A Mini Adventure

Originally Published: January 2011 Words: Tim Gibson Pictures: Steve Taylor

Promising more cooling power than the original viscous fan, one of Greg’s final mods was to add a 12-inch Kenlowe. Supplied with a kill switch to prevent it from spraying water all over the engine, this is most easily bolted in place with the radiator removed

To remove the old fan, first you need to get at the four bolts holding it in place. It’ll make the job easier if you’ve already fetched the rad off by this stage

The fan may be gone, but forget to replace the bolts and its pulley will soon be after it. Greg doubled them up all round to be extra sure

Compare the original fan with the Kenlowe, and you can see how much extra air is going to be getting pulled through the radiator

Greg bought a 2” body lift kit from Italian company Zanfi. Not unreasonably, all the instructions were in Italian… but they were well illustrated, and after a quick visit to an online translation site had unravelled a problem involving him not knowing he had to loosen the steering column, the eight spacers lined up perfectly

This is the bit where equipment suppliers who don’t bother telling you about the knock-on problems you’ll get from using their kit should hang their heads. Greg only signed up for a body lift – but while some would content themselves with letting him figure out the brake lines, fuel filler and steering column (pictured) for himself, Zanfi included all the necessary extensions in its kit

The yellow painted calipers, one of which is just about visible here, act on drilled and grooved discs. Not too much danger of this Jimny not stopping, then. Note also the extended flexi, fitted to cope with a 4.5” suspension lift

These are the parts that went into the braking system. The discs are new, while the calipers are refurbished. Greg used proper caliper lacquer on them, figuring that this was a job he only ever wanted to do once

Compare the old and new discs, and you can just feel the extra stopping power. The replacement units are handed; the label seen here identifies this disc as being for the right of the vehicle

Each axle is fitted with a truss from Off Road Armoury, providing massive protection to the case itself as well as its internals. This is the front unit, which also has a similarly heavy-duty diff guard

These are the parts as supplied by ORA, ready for fitting to the axle

Roughed up for fit. The axle’s positioned upside-down here; note that the areas to be welded have started being knocked back to bare metal

The parts are tacked in place then finally welded up prior to receiving a liberal dose of Hammerite

It’s not often that you see such a clean engine bay in a modded 4x4, but here it reflects the out-of-the-workshop freshness of Greg’s Jimny at the time of our photoshoot. It’s all standard under there, with the exception of upgraded Splitfire HT leads and Bosch Super 4 spark plugs. Had a diesel variant of the Jimny been available in the UK, Greg says he may well have chosen it over the petrol. But he wouldn’t consider an engine transplant, because the gains in economy wouldn’t be enough to justify the effort and expense

Despite packing six and a half inches of overall lift, the Jimny only rides on 235x85R16. That’s a 7.50 in old money – which just goes to show how weedily tyred they are in standard form. The Kumho KL71s are mounted on a set of 8x16 chrome rims which Greg picked up for a song; up front, he refurbished the Aisin manual locking hubs from his old SJ to replace the Jimny’s original vacuum units

Greg was worried that, with the body lift in place, muck and grime would be able to get through the gap he’d created between the chassis and body to turn the engine bay into something resembling Tom’s Farm at the end of a wet winter. So he fitted a protective shield on top of each chassis rail. ‘Fine,’ he told us, ‘until I drive through a puddle. Then the muck gets into the engine bay anyway!’

Hard as it is to believe, the fuel tank protector is another product brought in from Zanfi in Italy

With the new suspension in place, Greg fitted a double-cardon prop from Bailey Morris to cope with the extra droop on the back axle. This needed to be modified very slightly to bed in with the speedo adaptor on the back of the SJ box

The vehicle’s suspension uses a 4.5-inch lift kit from Off Road Armoury. This came supplied as the kit of parts you see here, including coils, shocks and front and rear radius arms. Also included in this group is one of the axle trusses, as well as a pair of adaptors and mounting brackets for an SJ transfer case

With the kit in place, the extra height of the longer springs is immediately apparent. Note also the extended brake flexis – you’re not going to lift a vehicle by this much without needing to replace these

This is one of the rear radius arms in place. Note the flat plate welded to its leading edge to help it slide over the ground

Lateral location with the new suspension in place is by adjustable panhard rods. As well as being able to agree with the extra height, these are rose-jointed to help prevent them from binding as the axles try to articulate, and the front unit is sleeved to protect it against impacts

Seen from underneath, the rear shocks’ upper mounts are moved inboard courtesy of a relocation bracket, freeing up significantly more bump in the axle

Behind the Jimny’s standard five-speed gearbox is the 4.16:1 transfer case from Greg’s old SJ410, rebuilt using a kit from Petroworks in the USA. This allows the vehicle to crawl over really uneven ground, as well as more than compensating for the gearing effect of the taller

