NOW WHAT? We Got Ed's LJ20 That Was Stuck 40 Years In The Sierra Nevada Mountains. 

I have a LJ20 hard top in SE Wyoming. I will trade for hoddies.

Here in Puerto Rico those LJ are everywhere… Popular engine swap was to use the Samurai’s engine and tranny and Toyota axles. Fiberglass parts for the front end are available here… Great project

“I’m not a Suzuki guy at all. But we’re gonna be when we’re done with this thing” You had me at that intro. New subscriber over from MORR 🤙🏼

That Paul put the thought into making the seat height the correct for Ed with the axle and wheel choices; I just want to buy that man a beer...or milkshake, his choice :-)

You need to keep it as a hard top, one of the things that makes it so rad. Don't soft top it! Can't wait to see how the build comes together.

Please don´t even think about cutting the roof!!!!!!! LJ-Vans are the coolest SUZUKIS ever! There are some donor-vans in my collection and I would gladly provide all the roof parts you need at no cost, if you promise not to reduce the Golden Nugget to a boring cabriolet. Regards from Germany Martin Reiter

This is an LJ20V, the soft top was LJ20. The V came with 15" wheels and the soft top had 16" wheels with Bridgestone 6.00 16 NDT military-style tires from the factory. I've owned a '72 LJ20 for almost 22 years now. It's the most reliable 4 wheeled vehicle I've ever owned and gets me places other 4wds are too big to go. People are always amazed how quiet the 2 cylinder 2-stroke 360cc engine is.

Looks like fun Paul! Finding a donor vehicle is a challenge but, totally doable! In internet era finding it could span the world... but, we all know there's another one out there... somewhere! I like the idea of a soft top/hard top removable(with a nice roll cage!)... even if/when you do find the donor! Alternatively, if you maintain the panel back area (no side windows in back sides) then a tonneau cover that's openable over part of the roof would look nice too. Keeping in line with its given name "Golden Nugget" y'all will have to paint it more of a golden yellow. What a great story y'all are sharing with us~ Thank you so very much for that! I am pushing 60 and it warms my heart to see y'all giving so much love and appreciation to Ed! He's a great ol' man and every bit the reason I started folling all your channels!~ Peace be with y'all always... and, in all ways! R/

Take Ed's door and make a picture frame out of it. Frame it around a collage of stills of the project from woods to finish. Great wall hanger for Ed's office. If the window area does not provide enough space for the photos, then use the door as a lid to a wall mounted shadowbox. You'd then have room for a few more photos, and some appropriate mouse figurines...

if you have half the grille still good, you can have it scanned and 3d printed. Lots of collector cars are having parts printed now.

I've only just seen you guys featured in one of Matts recent videos, I'm still working my way through his previous episodes and I was aware of the Golden Nugget but I didn't know it's origin story. I'm glad RU-vid has finally suggested this content to me and I'm looking forward to following this build, albeit a year late! 😅 I'm also looking forward to catching up with your previous content as a new subscriber! 😁👍

Paul, you and Matt need to get a Go Fund Me account going to get Ed's baby back together with solid parts. I found new doors and other parts that are more than likely going to need to be replaced. I'm 100% sure that the viewers that you and Matt have would donate because of the love we have for Ed. What you and Matt have planned for this resurrection is what makes life better for all that are watching your videos. Ken

There is a used one, even the same color, for sale in Halstead, KS. Listed on Craigslist. Looks like it has the parts you need.

I had to rewatch this one in anticipation of the big reveal! I might have to binge-watch the series. The before & after is incredible. Kudos to all of you!

Don't think I've ever laughed so hard as the recovery & repair & commentary! You guys are great, you too Lizzy. Didn't know they made a Suzuki 50 yrs ago. Good luck 🤞😎👍🎉🎊❄️🇺🇸

If possible, keep it a hardtop! Looking forward to the build.

Golden Nugget recovery series was classic! Can't wait to see the rebuild. Idea for the reveal: Fab Rats/Matt's Off -Road responding to a call with Ed along for the ride and the forecast.

