Hard top into 2 seater ute

[spamwell]

would be easier to build a better tyre carrier and build a tool box into the tub,

or mount the tyre to a tub lid and have a toolbox built into the back half, which is opened when the lid is opened , then you would still have room behind the seats for tent and stuff and you would not have to tie everything down on the tray.

and you could still use the soft top when you needed to pack stuff higher than the tray lid level.

Sam

[muppet_man67]

Don't want to alter the wheel base but how hard is it? Would think it's not just an an hour or 2 job!

neither is building a rollcage and a ute chop. all which legally you need an engineers cert. so if your making a trip to the engineers its best to work out all the mods you may want to do that need approval and get them done in one hit. It will save some money in the long run.

Anyway the way you have described wouldn't be any worse then draws or having your spare between the wheel wells. It may even be possible to get a toolbox lower then a standard suzi.

Suziboy you don't need to have a trayback to have a rollcage. you can mount a cage in a regular suzi. you just have to make sure that it attaches at the points where the body meets the chasis.

[grimbo]

he's not going to listen, h has it in his head that it looks cool and will be better and will cut the back of regardless of what advice people give him.

[mugginsmoo]

it will take A LOT LONGER THAN YOU THINK

it took me a month of hard work, 8 cutting discs, having to purchase a welder, wire, gas, spot-weld drill, gringing and polishing discs.
and all this was to just swap in a fire-wall and tunnel out of a 1.3L WT sierra, into a 1L

unless you have a lot of Panel experience, this will result in your car ending up in my shed for parts

it is easy to take one apart but it's getting it to go back together that is a long slow job.

Mitch

[grimbo]

also how many do you see on the roads around here. You are writing cop magnet all over it unless you go to the problem of getting it all engineered properly which I would hazard a guess you wouldn't be doing. is that the right time to use that emoticon or should I just use them always

[mr green]

suzuki boy, just before you past the point of no return, see if you can find a pic of gutless' swb with the maruti roof/wall. as far as swb goes to me this is as good as it gets. no wind less noise no fumes and lockable. yes i know these are hens teeth but even if you try to fab something the same it could be almost as good.

[Aerenandmel]

suzuki boy, just before you past the point of no return, see if you can find a pic of gutless' swb with the maruti roof/wall. as far as swb goes to me this is as good as it gets. no wind less noise no fumes and lockable. yes i know these are hens teeth but even if you try to fab something the same it could be almost as good.

By captaincarnage at 2007-07-06

or even


By captaincarnage at 2007-07-06

[cj]

is that the right time to use that emoticon or should I just use them always

Why stop now

[cj]

unless you have a lot of Panel experience, this will result in your car ending up in my shed for parts

....and if not yours then someone elses.

I've thought about this sort of mod but the difference between the wishes of achieving a desirable end result and the reality can be larger than first realised. Not that it can't be done but going into it with your eyes wide open is very important.

[sierrajim]

unless you have a lot of Panel experience, this will result in your car ending up in my shed for parts

....and if not yours then someone elses.

I've thought about this sort of mod but the difference between the wishes of achieving a desirable end result and the reality can be larger than first realised. Not that it can't be done but going into it with your eyes wide open is very important.

Or just go the open air feel and don't fit a back wall. Doesn't attract so much attention when it becomes a trailer queen. Can you even tow a trailer when you've had your P's for a couple of months with a minute amount of expirence under your belt

[Gwagensteve]

The tyre is under the tray with a tool box biult into the tray!

You can do a quick experiment to see if this gives you enough space. take your tyre off the back door and lay it down in the back of the car. It will come to the top of the wheel tubs, give or take. Now put you draws on top. Now put your swag on top of that.

Keep the thread going it's bringing out all the faults every one else has done so hope when i do it it should be all good!

Gee, that's pretty precocious. I think you will notice that the people posting up photos of their cars built with way more skill than you or I could muster are TELLING YOU NOT TO DO IT WITH A SWB CAR. The "Fault" is that it is a bad idea. Suzuki built the car with the maximum usable space and lowest COG possible. You just won't improve on it.

Don't want to alter the wheel base but how hard is it? Would think it's not just an an hour or 2 job!

It's actually not that hard, but it is easier to buy a LWB as suzuki already did it for you.

