[atari4x4]

Congratulations on being selected for Auszookers Zook Owner of the Month!
How does it feel being honoured with the nomination for Z.O.O.M. 2013?

Surprised as I am still a newbie really – but think it is a great idea to get people here to know one another a lot better.

So tell us about yourself. Who are you, What's the meaning to your username, Where do you
live, and what do you do for a living?

I am a retired old fart that lives in the bush 75k’s from Lightning Ridge – I have been here for a bit over 20 years and don’t think I will be moving anywhere soon. I have done all sorts of things in my life – I am a carpenter and did my apprenticeship at Pinewood studios in the UK (yes I am a 10 pound Pom) and worked on the early Bond and Carry on movies mainly. When I finished my time I came to Australia in 1967 to Sydney as they were going to build a film studio there but by 1971 I gave up waiting and moved to north Qld. and spent 10 years fishing and diving around the Whitsunday islands and the Great Barrier Reef Before moving inland and plying with Gold mining for a while.

I soon moved from Gold to Computers and back to the coast for a while and ran a Tandy Store for a while – Got divorced – Meet a Girl I could live with (and still do) Gave up chasing money (the ex got all of that) and went travelling and ended up here and never stopped have fun along the way.

My user name is my name so no real story there except maybe that it has always been the same since the early days in the 80’s when it was just individual BBS’s that we used our clip-on modems to talk to each other at a scintillating 200baud.

How did you get started in Suzuki's & how many have you owned?

I brought my first Sierra in 1989 – it was a 1984 1lt sj40 – I had built a bus mobile home and got it to trailer behind that while travelling around fruit picking and such. I still have that one and have just rebuilt it with a new look and a 1.3lt motor and 5 speed box etc. I now have a number of Susuki’s lined up to restore and a Vitara as a daily drive although where I live that means about once a fortnight to go to town shopping.

How long did it take you to build your zook to what it is today?

This for me is a never ending job. I am not a mad 4WD person, more a car person – I had restored a few in the past and after a hart operation a few years ago my lady said “Why don’t you fix up the old Sierra” and now having done that I have a couple of LJ 50’s under way and a part built mini monster to finish and would love to add a LJ20 to the list. So from this you can see I have no time to die any time soon.

Any changes in store for your Suzuki?

See Above – Just change them from dead to new is all.

What has been your best modification?

Putting comfortable seats in the Sierra.

What has been your worse modification?

3” lift springs in the sierra – they are as hard a ride as a Land Rover I used to have. They tell me they get softer with use but I may end up taking some leaves out.

If you could have anybody else's zook, who's would it be and why?

Any one with an LJ20 – Because I want one. OR the ultimate would be to find an ONO360 in a barn out here somewhere.

What has been your best 4wding trip?

Out here we call it going to town – For the last 2 years the main road has been under water and we have had to take a 25k’s overland bush track detour.

If you could go to any place in the world to wheel, where would that be?

South America.

Who are you closest to in the auszooker's community?

Ummmmm ……………… Dunooo …………. I was thinking of ………. No best not.

Tell us what the wheeling is like in your area?

Flat except for the few ridges where most people live but there is plenty of places to go as there are tracks everywhere and not many people to say “Get out of here”

What other toys/hobbies do you put a lot of time into?

Oh-dear – I am a stamp collector and an Astronomer and always have some new interest and projects on the go – never seem to have enough time or cash for it all but at least I don’t have neighbours to complain about the noise or council saying you can’t do that or building inspectors saying that’s not how to build it.

What is it about the auszookers that brings you back for more?

Knowledge and funny pictures

What about the auszookers forum would you like to see changed?

Unnecessary foul language removed/stopped but that seems to be everywhere these days.

So if there is just one bit of advice you would give someone just starting out with Suzuki 4wds what would it be and why?

Get an LJ – they are cute.






Main Vehicle Specs

SJ40 – G13 engine 5 speed box – WT Transfer case – 3” suspension lift – 16” Vitara wheels. No gears etc because don’t have the terrain around here that need them.

Now for the million dollar question, who do you select to be the next Z.O.O.M. & why?

Tanshi is my choice because he is a LJ fan even though he does no keep them original

[madmacca]

Congrats Tony
a well deserved Z.O.O.M

Personally I like the posts and threads you put up , gives us all an insite into where you live , why you live there and the occasional problems you have because of where you live



Macca

[neofitou]

[Red89]

Congrats Tony

[Joe]

Good stuff Tony

[jimbo_jones]

nice zook

[christover1]

I like the Suzuki S's in the back window

[tanshi]

Congrats tony. That tonneau cover looks great.

