The Suzuki LJ80, Vitara Conversion

The latest project is to upgrade the performance and safety of the LJ80.

I considered fitting a Vitara motor/gearbox and independent suspension to the LJ80 chassis

I finally decided to fit the body on the Vitara chassis

Bought a rolled Suzuki Vitara ($500)

  Chopped the roof off to make it easier to work on

Stripped & removed the body

The rolling Chassis

Shortened the body by 300mm, the width will be OK with widened guards

Shortened the drive shaft, brake and fuel lines. Fitted outriggers to take the shorter body

Replaced clutch & pressure plate

Side view

Cut out firewall and widened the tunnel to take the larger gearbox

Side view

Repaired floor fitted Vitara handbrake & Vitara dash binnacle

Side view

Fitted exhaust headers, Weber 32/36 carby and a performance exhaust (Lukey).

Head will be ported & polished later and the cam will get a little work

I replaced the water pump & timing belt

The front guards needed a lot of cutting and now need to be widened

An air saw is indispensable for cutting the guards to fit  (mine only cost $65)

The steel I'm using is the back of some old steel shelving (I cut up the shelves when I need heavier metal).

Measuring the bonnet for a scoop (to clear the carby and to help cool the motor).

The guards and front need extra reinforcing because you have to cut away a lot of metal to make them fit.

Sound proofed under bonnet, The Weber carby now has an air cleaner

Moved spare tyre to middle to allow fitting of RHS tail light

Found a use for my old GPS (it also makes a more accurate speedo with the bigger wheels)

Made Bull Bar & fitted small winch behind grill, also removed all original bonnet vents (to make a cleaner line)

Made centre console & arm rest (drink holders under the arm rest)

Filled side and front of bonnet. Filled parking light & blinker holes & repositioned blinkers.

I "Tarted up" some old wheels I had in the workshop, these give me a 2" lift.

Had a softtop made

Fitting the Supercharger.

That's it as from the 16th Oct 2010

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