If you want a SWB ute, Suzuki already made them too. This one was factory built as a ute (the tub is slightly different) and is owned by a clubmember. This car has as much room in it as you could ever have with full travel in the seats. It is very cool, but has nowhere near the room of a normal SWB in it.



Here is the bulkhead. (It was rusted out when he got it)



We have built a rack that sits on the tub sides to put the esky on. I don't think I have a photo of it, but someone will. It works well, but if the spare had to some off the back door, the whole car would be useless.

The owner is currently planning a storage box to replace the bulkhead that uses the lost space behind the front seats and under the cab back.

I'll say again, cut the back off and you will have a car that is good for daytrips only. If you add in the cost and complexity of finishing it properly, you will end up with landfill or a trailer queen.

There is NO advantage in chopping the back off.

[Highway-Star]

I Notice that 83zook hasn't replied back once to his own thread!

Has all this fighting, arguing, and opinionised poo flinging scared you off mate? This is whats great about outers, any subject can deteriate into this, and yet its still 'educational'.

So now I'll ad my 'opinion'. Buy a ute (genuine production one). I think the utes can look excelent with a well built steel framed timber tray. But the SWB when 'utified' does look a bit silly in my opinion. Anyway the visibility out of a SWB as a softop must be better than when its utified, and visibility is very important. The SWB softops with the flatop on them do tend to look better, as they are more in proportion, and anyway it gives you a large lockable area, something most useful.

Been some excelent photos posted up here, congrats to some peoples fab work, its very high quality.

[suzuki boy]

By captaincarnage at 2007-07-06

Alright you have raised some very good points now where getting to the nitty gritty!

Something like this is now my plan! With th roll cage straight into the chassis and through the cab and whole lot!

Have seen those plastic cab cut off things before can you still buy them? I was talking to a guy who was going to start making them when i first got my zook but never really follewd it up!

[83zook]

I'm still keen on cutting it but also extending the wheelbase at the same time. Ill prob use the rear door to fill in the back of the cab and use sheet metal to make it look smooth. I'll build an exo and incorporate it into the tray at the same time so structural integrity wont be a problem. Aerenandmel, i like the idea of hammertone paint as it hides all the small imperfections. Also did you put those really low spring hangers on the rear to get the castor right? cant you just use springs with an offset pin? How do you do a chassis extension? how hard is it to do? How much did you extend it? pics please.
Also what tailshaft did you use? LWB sierra? or custom?
Thanks
Mitch

[gman79au]

whats funny is when the sierra's run out this same thead will be going on but about the model below



I have seen a factory made one of these on suzuki site in another country but i can't for the life of me remember where[/img]

[Sean]

Theres a company in New Zealand that does the conversion.

I'm not sure if they were factory variations though.

Could be wrong.

cheers,
Sean

[dano80]

I think that a lot of people overlook the simple fact that more sheetmetal on a rig, means the possibility of more damage .... My other gripe is in regards to the whole COG thing, I have had the priviledge (not really) of lifting the rear off a short 413, thing was bloody heavy ......not to mention that the spare wheel carrier on a sierra is mounted friggin' high to start with. I believe with the correct planning, it would not alter COG too much, whilst incorporating a roll cage. There now i've also added my 2 bloody cents!!!!

[grimbo]

the thing with a Sierra and most cars is you want some weight over the back wheels or else you can't generate enough traction. On my ute when it was still relatively mildly modded with the original tray I would experience lots of wheelspin and no traction due to the complete lack of weight in the rear. When we built the new tray weight was added to improve the performance and it made a world of difference.

[mrw82]

love the look of the jimny ute

i've just finished a chop job of my LWB NT sierra. i wanted a LWB trayback but still wanted the soft top aswell, not a fullcab. couldn't find one so i made one.
yeah its a lot of work and no i dont have any panel or painting experience, its time consuming but wouldn't say its hard, i kept the design basic so it would be easy but also to not stand out in a bad way, it took a good couple of months from grinder to finish but im happy with how it turned out and yes it was worth doing.
would i do it to a SWB. no way, not practical.
i was going to make the tray high enough to fit the spare underneath but the tray would sit too high and look dicky. i will make a mount on my roll bar when i get one made so the spare stands up behind the drivers seat.

HELP: how do you attach pics?

[sierrajim]

the thing with a Sierra and most cars is you want some weight over the back wheels or else you can't generate enough traction. On my ute when it was still relatively mildly modded with the original tray I would experience lots of wheelspin and no traction due to the complete lack of weight in the rear. When we built the new tray weight was added to improve the performance and it made a world of difference.