Today is May 21, 2022 This is the second time I've watched this. ALL Gold Nugget videos I've watched as they've been released. Seeing all of the work that you, Paul and your team have put into this is nothing short of incredible. The amount of work and money that has gone into it, Amazing. Paul, you're an inspiration to what we all should live up to. May the Lord continue to Bless You and your Family.

This is the best series of a vehicle build I have ever watched. FabRats did a awesome job and so did Robby Layton and everyone one else who worked on it.

Thanks for jumping on board and doing this for Ed, Eds a great man I can't wait to see his reaction when ut's all done. PRops to all you guys involved in this one.

I haven't been more excited about a RU-vid build in a long time. Can't wait to see the progress.

I can't wait to see this Suzuki in its new beautiful shape, as well as seeing the joy on Uncle Ed's face, may God bless everyone.

the video of the Ed's JD40 rescue got me hooked on Matt's channel that got me hooked of Paul 's Fab Rats channel, to Bleeping Jeeps , then Robby's, to the mischiefmaker and now Bikes N Breads, Praise the Lord you guys are awesome

paul, i have been watching u guys for ages now, and i only just realised, u said, "this is the cleanest part in the jeep" 13:37 as ur talking about the floor. keep up the good work champ, i love the laid back family channel.

Suzuki guy here, long time fan. Please keep it a full hardtop, that’s what makes it so much cooler than all the samurais running around. The problem with running a Suzuki drivetrain and Dana axles is gearing, most Suzuki’s are over 5:1 in the axles from the factory and you can’t get gearing that low for the smaller Dana axles. Samurai front axle with tracker/sidekick 5.13 gears and a stock track/kick rear axle would be easy and very cheap. Toyota transmission/transfer case/axles would be great but expensive and not quite as pure. The stock axles and transfer case would probably be fine with 31s and a 1.3 or 8v 1.6. VW diesels are a very popular swap for Suzuki’s. Track/kicks came with a 8v and 16v 1.6 and later with a 2.0 but you said 1.9 in the video? Hopefully you meant a 16v 1.6 as that’s my favorite. Can’t wait for the next video!

Take Ed’s door, refinish it and make a picture frame with the entire crew.

ONE MILLION VIEWS?!?! This series is gonna crush it for you guys. Congrats!

I happen to watch the surprise gifting party for Ed … so watching it from the beginning rescue in knowing around $200K of materials and labor donated worth has been stunning!

Paul, please find a downer Suzuki and graft the body parts (or fabricate) you need to keep it original. DO NOT make a soft top out of it. That would ruin it. It's not a dune buggy conversion project. Keep in mind it's a miniature. Original Suzukis are tough. Watch some videos. Samurais surprise big truck guys all the time. Ed's going to love it.🧙‍♂️ Thanks. 👍😎🙏

Definitely needs to stay a hard top. Modern drive train and comfortable interior for Ed but keep the rest as close to original as will be possible.

i am 75 years old, and own, and still drive, my 1994 GEO 4X4 stick shift Tracker version on this old girl. I chopped the roof and made a miniature pick up truck out of mine. By the way the GEO has the same size engine only it is NOT a 2 cycle. My engine has over 300,000 miles on the clock and has never failed to start, even after being left out in the Mid West winter for months. I recently drove it over 1,000 miles to my new home in Del Rio Texas. You might get lucky and find a few of them in junk yard. The body parts look very similar on your video.

Here we are 8 months later and seeing just how close you are to giving this back to Ed. What an outstanding job . Thousands of man hours later. What a difference .

You have me addicted now !!!!! I love Matt's off road recovery... Now I'm loving Fab Rats too .. I'm definitely twice as happy . Big love to you from New Zealand 💕

“The only door that works is the one that Ed made.” Just another reason Ed is a legend. Built a wood door that lasted almost 50 years in the Sierra Nevada Mountains…

So nice to see family working with you Paul. Lovely family. That's a personal touch already for Ed. 👍🏼

Can't wait to see the look on Ed's face when you guys present the finished product to him!!!😃❤👍

It truly warms my heart you're doing this for Edd. God bless

Paul, please keep the body as original as possible. What a classic. So excited to watch this build.

