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Post Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 9:49 am 
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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?


I'm actually quite chuffed about it, Joe normally tells me to shut up. :)


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?

My user name means, I'm a dumb ass that didn't fill out the sign up page properly, Do'h !
I'm short, round and robust, I believe that if you can't fix it with a hammer then you need a bigger hammer. Nothing is impossible just some things are more difficult than others. Also I'm always right, its just that people often disagree with me. :)
I'm a self employed ceramic tiler but I've been a cook and a courier and mechanic and a few other things in my 47 years, mostly just a dumb ass that bangs his head and trips over stuff. I like to make people laugh if I can. I live in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne about 25 min from the city and a friggin hour and a bit from Joes shed, oh well it's a nice drive.
I have two dogs, Elle Jay, a Kelpie x Boarder Collie x Blue Healer and Ava, who was rescued from my sisters neighbour, her chip says she's a Labrador x Staffy.


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

Well I've wanted an LJ since they were new I was only 8 years old when I saw one drive down the road and I wanted one.
Then ten years later a mate inherited his grandfathers LJ 50, he sold it without even offering it to me. :( then about 25 years ago he offered to sell me an LJ 50 he'd just bought it had new Saas seats ( which are still in it) 30" Yokohama's and a corolla boat anchor in it but it drove, so I bought it. :)
I've also had a few other Suzuki's like a super carry, a Jimny, a 94 4 door JLX Vit, a 2000 2.5 GV and now the Prestige. There's been a couple of LJ's pass through my hands as well over the years.


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

Ummm it's been a while. It's had 4 major rebuilds in 25 years. I registered it, then did a leaf over on it with the help of a friend who had little understanding of how to make that work then I met Joe and lots of trial and error went into that suspension to get it to work really well and the motor, I tried almost every thing to get the boat anchor to work to no avail, so in the bin it went and was replaced with a G13a, five speed, an LJ 80 body and blue paint, instant improvement.

Then in late 2002 Joe ordered me a Vit import half cut and the transformation began including getting it engineered. Then a few years back we did the coils and diffs and stuff.


Any changes in store for your Suzuki?

Yep, power windows and aircon, maybe cruse control.


What has been your best modification?

The G16baw4dualtransfer4.6airlockersfullfloatdiscbrakecoilspringpowersteering.
Ok I'll pick just one. The air shift for the Vit transfer, it turns me into Homer Simpson, I just sit there and change from high to low and giggle with delight. pompoms


What has been your worse modification?

Persisting with the boat anchor, not that I did that mod originally.
Oh I did put a land rover ashtray in it once and it caught land rover disease and started leaking oil, frying its wiring and breaking down alot.
I got rid of the ashtray.


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

I have to agree with Joe, Mr Greens four door Seirra is awesome, it's good to see a quality build and attention to detail but I really like LJimny as well, a good build and thinking outside of the box.


What has been your best 4wding trip?

The one I started 25 years ago and I'm still on it. As far as destinations go, our first Tassie trip was a real highlight but its only just ahead of a long list.


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

Canada, great people, spectacular scenery and I think they'd have every kind of terrain you could possibly want to drive.


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

No surprises here, Joeblow of course but so far everyone I've met from AZ have been pretty cool.


Tell us what the wheeling is like in your area?

Porsches, Hondas , conformodores the occasional Lycra clad tossel jockey but when I get out of town it gets much better we have a few rocks ( about three) lots of hills that seem to go on forever and if your really lucky you might see some snow, enough mud when it rains and even a small dessert in the top corner of the state.


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

I've got a couple of RC rock crawlers that get the dust blown off them every now and then. Also I like to blow my horn when I can, yes playing a bit of blues on my tenor sax is a great way to wind down, sure does seem to piss off the neighbours though, I'm a hack.


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

The fact that nobody takes it too seriously, most of the time. You can hang it on people a bit and they just wear it or get flamed if they can't.


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

It needs a like button and a dislike button, maybe even a "pissoff idiot" button.