Sometimes light can become too light.

[lay80n]

yes your right about the rear window and wall. it was welded on to the back of the soft top pillars so the seats could stay were they were. this whole thing seemed like a good idea beforehand but incredably useless afterward(besides the dual tanks) which is why i sold it and bought a lux and now have a maruti to build up. and as far as the extended wheel base goes, yes this makes them alot more practical but you have just carved up something suzuki have made to build something suzuki have made

This should go in the bible.

Done

Layto....

[=SKB=]

yes your right about the rear window and wall. it was welded on to the back of the soft top pillars so the seats could stay were they were. this whole thing seemed like a good idea beforehand but incredably useless afterward(besides the dual tanks) which is why i sold it and bought a lux and now have a maruti to build up. and as far as the extended wheel base goes, yes this makes them alot more practical but you have just carved up something suzuki have made to build something suzuki have made

This should go in the bible.

Done

Layto....

...and the next guy to ask the same question won't have read it

Suzuki Boy - I say do it if you want to. You will learn all about it as you do it, and either be happy with it or scrap it. Whatever.

Oh I almost forgot...

[Gwagensteve]

Which is kinda what everyone did before the internet and forums that you could log on to and learn from others mistakes

oh, yeah cool

[FullbackNo1]

i am have just cut my vitara into a ute was alot of work and bogging if you want it looking nice. it would just be easier to put a peice between the backseats and the tub unless you want a tray on it

[suzuki boy]

SKB this thread is why i have changed my plans! About 17840936 people that were not happy when they did it and 2 that where happy!

I'm going to try and find one of the plastic things that cuts off the back of the cabin and do it a bit like the white one that was posted up with the camo paint! With a roll gage out there and in the cabin !

Where can i get those plastic cut off things from? I know there rare as and cost a heap! Is there any where making them?

CHEERS

[=SKB=]

I've tried to find them a few times. Gave up. I posted some pic's a while back on 'a should I uterize my Zuk' thread. They do look very good and if you can find one can you find me one too?

[=SKB=]

Who gives a rats what another person does to His/Her car.... At the end of the day, it's theirs not urs....

[Highway-Star]

SKB this thread is why i have changed my plans! About 17840936 people that were not happy when they did it and 2 that where happy!

I'm going to try and find one of the plastic things that cuts off the back of the cabin and do it a bit like the white one that was posted up with the camo paint! With a roll gage out there and in the cabin !

Where can i get those plastic cut off things from? I know there rare as and cost a heap! Is there any where making them?

CHEERS

I believe they come from the Maruti full body (as opposed to being tray back ute). Rarely see them, and almost never seen the actual complete Maruti with them. I'm having enough fun trying to get a removable hardtop thats not still attached to a car, let alone one of those rarities; have fun finding one.

Not aware of them coming on SWB standard, however that car Gwagensteve posted a pic of seems to infer otherwise...

[Gwagensteve]

I bought a Maruti one about 10 years ago. At that stage the going rate was $400 from a wrecker, however, there are some catches.... literally.

Generally when you get these parts from a wrecker, you won't get the catches that were on the car to hold the roof panel down. Unforutunately, these catches are pretty specific to Suzuki.

The bulkhead from behind the seats on a maruti can't be used in a SWB beacause it doesn't allow for the wheelarch intrusion.

Noel's car (the SWB pic I posted) was the first one of that type I had ever seen. It used to be a trolley tug at a shopping centre. It definitely came from the factory in that configuration. there are heaps of factory nutsets in the tub to hold the bulkhead in, and the B pillar/ windscreen frame are different.

I have seen a few kincking around Melbourne but always thought they were maruti cab backs until noel got nis.

Steve.

[lay80n]

yes your right about the rear window and wall. it was welded on to the back of the soft top pillars so the seats could stay were they were. this whole thing seemed like a good idea beforehand but incredably useless afterward(besides the dual tanks) which is why i sold it and bought a lux and now have a maruti to build up. and as far as the extended wheel base goes, yes this makes them alot more practical but you have just carved up something suzuki have made to build something suzuki have made

This should go in the bible.

Done

Layto....

...and the next guy to ask the same question won't have read it

You can lead a hippy to water, but you cant make him wash

Layto....