys are fylde coast based, thought id introduce myself, im currently residing just outside kirkham, and building a Winch challenge vehicle based on a jimny chassis!
Gonna be a month or so till mine is finished, are you guys going to the jimny meet in september at wagtail? maybe we could all convoy down together?

James

Fordy, I will have to find the details of the wagtail meet as I don’t know what it is... but I am up for it if I am free that weekend.
Convoy driving makes the boring bit of getting to and from an event more interesting so I am always game for that.
Is there a thread with your build pictures on?

Here is the CB mounting position I chose, I missed the picture off my last post.

I still need to mount the aerial (and source it). The spare wheel carrier looks the most likely place, but it is cylindrical so not as straight forward as I would have hoped.

Thanks for the offer on the number plate light supergaz, let me know if it is serviceable and if it still looks in smart order. I was thinking of a Hong-Kong-special LED sidelight "thing".
Like this

I have one under the rear door handle on the Vitara and it works a treat.

I went to Briercliffe pay and play yesterday. It was really good fun, it was tipping it down all day so everywhere was covered in mud by the end of the day.
I am impressed with the Jimny.
But I was scared the whole time about my ground clearance and lack of any protection under there. I drove round things that I would have driven straight over in the Vitara. I got more and more confidence in the car by the end of the day, and did end up using the lockers to get me out of a sticky situation once or twice, though didn’t need the winch. Which I am quite glad about as it was raining sideways, and I was reluctant to open the window, let alone get out of the car!

Remember the front right fog light that was missing when I bought the car, so I got a replacement bulb and reflector from Light Force… well, I managed to bend it back on its mounting... and completely destroy the left hand side one now. Dammit.
More height required. Or some sort of protection for them. I wish I could weld, then I could make a skid plate/sump guard that extended forwards below the lights.

But to be fair I did accidentally drive into a massive bank under water. (I didn’t realise the shallow puddle I drove through was a 2 ft deep 4 ft wide, vertical walled trench that I drove across) the reflector and lens is now at the bottom of a quarry.