The Possum Catcher

[DirtRoads]

Another Hawk Pride trip. This one with another Samurai. 35’s, toys, yjs SOA, 1.6 16v, 4.6 case, 5.29 gears. It does fine.

There was also a TJ Rubicon on 35’s. Pretty cool rig, the 1st gear in that trans is super low and I’m jealous of that. He broke a front lower link bracket off of his front axle later that day. Driving style was a factor.

He has since painted it

Coming up Fatty’s Crack at Hawk Pride. It’s an awesome short trail with some huge slabs, ledges, and v notches. There aren’t many in this park. My clutch got hot enough to quit grabbing coming up this one. That prompted a precautionary clutch change later, turns out the old one was fine. Just need gears

 

[DirtRoads]

Getting into October, we took a trip out to East TN to run some of the trails near Royal Blue and Pickett north of Knoxville. Our plan was to meet up Friday Night, do an over lander/UA ride as far as we could make it on Saturday and camp out in the WMA that night. I brought my Samurai, that green Samurai from the previous post was there, a third gen 4Runner on 33’s, and the JK on 40’s.

It rained it’s ass off.

We heard of this elk viewing tower on Royal Blue where it is all but guaranteed to see an elk. I personally have never seen one in the wild so I was amped. We arrived and hiked the 1.5 miles in. I just KNOW they were there

That fog was so thick that a person could be lost for days if they wandered out into it. Freaky stuff.

 

[DirtRoads]

We made our way around to the Nemo tunnel outside of Petros TN. I have been before during the TN Gambler 500, iI’d recommend checking it out before the railroad decides it is an accessible liability.

 

[DirtRoads]

On Saturday I pushed a Jeep.

Now I’m not completely sure what happened. I do know that it was frustrating being the guy to hold the entire group up while I work on my junk all day. Shortly after pulling out that morning, I began to have a slightly rough running condition. Earlier I mentioned that my engine has been disagreeable since the axle swap, this might have been the worst one yet.

It started as an intermittent loss of 1cyl. That has happened before and it usually sorts itself out. Water in the distributor, a fouled spark plug or something simple like that are usually the culprits. As time progressed, the intermittent loss became a fairly consistent loss. Uh oh. I threw a set of new plugs in. The old ones were dirty but no change. My buddy’s had a spare set of plug wires, no change. I cleaned the distributor out with brake cleaner and some sand paper. Maybe better, but not for long. It was getting frustrating.

Eventually the permanent loss of 1cyl became a permanent loss of 1 and an intermittent loss of another. Steep hills were impossible to climb, allowing the engine to idle was impossible. And then silence. She died and would not come back to life. Dead dead. Fawk.

So plan B. Abandon it at some church in the hills of East Tn and come back with the trailer. Drag home and troubleshoot. Fawk.





Pictures are unavailable but here is the run down. New cap and rotor - no change. New plugs and wires - no change. New fuel pump - no change. Timing verified - but hold up. In the course of verifying timing and spark, I notice something. My distributor is buzzing. Key on, engine off, my distributor is arcing internally. I connect a spark plug on the #1 wire and observe. I get about 2 good sparks, 2 yellow sparks, and then no more sparks. ..ok?

I have a 97 engine with the igniter and coil built into the distributor. I opened it up and all I could see is my brand new cap and rotor are fairly worn for an engine that hasn’t yet ran with them installed. So I order an eBay distributor and cross my fingers.

Upon arrival and installation, I attempt a start. No change. W. T. F. Troubleshoot some more and somehow land on thinking I have a problem with the fuel pickup. I have fuel pressure on the gauge, but when I crack the line, I don’t get hardly any flow. So the pickup is sucking air, right? My crappy summit racing fuel cell clearly can’t handle the hardcore off road application, right?





WRONG. The mothfuckle had no fuel in it. None. ZIp. Add fuel and it starts RIGHT TF up and runs perfectly. I have no clue where the fuel went, I have no clue if my new distributor actually fixed my problem, and I have no clue why I actually get paid by my company to fix things. But here we are. Unsure as to weather I had a bad distributor that had some funky wiring short or if I had a bad load of fuel and just coincidentally burned it all up and fixed my own problem. I am humbled and a little bit salty

 

[DirtRoads]

Got a couple trips to the Ozarks in this summer also in the lower maintenance rigs:

 

[DirtRoads]

Kachow.

 

[DirtRoads]

I need more gearing and front bump stops, and the engine is still a little whack. But this thing flat works.

Took a day trip to (formerly) Superlift in hot springs and wow what a change. I have always been very nervous about that park with my former ‘build’ because stability was so bad and I had to work it so hard to get up most obstacles. The difference is night and day, most importantly with the stability.

