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1988 Samurai Turned Buggy

YotaAtieToo said:
That's hilarious. The whole drivetrain is lighter than a 22r :laughing:

I'm surprised the trans and tcases are that light, my atlas alone is a hair over 100lbs.
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Pretty stoked that even if my chassis comes to 450lbs. I’ll still be a bit under 1,000lbs. Should be around 828.4 lbs.

Axles, links, steering, etc. should not put me over 2,500lbs.
 
Fully welded. Drivetrain is going in next.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to cut the rear bar above the belly. Also pretty sure the rear shock mounting is going to be tight.

How’s this look for axle placement. 105” wheel base. Front axle is placed 4” behind the front bar and the housing is 29.25” from the belly bar.

Rear axle is almost 36” from the belly bar. Trying to push that rear as far back and my engine as far forward.

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Pretty sure the rear lower bar is in my way for my drivetrain mounting.

Now, with moving this drivetrain as far forward, am I not going to run into an issue with the driveshaft getting close to whacking the belly?

I think Byro and YotaAtieToo suggested mounting everything as far forward as I can. But it seems most people like the pinion flange in line with their lower rear link mounts?

Currently my crank will be right above my front axle.
 
FleshEater said:
Pretty sure the rear lower bar is in my way for my drivetrain mounting.

Now, with moving this drivetrain as far forward, am I not going to run into an issue with the driveshaft getting close to whacking the belly?

I think Byro and YotaAtieToo suggested mounting everything as far forward as I can. But it seems most people like the pinion flange in line with their lower rear link mounts?

Currently my crank will be right above my front axle.
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I don't think as far forward as possible is what I meant.

Pinion flange at the rear link pivot the front axle just in front of the crank pulley is ideal imo. Plan for a front 2 piece driveshaft most likely.

Maybe easier said than done with that drivetrain as that trans and dual cases wind up long.
 
with the engine trans and tcase bolted together and set inside you will get a clear as mud picture. but it will surprise you how long all that is. but looks good so far . i like it.
 
So, debating on what seats to order. I’m going to make a list of seats I can find today around the 20”-21” mark that are comfortable. Almost every PRP and Corbeau seat I look at are 22”. A couple are 21.5”. PRP has 19” seats but the harness is going to hit me right between the shoulder blades, which is just weird.

This chassis is actually smaller than a Rock Lizard. At the rear most part inside the cab it’s 48” across the shoulders and 44.5” at the floor. Unfortunately I have a twin stick right between the seats, too.

I might have to put on the thinking cap and make something to move the shifters way forward. I don’t know.

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I also need to find input and output flanges for my T-case. Not sure why, but the one YotaAtieToo sent my way won’t clear the seal on the front output and it’s the wrong size for the rear. I believe the rear is a 27 spline.

Not much progress at this point. Just looking for that right seat.

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too bad its welded solid because you could have got the seats and made the side bars bump out just for that width. a;so the base of the seat is much narrower than the actual over width of the seat so you got a little wiggle room there.
the picture i have included kinda show you what i mean. my seat mount is about 1/2 way or so up on the tcase and the top of my seat angles over the tcases
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Kirkey seats are very compact and perfect if you're trying to maximize cab space; way less bulky than suspension seats. Here are their 55 series seats which are what I am looking at for my buggy: 55 Series - Pro Street Drag - Kirkey Racing Seats
They also have a low-back version if you want a separate headrest to maximize visibility: 55V Series - Vintage Class Bucket - Kirkey Racing Seats

Here's their dimensions for the 17" hip model which is the middle size of the 5 sizes they offer:

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Jegs has a very similar version to the 55 series for a little cheaper that I think is still made by Kirkey.
 
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Thomas from Fabn801 said he runs Kirkey, but they look uncomfortable as all hell.

Plan is to order a seat from Summit Racing, and see what it looks like in the vehicle. Their measurements on these seats aren’t the best reference what I’m looking at. A seat in person is always way different than a measurement.

Plus I can gain some room pushing them into the door bar a little.
 
