New Member - Old SJ

[alanl]

Hi,
I'm a new member but should have joined along time ago. I have got a Metalic grey 1985/86 SJ413 soft top which I have had virtually from new. It is still in excellent nick only having done 43K miles. When it was new I did a three week tour round the whole of France (about 5K miles) and I've always wanted to do it again. I plan to repeat this trip next spring. Bearing in mind the age of my SJ I want to get it thoroughly checked over/serviced before. Can anyone recommend a garage or mechanic in the NW London area (or within 50 miles) who knows SJs. I don't want to take it to a bog standard garage, I want someone who will respect what my car means to me. Thanks
Alan

[urbanzook]

to the site.
sounds like good fun touring france.
did you go on your own?
got any pics off your sj on tour??
sj uk is based in london an there is an old boy in his workshop there an wot he dont no ant worth no in.
http://www.sj-uk.co.uk/
give them a call.
but be on your toes.

drinks on you

[Tramp]

i know this is crappy advice, but you would be best doing the work yourself, and then any thing left that you feel you cant do, take in and describe what you want, i went to a local garage asking about servicing the sj, in the haynes manual it said that it was due - engine oil/filter, airfilter, spark plugs, diff/gearbox/tbox oil and fan belt, they said that their servicing consisted of... engine oil/filter, spark plugs (on request) air filter, bulb check, door hinge oil, windscreen wiper check and top up of your windscreen wash! and they wanted..... £200! i naffed them off and did everything other than the diff oil (i couldn't get the drain screw out) so i took it in and had them do it..... it cost me £10 for the labour,

Luke

[alanl]

Hi Tramp and Urbanzook,
Thanks for your advice. I have managed to do all the standard stuff in the past myself and I agree that is the best way and most satisfying especially from a cost viewpoint. I guess what I really want is some piece of mind that there arn't any major failures waiting to happen. I wil probably get a new exhaust etc. Thanks for the garage contact, that looks ideal.
I have some photos of the first France trip which I will post especially as Dickle (named by my wife - reg ends DKL) looks far better in the photos than I do & that was 20 odd years ago ! On a seperate subject does anyone know of a central register of SJs. I ask, because many years ago somewhere on the south coast (I can't remember the town) I saw a SJ413VX exactly the same as mine - 1985/6 C reg, metalic grey, white hood, with only one letter different on the reg - something like DKK. I wonder whether it still exists. My car is a Japanese import which came via Holland & I believe they were registered by dealers in batches - hence the sequence.
Alan

[dominic]

Hiya Alan,

[dominic]

Hiya Alan,
Welcome to the forum matey.

Dom

[ScottieJ]

welcome to the forum matey!

I would just service it yourself they're simple enough vehicles!

IMO DONT go near SJUK he's a rip off merchant, i really don't like the guy and you can get everything he sells a lot cheaper, take the nitro gas shock kit he does! £130 for 4 astra shocks, rrp £9 each from a motor factors and an adapter bar made oout of a bit of angle iron that i could knock up in 5 mins! unfortunatly i didnt do my research and got ripped off by him a while back!

[dominic]

Yer, do what ever you are capable of doing yourself, the basics are simple.
Sadly i cant recommend a suzuki dealership in England thats good/trustworthy, as im living in Ireland now, if you was over here, then i could recommend the best suzuki dealership that i have found,they are great, very helpfull, dont rip you off,they go out of there way to help you, cheap, no job to big or small. I do most of my own servicing,and get them to do to hard stuff for me, but i always get them to do anything on the Jimny .

I would recommend Dacar Suzuki based in Chelsfield Village (near Orpington) Kent, they are good,nice chaps there, they do whatever you need for you, i would go to them.

I got my 1985 SJ 410 from a dealership in Bromley, Kent ( now closed down).
And the last 3 letters on the reg was DKK, but i think it was somewhere else in Kent that it was first registered. I too saw a SJ just like mine, same year,colour,eveything,just the number on the reg plate slighty different, (that was many years ago).

Dom

[urbanzook]

IMO DONT go near SJUK he's a rip off merchant, i really don't like the guy and you can get everything he sells a lot cheaper, take the nitro gas shock kit he does! £130 for 4 astra shocks, rrp £9 each from a motor factors and an adapter bar made oout of a bit of angle iron that i could knock up in 5 mins! unfortunatly i didnt do my research and got ripped off by him a while back!

be on your toes!!!!

i fell foul 2 but if you can get a face to face with maty in the shop in london is not his biz he side lines sjuk an i wood trust him. just keep a look out