I was able to run all sorts of different, harder lines and never got into any sketchy places that caused the suspension to get all weird and “unloady”. Axle wrap was completely a nonissue on the huge long slab climbs that are very common out there.


Hopefully my codog got some good pics of actual wheeling

 

[DirtRoads]

Kapow

 

[Brecklin]

Like a fat guy blowing all the buttons off his shirt lol

 

[DirtRoads]

We had this crazy record snowfall this week, the most accumulation since about 1940. I'm quite sure this is the only time I will get to do this level of snow wheeling from my house 🤣

While tearing up this stadium parking lot, we ran into this hipster with a camera who wanted to take some action shots. At first I thought he might dime us out to the 5-0, but he pulled through.

My engine is finally starting to piss me off enough to throw some real money at it. It runs great when it is warm but cold starts are now nearly impossible and the oil consumption is significant. The wiring is an accident waiting to happen. When I threw this engine in one weekend 10 years ago and hitting the trail, I wasn't really thinking about troubleshooting it 10 years later . Sending a spare harness to Trail Tough to get cleaned up and replace my cobbled together garbage. It should be coming back with a set of rings and bearings. Going to send a spare head off for a refresh while I'm waiting. Going with a general backyard scotchbrite refresh to get it back to spec(ish)

 

[FleshEater]

This thing is freaking awesome.

Another build to read through! Thanks for sharing!

 

[DirtRoads]

This thing is freaking awesome.

Another build to read through! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! It's far from perfect, but it's getting better most of the time.

 

[crazybluerider]

Rad to see my old engine still kicking. I pulled that engine out of a rolled over 99 sidekick in 2001 with around 10k miles on it. I then put it in my otherwise completely stock 87 samurai that had experienced a catastrophic failure of the 1.3l. Over the next ten years that rig evolved from stock with 31's to full tubed and linked buggy with 105" wheelbase and 40's. Pretty cool to see the engine following a second rig through about the same process. She's had a tough life but probably still has fairly low miles

 

[FleshEater]

You guys are giving me hope for my 170k 1.6l.

 

[DirtRoads]

Rad to see my old engine still kicking. I pulled that engine out of a rolled over 99 sidekick in 2001 with around 10k miles on it. I then put it in my otherwise completely stock 87 samurai that had experienced a catastrophic failure of the 1.3l. Over the next ten years that rig evolved from stock with 31's to full tubed and linked buggy with 105" wheelbase and 40's. Pretty cool to see the engine following a second rig through about the same process. She's had a tough life but probably still has fairly low miles

Man trust me, I think about that all the time. All things considered, it has been a tank.

This thing has a SOLID TWENTY FUCKING YEARS of hard wheeling on it and I haven't opened it up a single time. Honestly, it runs great when it runs. The secret is to give it a regular healthy dose of rev limiter. Right now it just won't cold start but I'm 95% sure it's just a bad wire at the coolant temp sensor for the ECU. I kept your harness, the one that you said was junk and needed to be swapped, and have just been running it. It is fugly but I have kept talking myself out of fixing it for years, unfortunately it makes the engine almost impossible to troubleshoot correctly when things start acting up. If I had better air filtration, I'm quite sure that it would be in significantly better shape and I could probably just throw a harness at it and be fine.

Long term plan is TBD. I'm going to have a local shop go through the head and put valve stem seals in it. Head gasket, rings, scotch brite, hone, harness clean up and see how she does. All performed in frame. I'm considering a baby supercharger just to get a little more for the highway to hold that 5th gear, but it has plenty of power off road. 3RZ or 2.3 aerio with toy trans and duals is sort of on the table eventually, but that's more work than I want to do for a few years.

Not really scared to throw some money at this one because I can always pull it out and sell it as a running swap to the next guy .

I'll get some pics up of the dumpster fire install at some point. It's pretty embarrassing but I'm not here to showcase a six figure tube car build

 

[DirtRoads]

Air filtration:


Got one of these coming. The stock aluminum 1.6 16v intake tube is 2.75" OD. I'll get some silicone boots or something to adapt it to the 3" of this filter housing that I plan to mount on the driver's side fender well. There is even a slick Donaldson circular bracket/clamp to secure the whole unit.

Huge increase in filtration, I'm assuming durable AF, easy to mount, $130 with a set of filters inside. Stole the idea from Dave Chapelle.

 

[crazybluerider]

You guys are giving me hope for my 170k 1.6l.

The 16v engines really are strong. You could measure the rev limiter time this engine has seen in hours. They seem to hold up pretty damn well as long as you keep the oil fresh and clean the carbon off the pistons a few times a trip

I'll get some pics up of the dumpster fire install at some point. It's pretty embarrassing but I'm not here to showcase a six figure tube car build

It's only mid 5's.

