1994 suzuki vitara extreme "buggedout ,short trip" expedition vehicle

autofinesse

New member
Hi all,

After losing my job recently.. our beloved fjc 35s ,4" and all the fruit........my girl an I spent building over the last 12 months for our around Australia trip had to find to a new home ,not wanting to be beaten we decided to purchase something we could still get away for a couple days to a week at a time .



after searching the classifieds i came to a dead end.. until my partner found a 1994 jlx vitara 1.6 efi at a local auction site , we won it for $85 + auction fees so around $150 aud it was in a sorry state with hail damage to 90% of its body but had a rebuilt engine with all receipts ..... Win for us .

here it is in all its dents and glory........ day one !




since we purchased it i've gone into a business partnership with a small crash repairs and custom shop, spraying tray liners a, doing some custom work and Detailing this has given me a chance to make it some what better in my opinion as well as making more me you will see what mean soon.

day two !

after this we decided how we were going to use it , being my daily driver also i didn't want to go crazy , firstly we had camping gear ,recovery equipment our mountain bikes , climbing gear ,our dog as well as food and water to carry so we planned around this .

the first mod we made was a rhino xtray $175 ...fitting this was a dilemma in it self as Australian vitara's do not have roof rails like our European counterparts so the search began for roof rails to suit ...
after a couple hours i found a set of honda civic allroad 4x4 that suited and some pajero whisper pro-rack cross bars for $150 .

racks fitted




next i had to cut the whisper racks to fit as there 150mm to wide



fitted with rhino rack clamps



rack fitted

 

autofinesse

New member
next we wanted to run the biggest tires we could without busting everything in the vits drive-train , we came across a set of mini-lights in 15x7.5 fitted with desert dueler a/t 31x11.5/15 that were in a bit of a state , $150 a bargain we think



you will also notice we also fitted a arb bull bar i was given by a customer ...
 
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autofinesse

New member
now we had this sorted we decided to give it a repaint , as we are now upol raptor liner dealers we opted to paint the car completely inside outside and underneath in this product . i also had the new wheels powder coated and fitted carrel fiberglass flares for a tougher overall look

 

autofinesse

New member
by this time Christmas was just about here so early November , my girl being the top chick she is purchased a calmini 3" flex kit front truss kit and steering stabilizer , calmini freighted it out to us and we installed it December 15 2013



suspension and wheels fitted , painted And ready to wheel



Since this pic....... we have wheeled around 2000kms of our home state , fitted a low range offroad 2" body lift giving us a total lift of around 7" over standard its been a perfect vehicle for us to get away for a few days .
 
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autofinesse

New member
at this point in time we are waiting for free time to finish the build on our turbo engine

g16b block , hardened honda rods , decompressed pistons , ported head , reground cam , garret g17 turbo with a log manifold & intercooler

a draw system with fridge slide to better hold our gear
fit a 9000lb winch for safety ,
fit our twin lockers ,
build a new steel rear bar with Jerry can holder and a tire carrier to fit a 32" tire
32" tires km2
rock-crawler transfer gearing
calmini anvil housing a hilux cv's
hardened axles
led spot lights
and a camper trailer .
 

autofinesse

New member
calmini is ok , with the weight im carrying i pretty much bought the kit for the aarms and trailing arms as soon as the shocks fail itll be getting full fox coil overs and the calmini sas kit
 

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
I love low budget builds like this!

Sounds like the Vitara is the same thing as the Sidekick that was sold in the US through the 1990's. I think those had a 1.6 engine, too. You rarely see a hard top 2 door sidekick here, though. 2 door ragtops and 4 door hardtops are pretty much the norm.
 

autofinesse

New member
I love low budget builds like this!

Sounds like the Vitara is the same thing as the Sidekick that was sold in the US through the 1990's. I think those had a 1.6 engine, too. You rarely see a hard top 2 door sidekick here, though. 2 door ragtops and 4 door hardtops are pretty much the norm.


Thanks Martinjmpr, your correct the same vehical indeed
 

autofinesse

New member
latest update body lift and led rocklights .

Heres the latest mod to my rig , I bought a set of 10 mtr length ,8000lmn led string lights and 10 mtrs of clear garden hose and silicon sealent to make everything water tight and made myself a set of rock lights .... I'm very happy with the setup and at $85 its a bargain
 

realwarrior

Realwarrior
Great Build! I have built 5 sidekick/trackers and still have a Sami w/ 1.6l. I must say that I prefer the OME lift but it's 6 in one hand, 1/2 dozen in the other. You have yourself a great find there!
 

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