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. 2014?I was really pissed off to start with, my car was still in pieces at the time and didn't see how I could be nominated if I didn't have a running Suzuki.
Fortunately it added a little more motivation on top of the having visitors and I did a big push to get it driving, and it is now!
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 name is Stephan Neofitou, so my username is my Surname, I used to use Erudite but when I was working in the video games industry it sounded a bit pretentious as everyone would often call each other by their username, using my real name seemed betterer. Since then I've been "Neo" (Well before the Matrix came out) I recently discovered that my Dad went by the same handle when he was young (but only in RL as the internet wasn't invented yet).
I'm from Melbourne and have been part of the Vic club for a while, I moved to Vanuatu for a 3 year contract 2 years and 9 months ago, so not much time left here now.
I work for the airline, Air Vanuatu looking after the IT Department.
How did you get started in Suzuki's & how many have you owned?My Uncle helped me to buy my first 4x4 and recommended a Sierra, I was down to only 1 demerit point having too much go pedal in my XB Falcon and wanted something slower but still fun.
We found a faded yellow 1L with a white soft top owned by a Truckie that hardly used it, I stuck on a set of 215s, and with a little engine tweakage the speedo used to dangle past the 125km/h where the dial ran out anyway. Unfortunately the only pictures I have of this are back in AU on physical prints and haven't been able to get any for this.
Since then I've had a Series II Landrover, a few Pajeros,
a Jeep ,
and some other normal cars
My twin locked 1.3L narrow track Sierra on 31s and 6.5 with RUF and PS
Before
After
1974 Suzuki K10P postie bike
99 JLX Jimny on 215s.
I bought the Black Project Zuk, a 1986 Samurai, Sold the Jimny and also bought a Red 1990 hard top as a donor and to drive around while I rebuilt the black one.
And put the two together into one.
How long did it take you to build your zook to what it is today?14 Months. I had just broken up with my French ex girlfriend for the first time and I needed a project, I bought the Black one from a field, badly rusted out, seized up drivetrain, damaged block. I stripped it down to bare chassis, cleaned it up a bit and was rebuilding drive train components when we got back together with her and moved in with her.
It sat in the shed at my old place for about 6 months till I moved it to our place, did all the NT spacing and got it to rolling chassis just in time to break up with her again for good and move out again.
Since then its been going pretty well working on it when I can, I started stripping down the Red one in January and got the two halves together and running again in early March.
Any changes in store for your Suzuki?It's not finished yet, by the time this ZOOM is posted it should hopefully have the doors on, the front bumper and rear number plate lights installed and its roadworthy sticker.
Its booked in for Monday the 31st which is the last day allowed, I will post up the results.
After that I will basically be driving it and preparing it for sale, I was going to bring it back to AU with me but as I wont be able to register it until 2016 (when it hits 30) and the fun part of the build is over, I'm just going to sell it, I should get ok money over here. I've recently bought a Haflinger as a new project, I will buy a GV as a DD when I get back and build another off-road Zuk when I can.
Something like these perhaps:
Not a Zuk, but the next actual project:
What has been your best modification?Power steering in the NT.
I used the box and pump from a Cresseda after doing the RUF and Lockers, both lockers were Spartans, and the PS made it a fantastic setup.
What has been your worse modification?I put on the 31s before I got gearing. I new what I was doing, and it was only for a short time, but it sucked ass.
If you could have anybody else's zook, who's would it be and why?Gwagen has a very straight completely stock LWB in his shed "The sierra formally known as Blingy" that he plans to use for his next build.
I like the building just as much as the driving and this is the best blank canvas I've seen.
Actually:
Would be pretty sweet.
What has been your best 4wding trip?Vic Club Adventure Tour comes to mind pretty quickly.
If you could go to any place in the world to wheel, where would that be?I would love to do the Paris to Dakar, wherever it is actually hosted.
And Russia, the pics posted by the Auszookers Russian members look awesome.
Who are you closest to in the auszooker's community?There are a few here from the VIC club that have my tools in their shed and I am looking forward to getting them back soon, christover1 has my compressor and I've missed that the most, and my NT had lots of Frog bits on it so I will say Chris.
Tell us what the wheeling is like in your area?Surf and Turf! There is a real good mix up of terrain here, I can drive rocks or sand at the beach cruzey touring around abandoned golf courses, and muddy rutted tracks up though the middle of the island that don't get used by anyone except me when it's been raining. I've recently found some walking tracks that have been upgraded to "walking and Stephan" tracks.
What other toys/hobbies do you put a lot of time into?Mountain Biking and Snorkelling mostly, also a lot of reading.
What is it about the auszookers that brings you back for more?Build threads.
What about the auszookers forum would you like to see changed?More pictures in build threads!
Now for the million dollar question, who do you select to be the next Z.O.O.M. & why?gregc, that's one awesome zuk.
Thank you for your attention.
Neo.
bummer your gunna sell ya latest build so soon after finishing it
. I've really enjoyed following your sierra build 
. I'm looking forward to your next build!