Huw's '89 SJ 410

[ROBBIE]

Wish my local railway had facility that I could use like that

[HuwJones]

Having a pit helps a lot! Especially with some of the things i wanted to do.
I know someone who’s breaking a 1.6 8v Grand Vitara. Would that be the same as a Vitara engine? (Sorry for the stupid question, but I want to make sure!)
Thanks
Huw Jones

[HuwJones]

Well, faith hope and a welder managed to get the car through a MOT! woohoo!! With only a worn rear UJ as an advisory.
I've done some odds and ends to the car. But some jobs have built up. So I will have a go at most this weekend. I had a few hours spare on Sunday, and since it was nice warm weather i decided to try and sort the leaky roof. I simply removed the screws and bolts, carved out all of the old sealant and put it back together with new sealant. I took the carpets out to try and dry/ clean them. Whilst doing this I noticed some holes in the floor plan on the passenger side. One small hole is near the outer plug on the foot well, the other slightly larger hole is behind the passenger seat, it's about 4 inches long and 1/4 inch wide. Nothing major.
I'll deal with these over the weekend. After I sort the holes, I’ll remove all of the rust then prime most of the interior foot well with anti-rust primer then some protective paint.
I'll try to update this a bit more often. It's been busy at work over the last few months!

[HuwJones]

Since the roof leaks, I’ve decided to make a new roof out of sheet steel sometime soon. After I’ve done that, the next project is this

A fastback style back section made from steel or aluminium. Access is through the existing door and there's a hatch that opens with the tyre on top of it. It will have two industrial hydraulic rams to hold the hatch up with the weight of the tyre on it.
The holes in the back are for the lights, which I will use land rover ones.

[turbo-tom]

Sounds like a plan! Use plenty of fixings and stickaflex so it dont rattle and leak!

[HuwJones]

That's what I was thinking of doing. It will be welded together, but pop riveted onto the SJ with silicone in the joint. That should prevent any rattles and leaking. Also thinking of light bar on roof and a 'nudge bar' not sure yet though. Will definitely need a new rear bumper as it has started to fall off on the drivers side.
Huw

[HuwJones]

To be honest, I forgot I had this thread! But the fastback roof hasn't materialised, I've just bought a donor SJ to put a commercial body on my chassis. But... I have some bad news.
At approximately 0714 this morning, on the A487 near Penmorfa, G399 PKR died. Which was a bit inconvenient as I was on my way to work, half way up a hill and it was pissing it down.
The car at the moment is parked in a layby nearby with a almost seized engine (Didn't exactly stop, but got stiff enough to stall. when it's cold, it turns over fine). I'm a bit puzzled on how this happened, it's full of oil (only serviced 2 months ago). So... hopefully either today or tomorrow it will be trailered to work for a post mortem. I suspect it's a failed oil pump. I'm hoping it isn't a new engine job. If it is, it's having a 1.6 Vit engine.
Anyway, I'm off to go find another car...
Huw

[Jordi]

That's a bit shitty bud. Hope it's nothing too serious, sounds pretty bad though.

[HuwJones]

Well over the last week I've managed to do a bit on the SJ. the head was taken off in and it all seemed good. The rest of the engine was then taken out, put on a stand and drained of oil. There after running the oil through a sieve, no bits of metal were found. So the engine was "Flushed" with some Swarfega Duck Oil and the sump taken off after.
I'm not sure if it's a good sign or not, but only one piece of metal was found in the sump (Surely, less is best?!). I'm not sure where it's come from as I haven't had more time to go digging any further. I'm hoping it's a replaceable part such as a big end or main bearing.
Just out of curiosity, where can I get some engine parts for a F10A engine? Bearings, Gaskets etc. I've found a "Refurb kit" on eBay, but at +£200 from the Aussies, it's too expensive for me! If this engine has a chance to run again I'd like to put it back together to get it running. Even if I don't use it in the SJ, I want to get the experience of putting an engine together. Photos will follow soon!
Thanks
Huw

[HuwJones]

Well, due to bad health, not much has happened to the SJ over the last few weeks. But now I'm as good as I can be, so time to get to work. To be honest, I'm having withdrawal symptoms of not driving an SJ :/ The Focus I now have is warm, quiet, reliable, economic and is easy to drive, but it's not half as much fun as the SJ! It's about time I get my arse in gear!
After taking the bottom end of the engine to pieces, I found that a oil way had clogged up and a big end bearing had gone on it. I decided "fcuk it" and bought a G16A to put in it I've kept the engine, because I'd like to get it running again, just for the experience.
Now I just need to fit it into the SJ! I've been slowly working on both jeeps, I've done all of the little jobs on the donor body, I now need to get the grinder and welder out and sort out all of the rust.
Whilst I've been cleaning it, I'm quite chuffed about how good of condition it's in. There's bad rust in a few places, but it's nothing that's too bad to fix. The rust is mainly around the sills and rear arches, with a few small bits need to be put in around the passenger's foot well.
I'm now on the lookout for a complete front end with windscreen and two side doors, I could re use the ones off the soft top, but they are in a lot worse condition than what I thought they were in, I need to learn not to poke rust with screwdrivers!
The deadline at the moment is around December, fingers crossed!