You can’t write this stuff. My mouth hurts from smiling all the way through this video….the amount of LOVE

I'm in Australia.I got one for free, for a farm car , on a steep block..Removed everything I did not need. Made a full set of Mud/snow chains..1 battery, 1 points set ,3 spark plugs ,1 cheep air filter(made to fit) some mig wire for a throttle cable..Worked it hard for 12 years ( the last few years only running on 2 cylinders ) If it was gong to roll over I would just put my foot out on the ground and turn it down hill..Carted lots of fire wood..

Hello Paul, my name is Mike and I am here living in Hong Kong. I would love to help out on this build and if you need any parts for this that can't be source in the US, I am pretty sure I can find them in Asia. I have access with Yahoo Japan which is a go to source for any old JDM parts. Drop me a line if necessary. Would love to see Ed rolling around with this gem once again!

It really should be kept as close to the Jimny and Samarai specifications as practical, including the width. That way, Ed could still do a lot of the same things with it; and have the best of the nostalgia for everyone!

Since the reveal to Ed is getting close now, I had to come back to this one and re-watch. Some impressive what has been done with this old Suzuki. It's been a blast watching it through all the phases.

To see where I watched this months ago to where it is now with a few body panels left after the wreck EJS and all else just a reminder of the roots spreading amongst us lovers of these channels and good luck

These things do fantastic as they were built

When it gets done, it would be cool to add some wood trim to pay tribute to Ed's wooden door.

Dude, I'm a big fan of Matts... I kept thinking this is Matt without a beard, until I saw Matt in your video! I was shocked! Now I find myself watching all your videos too! Crazy! Love what you're doing! Poor ED!

so stoked you are fixing the LJ20 up! this will be a fun one to follow along!

Remember it is EDD's truck. Us oldies love to "remember back when. There are upgrades and updates for the Suzuki that would still give Edd his truck back, with reliability and driveability, but without turning it into a miniature rock crawler with heavy engine and running gear. Whatever you decide, it is heartwarming to see you doing this for Edd.

When I saw the first nugget rescue video my immediate thought was, "I sure hope Paul gets to fix this thing up!" This is going to be a great restoration series!

Interesting finding your site... When these little cars were first imported to Canada they were just a tin box with wheels... so my company started manufacturing carpet sets and rear seats for them and sold them to the dealers for installation... we made a lot of carpets and seats for them. A bit small, but when the full size 4x4 guys got stuck, the LJ20 was light enough to go out and not get stuck, then winch in the big guys. I don't remember them being two stroke..

Keep it as close to stock as you can. It is so cool the way it was. Keep it a hard top

Keep it as original as possible and in line with Suzuki spirit. Simple but very functional. No soft top for me and whatever you do, keep it yellow!

I'm late into discovering Matt's channel and didn't get to see the true progression of the Banana mods and the build of the Morrvair, but I'm glad I am gonna get to see the rise of the Golden Nugget and how happy Ed will be!

What a great new project for the channel and a better cause!! Cant wait to see Ed's face and comments.

I am LOVING all of the views this video has! Congrats on a viral video with such a great story too!

That thing is damn solid for sitting in a forest for 40 years. I've seen 2YO trucks in worse shape! Keep it up!

Ed is blessed to have friends recover and fixed his suzuki. The the time, effort and money spent to recover it was more than the worth of the suzuki.

Golden nugget brought me here, awesome channel, lots of videos to catch up.

