Used to lurk on the old board, posting occasionally, then didn't go on for quite a bit of time (forget how long). Started shopping for an old Samurai a while back, and started poking around the old board again...couldn't figure out why all the Zuk threads were older with no pics... Ran into Mike from the old board (forget his handle, but he's got a Cummins swapped former-USAF Chevy 6-pack, and he gave me the update. So here we are.
Anyway. Down here in SE Tennessee where we live, the wife and I are both rope rescue technicians and volunteer with our local rescue team. We also help out (as needed) with our friend who teaches mountain rope rescue classes. Because of this, my wife has talked in the past about us getting a little side by side with decent cargo space, something we can use to haul ourselves and some gear a couple miles back into the woods to some of our training areas. As it stands, we typically hitch a ride with other ropers. Looked at pricing on SXS, even used ones, and really didn't want to drop a bunch of cash on something that's going to sit most of the year. Then it occurred to me that the old Sami's are only slightly larger than most SXS, so a bit of searching led me to buy an 88 tintop in pretty decent shape, priced very reasonably (it's amazing how pricing on these is all over the map). Dumbass I am, I grabbed the tintop (from Utah) and ended up spending twice as much getting it to TN as I did buying it. Anyways.
So, this it intended to become a build thread. Current state: only thing done to it is some weird, 'clamp on' SPOA perches. No welds, the perches and springs are all held onto the axle by the u-bolts. Everything else appears to be bone stock. Once I charged the battery, she cranks right up. Runs a bit rough though, quite a bit of shaking under the hood at idle, my guess is she's only running on 2-3 cylinders. All the plugs are black as night, and once the motor starts warming up, cylinders 1 and 2 are quite a bit cooler than 3 and 4 according to the squirt-water-on-the-exhaust-header test - once it's getting warm, even at idle any water squirted on should steam off instantly (or damn near). 3 and 4 did this, but 1 and 2 slowly evaporated the water off over a few seconds, probably from conducted heat more than anything. I swapped a couple of the plugs around, and tightened down the carb spacers (bottom one of 2 on the manifold was loose) and the old girl was idling much smoother, though cylinder 2 was still running cooler. Waiting for the current rain storm to pass so I can change plugs, cables, and oil.
Plans:
new weld on SPOA perches
YJ leaf swap, 5-leaf all around
new header and exhaust
Holley Sniper EFI adapted to the 1.3
AMR500 supercharger in a draw-through configuration
new (better) tires, planning to go up to 33s once I get the suspension sorted and find proper rims
brake upgrade - Mazda 929 master cylinder, and rear disc conversion (kit from a guy in NZ uses Mitsu Galant calipers, allowing you to keep the parking brake)
longer term:
VW TDI swap (and all that comes with it - clutch, etc)
Bushwacker fenders
Raptor liner paint job exterior, color matched interior paint
roll bar/cage
Anyway. Down here in SE Tennessee where we live, the wife and I are both rope rescue technicians and volunteer with our local rescue team. We also help out (as needed) with our friend who teaches mountain rope rescue classes. Because of this, my wife has talked in the past about us getting a little side by side with decent cargo space, something we can use to haul ourselves and some gear a couple miles back into the woods to some of our training areas. As it stands, we typically hitch a ride with other ropers. Looked at pricing on SXS, even used ones, and really didn't want to drop a bunch of cash on something that's going to sit most of the year. Then it occurred to me that the old Sami's are only slightly larger than most SXS, so a bit of searching led me to buy an 88 tintop in pretty decent shape, priced very reasonably (it's amazing how pricing on these is all over the map). Dumbass I am, I grabbed the tintop (from Utah) and ended up spending twice as much getting it to TN as I did buying it. Anyways.
So, this it intended to become a build thread. Current state: only thing done to it is some weird, 'clamp on' SPOA perches. No welds, the perches and springs are all held onto the axle by the u-bolts. Everything else appears to be bone stock. Once I charged the battery, she cranks right up. Runs a bit rough though, quite a bit of shaking under the hood at idle, my guess is she's only running on 2-3 cylinders. All the plugs are black as night, and once the motor starts warming up, cylinders 1 and 2 are quite a bit cooler than 3 and 4 according to the squirt-water-on-the-exhaust-header test - once it's getting warm, even at idle any water squirted on should steam off instantly (or damn near). 3 and 4 did this, but 1 and 2 slowly evaporated the water off over a few seconds, probably from conducted heat more than anything. I swapped a couple of the plugs around, and tightened down the carb spacers (bottom one of 2 on the manifold was loose) and the old girl was idling much smoother, though cylinder 2 was still running cooler. Waiting for the current rain storm to pass so I can change plugs, cables, and oil.
Plans:
new weld on SPOA perches
YJ leaf swap, 5-leaf all around
new header and exhaust
Holley Sniper EFI adapted to the 1.3
AMR500 supercharger in a draw-through configuration
new (better) tires, planning to go up to 33s once I get the suspension sorted and find proper rims
brake upgrade - Mazda 929 master cylinder, and rear disc conversion (kit from a guy in NZ uses Mitsu Galant calipers, allowing you to keep the parking brake)
longer term:
VW TDI swap (and all that comes with it - clutch, etc)
Bushwacker fenders
Raptor liner paint job exterior, color matched interior paint
roll bar/cage
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