Restoration Progress of Soichiro Honda's Gem, 1965 Honda S600

[mick87]

nice ride, thats the 90's jeep wrangler rite? kinda have the classic look., im sure u spend alot for the lil s600 not to mention the price u bought it..

 

[Kevin Lee]

yeah its a 1995 jeep wrangler YJ (manufactured between 1988-1995, why it looks a bit reto), last batch of wranglers in malaysia before mbf folded. they were selling rm80k brand new back then, haha. yeah, well i bought the s600 for 10k and the restoration costs is looking at 40k, price of a myvi no doubt! but i guess the cool factor and the 2 door sports coupe, at a price cheaper and much fun than a smart, thats gonna be millions of dollars of fun, haha

anyways, jeep is a familar sight, as seen in jurassic park, same jeep model, except for soft top and soft top doors

 

[shiroitenshi]

Nice jeep. Over here, 4x4s are on the top of thieves hit list, due to the current offroading scene taking off here.

My uncles 1980's Suzuki Jimny got stolen a few months ago, got back only the chassis.

 

[Kevin Lee]

hmm, i dont know if jeep wranglers are many salvageable, i know a suzuki jimny now costs at least 10k and above, lol , u could get a good condition one for 20k. but yeah thanks for letting me know, haha. well u know when ur the only one in town driving the red jeep, so if anyone, not the owner driving it, it would definitely raise an alarm, lol. unless its an outsider job, so i cant say!

sorry to hear about the losses, how did he found out his jeep was stolen and how did he got it back? i guess its time to replace the old alarm system with a new one!

 

[shiroitenshi]

hmm, i dont know if jeep wranglers are many salvageable, i know a suzuki jimny now costs at least 10k and above, lol , u could get a good condition one for 20k. but yeah thanks for letting me know, haha. well u know when ur the only one in town driving the red jeep, so if anyone, not the owner driving it, it would definitely raise an alarm, lol. unless its an outsider job, so i cant say!

sorry to hear about the losses, how did he found out his jeep was stolen and how did he got it back? i guess its time to replace the old alarm system with a new one!

Stolen in front of his shop at 5am. He woke up from his bed on the second floor when he heard the engine run, and by the time he went down, the jimny was gone. The jimny cannot be locked (soft top, doors are latch type) and he's been leaving it that way for 20years plus, so never thought someone would steal it, since it's totally stock, and used for going into rubber estates to check on the estate workers and hunting. My other cousin, who's into 4x4 also immediately sold his because his was not lockable as well, soft top as well.. but heavily modified with lift kit, wide wheels, a hilux engine. But I wouldn't call it his one jimny, more like a shortened hilux, since the chassis is heavily modified.

Never bothered to check what model it was, since I'm not into 4x4s, but apparently it's the LJ10 model, after looking it up on wikipedia. Now I know it's sub-1000 cc lol, I thought it was 1.3, since I drove it.. the low end torque was quite good.

 

[Kevin Lee]

Sorry to hear about the losses, where was this, I think all cars in KL are quite commonly a hot target. So did your cousin end up buying other vehicles, just asking. My dad had a soft top and some guy cut open the top from the back and stole the coins, my dad's top was ruined and had to get another one, bastard, so he replaced it a fibre hard top. hahaha.

well gotta ask him to invest in an alarm then, seriously. haha, what are u into then

 

[shiroitenshi]

Sorry to hear about the losses, where was this, I think all cars in KL are quite commonly a hot target. So did your cousin end up buying other vehicles, just asking. My dad had a soft top and some guy cut open the top from the back and stole the coins, my dad's top was ruined and had to get another one, bastard, so he replaced it a fibre hard top. hahaha.

well gotta ask him to invest in an alarm then, seriously. haha, what are u into then

In Kelantan, I thought that the zth user profile has my location. :)
My cousin bought an new serena with the money lol.. no more modding for him.. My uncle is still on a lookout for a beat up 4x4, but this time with a hardtop.. I've sourced him a few, but he just wants something cheap so he can do his work. I doubt can locate a jimny like the one he bought below 10K lol.. but he's in no rush.

