Outer Limits 4x4 Board

gday ppls just wondering the go on swapping bodys on an 1981 sj40 zook what model years will fit where to find etc would be great to speak to ppl who have done this before cheers

Any years will physically fit, right up to the coiler, but the newer the car, the more other issues you will run into.

Examples - after the 1.0, the brakes were set up in different ways. The most obvious was the addition of a booster, but they also went diagonally split during the 80's for a while. This isn't impossible to deal with at all, but you need to be aware of it if you are mixing and matching.

1.0 litres and 1.3's have different body stud lengths. You'll need to do some jiggerpokery to get a 1.3 stud to work with a 1.0 chassis. The easiest way might be with some small spacers that will net you a small body lift. 1.3's have concave chassis mounts and 1.0's are flat, so they're not compatible - you'll need to keep the 1.0 litre body mount bushes with whatever body you use and space out the difference.

1.0 litres run a completely different wiring loom to the 1.3. This is going to be a major PITA if you source a 1.3 shell. 1.0's are externally regulated, and there's NO similarity in the wiring loom. I'm not really sure what the solution is to this. It's either a massive amount of wiring work, or running a regulated alternator on the 1.0 motor and trying to wire the 1.0 into the 1.3 loom, or swapping the 1.0 loom into a 1.3 body which will cause havoc with instruments etc. this is complicated by the fact the dash architecture is different so you can't swap between 1.0 and 1.3 dashes.

I have swapped bodies on a 1.3 (an early 1.3 body onto a widetrack chassis) but didn't have to deal with the wiring.

One way or another, the easiest way is to find another 1.0 shell.


Steve.

^^ given what he said - can you repair whats wrong with it? might be easier and cheaper =P