Suzuki Jimny Pick-up

BarryPort

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Hey guys.

My old boy has been harping on about how much he would love a wee pick up to run about in. The man likes to keep active in his tender age of 72 which involves collecting firewood from the farm & running bags of rubbish to the dump.
His current ride is a Lexus RX300 which has had its bumpers painted a few times as he’s at that dootery stage he’s prone to knocking into things. He even took the side of my Transit out when it he left it in gear.

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Anyway, he gives a lot & never really gets anything back. In fact he’s never had a Christmas present as it gets him embarrassed & frustrated that someone would waste money on him.

So, it needs to be
1. Cheap and small (so he can knock it)
2. 4WD (For mud & snow)
3. Plenty of room in the rear to cart stuff about

Looked at the Daihatsu Hijet & Suzuki Carry but the bed in their pick ups was a little too excessive.
A Land Rover Defender 90 is a million pounds these days since they stopped production & with the woolly steering & spongy brakes he’d have turned it into a Defender 70 in no time.

So, I arrived at the Suzuki Jimny & decided the cabriolet model would be easy enough to convert.
Finding one was tricky enough, @Coog will tell you that.
During a Donedeal search a Donegal man had a wanted ad up for an engine for his cabrio & I asked him if he’d sell his as a non runner with its cracked head.
We arrived at £250 sterling, a set of Ford Mondeo ST24 turbine alloys & x2 stainless exhaust mugs that sealed the deal (£350 total).
Off to the most Northerly point of Ireland we collected this thing, clean, all there & not looking like a bad buy we loaded her up & headed for Higgins Car Dismantlers Garvagh where I had arranged to have a replacement engine waiting for me. £350 again. Reversed the trailer into their yard, big Polish boy lowers the 1300 16v G13BB into the boot with a forklift & we set off again.

Advert pic

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Loaded up in Middletown, Malin Head

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Unfortunately I got called back to work offshore the day after so only got stuck into for the first time today.
The head etc was stripped off so we just took the rest of the done engine out & I made a start on the rear.

Roof off

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Rear seats & trim out

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Had to re-route these rear light, seatbelt wanring & fuel filler cap release cables as they’ll only get in the way of the bulk head when I’m welding it in Monday.

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Serious volume, I would say 1m3 (1m x 1m x 1m).

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Must try & source a polycarbonate type caravan window for the bulk head.

As this is a surprise Christmas present I’ve only really got a week left to drop in the new engine & fabricate the wee truck’s bed. Ideally I’d like to do it in checker plate but I don’t have a welder fit for aluminium so 3mm mild steel sheet & a locka car body Schutz will have to do.

Hopefully update this early next week & remember guys, it’s a secret. :-#
 
Last edited:

Nicky

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@Bono872 I think works with plastic and polycarbonate (y)

Will be keeping an eye on this.

Have a Jimny to do a load of work on for a friend of mine over Christmas, so will get a few pics of it while I’m at it.
 

BarryPort

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BarryPort
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@Bono872 I think works with plastic and polycarbonate (y)

Will be keeping an eye on this.

Have a Jimny to do a load of work on for a friend of mine over Christmas, so will get a few pics of it while I’m at it.

This is the sort of thing I’m after Nicky, hinged with latches. A bit smaller maybe lol

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Looking forward to see your Jimny work boss!
 

Nicky

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Get on to Google and waste an hour or so. There’s any amount of Vitara pickups been built over the years which should offer similar ideas for inspiration, though Jimny builds are quite scarce from what I’ve seen. Most people opted to put a tub on the back like that of a normal pickup. I’d say a lot of that was to do with the rust they suffer from around the boot floor and back end. My own Vitara suffered from the same fate which is why she got the chop but as she was a tin top I was able to use the top half of the rear door to close it in and then just used sheet steel (1.5mm from memory) to tub it all in. It isn’t pretty as I had decided it would never be a road going vehicle again and I’d never done something like that before, but it works...
 

BarryPort

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BarryPort
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Get on to Google and waste an hour or so. There’s any amount of Vitara pickups been built over the years which should offer similar ideas for inspiration, though Jimny builds are quite scarce from what I’ve seen. Most people opted to put a tub on the back like that of a normal pickup. I’d say a lot of that was to do with the rust they suffer from around the boot floor and back end. My own Vitara suffered from the same fate which is why she got the chop but as she was a tin top I was able to use the top half of the rear door to close it in and then just used sheet steel (1.5mm from memory) to tub it all in. It isn’t pretty as I had decided it would never be a road going vehicle again and I’d never done something like that before, but it works...

Aye this wee thing needs a patch where the sisor jack is kept, a little pocket near the door.
I seen those tub conversions but I’m going to try & keep it as factory as possible, plus if he ever does want to keep materials like bags of cement dry in the back I can always fit a new roof for him as the old one is shot.

Can’t wait to get back at this on Monday.
 

Woodcutter

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Class wee project!

If you need anything for it, give me a shout. Is it down at AJ's? Must pop over during the week. :grinning:
 

Rocko

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Pick up conversions give me flashbacks. I can't remember where our rear window came from but it was definitely glass.

Bono can definitely sort something for you though.
 

Coog

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We had flat plain plexi in the back of the LJ and then ply board the rest. Was absolutely grand and surprisingly never leaked.
 

Gobsheene

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Aww Class auld JD will love this! You'll be giving him a redner!

Really fancy one of these after a while, something not to give a single **** about. Theres a wee Ignis sport on the Crumlin that I covet, for some bloody weird reason.
 

warren

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This looks like an outstanding project! Cant wait to see what it ends up like :laughing:
 

BarryPort

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BarryPort
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As Ice Cube once said, today was a good day.

Cutting through the 4mm thick sheet steel with a 4” grinder was taking its toll (25 cutting disks). So opted for plasma cutter for cutting out the window.

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The fit still wasn’t quite right so another 10mm off the sides helped it slot in with a bit of persuasion. Never been so happy to hear the metal pop into place as there was absolutely no give with the 4mm sheet steel. It point blank refused to be manipulated and so a 6ft long pry bar was drafted in to go all Castlereagh RUC station on its ass.

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The confession was then tied up with a few tack welds

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Tomorrow will hopefully see the engine running & a coat of hammertite for the exposed areas.
 

Nicky

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4mm sheet? You may put a 2” lift kit in her to bring her back up to standard height with that weight added... lol.

Did you get sorted with a window for it yet?
 

Nicky

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He’ll never be cold in it anyway. We had 1 in Iceland last year and it was colder outside than we’d usually see here and with all the size of the cab, it heated up in no time and kept the heat well. With this cab being half the size, it’ll be even warmer I’d say.
 
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