FleshEater said:
So, debating on what seats to order. I’m going to make a list of seats I can find today around the 20”-21” mark that are comfortable. Almost every PRP and Corbeau seat I look at are 22”. A couple are 21.5”. PRP has 19” seats but the harness is going to hit me right between the shoulder blades, which is just weird.
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You don't have to run the belts through those holes, I'm not even sure why they put them in there. Since they're too low for most adults.

FleshEater said:
This chassis is actually smaller than a Rock Lizard. At the rear most part inside the cab it’s 48” across the shoulders and 44.5” at the floor. Unfortunately I have a twin stick right between the seats, too.

I might have to put on the thinking cap and make something to move the shifters way forward. I don’t know.

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I also need to find input and output flanges for my T-case. Not sure why, but the one YotaAtieToo sent my way won’t clear the seal on the front output and it’s the wrong size for the rear. I believe the rear is a 27 spline.

Not much progress at this point. Just looking for that right seat.

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Front output is marlin 30 spline, looks like you need a different seal.

Rear is stock size 27 spline any flange will work, have an extra pinion flange?
 
I will say I thought the same thing about Kirkeys. A buddy of mine had them in his buggy and once I road with him for the weekend I was in love! I'm a small light guy and he had a foam pad made for the seat bottoms. His were really comfortable...so much so that's what I'm using for my build....low back version.
 
You're going to run into similar issues as we did with my chassis. My drivetrain is long and the Toyota t-case is tall. Here are some measurements of my chassis.

At the base of the seats it's 49.5" and at the shoulders it's 53.5". That's measured between the B-post, inside the tube.

I'm 6'4" so I don't really fit in "small" chassis buggies and even some normal chassis. I'm running PRP UTV highback seats. Everyone that has sat or rode in my buggy is amazed at how roomy and comfortable it is inside but it still looks "small" from the outside to most people.

Here is some comments from the guy that built my buggy from another forum about the chassis.

"I wish this could be narrower. The Toyota transfer case is tall and the output flanges is up high. I literally have the sides of the seats within a half inch of touching the case. The bottom of the case sits almost on the floor of the belly and the seats still sit over 10" off the floor. Unfortunately the only way I could have made it narrower would have been to mount the seats 6" higher throwing off the whole proportions of the chassis. In hindsight I probably would have leaned the b-pillars in at the top a few more degrees to give the illusion of the chassis being narrower but I didn't want the drivers head to be unprotected in a rollover."
 
untchabl said:
You're going to run into similar issues as we did with my chassis. My drivetrain is long and the Toyota t-case is tall. Here are some measurements of my chassis.

At the base of the seats it's 49.5" and at the shoulders it's 53.5". That's measured between the B-post, inside the tube.

I'm 6'4" so I don't really fit in "small" chassis buggies and even some normal chassis. I'm running PRP UTV highback seats. Everyone that has sat or rode in my buggy is amazed at how roomy and comfortable it is inside but it still looks "small" from the outside to most people.

Here is some comments from the guy that built my buggy from another forum about the chassis.

"I wish this could be narrower. The Toyota transfer case is tall and the output flanges is up high. I literally have the sides of the seats within a half inch of touching the case. The bottom of the case sits almost on the floor of the belly and the seats still sit over 10" off the floor. Unfortunately the only way I could have made it narrower would have been to mount the seats 6" higher throwing off the whole proportions of the chassis. In hindsight I probably would have leaned the b-pillars in at the top a few more degrees to give the illusion of the chassis being narrower but I didn't want the drivers head to be unprotected in a rollover."
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You’re 5.5” wider in the shoulders and 4” wider at the bottom.

I figured out how to better measure tonight. I sat the level on the rock slider and used it to find the very end of the door tube. A 21.5” wide seat will probably work. It should give me a couple inches for my twin stick. Fortunately my case is clocked 10 degrees and damn near sits level with the top of the rock slider. Now, that’s with the mounts mounted to the belly pan on welded tabs, but it’s not terrible height wise.

I also made up my dash bar to the front supports tonight. Love the JD2 notcher. Where those support bars meet the front tube, I plan on adding support under them.

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How long is the belly of your chassis front to back? Any side pics with the transmission and t-cases in it?
 
YotaAtieToo said:
You don't have to run the belts through those holes, I'm not even sure why they put them in there. Since they're too low for most adults.



