Pictures do not to justice to how rough the car was. It was basically the remains of a parts car, with most of the parts gone.
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The body was so frail, the entire driver's side would flex if a door was opened. The center door post folded in two at the striker plate, due to rust.
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Here is the 88 Suzuki Samurai I also bought on e-bay, drove it home, and cut off the body. The 47 Chevy in the background was a previous project, mounted on a Ford van chassis, shortened four feet. The body was shortened 18" at the front fender, trunk cut off and folded down and door cut in to make a panel truck. When Chrysler built the PT Cruiser, I decided the two were too similar, so I am parting out "Oscar".
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The Samurai was real spunky with no body. Would have made a great beach buggy, except there aren't many beaches in Iowa.
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Toni Triumph and Suzy Suzuki getting to know each other. They will need to become intimate friends. The Triumph has 13" wheels, the Samurai, 15". The width of the Samurai is four wheel drive, and only 3 inches wider than the Suzuki.
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While awaiting her new body, the Samurai makes a great portable loading dock.
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The Suzuki reminds me of the Back to the Future Delorian in this pic. The one ton in the background is "The Donger". I built the mesh cage for the back, and a homemade snowplow that actually works nicely.
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Starting to separate the Triumph body from the "chassis". We built a roll bar inside to keep the frail body from crumbling, and welded a temporary support between the front fenders. Seeing the windshield had two bullet holes, we removed it for ease of accessibility.
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Front axle and wheels, and inner fenders are removed.
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Front half of floor is removed and will be replace by Samurai floor pan. From back seat rearward, the Triumph floor will be used.
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Bracing is added from the front brace to the roof, to avoid twisting when the body is separated. Probably overkill, but better safe than sorry. Charlie sure looks big in the little Triumph.
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The Triumph is balanced on a small homemade dolly.
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Body is successfully hoisted with all chassis parts removed. Doors were tied shut at center post, to add temporary strength.
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Samurai is driven in under its own power, with as many parts removed as possible. The firewall is totally intact, and snuggled into the Triumph body nicely. To our surprise, the driver ended up sitting too far back, and the steering wheel was about 7" from the windshield. The solution was to shorten the steering column, and move the driver's portion of the firewall forward, including steering wheel and pedals, as far as possible (about 4"), and then welding everything back together.
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Nice to have some help. I did Oscar's body switch entirely by myself. As predicted, the Samurai chassis will have to be lengthened 5" to fit the Triumph body.
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It will take some finesse to get the body to settle down. That's Charlie with the cigarette hanging from his mouth, holding the prybar. I think of him as a classic idiot savant, a magician of an auto mechanic, but not real good at running alarm clocks, and things like that.
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A couple of real cuties. My wonderful wife, Sue, peeks inside Toni.
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Toni looks pretty tough with the body sitting high, but the challenge is to get the body to sit down as far as possible. It will look more stock, and being built on a Samurai, the lower the center of gravity, the better the vehicle will handle. The Samurai is notorious for easy rollover.
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Looks like the end of the Samurai chassis will need to be whittled away to make room for the Triumph body to settle down.
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With it all balanced together, the unit is driven onto a driveon hoist, and the body is again raised to cut the chassis and roll the back axle rearward. The arc of the front fenders will need to be cut larger to allow the front wheels to turn. Ultimately the body will settle down till the arc of the front fenders meets the Suzuki inner fender. The body will set level, with no rake, making the car look natural.
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Along the way, I stumbled across a Triumph parts car that was in better shape than the original donor, thus the green doors. That's me, rebuilding the bottom few inches of the rear door. The rocker panels (door sills) were missing entirely, due to rust, and I whittled in panels from a Chevy Celebrity. The seats are from a Toyota Corolla. In all, nine cars contributed parts for the stockish looking Triumph.
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"Auto Artist" Steve poses with the 950cc engine, after removing it (from the back seat) of the '57 Triumph T-10. Steve bought the Triumph on e-bay, and dragged it out of a field in South Dakota.
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There were rust holes through the body in places and we filled these with weld and then ground flat.
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Lots of body putty. Very little of the car was straight. The black paint lines were a brainstorm for British swooping two-tone, that will probably never be added. The Samurai engine fits nicely under the bonnet. Front fenders have been cut to accept the larger wheels. Headlights are from an Isuzu.
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In her shiny new paint, it looks so easy and natural. Charcoal gray top with Seychelles Blue (Isuzu) body. The wheels are still Samurai. Will probably add white letter tires. It sure has been an enjoyable challenge.
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Freshly painted, chrome trim needs to be added. Toni should be my daily driver, and I will add a roof basket for luggage, which can be used to haul my canoe. My homemade minibike can be strapped on the back. She'll also be the shop workhorse, and will need a pushbar, trailer hitch, and homemade snow plow.
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