I'm into the tech aspect of automotives, when I left school, I was totally clueless about car mechanicals and electronics, somehow I bought a car, started tinkering with it, made a few motorhead friends including my mechanic, and somehow what started out as a hobby became a part time job tuning cars and helping settle electronic matters related to cars, I've helped out with reprogramming a few audi keyfobs, the procedure is still a pain no matter how many times I do it.. lol. And on occasion, diagnosing problems with electronic laden conti's, since the workshop now has a diagnostic machine by Bosch, (but the number is very low :(, so I don't get much knowledge from that, since the problems are hardly regular problems, and because the regular problems usually get solved by regular conti workshops), and also working on honda's because that's the workshop's main specialty.

I'm still keeping my main job though, (my main job wouldn't look to me kindly for having a part time job, which is why it's all secretive). Furthermore, modding over here is rather slow, and there's not much income flow from there. Mostly stock with light mods, and a few extreme modded cars.

And somehow some of the car owners don't like if I settle the problem too fast.. lol. I remember setting someone's b16a with a fuel pressure regulator and vafc, but he couldn't believe I did it in less than 15mins. Lol, I tinkered with my B16a until bored already, so it's natural I already know most workable setups. B18cs also nothing much, because unless they start using cams or change pistons, there' nothing much to do except bump up the fuel pressure and tune with whatever they have on hand.

 

[Kevin Lee]

Hmm, haha well I didn't know, some people might write their hometown there but not belong there. You know, most young mechanics would do their things in KL, usually as there is a larger population and consumer based there

I can understand about car enthusiasm and such, but it branches too far away from what I am working as. So it is kept as a hobby, as an enthusiasm to fill the mind, pretty much it.

But yeah, I guess 4x4 holds good value there, considering the frequent flood, its a good getaway vehicle if anything

 

[shiroitenshi]

True that.. getaway vehicle for flood, that's a hoot. :), though actually because there are a few off road tracks nowadays, and there's even custom built buggies made in Kelantan.
Anyway, I'm happy earning with my main job, and due to the lower living costs here, I tend to have a lot more disposable income than I would have if I lived in KL. I did live in KL for a while, but I felt that it's a bit too hectic for me.

And actually I'm not that young anymore lol hitting mid 30s soon... I still enjoy working on cars, trying to solve problems that people don't figure out.. the stranger, the better, and (usually these problems are not 'one-day can solve' problem, though it's almost that way now since the diagnostic machine is here) That's part of the enjoyment for me.. If I were to do it 24x7, I think boredom would strike rather quickly.

 

[Kevin Lee]

i would say the same, for ur age, its the best deal, being a teen and being KL you are living the life for sure, ahhaha. but i guess , for me now, being in a small town i could monitor and make sure my car is restored progressively, this car needs all the attention it gets and im pretty sure a professional restorer wont know anything much about this car. lol

 

[mick87]

hey, 10k is really cheap for a rare car like this, althought more $ to be dump on restoration work, of course 50k is not too expensive if u hv the cash to play wif. shiroitenshi: where are u actually base in? im sure both of u not from KL rite?

 

[Kevin Lee]

hey mick, i would consider so, didnt know the bills would rack up a lot. a lot of money has been wasted on postage and rare/expensive parts, but i guess the thrill of revving an engine to 9500 rpm on stock would be so exciting. even if you are going slow, your car sounds very fast, its funny that way, lol. so yeah the car costs 10k, the vintage number plate, single D alphabet costs about rm6-12k nowadays on motortrader, so at best im paying rm4k for the car. hahaha. not too bad of a deal i guess. just parts being a killer

Honda Road tax sticker, only RM5 (USD2) hahah

watch the video below and u can see how jay leno has his fun

1964 Honda SM600 - Video - Jay Leno's Garage

 

[TitanRev]

Kevin, looks like your Wrangler and my car has the same mother (MBF)....MY car was bought in by them in year 2000.

Suzuki Jimmy...nice little 4x4...very bumpy ride...I had 1 too but also stolen after 4 months I sold it to another guy.

 

[mick87]

kev: USD 2 for the sticker u bought it online? wrangler must be fun to drive around with the open top.., can chop off the roof of jimmy if cant afford a wrangler ..

 

[Kevin Lee]

i guess they stopped the jeep dealership, knowing there are more popular offroaders out there, like the toyota landcruiser and mitsubishi pajero at about the same price. sad to see about the jimny!

well mick, i bought the sticker locally, just explain to non locals how does it costs in USD, lol