Front output is marlin 30 spline, looks like you need a different seal.

Rear is stock size 27 spline any flange will work, have an extra pinion flange?
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That’s why I said tack the chassis together because it’s a major pita to modify once fully welded together.

If you wheel in cold climate areas you’ll need to get a bit wider seat to accommodate the thickness of clothes like coveralls and that.
 
Landslide said:
That’s why I said tack the chassis together because it’s a major pita to modify once fully welded together.

If you wheel in cold climate areas you’ll need to get a bit wider seat to accommodate the thickness of clothes like coveralls and that.
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No cold climate wheeling so that’s a non issue.

Not much can be done with this chassis whether tacked or fully welded.
 
Wasted a bunch of time and some tubing tonight. Gave up on that and got the roof gussets done.

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Also snagged the side pics untchabl My shop is tiny, so hard to photograph.

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FleshEater said:
Wasted a bunch of time and some tubing tonight. Gave up on that and got the roof gussets done.

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Also snagged the side pics untchabl My shop is tiny, so hard to photograph.

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I’d say the trans needs to come back around 6” or better
 
Okay, so I was just putting around, having a beer, smoking a cigar looking over this thing. Finally went out to the storage shed and got a pinion flange.

I moved the drivetrain back, tilted it to probably 5 degrees at the engine, centered it, and then moved the front and rear axles back.

This is really good in my opinion. Shock mounting might get tricky, but if I have to I’ll cut tubes or build around them. Figure it out when I get there.

105” wheelbase, front axle is about 1” in front of where the crank “should” land. Ordering seats soon and waiting in Landslide for his better than plastic tool. :flipoff2:

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I found some 1.6l 8V pistons for the lower 1.6l block I rebuilt last year. Going to swap the 16V’s out and probably end up running the 1.6l with the Samurai head on it AFTER I find a bearing girdle for the 1.6l.

Everyone has me paranoid for power, and everything is sitting on the shelf. So might as well upgrade from the 1.3l.
 
Slow going. I drove out almost to Altoona, PA this weekend and got a set of 79-85 axles from a kid as well as another rear housing. Really regret cutting up my last set of factory axles, thinking chromoly aftermarket would be the better route. :homer: Lesson learned!

Anyways, made this tool for pressing the bearings out of the rusty old housing. She’s rough as hell, but worked like a charm.

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Then since I didn’t have much else to so I started thinking about brakes. I was going to get all fancy and hip and get one of those new iBoosters. Then I said fawk spending that money, I have a pile of parts laying around here. :flipoff2:

So I crawled through the storage shed and snagged a factory clutch/brake assembly from a Tracker. Then went down and checked out the master cylinder/booster. Factory Aisin and it worked when it was running. So I robbed that and the gas pedal from it.

Quick clamp mock up says they’ll package nicely in this. I have room to move them down, in, out, lots of options. :smokin:

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Somehow I have missed all these updates. I’ve only seen what you’ve texted me, I was hoping you were making more progress.
 
Byro said:
Somehow I have missed all these updates. I’ve only seen what you’ve texted me, I was hoping you were making more progress.
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I’m trying to keep moving forward. Kind of just waiting on the seats before I secure the drivetrain in place. After that I can tube out the floor/dash, and then hopefully get some wheels and tires and start on my links.
 
I wasted so much time this weekend making bad decisions with my fabricating.

Ended up making my oil pan skid way too big, and tried making a motor mount system that got in the way of the driveshaft. Just a lot of wasted time.

Anyways, stealing Zuk Powered Lizard buggy’s idea on his motor mounts. I want this 100% bolt on. Just so when/if I upgrade my engine I’m not hacking tons of tubing out.

This is going to have a Y shape and tie into the oil pan skid and bolt on. I wasn’t planning on bolting to the oil skid with a bushing, hoping it won’t send a ton of vibrations through the buggy. Thoughts?

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I wouldn't even think of making skid plates until it was a roller

You need to have the bushings way closer to the engine also, imo. I'd think about a tube that goes from left to right under the oil pan, then have mounts off of that. Or something coming from the skid in a similar shape to a frame rail.
 
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