[Suortin]

Hello Aus Zookers!

I have just bought myself a 1981 SJ40 Sierra, It has has a Baleno G16B swap and wide track converted (from what I can gather)
I am just wondering if anyone has any advice or can point me to some good threads to be able to learn more about them. I will list the things that I am chasing some guidance on.

Firstly, what service parts are interchangeable? Or how do I identify what parts are from other sierras? Given that I have bought something that is clearly an amalgamation of multiple cars, I understand this could make sourcing the right parts tricky.

It has a 5spd gearbox in it, it would appear that the output shaft is leaking. Do the output shaft seals change between the 2 different types of 5spd? or are they the same / what are the differences between a NT & WT 5spd?

The jack shaft is also rooted, so aside from the PCD of the jack shaft & drive shafts changing, are they otherwise interchangeable? Mine seems to have 2 separate bolt patterns drilled in to the flanges measuring 4x75 and 4x85.

Lastly, where are the best places to buy / source new parts from?

If anyone is able to offer some advice, or point me to some old threads for me to read that would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Suortin

[sideways]

Suortin wrote:

Hello Aus Zookers!

I have just bought myself a 1981 SJ40 Sierra, It has has a Baleno G16B swap and wide track converted (from what I can gather)
I am just wondering if anyone has any advice or can point me to some good threads to be able to learn more about them. I will list the things that I am chasing some guidance on.

That sure does sound like a cool car. From memory Narrow Track diffs are about 1250mm hub to hub and Widetrack is 1350mm.

Firstly, what service parts are interchangeable? Or how do I identify what parts are from other sierras? Given that I have bought something that is clearly an amalgamation of multiple cars, I understand this could make sourcing the right parts tricky.

You're best off posting some photos, we could spend a lot of time describing all the different Suzuki air filters but being a conversion it could turn out to have anything. A 1981 SJ40 and a 1.3L Sierra share no mechanical components aside from the steering box. What transfer case do you think it has?

It has a 5spd gearbox in it, it would appear that the output shaft is leaking. Do the output shaft seals change between the 2 different types of 5spd? or are they the same / what are the differences between a NT & WT 5spd?

All the 1.3l leaf Sierra gearboxes are essentially the same. There are minor variations over time, like early ones have a different input shaft/clutch spline. There's a bushing in the rear housing that the jackshaft runs in, if that's worn it will need to be replaced to stop the leak.

The jack shaft is also rooted, so aside from the PCD of the jack shaft & drive shafts changing, are they otherwise interchangeable? Mine seems to have 2 separate bolt patterns drilled in to the flanges measuring 4x75 and 4x85.

The pre 11/1984 SJ40 jackshaft doesn't fit the the 5 speed(wrong spline/diameter). There are a couple of minor jackshaft length variations but all the leaf 1.3l sierra jackshafts interchange. 11/84-88 has the 56x56x8 bolt pattern and 89+is 60x60x10. The "88.5" inbetween models could have either pattern. The uni joints are the same so you can swap yokes. 1981 SJ40 has 52x52x8 flanges and a different uni joints too. It is possible to make a hybrid uni by putting the caps from one uni onto the cross of another, this allows you to fit SJ40 yokes to 1.3l shafts so they bolt to SJ40 flanges.

Lastly, where are the best places to buy / source new parts from?

I mostly buy genuine Suzuki parts from Megazip. I also buy from 4WD_products on ebay, they have quite a range of sierra parts at lower price/quality than genuine. Unless it's Maruti genuine parts I would avoid buying anything from India.

If anyone is able to offer some advice, or point me to some old threads for me to read that would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Suortin

[Suortin]

sideways wrote:

Suortin wrote:

Hello Aus Zookers!

I have just bought myself a 1981 SJ40 Sierra, It has has a Baleno G16B swap and wide track converted (from what I can gather)
I am just wondering if anyone has any advice or can point me to some good threads to be able to learn more about them. I will list the things that I am chasing some guidance on.

That sure does sound like a cool car. From memory Narrow Track diffs are about 1250mm hub to hub and Widetrack is 1350mm.

Firstly, what service parts are interchangeable? Or how do I identify what parts are from other sierras? Given that I have bought something that is clearly an amalgamation of multiple cars, I understand this could make sourcing the right parts tricky.

You're best off posting some photos, we could spend a lot of time describing all the different Suzuki air filters but being a conversion it could turn out to have anything. A 1981 SJ40 and a 1.3L Sierra share no mechanical components aside from the steering box. What transfer case do you think it has?

It has a 5spd gearbox in it, it would appear that the output shaft is leaking. Do the output shaft seals change between the 2 different types of 5spd? or are they the same / what are the differences between a NT & WT 5spd?

All the 1.3l leaf Sierra gearboxes are essentially the same. There are minor variations over time, like early ones have a different input shaft/clutch spline. There's a bushing in the rear housing that the jackshaft runs in, if that's worn it will need to be replaced to stop the leak.

The jack shaft is also rooted, so aside from the PCD of the jack shaft & drive shafts changing, are they otherwise interchangeable? Mine seems to have 2 separate bolt patterns drilled in to the flanges measuring 4x75 and 4x85.

