[Plod]

Hi all, newbie post.
I have an old Prado for camping/touring and needed a project 4x4 for my ten year old son, and a run about for me for a few years till he can drive it
I had a SJ410 in Cyprus which I abused off road and loved it's ability. It had a full length roof rack to the four corners for transporting surfboards etc
but now older and wiser the low speed, lack of passenger space and crash repair ability are all good points for a teenage boy driver, once armour and rollover protection is added.
So after a long look around I picked up what was billed as a 1992 Suzuki Sierra, soft top, 1.3. It looks to be in very, very good condition, bit of oil around the bottom of the engine and some little niggles but for $2750 I am over the moon. I got it home and cleaned off the blue plate with some metho to find it says its a Japanese Motors SJ70 built March 1992.
So, is that bad or just a variant on the theme? Should I just look for SJ70 spares or will any fit (SJ410/413 etc).
My immediate problem is that the fuel gauge was reading near empty so I filled the tank and the gauge went down to the floor, empty
before if rip everything out is there a known fault? The temp gauge and dash lights are working and the gauge was rising when the ignition was switched on before I filled the tank. Like I said a small niggle but...

Dumb questions that come to mind: The fitter battery is new but so tiny, will it support a CB and small (30l) fridge when running? I have a spare deep cell from the Prado that I can fit but will I need to upgrade the alternator to manage it.

Storage was always a problem, has anyone got good solutions? I put three hidden doors on the inside of the rear tailgate for valuable stuff and an ammo crate on the outside for tools on my old one.

Enough for now
Ben

[want33s]

There is a common fault in the rheostat assembly of the fuel level sender unit.
Steve did a fix-it writeup on here, check the "good tech" section.

Your stock electrical system will handle a 2 way radio but the fridge may be pushing it if you drive at night with lights and heater fn running.
You'd really have to check the current draw on the fridge.
EF-EL Falcon alt is an easy upgrade to 110A.

Check out www.lowrangeoffroad.com for luggage racks etc.. There is one made for soft tops that is a rack that sits about 100mm higher than tailgate and sides.

[want33s]

Not a good pic but this style of rack allows a lot more to be carried without affecting the C.O.G too much.

[Plod]

Thanks for the reply want33s, I won’t be carrying tyres like that! I have a Portabote which is a 12’ folding plastic boat. It looks like a surf board when folded so the lowrange carrier might work with a small support off the front bumper.
I will need to make a small rear bar to hold the 5hp outboard, hidden storage in the rear door and a few ammo crates for tool storage, some sort of kill switch/immobiliser so the kids don’t steal it when I’m out fishing.
The fuel gauge can wait a while but it was explained very well in the tech forum that I have been browsing all afternoon.
A great site, I will put up some photos as the jobs are crossed off.
Ben