There’s few things on this earth we love more than a good comeback story. And what better comeback story is there than a beat up, rusty old Suzuki truck with little to no life left in its bones that is restored beyond its original beauty. Now that is a true comeback story. You’re about to read the story of that exact scenario. This truck was left to rust and rot. You’ve got to see how this plays out!
Restoring any auto vehicle back to its original glory is a tall order. But restoring an old Suzuki SJ410 pickup truck, in Israel, with little to no prior experience…not that’s the tallest of orders. But nonetheless, at age 30, Israeli man Omri Ginzburg began to started his restoration project. What a pile of garbage to start with! How will he turn this into the beauty you just saw? Well, find out! We’ll show you some of the best before and after shots as well as Mr. Ginzburg’s “3 Types of Renovators”. The story continues on the next page.
Ginzburg stated that while he always dreamed of restoring a vehicle, he had no prior experience or knowledge on how to accomplish that goal. He would be flying by the seat of his pants on this one. (In a country where spare parts aren’t nearly as abundant as they are in America.)
While wondering around his home village, he found a rare Suzuki SJ410k pickup truck in a neighboring shepherd’s backyard. It was just sitting there, all alone, collecting rust and roots.
Once attaining the vehicle, Ginzburg started to do some research into the truck. He soon discovered that the model was quite unusual in his country. After reading so many comments from strangers who wished they had that very style of Suzuki – Ginzburg became even more proud of his rust bucket.
He didn’t even have anything in the way of an owner’s manual or parts catalog…he had to go old-school on this one. Ginzburg collected many pictures of the SJ410 series and placed them into home-made folders for reference.
He grew so obsessed with the truck he created a semi-popular blog titled Project SJK along with an Instagram, Facebook, and twitter where others like himself from around the world could share their passion for these unique vehicles, and he could also post progress on the restoration.
Ginzburg also documented each step in a Jeepolog forum in case anyone else wanted to know how to assemble this kind of pickup.
Not having any background in this sort of thing, Ginzburg bought truck manuals, learned how to weld, and watched YouTube videos for hours in order to amass the know-how necessary to put this rare truck back together and get it running.
The project did not cost a lot, but time was an issue. Waiting for the exact right part he needed before continuing the build could take weeks, if not months.
Early on in the build, he determined that he needed a schedule, and some logistics. So… he set aside two days a week for the project, created a timetable, researched car parts, and set aside a budget.
Ginzburg said one of the most important things to bring the project to completion was setting up boundaries and understanding his capabilities.
Space was limited on his property, seeing as Ginzburg worked out of a cobbled-together workshop in his yard. And it wasn’t even his property! At the time, Ginzburg was renting a house, but luckily his landlord enjoyed the project.
Okay, it’s coming together now! In his first year, he disassembled the truck by taking apart everything and placing all the screws into different labeled bags. Everything. Completely disassembled.
He said at the time that he did not have a clue what parts he was separating. He just knew the first step was to take every single thing apart. This was made even tougher by the old screws that popped off continuously.
Well, here we go! During the second year, Ginzburg restored the truck’s body and focused on metalwork. He mentioned before the overhaul of the SJ410k that it had a ton of rust and holes. So getting the body and frame in good shape was goal #1.
Also in the second year, Ginzburg performed mechanical duties such as renovating the engine, the gears and the axels. Reminder: he did all of this after self-teaching from old photos, YouTube videos and other home-grown educational methods.
But how could he possibly put together the whole car from only external resources. Well, he eventually purchased Suzuki owner’s manual through eBay. Now, Ginzburg had the information from the source. Once he found this, his build pace increased exponentially.
After working so hard and going through doubts and trials in his first two years while he disassembled the entire truck and built the framework, it was finally time to reap the rewards of his hard work. In Omar Ginzburg’s third year restoring the Suzuki SJ410k, he began to assemble his ride.
While completing the pickup, Ginzburg took 7,457 photographs showing his progress. He compiled them into a timelapse you can watch on YouTube. However, from the side-by-side comparison, you can already see how good it’s going to look.
Ginzburg said when he started the project that it would likely take a year, but instead it took three.
Everything he now knows about restoration and mechanics, he learned on the job. The only way to learn anything worth knowing!
Ginzburg says there were moments where he grew frustrated and wanted to quit, but the next day things would get better. Speaking of things getting better, you’ve got to see this reveal.
A substantial motivational factor for him was the drive for satisfaction to see his project to completion. He really enjoyed doing the minute details of a truck, like hand painting the shifter.
But before we show you the finished, stunning product, we need to tell you the three types of renovators – according to Ginzburg. First……
The first type of renovator are people who buy an old vehicle and pay someone else to remodel it. Which, sure is easy, but not nearly as fun.
The second type of renovator are enthusiasts. People who start the project but do not complete it.
The third and last type of renovator is the rare person who does everything and makes it to the “finish line” — and get to stand in awe of their amazing restoration.
We, for one, are happy to see this truck finished; it looks gorgeous.
Ginzburg currently enjoys driving his restored Suzuki SJ410K down the street while pondering ideas for new projects.