edit: hard top found, let the mods begin...

Post by **Brendan-s** » Fri May 11, 2007 3:35 pm

Hey all,

I am about to launch into the Suzuki camp and I'm after a hardtop Sierra. Hardtop for a few reasons, one being living in Shitney affords no security, two being I like the look and three being I want something a little quieter (I know it wont be much quieter being a revvy little Zook and all, but still).

Have been watching trado and eGay for about a month now and it seems hard tops are 1 for every 10 soft tops out there. Is this the norm or is it just a dry spell?

Post by **vicelore** » Fri May 11, 2007 3:39 pm

when i was lookin for mine. on carpoint and carsales .com there was allot more tin tops than softys and cheaper..

Post by **Brendan-s** » Fri May 11, 2007 3:43 pm

Yeah that's what Squik was saying.

I am spewing I missed out on a neat little bog stocker with 6 months rego on Ebay last weekend for 1800 bucks.

So do I hold out a bit and see what happens? Need something before the end of June...

Post by **lay80n** » Fri May 11, 2007 3:43 pm

Just keep looking Brendan, usually tintops are easy to find. There were a few up here recently, will scope it out for you. Good to see your getting a real 4wd not a patrol.

Layto....

Post by **Brendan-s** » Fri May 11, 2007 3:56 pm

Cheers Layto

I think I started panicking a little cause I really wanted it by the end of May... but we're not doing Fraser til August, so as long as I leave July to sort it out suspension and tyre wise it should all be good.

(Open plug for if anyone is selling a hardtop, I would prefer it to be as stock as possible!)

Post by **Eddy** » Fri May 11, 2007 4:59 pm

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/1992-Suzuki-sier ... dZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/SUZUKI-SIERRA-HA ... dZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Suzuki-Sierra-4x ... dZViewItem

Post by **lay80n** » Fri May 11, 2007 5:48 pm

From paper Brendan. No idea on condition etc.

Suzuki Sierra Hardtop 4x4
1992 A/C, plus extra's. 107,00KM's 1 owner
Imaculate
$7,000 (

)
49692452

Will post some more tomorrow when i check the paper.

Layto....

Post by **Brendan-s** » Mon May 14, 2007 8:08 pm

Thanks for the links and info guys, much appreciated.

Bought myself a tidy little one

1988 JX widetrack hardtop, 206k, 1.3 5spd, bone stock, no rust or anything nasty, 2 owners in same family since brand new, log books et al. october rego, $3200

let the mods begin!

first fraser tho, gonna keep it stock til after then.

cheers again guys

Post by **ofr57** » Mon May 14, 2007 8:26 pm

pics?

is it red

... the red ones go faster

Post by **mud4b** » Mon May 14, 2007 8:26 pm

4130warrior wrote:Thanks for the links and info guys, much appreciated.

Bought myself a tidy little one

1988 JX widetrack hardtop, 206k, 1.3 5spd, bone stock, no rust or anything nasty, 2 owners in same family since brand new, log books et al. october rego, $3200

let the mods begin!

first fraser tho, gonna keep it stock til after then.

cheers again guys

not a bad but at all... whats the plans for it?

Post by **Brendan-s** » Mon May 14, 2007 9:18 pm

hehe yeah its a red one

special thanks to podge for answering my silly questions about it

mark plans are, after fraser a spring-over and 33s, then gearing of some sort (what would be better with 33s, transfer gears or diff gears?), then barwork, and lockers in that order.

sound good? anything I'm missing? the main thing is I want this to be a decent crawler/mud plugger but I still want to do highway runs up to mum and dad's every month or so, so it needs to be able to drive onroad alright too...

Post by A1 » Mon May 14, 2007 9:33 pm

33"s Toy diffs c/w 4.88's 6.1-6.5 xfer gears .........and extended w/b OF COURSE

but it wont be no real nice highway commuter ....although the old redzook tintop youse to get along alright on the freeway .....