[tonyevans]

Yes - Karola likes it now it has a car to live on

[Jaye]

christover1 wrote:

I like the Suzuki S's in the back window

Same here, its a good touch.

Nice ride Tony.

[atari4x4]

thanks heaps tony for this one, what a great read & an even greater beard. that tonneau cover has been around a bit, that's a fatzook creation from memory?

got many mining pics floating around or even pics of the crazy mining contraptions you guys make? have always has a bit of an interest in holes in the ground seeing i grew up around drilling rigs.

[tonyevans]

Hi - I just received a bundle of Stickers from the forum - Thanks guys - I will put some pictures up as soon as I install them. Does the Zombi Hunting permit go next to the Rego or on the side window "A hunting we will go"

[caltamz]

NIce read tony...! God help us all if the zombies make it out to you...

[tonyevans]

caltamz wrote:

NIce read tony...! God help us all if the zombies make it out to you...

Last time I was in Sydney it looked full of them

[steve]

tonyevans wrote:

Does the Zombi Hunting permit go next to the Rego or on the side window

Maybe on the windscreen so when you bounce them off the bonnet they can see you have a permit.

[tonyevans]

Well mad march moves on so I thought I might bore you with a few pictures of other Zooks in my possession mostly waiting for TLC.

This will bee the next cab of the rank - This mileage is GENUINE 10811



The problem is it spent most of it's life sitting in a shed with chooks shitting all over it after the kids rolled it





But to back up the mileage claim - These are the original 4 ply bar-treads -

[tonyevans]

Next is the donor body for the LJ50 (Front) and the Chassis for my ON360 Hopestar project (Back) -



This is the Daily Drive as it were but normally only gets used once every 2 weeks to go to town -



And this is my workhorse that goes and gets the other ones

[tonyevans]

There is also a Merc and another Vitara laying around somewhere Oh yes and a Subaru and a Pajero and a couple of others I will get pictures of tomorrow.

[tonyevans]

Well nearly the end of the month so I thought I would tell you a bit more about living where I do and some of the drawbacks by way of my day yesterday.

First up had a 11am appointment at the Dentist in Brewarrina for my misses so we set of at 8-30am for the 110k trip. The first 60ks are a mixture of sand, gravel, rocks and black soil which was a bit slippery in places because they had a bit of rain a couple of days before. So having cleared that we hit the bitumen for the last 50k most of which has been fixed up after the floods 2 years ago but some is still a bit potholed.

Anyway, Got there half hour early and they said OK straight in and Karola has 2 trainee dentists in her mouth for an hour and a half but they do a GREAT job.

We grab a hamburger and go down and sit on the banks of the Barwon river and watch the flood waters from Qld flow by and eat lunch. I then get a phone call telling me the lost parcel that "Fastways" was supposed to deliver to Lightning Ridge - is sitting in the farm depot in Walgett so we decide we will go home on the bitumen and pick it up.

On the 125k trip we pass (Going the other way) 2 land-trains with wheat on board - 1 Woolworths semi going I know not where - 2 silly tourists heading for Bourke and a local farmer in a unregistered Landy - Bloody traffic jams.

So an hour and a half later we pick up the missing parcel and fill up with petrol and a couple of jerry cans for the genny and field car - it is 14.9 cents a litre cheaper than Brewarrina so that's all good.

Time to head of home which is now only 75k away and now the 2 years flood of Rotten plain has gone at last the main road is open again so only the last 20k is dirt. We get home at 4.30 pm and am ready for a nice cuppa

A nice day out with no problems but then we were in a Suzuki so why would there be.

I Do pity you lot with your wall to wall speed cameras, Toll roads, parking meters and such - Oh yes and the only Police we saw were in the Café having lunch

[atari4x4]

that traffic jam sounds stressful how do you cope?

thanks heaps tony for this months zoom, i really appreciate you guys accepting the nominations & taking the time to put a bit of a story together and i have next months lined up ready to go

i reckon those bar treads might be a little bit past their use by date, would do ripper burnouts though.

[tonyevans]

They are STAYING -

[31zook]

I grew up in Moree, so I've been out your way a few times

Great writer and great read. Very different from anything else on here.