So what did you do to your Mini Truck today

In between cancer treatment and waiting on my radiator to get cleaned and new parts to get here water pump etc.. I thought I would powdercoat the tired looking fan shroud in silver vein. Silver vein is one of my favorites it looks good and helps hide blemishes.
Added some heat shrink tubing to the wire harness holders as well.

 

Wow! Did that ever come out nice!

 

Nice job!

 

Awesome!

 

Added a heavy duty rubber bed mat, and glued astroturf to one side, plus astroturf in the rubber floor mat (actually made a noticeable sound dampening) also put the boys to work with another load of compost and soil for the new garden expansion.

 

Finally getting reman engine installed. took longer to put in than getting it from Japan.
If you wonder what the blue thing is for : coolant filter system from diesel truck.

 

Adam,
Looks nice! Smart, and cost effective! The beauty of it as you know, it's easy to clean!
Limestone

 

Kirk,
Keep us updated, and filled in! We enjoy the pics! Good Luck!
Limestone

 

I bet you could tee off of that thing!

 

Or pitch nine innings! LOL!

 

changed the oil using my favourite brand and filter brand, Mobil1 and Wix filter. Oil was nasty and was so glad to get that Fram filter off. The truck sounds much better now when idling or driving as before the change I could detect the sounds of a badly diluted, or worn out oil. Next job is the tranny oil change.

 

Ripped the filter box apart and powdercoated it today. Glad I did I found a mouse nest in one of the tubes and the factory sealant they used was brittle and basically it was leaking all over.

 

Rusty,
This is exactly the point that I try to make all the time! The mouse nest, the leaky air due to the aged, old, and dried out sealant, needed attention! On these Mini's, the square tubular frames are used for venting, and can get clogged with mouse, spider, and all kinds of foreign blockage. Probably, instead of cleaning out the square inner tubular frame rails, it's probably easier to just re route the venting system on them, eliminating, yet another possible problem, down the road! I love the Hammer finish! Good Job!
Limestone

 

Yeah I am gonna look at all the tubing and stuff since I have the bed off. Makes it alot easier with it off the truck

 

So just a follow up from a past post here, that I put in a long while back. I finally picked up a slightly used 6 foot plow for my mini, that was promised to me through a late close friend, involving two other friends. I know, it's confusing, and there's a lot of moving parts and deals that have gone on, and the bottom line is, it didn't cost me a dime, and I'll post picks as I get it together, and adapt, fabricate, and build as needed!
Limestone

 

Another follow up. So I got everything taken apart, because the plow, although slightly used, sat outside, naturally, like most, needed a little TLC, for my standards. I cleaned, and de greased everything, even removing the cutting edge on the bottom. Got everything, primed, and re painted, and made a list, of some Miscellaneous parts, that I'll need to get it back up to snuff. I had to make a few small adjustments in some of the steel parts, that had a few dings, and bends, from a little misuse, in my estimation. Too many people think that a snow plow is a Bulldozer! Will work on getting the rest of the parts, as needed. Will keep you posted!
Limestone

 

I finally got it home from hunt camp. I fixed the damage Ohkei Jr. did to my door during hunting season. Just had to twist it a little and bend the upper door hinge back to where it was supposed to be. I also washed off about 60# of mud.

 

Ohkei'
You're starting to sound like me now! LOL!!! It took you a little bit, and that's what I mean by, "your starting to sound like me", cuz with so much going on, all the time, we seem to be moving one step fore ward and two steps back! LOL!!! Good Luck, and keep it going Buddy!
Limestone

 

Replaced the original rear shocks with a pair of new, KYB Premium. Easy fast job, yay electric impact. No jacking or removal of anything (except the old shocks) was required. Each shock is retained with a 14mm nut at the top, and a 17mm nut and bolt at the bottom.
One of the originals didn't feel too bad, but the other definitely had some 'chop' or weak points in the stroke in both directions.
Perfect fit and bolt-up, and they feel really nice to drive on.