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Main Vehicle Specs

LJ 80, g16b, aw4, dual transfers custom diffs with full float rear axels, disc brakes, coil springs power steering and 33's.


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

303zuke he just seems to know lots of stuff and I'd be intrigued to hear his story.

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Post Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 1:59 pm 
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Nice write up Ken and congrats on being picked for Z.O.O.M Armsup

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Post Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 2:19 pm 
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another great entry & it's awesome to see the evolution of the LJ, reckon the latest incarnation is just about perfect. 8)

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Post Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:13 pm 
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For a quiet fella you sure have a story and personality.

I never realized that you owned grover from a few old 4WD monthly issues.

Congrats as always, can't wait to see next month :D

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Post Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:35 pm 
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Congrats Kenn

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Post Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 12:58 pm 
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Thanks guys, here's a couple of really old photos
When I first got it.
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The Fred Flintstone roof.
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Valley Adventure at Valley Farm, just a few years ago.
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Last edited by kenn on Mon Oct 07, 2013 2:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 2:02 pm 
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Great write up, great car. Is that NGV of yours custom green, did you do it yourself? In love it. Congrats on the award :)

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Post Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 5:53 pm 
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More pics of the shiny parts under the LJ please =)

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Post Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 6:19 pm 
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Great story and history Kenn, the LJ has come along way 8)

x2 on what alien said about some more pictures of the shiny parts under the LJ.

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Post Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 2:09 pm 
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disco wrote:
Great write up, great car. Is that NGV of yours custom green, did you do it yourself? In love it. Congrats on the award :)


No Disco it's the last green one the factory sent to aus, I know this coz it took months to find one and I nearly ended up with a black one, then this one showed up at head office just before I was about to head to the dealer and sign up for the black one.

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Post Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 10:24 pm 
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Good read, thanks Kenn. ;)

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Post Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 7:19 pm 
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no.....no........nooooo......


Not the black LJ.......(huddles in corner of room)...............

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Post Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 9:07 am 
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old school wheeling pics are cool, digging the urban flex shot... late 80's or early 90's? 8)

is that a younger version of joe in the passenger seat in that last shot. :P

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Post Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 2:00 pm 
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Nah not Joe, another mate of ours. That shot was the house the guy I bought it off lived in at the time, about 1988.

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Post Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 9:03 pm 
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joeblow wrote:
no.....no........nooooo......


Not the black LJ.......(huddles in corner of room)...............


What was wrong with the black LJ joe? :lol:

Is that a vic zook club sticker? 8O

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Post Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 7:04 am 
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Yep that it is, I was in that club for a few years. That's how I met Joeblow and a few other people like Christover and the G-man, I used to call his truck the "Gwagon" pronounced as one word like 'Dragon' only different. :)
The black LJ was cursed, it had a corolla motor in it when I got it and that was just the start of the list. It was like the town hooker before Joe helped me get it sorted.

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Post Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 2:52 pm 
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Cool. :)

I always meant to ask, what did the bullbar on the front of the LJ start life on?

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Post Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 3:10 am 
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Not sure, it was either land cruiser or discovery. When I got it, it was missing the winch section of the main bar, between the up rights, it still had all the tubes. So I cut the centre tubes down and sleeved them, made a new centre section out of 6mm plate for the winch, then welded it all together and mounted it.

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Post Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 8:39 am 
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Thanks for reading my story people's and thanks to Atari for giving me the opportunity to tell it, hopefully we can all meet up one day. Until then I'll just have to read about you all on this Zoom thingy.
Now it's over to you mr 303zook. :)

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Post Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 12:22 pm 
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another month down, where has this year gone...

a massive thanks to kenn for this months Z.O.O.M. such a well constructed bit of kit, so much development work has gone into grover over the years & it shows in the various evolutions.

unfortunately 303zuke has to pass the batton this time round due to being under the pump from the local bush fire threat, protecting his family, his home & unfinished house plus the collection of zooks will always come first.

hopefully when things settle down again we'll get to hear his story.

now to launch this months Armsup

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