Build it to redzooks tintop specs and you will be more than happy with its wheeling capabilties

Post by **want33s** » Mon May 14, 2007 9:37 pm

These are (6.5:1) 20% reduction in high 187% in low... made for 33's.
http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/samdrivetrain.htm

Post by **ofr57** » Mon May 14, 2007 10:03 pm

A1 wrote:33"s Toy diffs c/w 4.88's 6.1-6.5 xfer gears .........and extended w/b OF COURSE

but it wont be no real nice highway commuter ....although the old redzook tintop youse to get along alright on the freeway .....

Build it to redzooks tintop specs and you will be more than happy with its wheeling capabilties

any pics of this hanging around anywhere?

if i rember it had the SPOA YJ kit in it

maybe some tweaking to the motor would go good to brandon

Post by **fool_injected** » Mon May 14, 2007 11:34 pm

4130warrior wrote:Thanks for the links and info guys, much appreciated.

Bought myself a tidy little one

1988 JX widetrack hardtop, 206k, 1.3 5spd, bone stock, no rust or anything nasty, 2 owners in same family since brand new, log books et al. october rego, $3200

let the mods begin!

first fraser tho, gonna keep it stock til after then.

cheers again guys

Zooks are like ICE, one hit and your addicted
There's no turning back now
In six months you will own three and have a garage full of bits as well
There will be family interventions and counciling meetings
"Hi my name is Brendumb and I only wanted a cheap truck now I'm hooked"

Keep us posted with the build

Post by **Santos** » Tue May 15, 2007 12:25 am

4130warrior wrote: let the mods begin!

first fraser tho, gonna keep it stock til after then.

cheers again guys

If you remember count how many times you get bogged and have to dig your way out. i'm curious

Post by **lay80n** » Tue May 15, 2007 7:56 am

ofr57 wrote:
A1 wrote:33"s Toy diffs c/w 4.88's 6.1-6.5 xfer gears .........and extended w/b OF COURSE

but it wont be no real nice highway commuter ....although the old redzook tintop youse to get along alright on the freeway .....

Build it to redzooks tintop specs and you will be more than happy with its wheeling capabilties
any pics of this hanging around anywhere?

if i rember it had the SPOA YJ kit in it

maybe some tweaking to the motor would go good to brandon

Feroza rears in the back, Sierra rears in the front.

Layto....

Post by **grimbo** » Tue May 15, 2007 9:14 am

so why do a SPOA, whhy not be a little different in Sydney and stay SPUA and do a RUF and run your 33s

Post by **Brendan-s** » Tue May 15, 2007 9:41 am

1) I am a believer in being a purist... so no Toyo diffs thanks

2) I don't want to chop the body out any. Maybe I'll stay SPUA and run 31s. Can you get away without running gearing with 31s?

"Hi my name is Brendumb and I only wanted a cheap truck now I'm hooked'

classic...

Post by **want33s** » Tue May 15, 2007 9:53 am

4130warrior wrote:1) I am a believer in being a purist... so no Toyo diffs thanks

2) I don't want to chop the body out any. Maybe I'll stay SPUA and run 31s. Can you get away without running gearing with 31s?

"Hi my name is Brendumb and I only wanted a cheap truck now I'm hooked' classic...

I have 31's with stock gearing at the moment and around town its OK. On the highway is way underpowered (3000rpm@105 in 5th) In the bush its so fast in 1st low its scary! I have a set of 6.5:1's to go in when I get a chance.

Post by **lay80n** » Tue May 15, 2007 10:11 am

4130warrior wrote:1) I am a believer in being a purist... so no Toyo diffs thanks

2) I don't want to chop the body out any. Maybe I'll stay SPUA and run 31s. Can you get away without running gearing with 31s?

"Hi my name is Brendumb and I only wanted a cheap truck now I'm hooked' classic...

To run 31's you are looking at 4:1 t-case at least, as otherise the gearing is too tall.

Layto....

Post by **vicelore** » Tue May 15, 2007 10:35 am

im running 32s stock gearing atm its horrible 5th is totaly un usuable and offroad in low your riding the clutch like a mofo... buyin s3 RH this week. ATLAST!!!