@5:20 My vote is to make it LOOK stock from the outside but give him modern hardware on the inside. Anything you can do to make it more comfortable for Ed to drive should be done. And anything you can to to make it as safe as possible should be done and that means a modern engine, modern brakes, modern shocks and such. Air Conditioning and heat are both probably essential :p

Looks like you can get the front grille on Ebay. Might be easier to just find another LJ20 and tell Ed that was his.. lol Good luck, this will be fun to watch. :)

The restoration and modifications are almost done. What a journey this has been. I’m looking forward to Sunday, July 17, 2022 to see them almost done.

Brings back memories of my 1980 LJ80 soft top and doors, 797cc engine. That looks like the same drive train. Used as a winter driver and it was great in the snow and off-road here in Ontario.Yyoung dreams of modding it up never realized, but plenty of good times had. I made a plywood top and had it fiberglassed, hand painted black top on firetruck red.The looks I would get driving down the road in it - LoL. The rust belt was not kind to those fenders and floor. Sold it to a co-worker for their family farm in '93, 2 years later she told me it was still going and had no issue pulling a loaded hay wagon in 4-low.

This looks like a great project! The youtube channel "Marks of Distinction" has a 72' in running order - can see it on youtube video "A Driver series: Suzuki LJ20V 1972 jimny brite lj20 lj". Maybe they can provide some reference information or contacts for a part car? Good luck!

Keep the door! I love that door!!!! It pretty much tells the story.

You gotta do something with that homemade wooden door - maybe make it the countertop of an outdoor grill setup, with the grill set into in the window? Or elsemake a coffee table out of it, or put it as the door to a tool closet, or frame it... or something.

You probably already know about this source, “Samurai Salvage” . I bought some Samurai parts from them in 2019 and they had some LJ parts also.

This is the start of the best build you have ever done. Thank you for helping ole Ed and restoring his tired ass ride to working condition!!! God bless you Paul, you're doing god's work.

I vote for a targa top and a blocked off cab. Then the back can be turned into slide out tools boxes or even a bed or even just a kick ass comfy chair for Ed. Think about it, he’ll probably never climb between the seats to begin with and i bet the only thing ed really needs on a crazy wheelin adventure is a good place to take a break haha

This is a very ambitious project, the best part is that you are doing it for Ed 👍👍👍🎩

"I mean this is the good side and its not good" this made me spit coffee! Gonna be a sweet build!

I love when you guys do a collaboration! I especially love the friendship and teamwork! So excited to see where this build goes. Ed deserves it. He’s right deadly.

You cracked me up with "that's a lot of rust". Come to PA. After 42 years you would of had the 4 tires, glass, and plastic left. Great channel, looking forward to the job.

This is the first time I ever comment on anyone’s RU-vid video. Since you guys mentioned that you want this to be a Suzuki, well, how about stuffing it with a Hayabusa engine. It’s a larger motorcycle engine, that would easily fit into that vehicle. What you guys are doing for Ed is great! I wish I were part of the project. Keep at it, love the videos.

As a Senior citizen hard top for staying warm when he cruises in the winter time. Seniors have thinner blood.

Find an Isuzu pickup as a donor. They're carb'd motors until the early 90s and have rock solid drivetrains. The transfer cases are strong enough and narrow, which makes fitment easier. Then just pick a front axle. Edit - had I watched the video I'd see you already picked the donor drivetrain. I still like the Isuzu t-case and rear diff.

That teeny tiny Urkel car was a BMW Isetta! When I was a small child in kindergarten, one of the other kids dad drove an Isetta and I remember being green with envy, it just was the coolest car I knew of (my dad drove a boring ban!)! The whole front opens up on them, steering wheel and all - how can anything beat that? Impossible! ☺️🤗

Install an oversized fuel cell, with dispensing hose/pump. You know, for when they're always running out of gas.

You should reuse the wood from the door: dash insert, shift knob, something.

I would try to keep it with a hard top, because the convertible ones have a different windshield frame which is foldable and this one doesn't, so the cowl is totally different

Holy crap almost 1.3 Million views. Everyone wants to see's Ed's LJ20 back to life!

