Dave's la(te)st buggy build...

Congratulations nice work Dave

Sent from my SM-A305YN using Tapatalk

Success after so many trial runs.

Well done that man.

Still not forgiving you for the rugby.

Roger

Congratulations!

THANKS Everyone!

It's turned out better than I expected... if I stand back and look at it, I think it "looks right"... it's kinda how I pictured it in my (warped) mind, taking influences from the Ford EX Concept Car, the Braziian UTV, side-by-sides like the Polaris RZR etc, but "constrained" by the donor Jimny vehicle and keeping it still recognisable as such for registration and road legality, and bearing in mind the British weather, and keeping some ability for wading streams and rivers...

I need to say a few thank yous...

James Priestley - for supplying the donor vehicle, and countless parts along the way...
Rus & Co at JimnyBits - for supplying most of their range of guards :laugh: , the tyres, the winch, most of the suspension, etc, etc...
Martin at BigJimny - for much of the replacement bearings, seals, etc...
Tube Bender (eBay) - for bending to order the loops used, and the snorkel tube.
Rob at the Offroad Armoury - for the inspiration of Jimny buggies, and the winch setup idea too!
You lot - for reading the blog, commenting and keeping me going with words of encouragement !
My missus for putting up with me for 32 years, 30 of which I've spent tinkering with Suzukis!

I've been out today to pop some petrol in and have a quick spin now it's all legal... MOT and Tax

The speedo is just about spot on with the GPS speedo on my iPhone... the maths were right that influenced the change of diffs from the stock 3.909 final drive ratio to later VVT 4.3 diffs. The gearbox and transfer box are standard. The on-road gearing seems fine after driving it a bit, I'm hoping the offroad gearing is low enough for my needs without fitting the rocklobster SJ transfer box I have sat on my bench...

I just need to get it out and about offroad and see what the low ratio gearing is like... I have tried it in a straight line on tarmac (with the front hubs unlocked) and it seemed low enough, but time will tell...

I have tried to keep the suspension and gearing as simple as possible this time around! 

But, anyway, enough rambling on... I think that's the build finished... from now on updates on trips out etc will be on the blog, but of course a summary and a link will still always appear in this "build thread" like I always used to do with the Jimny formerly known as S200KYS...

Cheers everyone! :woohoo:

Dave

:lol: Spoke to soon! :lol:

My insurance company insisted on there being locking wheel nuts fitted...

So when I went to order them, I spotted wheel nuts with 17mm heads instead of the normal 19mm heads, this will sort the closeness of the nuts to the Grand Vitara alloys So I can use a normal wheel nut spider or socket and bar...

 

Simple Wins Dave! well done mate.

Also, chuffed that you've got it on the road now.
Cheers, Paul.

 

£10 including next day delivery!

Sorted :woohoo:

 

Small update...

Apparently it's not the clutch at fault... When the engine is running there's a slight screech / groan that "we" thought was the clutch release bearing, as the noise disappears when you press the clutch pedal... But Alan (my co-driver, chief navigator and gate man) pointed out that the noise should then be the other way round, I.e. if the clutch release bearing was knackered it should make a noise when the clutch is pressed, not when it's out...

Another mare who is a mobile mechanic came in the Post Office this morning with some banking, so I dragged him into the garage, and he said the same as Alan... it's probably the gearbox... He advised changing the oil and then drive it some more and it may ease it... especially as it's been stood for a couple of years (and the bearings have dried out a bit?)....

Time will tell

 

Been out today for "Shakedown Trip #1" to test and iron out any issues before rejoining the group for longer trips when things return to "normal"...

Blog here -  jimnybuggy.com/2021/03/21/shakedown-trip-1/

And some favourite photos here for this build thread...

 

 

 

 



 



 

 

 



Ahhh... that's most of them?! Too many favourites!! :woohoo:
 

The trip did show up a couple of major issues...

:laugh:

1) The passenger seat belt flaps and bangs at speed as the wind catches it blowing through The Boogie

2) It needs front mud-flaps -

 

 

 

 

And it had better have the clutch fitted that is sat on my work bench...

Not too bad a first shakedown trip then! :woohoo:

Had a good day today in what has been a grey depressing year so far (it's a Stoke-onTrent weather thing).
The sun came out and even though I can't go anywhere it made a big difference, started to play around with my classic cars and bikes.
Then I came in and had a look at your photos above and that put an even bigger smile on my face. It looks so good against the hills, super bit of work, well done. Hope to see it in real life one day.
Mike

Thanks SciMike

It'll be at the BigJimny Meet if we're allowed to gather in June