Ownership Verified: 1984 Suzuki SS80/Maruti 800

MadCarburetor

Active Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
Messages
123
Location
Mumbai, India
I've been driving this thing around the last few weeks so i decided to make a thread about it. It's a 1984 Suzuki SS80 better known in India as the Maruti 800. This is the first version made in India between '84 and '87 when they launched the new smaller Maruti which is still in production.
It's actually my mother's car, she has owned it for over 20 years. The car spent most of it's life in Mahableshwar, a small town about 250 km from Mumbai/Bombay. My mum is not a car person and did not look after the car so it ended up in a sad state. Last year we finally decided to get it to Bombay and fix the thing up, first we had to get it drivable so we had a local mechanic remove the engine and get to Bombay for a rebuild. After the rebuild we put on a new carburettor, a new distributor and last month drove the car to Bombay to start with the bodywork.

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I enjoyed driving the car on the narrow country roads before getting it to Bombay. This was my first time driving it after the engine rebuild.

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The car handles really well. The throttle response is good. gear shifts feel great.
The suspension setup is McPherson struts in the front and leaf springs in the rear.

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First thing we did after getting the car to Bombay is getting the ball joints and tie-rods changed than a wheel alignment..We also realised that the tires hadn't been changed since 1997 :blink:

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Here's the engine! (Ignore my Dad's hand going under the air-cleaner). It's a 796cc 3-cylinder with 37hp! It's got a 8.7:1 compression ratio, a Mikuni carb with manual choke, Lucas distributor with breaker points ignition. The fuel economy is great, we got 23 kpl (54mpg) on the highway.

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Here's the verification.
We'll be starting on the bodywork probably in a week or so. I'll take some proper pictures when it's done!
 
That is absolutely badass. I love these little things, we even got them here. Probably really rare here by now.
 
Nice. :thumbup:
 
Increasingly rare car. What's the actual km on the odometer? 27 000 km but how many times has it rolled over? Just once, I guess?
 
Actually despite the sorry state it was in, it actually looks well preserved from rust. That is the main thing as a basis for restoration. Love it!
 
that 3cylinder 800cc motor is a beast... until 60kph...
 
Cars age differently when you don't have any salt on the roads. :) Patina rather than tin cancer.
 
that 3cylinder 800cc motor is a beast... until 60kph...

It can cruise at 100kph all right. The car is extremely light so 37hp is fine!

Increasingly rare car. What's the actual km on the odometer? 27 000 km but how many times has it rolled over? Just once, I guess?

It's rolled over just once.

Cars age differently when you don't have any salt on the roads. :) Patina rather than tin cancer.

There is bit of rust, and the paint is completely flaking off so it will have to scraped down and repainted..I'll get detailed pictures when we start with the bodywork...
 
There is bit of rust, and the paint is completely flaking off so it will have to scraped down and repainted..I'll get detailed pictures when we start with the bodywork...

Probably, but there are none of these left where I live because salt and so forth. "A bit of rust" is what they had after two years.
 
We just got done with the bodywork/painting...There was a lot less corrosion than i had expected once the paint was scraped down.
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And a sneak preview of my next Post Your Car thread :mrgreen:
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Fresh paintjob always looks nice :thumbup:
 
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