GUTEN TAG

Got an vehicle build underway? post up pictures and tell us all how its going!

Builds threads only please.
nanno
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GUTEN TAG

Post by nanno » Mon Apr 14, 2025 6:08 am

Greetings y'all,

my name's Greg and for a long while I've been happily stranded in a country with plenty of mountains, which considers itself to be the heart of Europe. (Austria) Plenty of mountains leads to a notable need for affordable off-road vehicles as snow overhere during the Winter months is measured in feet not inches. As such, plenty of old (and newer) Lada Nivas and Suzuki SJs in all shapes and forms and now that a significant portion of them have rotted away also a metric ton of Jimnys and the like are present. So what do you do, when there are plenty of good offroad vehicles to choose from? Exactly, you buy an absolute sh*tbox of a 410 and for the very brief period of about 14 months, rebuild the lower ten to twelve inches of the car, so it passes the equivalent of an MOT.

Guess you guys like a bit of visual stimulation, so here goes:

1) right when bought - doesn't look too shabby, eh? (Yeah, I got fooled as well - spotted two or three small holes, nothing a bit of the magic electrical hot glue can't fix, eh?)

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To be fair at this point I thought that the bigger issue were the facts that the previous owner had an old dog, which might have been a bit on the "leaky" side and lived on a farm, so everything was really, really full of dirt.

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2) You guessed it, it was rotten as all hell. But at least one guy must have been QUITE the plaster (i.e. bondo) artist.

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Also I am sure he really loved pastry - a croissant perhaps?

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... and perhaps stacking sheet metal.

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And more croissant-style, repairs. (That last cut, until I figured out what was going on, ate through angle grinder disks, like the cookie monster goes through the proverbial cookies...)

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3) You know what happens then.

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4) yes ironically, I had to search my computer for some pictures of the completed Suzuki...
Suzuki-done-1.jpeg
Suzuki-done-2.jpeg
So why did I join overhere? Well to be quite frank with you, given the strict laws on modifying vehicles in Austria and Germany, most of the guys tend to be a bit of the rivet counting variety and I'd consider myself a bit more of a practical person. So the stock seats had to go and make room for a pair of nice ones out of an older BMW and I couldn't care less, if the sidemarker lights are the right ones for the era of the car or not or whether I have to modify the loom to fit a more modern alternator, because I want to have lights, wipers AND the heater fan running on full speed and still have my battery charged.

Cheers,
Greg

Flumps
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Re: GUTEN TAG

Post by Flumps » Mon Apr 14, 2025 10:15 am

Hi Nanno,
Welcome!
Great progress so far, well done on getting stuck in with sorting some of the rusty stuff.
Take plenty of pictures for later reference
Good luck and keep up the good work 👏
Dave

Rankine
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Re: GUTEN TAG

Post by Rankine » Mon Apr 14, 2025 6:18 pm

Welcome along! It's all about keeping them going! Good job getting the rust dealt with!
SJ413 LWB Santana 33s, 94",

nanno
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Re: GUTEN TAG

Post by nanno » Mon Apr 14, 2025 8:36 pm

Cheers guys, well it's already on the road and has done a wee bit over 500kms since completing the rebuild. So currently I am working on creature comforts and turning it from bearable to actually enjoyable.

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Jordi
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Re: GUTEN TAG

Post by Jordi » Mon Apr 14, 2025 9:17 pm

Welcome to the club. Looks like a lot of work has gone into it. Really tidied it up. 👍
1988 Samurai - Truck Cab & Tray Back - 1.6 8v & HIF44 - Snorkel - Stack Exhaust - PAS, YJs & 33s - Trussed, Gusseted & Pumpkin Capped Axles - 4.3 R&Ps - 4.16 T/Box - Rear Air Locker - Full Float Back Axle & Discs - RCV Front Shafts - X-Eng Handbrake - Custom Fuel Tank

nanno
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Re: GUTEN TAG

Post by nanno » Mon Apr 21, 2025 10:20 am

Cheers - a lot of work (should put that one in CAPITAL LETTERS) sounds about right. Completed 600km day before yesterday and swapped the alternator for one out of a Miata (MX-5) and now I finally have enough juice to enjoy all the electric doodads at once. :mrgreen:

Lights, Wipers AND heater fan. Just so much luxury.

Rankine
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Re: GUTEN TAG

Post by Rankine » Mon Apr 21, 2025 6:59 pm

Saw your update on Instagram you've really put the work in man. What's the next upgrade?
SJ413 LWB Santana 33s, 94",

nanno
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Re: GUTEN TAG

Post by nanno » Sun Apr 27, 2025 3:59 pm

For now making sure it keeps all its fluids on the inside or outside, spraying all the cavities with what they call "Wire Rope Grease", some sticky oily muck that when the little Zook is parked too long in the sun, starts dripping out and thus makes it mark its territory. Aside from that make all the heater ducts work as intended as its mighty annoying to have your legs steam cooked like a Wan-Tan on a cold and wet day, yet have the windscreen fog up, because there's insufficient airflow.

Once I've decided, if I'll keep it and try to buy a 5-speed box from Spain for it or take up a mate on his offer for a coil-spring Samurai with the mighty fuel injected 1.3L engine, I might have to swap the windscreen, because it's full of weld spatter from the last guy and it has got a stone chip right in front of the driver, which is a MOT-/TUeV-fail overhere. Oh and obviously, because I didn't buy the Suzuki just for funsies, I have to wire in a plug to hook up to the trailer, because that's what I'll do with a 45hp shoebox on wheels. ;-)

nanno
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Re: GUTEN TAG

Post by nanno » Tue May 06, 2025 6:00 am

Alrighty, made up my mind and I am NOT going to go down the easy (and sensible) way and just get myself a late coil-sprung 1.3.

Soooo... does any one of you know of a good and reliable dealer in Spain, that I can buy a 5-speed box from? (There's two or three dealers on ebay, but when asking them about whether the gearboxes they offer are 4- or 5-speed ones (both were available in Spain) neither of them responded, which isn't super helpful, when you want to threaten them with your hard earned.

(And yes, I should move this over to the projects section and start a thread there)

Also cracking the 1000km mark after the rebuild in a SJ410 in a few minutes, when going to work.

Rankine
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Re: GUTEN TAG

Post by Rankine » Tue May 06, 2025 8:44 am

Im not sure of any spanish dealers for parts. I think I've a old 410 box in my garage tho not sure if it's a 4 or 5 tho will need to check it. Would probably need rebuilt as lay in garden for a while
SJ413 LWB Santana 33s, 94",

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