The pre 11/1984 SJ40 jackshaft doesn't fit the the 5 speed(wrong spline/diameter). There are a couple of minor jackshaft length variations but all the leaf 1.3l sierra jackshafts interchange. 11/84-88 has the 56x56x8 bolt pattern and 89+is 60x60x10. The "88.5" inbetween models could have either pattern. The uni joints are the same so you can swap yokes. 1981 SJ40 has 52x52x8 flanges and a different uni joints too. It is possible to make a hybrid uni by putting the caps from one uni onto the cross of another, this allows you to fit SJ40 yokes to 1.3l shafts so they bolt to SJ40 flanges.

Lastly, where are the best places to buy / source new parts from?

I mostly buy genuine Suzuki parts from Megazip. I also buy from 4WD_products on ebay, they have quite a range of sierra parts at lower price/quality than genuine. Unless it's Maruti genuine parts I would avoid buying anything from India.

If anyone is able to offer some advice, or point me to some old threads for me to read that would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Suortin

Hey Sideways,

Thank you for the help / advice offered so far! Really appreciate it.

I have uploaded some photos of the zook to Imgur, hopefully they are half decent. link below:
https://imgur.com/a/81-sierra-hNHymOt

The oil on the underside is the result of me learning a valuable lesson. Don't start the thing with the jack shaft out.. not fun

I am not sure what transfer it might have unfortunately, I did try to take some photos. The diffs are also definitely wider than 1250mm.

Good to know about the 5spd boxes being largely the same! I just have to work out what clutch it takes and where to get the rear seal now. Will make sure to check out your recommended sites.

Do the output splines on the gearbox change between 5spds? or am I fine to run either a WT or NT jack shaft? seeing as though it looks like the flanges have been drilled to take either.

Welcome to give feedback or advice on things you can spot in the images. Any help getting my head around this is greatly appreciated

Thanks again

[sideways]

Nice, someone has certainly spent a lot of time and money there!

Looks like the only 1l mechanical parts are the front tailshaft, airbox and brake master.

Transfer is SJ70, given the cradle it probably has crawler gears. Shame they've used the 1.3l transfer mounts, the early 1l ones are a better design.

Diffs are SJ70/WT on NT spring spacing, they've also adapted the WT handbrake mechanism. NTs have the handbrake on the transfer. If your flanges are 60x60x10 then it probably has 3.727 diff gears.

Engine looks maybe further forward than factory, the engine and gearbox mounts have to be changed for the conversion. How long is your jackshaft from between the centers of the uni joints? Is it a tubular or solid shaft? I'm suspicious we aren't looking at a 1.3l leaf sierra jackshaft here.

Radiator/fan are 1.3l sierra.

You still have unboosted brakes (all 1.3s had a booster) but it looks like they've swapped to the later 1983 onwards SJ40 brake master to suit the discs. The rest of the brakes are SJ70.

I can't really tell from here but I think that's a Vitara power steering box, if it is there will be a wedge adapter bolting it to the chassis. If isn't it will be a Jimny one.

An amusing quirk of the type 1 SJ40 is no handle on the outside of the tailgate on soft top cars, hence they've deleted the spare tyre mount so you can actually open the back from the outside with the fibreglass top.

I have the same model type 1 SJ40 soft top in the same colour. Rare to see a type 1 with a body that good these days!

[Suortin]

Haha thanks! definitely a fun fact about why the spare carrier is missing. Was wondering why there was no exterior handle...

Good to know about the wide track as well. I assume this means when I am shopping for wheel bearings, seals etc that I just need to input a sierra that would have been a wide track year model? Or are there some differences between the years of WT

I have spent the evening so far just getting my UHF installed and diagnosing why the speedo isn't working (thankfully it appears to just be the cable. Thanks for the advice on the brakes, flanges and steering box - I will have to have a look tomorrow after work.

Regarding the jack shaft, I have just added more photos of it to the Imgur gallery. It is tubular & I measure it at being 250mm long. I am unsure what standard may be.

All around, very appreciative of your help! So thank you. It's reassuring as I have been starting to feel a little bit over my head searching for parts for this cool little rig. Feel free to link a photo to yours if you like - I'd be keen to see it

[sideways]

Yeah in terms of mechanicals you essentially have a 1991 SJ70 Sierra with a Baleno swap. The SJ70 ran from 89-96 with no mechanical changes. In terms of wheelbearings/hubs/front brakes all 1.3l leaf sierras are the same.

That jackshaft is cooked. Lucky it didn't let go completely, I've seen a few suzukis where that has happened and it sure makes a mess of the tunnel. You can see they've made a hybrid uni at the transfer end, one set of caps has the circlip on the inside of the yokes and one has it on the ends of the caps. I'm guessing they had the original transfer in there when the conversion was done and swapped to the later transfer down the track.

Anyway, I went and measured an SJ70 jackshaft and it is 250mm so that's what you need. I assume the larger pattern on your transfer is 60x60x10. I see suzistore have genuine new ones for $650, ooof. Shouldn't be to hard to find a second hand one.