Post by **Brendan-s** » Tue May 15, 2007 4:32 pm

Nah bugger Tojo diffs I want to build this as a bolt-in setup. Dont have the time or patience for fully custom setups.

Would 31s fit SPUA with 2in susp 2in body? Could be a lot easier to do than a spring-over. I don't want to chop the body up though. 2in shackles too?

RUF I will have to look into. Sounds like it could be a winner.

Have been looking at the rockhopper thread, there's some good info in there. I like the look of the lowrange offroad gears...

Post by **zooker** » Tue May 15, 2007 8:37 pm

4130warrior wrote:Nah bugger Tojo diffs I want to build this as a bolt-in setup. Dont have the time or patience for fully custom setups.

Would 31s fit SPUA with 2in susp 2in body? Could be a lot easier to do than a spring-over. I don't want to chop the body up though. 2in shackles too?

RUF I will have to look into. Sounds like it could be a winner.

Have been looking at the rockhopper thread, there's some good info in there. I like the look of the lowrange offroad gears...

Yes 31's will fit with 2"springs & 2" BL, thats what i had, all i had to do was bash flat all the seams in the guards and cut off the front bumper mounts.

Though recently i have just put on 32"x11.5 muddies and all i had to do additionally was move the front axle forward approx 22mm by redrilling the spring perches and i am in the process of fitting some bumpstop spacers to prevent rubbing on the headlight bucket. I feel this is the largest possible tyre without having to do some serious guard modification(i.e. cutting).

Post by **Squik** » Tue May 15, 2007 8:48 pm

Yeah... you'll end up with a few... we just bought another longey

Post by **Brendan-s** » Tue May 15, 2007 9:27 pm

thanks for that info zooker. i think for simplicity's sake (and the fact it still needs to be a budget daily driver) i will stick with 2+2 and 31s. although its always risky betting on what mods you will do because even Antunac's 40 Series started off with a 2in bodylift and 31s lol...

Post by **jtraf** » Tue May 15, 2007 9:57 pm

2in body and 2in spring will get you 31's with some hammering.....

In VIC 2in body and 2in spring RUF and headlight bucket and firewall trimming gets you 34/11.5/16 swampers without fouling body or looking different to stock..

Post by **fool_injected** » Tue May 15, 2007 11:05 pm

There's fourteen ways to skin a cat
Take all the avaiable advice on board but make your decision based on
1.Budget - Work a budget out and stick to it as much as possable
2.Benifit - No point putting something cause it looks bling like big tyres without gears
3.Fit - Make sure the mod fits with the total plan for the build

I run SOA and 2" springs
Get slight scrubbing against the firewall at full flex, need to move the F axle forward
Was - 31's with standard gears= too high
Now - 31s with S3 = too low (on the road that is, farkin tops off road)
Might - squeeze the 33s under

Post by **Pinball** » Wed May 16, 2007 9:06 am

31's will suck the power out of the standard 1300 real quick....

could counter with a late 1l transfer case swap (equivalent to S1 rockhoppers i think)

SPUA with lift and BL will be fine, don't forget to dice the sway bar or get QD setup for max flex options...

will have to trim the bumper support bar...

1600 conversion is a beautiful thing, although i've heard the m13 is a nice bit of gear to...

get used to never having a handbrake..

Spock

Post by **Brendan-s** » Wed May 16, 2007 9:30 am

i drove the datto around for 12 months without a handbrake so no matter there. but why is that?

So after more reading and thinking here's the plan in order. Please let me know what you think. Keep in mind this is my daily and I hate catching the bus to work so as much of the stuff as possible needs to be bolt-in mods.

In order:
2in bodyblocks
2in suspension and new bushes all around
4.9:1 lowrange offroad gears
31s

Outer Limits 4x4 Board

edit: hard top found, let the mods begin...

edit: hard top found, let the mods begin...

tintops?

hardtops

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