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1st Build Thread Attempt - Cheap Suzi

What axle gears are you running?

Tcase should be pretty solid with the correct spine/cradle.

W56 and dual cases are pretty long, and the output is way higher than the samurai tcase, rear driveshaft will suck. Also, you'll have to hack you're whole tunnel out and rebuild. I've heard a lot of guys say the 4.3 swap makes it not feel like a Sami anymore. Not sure if that matters to you.

If I did a 4.3, it would be with an auto and a D300 or similar anyway.

Skip the 1.6 and look for a 2.0. Could either mate it to the Sami trans and not have to mess with the tunnel, or find one mated with a 4wd auto and use the trail tough rear seal deal to keep your current intermediate shaft.
 
YotaAtieToo said:
What axle gears are you running?

Tcase should be pretty solid with the correct spine/cradle.

W56 and dual cases are pretty long, and the output is way higher than the samurai tcase, rear driveshaft will suck. Also, you'll have to hack you're whole tunnel out and rebuild. I've heard a lot of guys say the 4.3 swap makes it not feel like a Sami anymore. Not sure if that matters to you.

If I did a 4.3, it would be with an auto and a D300 or similar anyway.

Skip the 1.6 and look for a 2.0. Could either mate it to the Sami trans and not have to mess with the tunnel, or find one mated with a 4wd auto and use the trail tough rear seal deal to keep your current intermediate shaft.
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I'm running 5.29 gears.

2.0 as in J20? Found in the Grand Vitara? Will those easily mate to the Sami trans?
 
I'd stick with a Suzuki engine. 1.6 or 2.0 sounds like the way.

I put a Toyota 20R, L45 (shorter than w56) trans/Tcase in mine. I did this because I got the samurai free, with out engine/trans/axles, and I had the toy parts. I planned on running duals but I can't see how to make them fit without pushing the rear axle WAY back. My axle is already like 4" back from stock.

These samurais are cool for what they are.
 
I'm still up in the air.

I'd rather stay 4 banger. Is the 1.6 or 2.0 a noticeable increase in power? I mean within reason, it's still a 4 cyl pushing a brick on 35s. :flipoff2:
 
Brecklin said:
I'm still up in the air.

I'd rather stay 4 banger. Is the 1.6 or 2.0 a noticeable increase in power? I mean within reason, it's still a 4 cyl pushing a brick on 35s. :flipoff2:
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1.3 is supposed to be like 62hp stock, I'd bet most are lucky to make 50 hp all these years later. I went from a tired 1.3 to a nice 1.6 8v (80 hp) and it was a huge increase. Much more low end also. Single 4.7 case with the 8v crawled better than the 6.4 and 1.3.

The 2.0 is supposed to be 125 hp and a lot less likely to be tired being ~15 years newer. Still a small all aluminum engine, so wieght gain should be minimal. I'd think it would be night and day from a tired 1.3. Plus they seem to like boost :laughing:
 
I had the 2.3 from an Aerio in my old samurai. about 155hp. if your thinking of doing the 2.0 id look at the 2.3.
 
On the subject of drivetrain length if it wasn't for you using it as a DD a 4.3-SM420-D300 combo would be super short and good on trail but not so much for street.
 
Staying true to my indecisive nature, I drug home an engine donor last night. 1998 16 valve. Runs awesome, nice interior (hoping to throw the front buckets into the Samurai) and the steel wheels are some of the better automotive wheels to build demolition derby wheels out of. I paid $500 and drove it on the trailer. So I guess that decided what engine I'm going with. 😄
20221027_190353.jpg
 
Good call and nice find! I think you'll be more than happy with your decision. The 4.3 as someone stated before completely changes a samurai. Makes the front end so much heavier it starts to feel more like the truck the motor came from and not a samurai.

Looking forward to the progress and swap pics.
 
I think anything "doesn't take abuse well" compared to a 1.3 :laughing: they are pretty much bomb proof. The only reason I pulled mine is because I drove into a river at ~6k rpm :homer:
 
YotaAtieToo said:
I think anything "doesn't take abuse well" compared to a 1.3 :laughing: they are pretty much bomb proof. The only reason I pulled mine is because I drove into a river at ~6k rpm :homer:
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I am actually disappointed in my 1.3.. I'd consider it to be one of the better running, non rebuilt, units that I've seen. I drove into a mud hole and she got deep. Could tell the filter was wet so I shut er down. Dipstick didn't show any water in the oil. Ran it back to camp and parked it until I changed the oil. It sat for a few days before I did change the oil, so plenty of time for the water and oil to separate. There was just enough water in the oil to make a light brown streak for the first couple seconds after pulling the drain plug.

It doesn't have a knock, but definitely has a noise that wasn't there before. I've filled 22R engines with water to the point of needing to pull plugs and they never gave a fuck. :laughing: Get a hint of water in the 1.3 and it says peace out.

I'd expect bad thing to happen with a 6K RPM water vacuum. :eek:
 
Valve stem seals, head cracks, block cracks. They're OK but nothing special, they're just the best option for a Samurai, mostly because they're efi, fit easily and allow the use of the Track/kick auto transmissions. Most of the head cracking issues are down to installation - G16B's need coolant flow out the back of the head. In FWD applications that's easy. In the Track/Kick, the heater core flows at all times which provides the required constant flow. Samurai's have a conventional heater tap and if you hook up a G16B that way you're asking for head cracks. if you compare coolant flow diagrams between the G16A, G13A/ BA and the G16B you can see the cause of the issue readily.
 
YotaAtieToo said:
Thats good

I think 98 was the 1 year only hydraulic clutch trans
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Should be cable. The sidekick sports (1.8) had the hydraulic clutch. But the transmissions themselves are the same between a 1.6 and 1.8, so a bellhousing swap will allow you to use it on the "other" engine.
Edit-It appears they were hydraulic. I had a 98 4 door tracker long enough to convert it to 4wd and flip it. It must have been an auto, otherwise I would have remembered it being a hydraulic clutch.
 
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Wuz-A-zuk said:
From my understanding there were no 1.8L trackers only sidekick sports had them.
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Yep. Only in the Sports.

We had two Sports with the 1.8. One went through three engines, the other the engine was still running fine when we sold it.
 
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