Back in the family again!

[Lil_Beastie]

Hi, thanks for the welcome here. the SJ is in fantastic condition for a 25 year old. my friend did quite a bit of waxoyling a few years back which has done a lot of good in preventing any rot starting. l spent all last week on it,stripped the brakes down to service them. The front disc splash guards are like new inside,some surface rust on the back(waxoyled). The springs were black and new,minimal mileage since they were put on,but no give in them. l dismantled them,belt sanded the rubbing faces,painted the rest with black engine enamel and built them up again,. using graphite grease between the leaves. l put them back on with the shackle bolts loosely fitted,minus dampers and axle stands under the bottom plate. lt bounced on the springs just like it was on coils ! l was delighted with this and tightened everything up properly,now the tight rubber bushes seemed to be stopping the springs moving freely,perhaps brass bushes would allow easier movement here as on the prewar sports cars l am used to. Due to the SJ's light weight and short wheelbase,it doesn't ride as well as those cars did. You will probably gather from this that l am looking for more ride comfort on the open road and ways of achieving this so the search will continue !

Welcome.
The link below shows how tight the shackle bolt should be. if your not offroading it you could get away with the lower torque.
http://www.suzukiclubuk.co.uk/phpBB3/ph ... +your+nuts
The springs will get softer with use however in the mean time you'll soon get used to the ride, I do 59 miles a day in mine. Its all part of the charactor SJs have, and you'll come to love it.

[Russ24]

thats so tidy it makes me want to cry.

[Tramp]

I'm impressed you don't see many SJ's in that condition, It really is top notch for an unrestored car, Consider yourself lucky as most are quite shabby! Its a great story too, buying it new and getting it back Awesome! I think you need to post more pictures!!! As for your ride comfort, Unfortunately it will never be the most comfortable car in the world! Have you considered upgrading the bushes to poly bush items? I don't know if they would make the ride any better but if your using the old rubber bushes from standard they will probably have a lot of slop in them, also the original rubber bushes are designed to wobble side to side a bit whereas the polybushes don't do this so they 'tighten' up the suspension for the road, which stops SJ’s wallowing as much (although you will never eliminate it totally!) Finally, have you checked your shock absorbers? they may be the bit that is restricting the suspension movement? If they are the originals they are quite possibly out of oil and partially ceased!

[craggy]

Hi Tramp,thanks for your appreciative comments.When l get the chance,l will take some pictures and post them here. l wouldn't mind the fastback hood,quicker to put up l would think. A tonneau cover is my favourite for shower protection,so if anything is available l would like to hear of it.
Also thanks to Lil Beastie for the advise on the springs. The pins and sleeves would need to be tight enough to avoid any movement and wear on the fixed chassis brackets of course if they were not at maximum torque.
The springs, bushes and dampers on the SJ are all as new, having done little mileage since they were fitted,so no sloppiness there,the tyres still have the moulding flashes in the tread !

[Tramp]

They did do a tonneau cover and they occasionally come up on ebay but they are few and far between (I've only ever seen one!) It covers the load bay, runs up the back of the door and covers the drivers head so its like an instant pick up, (although you have to remove the soft top stiffening hoop) At one point I was after one - I planned on taking it to a tailors and getting a few made up but as things go it never happened and I'm quite happy with the fastback for the moment (its nice to roll the back up and feel like your outside without having to take the whole roof off!)

[dominic]

Lookin Very Nice,
Well done in getting it back

Dom