While scavenging the SJ’s transfer case for reuse on the Jimny, Greg refurbished it throughout with a full set of new bearings and gaskets

Here’s the refurbished SJ transfer case with the Off Road Armoury fitting kit in place. As well as the main mounting bracket in the foreground, you can just about make out the end of the secondary one at the top of the picture. Note also the input flange adaptor (top right) and the Jimny speedo adaptor in the shadows to the left

Seen from another angle, earlier in the reassembly process, the structure of the two mounts is more obvious

Positioned where the passenger’s airbag once lived, a laptop running Memory Map software means it’s an easy life for Greg’s navigator. A USB modem, meanwhile, streams live images of the vehicle’s adventures directly to Greg’s website. The PC’s location means it can be pushed out of sight when not in use and hidden beneath the original airbag cover

Not the everyday stuff of off-road modding, this. Greg has mounted a PSP above the front seats, giving rear-seat passengers the chance to follow the route as well. Sort of like travelling on a luxury jet, but without the trolley dollies

What do you do to further enhance the off-road vehicle that has every bit of electrical wizardry you can imagine? Wire a couple of bumper-mounted cameras to screens on the back of the driver’s sun visor, thereby giving a bird’s-eye view of the trail ahead… er, that’s what. Seems obvious, really, doesn’t it?

Off-roading is all about finding uncharted terrain, pushing the boundaries and experiencing new cultures. That’s what Greg Holloway thinks, at any rate – and he’s got an unusual vehicle in which to explore.

The Suzuki Jimny is an unconventional choice for an expedition vehicle. It’s not renowned for its capacious load area, and nor is it the most sumptuous cabin in which to spend a long period of time.

That hasn’t stopped Greg Holloway from transforming his Jimny into a bona fide overland cruiser, though. And nor has it prevented him from undertaking a journey around Europe behind its Rhino-encrusted wheel.

Greg first got interested in off-roading when he rode shotgun in his brother’s short-wheelbase Vitara. He bought an SJ410 for himself in 2003, and undertook his first trans-European adventure in the vehicle three years later.

The SJ had a few modifications in preparation for its journey: a set of lifted leaf springs, 30-inch Greenway Macho tyres and a rock-crawler transfer case.

These changes were sufficient to give Greg a taste for a more extreme way of life, and it wasn’t long before he purchased a Jimny. It was, he says, a natural step up from the SJ, combining diminutive charm with coil-sprung comfort. It was almost certain to be a more amenable companion on long cruises.

So it turned out, and the Jimny has become one of Greg’s most treasured possessions. He even went on a trip to Croatia in it shortly after we took our pictures. Not bad for a vehicle many people wouldn’t even want to sit in for a couple of junctions round the M25, though after the SJ410 it probably felt like cruising the continent in a Jag.

Back when we met Greg, anyway, the Jimny was enjoying its first trip out after an extensive rebuild. This included a wide selection of off-road trick bits, but in addition to this the Suzuki has an electrical kit list to die for. Greg is a laptop engineer by trade, and the briefest look in the cabin provides evidence of his mastery of all things plug-inabble.

There’s a laptop set into the passenger airbag space, for instance, a PSP hanging down from the roof and a pair of screens behind the driver’s sun visor that display images from front-mounted cameras. When it comes to technology, this little truck is near the very top of the tree.

Of course, the electrical gear comes into its own when Greg is on one of his long jaunts. But it’s also useful in UK conditions: the cameras provide an alternative view of the road ahead, while the overhead PSP provides a real-time view of the route as journey unfolds. It’s a bit like travelling in a small, but perfectly formed, passenger aircraft.

Given that the vehicle was completely standard when Greg bought it, it’s hard to believe how many changes he has made. And when you consider that he’s done all of the spannering himself, the size of his achievement is very much inversely proportional to the dimensions of his truck.

Heading straight for Croatia so soon after finishing such an ambitious build was a shakedown and a half, but the Jimny made it – via quite the tour of Europe – and came home again under its own steam despite having been put through the wringer off-road. There were bound to be the inevitable teething troubles to start off with, but some classic trail repairs and the sort of local rallying-round that’s all part of what makes off-roading so special kept the vehicle going, and after such a rigorous start to life it’s simply continued to go from strength to strength along the way.

Such is the adventurous character of off-road expeditions. It’s what Greg most enjoys about owning a 4x4 – and if that wasn’t enough, the fact that he chose a Suzuki to help him fulfil these dreams proves the old adage about the road less travelled. Owning and building his Jimny has been a journey all of its own, and an adventurous one at that. But you very much feel that it was just the beginning…

JIMNY, 12" KENLOWE, ZANFI BODY LIFT, STEERING COLUMN EXTENSION, ORA AXLE TRUSS, KUMHO KL71S, ZANFI TANK GUARD, ORA SUSPENSION KIT, BAILEY MORRIS PROP