Suzuki Club UK

Super tidy work! This is a really nice little build and being done the right way!

Good move keeping this one over the Coily, the coil SJs have a lot of weaker parts and the suspension on them really isn’t that great

If yours has the newer style gearbox then you can just buy a 413/samurai 5 speed and swap the front cases onto that to make a 5 speed 410 gearbox.
I have plenty of new style 4 speed boxes and would be happy to post you just the cases if you have an early gearbox and can find a 413/samurai gearbox locally (if you have an early gearbox you’ll also need a newer style fat gbox to tbox slipyoke/propshaft as well)

I have moved this to the builds area for you

Thanks Scottie, that's an awesome offer and no, I don't have a late style 410 transmission, the one installed is an early one and the original one (more on that later, once I have caught up on the blog and overhere) is most likely the original type-2 transmission.

I have the nagging suspicion though that shipping costs might be prohibitive, which is why I am currently mostly looking towards Spain. As I am an engineer by trade, I am also playing around with the idea of making an adapter-plate to fit a 413-transmission directly to the 410 engine. As mine still has the bearing in the crank, I can modify my/a flywheel to my heart's content and then have an ample (and cheap) supply of gearboxes available to me. Which paired with the shorter geared axles and transfer case should still be within the possibilities of the little Zook. And also yes, if I make an adapter plate, I'll put up the drawings available freely for everyone.

Sorry not too many updates from my side, because a) primarily I am a motorcyclist and b) the lil' elephant just does what it should. Recently I had to refuel and ended up with 24L for 350km, which is a little less than 7L/100km or in other words 40mpg (UK), which quite frankly is pretty spectacular for the little sugarcube on wheels. Other than that the last air-bubbles in the cooling system must have come out as now the coolant level stays put and the last oil-change where I went with 20w50 means the oil-consumption is somewhere around a quarter litre per 1000km, which to be fair is more than adequate, especially given the heavy foot it needs to stay afloat on the Autobahn.

Planned & upcoming tasks:
* paint the left reverse light red, so I can get rid of the fog light and put the trailer-light jack right next to the numberplate, where it is nice and secure
* check the fuel level sender unit as it only works in a small range of the gauge and I suspect there's something a bit suss
* change the oil in the axles to get all the old sludge out
* redrill a few of the holes in the radiator so it finally sits square in the frame (it's a cheapo meant for a 1.3L)
* valve check
* oil change at 30,000km just to be sure and it never hurts, when an engine has been parked this long
* cavity wax the sills (recently redid the doors, bonnet and the traverse behind the seats, but then ran out of wax)

And then probably take it on the odd road trip in Europe - maybe to the sea somewhere along the Adriatic coast?

Bit late to the welcome wagon but that is some very nice repairing you've done so far. I always wondered how it works repairing older vehicles in Germany (didn't know Austria was also strict), so be interesting to know what challenges you come up against. Despite its many flaws I will say one of the nice things left about England is that Gary down the road can walk around your car with a cup of tea in hand and decide its fit for another year of road use

Cheers Tim, well it's not quite as bad as in Germany as overhere it sort of works in the same way as MOT stations in the UK or in other words: Gary from round the corner can inspect your vehicle. He has to do it annually and because Austria is sort of the dodgy brother of Germany he'll always find a little something extra to make some cash alongside the actual inspection, it's never quite as boring as it is supposed to be. There's some fairly strict rules on modifications etc., but once you know the legal rules, a lot more is actually possible than in Germany. But let's see what I'll write about it in approx. 3 months, when the next inspection is due.