YOU GUYWS ARE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GREAT TO DO THIS FOR ED.. GOD BLESS

WOW Paul this is going to be an challenging build and awesome at the same time, back in the mid 80's, 83-88 a Volvo dealer i worked for sold these old series of Suzuki LJ and SJ series 410's they were just a slightly newer generation of these, so if your able to source one of them as a donor for parts you might have a base to work from structures were very similar , we sold a few hundred to hunters all the province they are super capable and go anywhere from being light and small enough to getting places most can't, and have seen seen pictures from customers hauling full bull moose carcasses out of the bush that they tied down with ropes to the roof or the box of the truck, the moose was almost as big those Suzuki's, LOL, in 1989 when GM bought shares of Suzuki the joint venture for North America, so Suzuki and the Geo Tracker , the Chevy version were built in a GM assembly plant in Ontario Canada and one production line was Suzuki and one Geo Tracker, the Tracker did have a 1.6 4 cylinder that was super durable with EFI never a problem starting in -35 weather, yes Fahrenheit and had fantastic heat better than any thing else in the Chevy line up, the whole powertrains were super strong for their size and the 3 speed autos were also good, I drove a brand new Tracker 5 speed hardtop the winter of 89/90 it was a bitter winter never failed to start and was awesome in the snow, if you get to use one of those powertrains, they are great basic and dead reliable i have seen the transplants from the new engines to the old body style 410's they were freaking awesome , if i can locate a donor i will pass on the info to you. look forward to this restomod build for Ed, the old Jeep axles by the way are the smart choice they are narrow , reliable and you get parts everywhere for them 👍

As someone who has had 3 lj80s, they were pretty much unstoppable. 1000cc engine was plenty. ride comfort was "fun" so maybe a little leaf spring mod .taking the big thich load spring out the rear pack helped. a 5 speed gearbox, and disk breaks on the front.

Modern Suzuki engine something 4 cylinder 16 valve, disc brakes and decent suspension. Nice fresh interior and paint it the same yellow with white details like wheels etc.

CONGRATS!!!! on your 1M viewed video!!! Awesome to see....

PLEASE keep the roof! The axles and engine swap I understand, but the body needs to stay as close as possible. I can't imagine Ed enjoying a soft top!

I have so much respect for you and Matt. this project looks damn near impossible, but impossible will not stand in your way to put a smile on an elderly gentlemans face. Respect!

I'm loving this build. Can't wait to see eds face when he gets it. I bet his tears up.

Saw you on Matt's channel for Ed's LJ20 came here with it and subscribed. Good on you guys doing this for Ed!

This is a labour of love for Ed.... There are 100's of thousands of viewers that are intrigued with the Golden Nugget project - so I know the outcome will be a blessing for everyone involved !!

Came over from Matt’s channel and subscribed on the spot. We get to see the rebuild content, and you will pick up a ton of subs ! Everyone benefits, especially Ed ! Thanks !

WHATEVER IT IS ... ITS YOUR PROBLEM NOW ..... that would make a great Tshirt slogan for your shop 😁😂😂😂😂

Back in 1986 there was this guy named Cal Worthington he owned a string of Ford dealers all the west. He used to sell Suzuki Samurai’s on TV with his kooky commercials, when they started importing them into the continental U.S. they were $3995 brand new. Even a high school kid could afford one if he worked hard. We had a guy in school who bought one.

Good luck. That's going to be a crazy rebuild. Keep it a hard top. And add air conditioning. If you can't find a real door make one. That's my 2 cents. Very impressed you are doing this for Ed.

I understand it is in rough shape but Ed seems to be an old school kind of person that would want it original or as original as possible.

Do what you can. This job Will bring a dream to Life. Thanks for all you have done or will do.

I bet that grill could be 3D printed. On the other stuff, I’d keep the exterior as close to original design as parts allow. Internally, modernize it for safety and reliability. Maybe a 22r motor and basic trans.

Cannot wait to see Ed’s reaction. Such a deserving man.

I found new dors, grill , patch and patch panel and more on EBAY new ! Leave it a hard top, so it will be like Ed had it.