Suzuki cappuccino any experience ( project)

[Weekendrebuild]

Good friends got this thing sat in his hanger . I can’t help but feal sorry for her she’s less than 40k on the clock wants a respray but no big job . Love the look of it and Not bad on rust front!! My question is has anyone used one of these and are they as much fun as they look ?

I would be looking to completely gut an mint her up ! It’s not my usual style of car an wonder if might be tad slow ? Although I sold Elise beginning of the year hardly fast but great drive . Look forward to any experienced owners input .

[5harp3y]

they are hilarious little things

but probably not worth a full resto

[Fastdruid]

No experience but they always looked like a right hoot. ~700Kg and 63HP...but that's at the wheels rather than the usual "at the flywheel". Not the fastest in a straight line but with a ~9s to 60 not exactly slow either.

In for the updates...get it on the road!

[996TT02]

Bought my MX-5 off a guy who picked me up in his Cappuccino. After the Cappuccino, the MX-5 felt like a Transit van. The old, proper full size Transits that is. In the short trip in the Cappuccino I was constantly fearing for the health of my backside, which felt like it was no more than 2 inches off the tarmac. Must be fun I suppose anything that low must be...

[Weekendrebuild]

Im 85% convinced my self this is definitely helping !

Recon bodily I can make her mint for less than a grand an immaculate one must be worth 6k ??? So well worth doing engine looks brand new change all fluid usual stuff refurb all brakes clean her out an she should be fine .
Was thinking lowering after all that an a nice set of 14” on her ? And a major under seal job ! Not that she likely to see winter .

Colours? Bayside blue ? Laguna seca blue.
Or go subtle ? Sapphire black or white ?

[designforlife]

They all rust like nobodies business, so factor that into your resto costs.

If you want to make the most money stick with Suzuki Cappo factory colours.

[Weekendrebuild]

There all bloody boring red or silver in uk spec tho this will probably end up nothing like a standard cap ! Things escalate quickly

Side note on rust Im presuming usual cills / wheel arches boot floors suspension mounts etc ?

[designforlife]

Basically everywhere from what i've seen... have you inspected the car personally?

Only way to really tell what the rust situation is and go from there... if you are lucky it won't need much welding, if it needs new arches those may be a pain to source.

[MKnight702]

We had a Cappuccino and it was a blast, very sorry when it had to go.

When we bought it we tested it against an MX5 as we thought that the 659cc engine in the Cappuccino would be a bit of a let down. On the test drive in the MX5 I buried my foot and thought "any minute now it's going to take off, any minute now" but it just never did. The Cappuccino on the other hand felt like a rocket in comparison.

[Weekendrebuild]

Arches are good it’s had small amount of welding last year it’s stored in a carcoon ! So should be spot on only rough bits look like the rear part of the cills , not holed bubbled . Everything else looks ok

[Nerdherder]

If the rust can be repaired or kept in check go for it, really fun little tiny cars.

[designforlife]

If it's getting painted anyway it's a good opportunity to take the whole thing back to bare metal and cut out any rust you find...would suck to spend money/time on a respray only to have rust bubbling through new paint in 6-12 months time.

I always fancied one but they are mostly all pretty far gone bodywork wise.

An Autozam AZ1 is the Kei car dream.

[Weekendrebuild]

think that’s the way to go I can dump me dad on it for a week or 2 he loves a challenge be a good stop gap TIL his little elan is back probably be a good race Aswell ! Any one got any pics of some good colours ?

[InitialDave]

I've got one (well, two), they're great fun, the reputation for rusting underneath is very well deserved though.

[Weekendrebuild]

InitialDave said:

I've got one (well, two), they're great fun, the reputation for rusting underneath is very well deserved though.

What’s your solution I wouldn’t be driving in winter really ! Shultz or full strip back ad paint ?

[InitialDave]

Weekendrebuild said:

What’s your solution I wouldn’t be driving in winter really ! Shultz or full strip back ad paint ?

I've got some Bilt Hamber Dynax products to use on mine when I get round to re-MOTing it (haven't been using it of late as too much other stuff on my plate). But it's been previously repaired to an ok-but-not-great standard on the floorpan etc, so I'm not overly precious about it needing to be perfect or anything, it's never going to be a minter.

[Nerdherder]

InitialDave said:

Weekendrebuild said:

What’s your solution I wouldn’t be driving in winter really ! Shultz or full strip back ad paint ?

I've got some Bilt Hamber Dynax products to use on mine when I get round to re-MOTing it (haven't been using it of late as too much other stuff on my plate). But it's been previously repaired to an ok-but-not-great standard on the floorpan etc, so I'm not overly precious about it needing to be perfect or anything, it's never going to be a minter.

Side Q: Is Dinitrol better or similar in terms of rust protection?

[InitialDave]

I've been told Dinitrol is very good, but the Bilt Hamber stuff seems to be almost universally well regarded, plus any other stuff of theirs I've used has been good, so I bought that.

[Weekendrebuild]

Any ideas on good alloys for these cars ?

[old'uns]

InitialDave said:

I've got one (well, two), they're great fun, the reputation for rusting underneath is very well deserved though.

and between the 2 rear bulkheads ?