It all started a couple years ago, when my dad was planning a trip out west to go elk hunting. He wanted a SxS like everybody else has, but didn't want to fork out $5k+ for something... I told him he needed a suzuki samurai or tracker to make a wannabe SxS, and it would even be street legal! I think the option of a heater and radio are what really sold him though. Well, there's not much around here which isn't completely rusted out, so that idea wasn't really going so well.
Then one day during lunch break, a coworker who's always cruising CL just randomly says, "Hey, here's a suzuki samurai for sale, you probably want one of those?" And I was like, yes, actually I do! The CL ad pictures weren't great, and you could tell it had been hacked up a bit, but the rust didn't seem too bad. Said engine ran on spray, but wouldn't stay running. For $1000 with a clean title, it didn't seem like a bad deal. Didn't think it would last too long at that price, so forwarded the info to my dad, and gave him a list of things to inspect on it, where to look for rust, etc. (he's not a mechanic) The next morning he checks it out while I'm at work, he was the first one to contact the seller, but allegedly there was much interest in it... This was at a small used car lot. So I get the phone report that this thing is really solid, hardly any rust, complete, yada yada. I tell him if it's really that rust free and solid, buy it! So here it is as bought, the seller even delivered it on a flatbed.
First thing to look at was the non-running issue. There was a new fuel pump installed, but it would only run if you filled the carb with gas. After looking at the fuel pump a bit closer something looked off, so removed it and found that the lifter rod was installed wrong. Put it back together correctly and it fired and was running on the nasty old gas in the tank. Had a slow leak on the return line, but she was a runner! That was when the real fun started. Let me just say, I will never trust my dad's rust judgement again...
Then one day during lunch break, a coworker who's always cruising CL just randomly says, "Hey, here's a suzuki samurai for sale, you probably want one of those?" And I was like, yes, actually I do! The CL ad pictures weren't great, and you could tell it had been hacked up a bit, but the rust didn't seem too bad. Said engine ran on spray, but wouldn't stay running. For $1000 with a clean title, it didn't seem like a bad deal. Didn't think it would last too long at that price, so forwarded the info to my dad, and gave him a list of things to inspect on it, where to look for rust, etc. (he's not a mechanic) The next morning he checks it out while I'm at work, he was the first one to contact the seller, but allegedly there was much interest in it... This was at a small used car lot. So I get the phone report that this thing is really solid, hardly any rust, complete, yada yada. I tell him if it's really that rust free and solid, buy it! So here it is as bought, the seller even delivered it on a flatbed.
First thing to look at was the non-running issue. There was a new fuel pump installed, but it would only run if you filled the carb with gas. After looking at the fuel pump a bit closer something looked off, so removed it and found that the lifter rod was installed wrong. Put it back together correctly and it fired and was running on the nasty old gas in the tank. Had a slow leak on the return line, but she was a runner! That was when the real fun started. Let me just say, I will never trust my dad's rust judgement again...
It's mounting tabs were fouled and wouldn't stay in place. One of the speakers was blown too, so replaced it with a stocker from my '88 f150.