 

I decided to pimp my Suzuki Carry this Summer. She was in relatively good condition when I took delivery of the truck last November. However, somewhere in its prior life it must have been living where fine dust was an issue. I noticed that everything behind the dash, inside the speedo head, inside the headlight assemblies, etc was covered in a very fine dust coating, so the first order of business was to clean everything. In trying to read the instruments at night, I thought I needed new glasses. The headlights looked like they were kind of frosted on the inside. However, after taking the instruments and lights apart and using a little Windex as the cleaning agent, the gauges were now crystal clear and easier to read at night.
I purchased and installed the front and rear bumper & hitch assemblies and the Blackline hydraulic snow plow package before X-Mass. They got a quite a few chances this past winter to demonstrate the truck’s capabilities as a plow vehicle. I wanted a little more front -end clearance so I installed the new progressive springs up front. To help Improve her reliability, we did a complete tune up, new brakes all around, refreshed all the fluids, the belts, water pump, etc.
On the interior, I installed the new tach, and since the truck had no backlit dash lights from the factory, I installed a dimmable red LED mini spot light in front of the rear-view mirror. It now shines down and illuminates the face of the dash, the plow controls, and the shifter. I also installed a bright LED bulb in the dome light so that it actually lit up the cabin at night time when opening the doors. The old radio was toast when I got the truck so I added a new radio with the built- in speakers, as well as a new antenna to help with her reception.
I had new 2- toned seat and head rest covers, and new door cards made at the local boat upholstery shop. I insulated the engine compartment, and the front and rear walls with sound deadening foam and then covered it all in a grey felt material to freshen up the cabin and silence some of the engine and road noise. I had a new carpet cut and bound by the local carpet guy. To finish off the interior I added the new Grant steering wheel, a white 4 speed shift knob, and a cup holder made out of the rear end of a Honda Fit center console.
In the exterior lighting department, I installed an LED 3 rd brake light, replaced the rear tail lights with much brighter LED rear light assemblies, installed 3 super bright LED reverse lights to aid my rear vision when plowing at night, added new LED side marker lights, and added a new back lit LED Suzuki logo emblem on the front hood.
After deciding between a couple of new paint schemes, I had the entire truck re-painted in the 2- toned white and dark blue color scheme, and then added the painted yellow strobe
stripe to make her unique.
The same company that made me the seat covers also made me a custom snap on cargo cover in a tear resistant material. I installed 4 tie downs inside the pick-up bed to hold down the 50- gallon water bladder that I use to add some weight when plowing. We replaced all the corner plastic end caps in the pickup bed walls, as well all the rubber bumpers to make the body panels nice and quiet. I glued some black rubber exercise mats together to make a pickup bed floor mat. She got treated to 5 new larger fancy wheels and tires, and I made Suzuki logo center caps from foil decals to make the wheels look like they came from the factory.
Still yet to come will likely be a trailer wiring harness, some new LED plow lights, a larger capacity alternator and battery, and some aluminum diamond plate on the inside of the tailgate and pickup walls.
Overall, I think she turned out pretty well. People now mistake her for a brand new truck.
For fathers day this year my son gave me a custom made Japanese sized vanity license plate to use at car shows. "11-5-9" spells out "KEI" in the alphabet, the Japanese writing on the upper left spells out Shizouka, which is the prefecture where Kei trucks are manufactured, the "E" is a Roman letter given to American servicemen driving in Japan (E is for Ed, me), and the 594 is the month and year of production of my truck. My son also came up with the color scheme, the striping concept and the Carry logo.

 

Where did you find these? Did you find a set for another Honda and they just happened to be the right length?

 

No... these are direct from KYB replacements, same as stock without the dealer mark-up.

My truck is a Suzuki Carry. I live in Japan so everything is pretty easy to find.

 

Nothing I am out of money

 

Installed new Kenwood speakers, yes that's plural. Just had to remove the right side grommet (on the body) and fish the wire up and over. No drilling whatsoever through the metal body. Then I replaced the single DIN radio for $19.80 I previously installed, for a slightly better Jensen single DIN. It's a noticeably better unit.

 

I'm diggin the the cool mountain graphics. Can I ask where you got that?

 

Morning, not really sure what co. or store but on amazon check out mountain graphics' for trucks (peel & stick)
should give you plenty of choices
Regards
Brian

 

I took the Sambar back to hunt camp and immediately noticed scrubbing noise from the brakes. Looks like I'm going to be replacing pads soon.

 

Always something to do!
Better get it done before Hunting season, Ohkie!
Limestone

 

Aloha!

Got my Carry on Friday, after months of waiting for it to be shipped inter-island (Oahu to Kauai). Over the weekend, I drove it around a lot, getting used the awesome yet-awful driving dynamics. Plugged in a little GPS speedometer and added a cargo net. On Sunday, it started acting up, missing under load (idles fine) and having a lot more trouble getting up to speed and climbing hills. Also noticed the brakes are of the "eventually get around to stopping" variety. And that third gear is tough to find. But hey, it's here! Now to find a mechanic.

 

Good luck with the new toy. I find that if I shift more slowly, but more deliberately in the H pattern, she goes right into 3 rd, no problem.