Showroom Vitara

[Ade316]

Hi I'm looking for some advice please on my Vitara soft top project. I have 2 Vitaras, a 1994 JX Soft top and a 91 JLX hard top. The soft top has covered 87k and in reasonable condition (or so I thought) though has i some welding done to the boot and rear wheel arches when I bought it last March. It has a gearbox issue but runs ok. I've spent quite a lot on it, including the welding, new exhaust, shocks all round and a lot of time restoring wheels etc.

However a couple of months ago I bought the hard top Vitara as it has a genuine 1200 miles and is in showroom condition. I had it serviced at a dealer and it is genuine. I bought it with the intention of lifting the bodyshells off each chassis and swapping them over so that I have an as new soft top on the perfect chassis/engine/transmission. I'll also swap the interiors and body panels, bumpers, wiring etc.

However while stripping back the soft top for the swap I've come across more rust including a rotten sill and behind each rear wheel arch. I'm wondering what to do as to fully restore the soft top body shell (dipping, e-coating, welding and re spray) is going to be the best part of £3k. I wondered if there's any way of acquiring a rust free or even new soft top body shell? Or any advice on restoring the shell I have? Alternative would be blasting the underside and wheel arches and re-spraying but I'm worried that it will be a short term fix. I want this restoration to last 10 years or more ideally.

Ideally I'd like to put the perfect hard top shell on the old soft top chassis/engine and use it during the winter. I'd need to treat the surface rust on the old chassis too though. I'm as well holding onto it I suppose as it won't fetch much unless there is demand for a perfect hard top body shell?

Another way of doing it would be to fully restore the soft top body shell and old chassis, and swap the engine, transmission and axles but this would seem like more work for a less satisfactory outcome as I wouldn't have the benefit of the 'as new' chassis.

Thanks very much. Any ideas or advice on acquiring a rust free soft top shell or any other thoughts about restoring my current soft top shell would be very welcome.
Thanks again

Ade

[ScottieJ]

Personally I prefer hardtop Vits so I would leave that as it is and just run it while you sort the soft top rather than swapping everything over. 87k isn't really a high mileage anyway.

[Anton]

Dipping? E-coating?

Fap disc, angle grinder, welder, spray it, done. Don't swap those bodies over - there's little or no point in putting the old messy body on the older but low mileage chassis - you're talking about quite large amounts of work for little or no benefit, as you'll be using the hard top during the colder months anyway (you may end up spending more time in the hard top!).

If you had a pair of LJ's you were doing something like this with, I could see the point of it all, but you're talking about spending time and money on a vehicle that isn't a classic, and may never be.

My advice is do what I did - new seals, bearings, bushes, gaskets etc all around the soft top. I have a 97k SJ that runs like new because every moving part has new oil, new bearings, new seals etc. It looks like a scrapper, but it runs sweet. Mechanically it's as close to a new vehicle as I could get it.

You're better off spending your time, money and energy making both cars run as sweet as possible, if you ask me.

Also:

[ROBBIE]

Got to agree with Scott on this one, hard tops are so much better than the soft top

[SierraDan]

I wish mine was a hardtop

[Anton]

the old messy body

Autocorect strikes again: that should have read "an old rusty body" as your soft top looks tidy to me.

[Ade316]

Ok thanks very much everyone, and thanks for the welcomes. Much appreciated.
It has made me think again but one way or another I'm going to need to sort that rusty bodyshell or acquire a rust free one. As its a soft top I'm after maybe I should focus on the bodyshell first and then see about the bodyshell swap once that's achieved

Thanks again
Ade