JHF Goatbuilt Trail Buggy

I've been meaning to start a thread for this for sometime. Due to several things including an unexpected move of the business I manage, requiring a thrash to finish my home shop since I had been using a corner of the shop at work, this build has taken significantly longer than I had originally...

irate4x4.com

Really though, it makes me happy to know that thing is still running. The Sami was my first rig and sometimes I regret tearing it apart. I feel better about it know that parts of it are still making people smile.

 

[FleshEater]

The 16v engines really are strong. You could measure the rev limiter time this engine has seen in hours. They seem to hold up pretty damn well as long as you keep the oil fresh and clean the carbon off the pistons a few times a trip



It's only mid 5's.

https://irate4x4.com/general-4x4/219...lt-trail-buggy

Really though, it makes me happy to know that thing is still running. The Sami was my first rig and sometimes I regret tearing it apart. I feel better about it know that parts of it are still making people smile.

What about the 8V?

With that air filter above; it gives great filtration, but does it restrict more air or let more in? It’s only a 1/4” difference, but if the filter is more restrictive wouldn’t that rob a little power from these gutless motors?

 

[DirtRoads]

What about the 8V?

With that air filter above; it gives great filtration, but does it restrict more air or let more in? It’s only a 1/4” difference, but if the filter is more restrictive wouldn’t that rob a little power from these gutless motors?

I have a buddy who is running an 8v in a Tracker and it seems to work pretty well. They're both fairly gutless but you hate to throw too much power into the Suzuki trans and tcase, or else you'll end up like crazybluerider and falling down a 4.3/d300 swap rabbit hole IIRC. I'd probably go ahead and spring for a 16v if I were doing the swap, it's essentially the same amount of work.

I'm 100% sure that the air filter I'm going to use is more restrictive, but at the end of the day that's just what you are gong to have with more filtration. If I'm reading the donaldson catalogue right, you can actually put different elements inside to change the CFM rating of the unit, so you could step it up or down in restriction. The junk I'm running is essentially as good of a filter as an old ratty busch light t-shirt. If I were to get into a mild supercharger setup, the restriction won't matter as much. If I go the bigger engine route, it won't matter too much either.

End of the day, filtration is pretty important when the engine sees primarily off road miles so it's just part of it.

 

[FleshEater]

I have a buddy who is running an 8v in a Tracker and it seems to work pretty well. They're both fairly gutless but you hate to throw too much power into the Suzuki trans and tcase, or else you'll end up like crazybluerider and falling down a 4.3/d300 swap rabbit hole IIRC. I'd probably go ahead and spring for a 16v if I were doing the swap, it's essentially the same amount of work.

I'm 100% sure that the air filter I'm going to use is more restrictive, but at the end of the day that's just what you are gong to have with more filtration. If I'm reading the donaldson catalogue right, you can actually put different elements inside to change the CFM rating of the unit, so you could step it up or down in restriction. The junk I'm running is essentially as good of a filter as an old ratty busch light t-shirt. If I were to get into a mild supercharger setup, the restriction won't matter as much. If I go the bigger engine route, it won't matter too much either.

End of the day, filtration is pretty important when the engine sees primarily off road miles so it's just part of it.

I’ll be watching to see how you mount this. I like the idea of being able to switch CFM’s. Especially if it’s a quick, easy swap, which it looks fast and simple to crack open and maintenance it.

 

[DirtRoads]

I’ll be watching to see how you mount this. I like the idea of being able to switch CFM’s. Especially if it’s a quick, easy swap, which it looks fast and simple to crack open and maintenance it.

looks simple enough. I got one of these, we’ll see how sturdy it is.

 

[FleshEater]

looks simple enough. I got one of these, we’ll see how sturdy it is.

I guess I was more interested in seeing how you get it to the aluminum part of the intake. But I forgot you have a 16v. Are those cylindrical? The 8v being oval might make this trickier to convert, but is definitely a much needed upgrade over the stock air box.

 

[DirtRoads]

I guess I was more interested in seeing how you get it to the aluminum part of the intake. But I forgot you have a 16v. Are those cylindrical? The 8v being oval might make this trickier to convert, but is definitely a much needed upgrade over the stock air box.

Oh so you're saying the intake tubing for an 8v is more oval shaped vs being circular? The 16v intake pipe is a circular aluminum tube that measures 2.75" OD and 2.25 ID. So for me, it will be nothing to get some summit silicone boots to adapt it over to the new 3" Donaldson junt.

 

[DirtRoads]

Creeping along. No shame in the game with the before pictures, surprised this thing never caught fire


This trail tough harness is awesome. It has enlightened me to the fact that there are many sensors and gadgets that I do not have . Various parts are in transit etc. MAP sensor was not installed, the VSVs on the front of the intake were not installed (still need to get those), I am wired for a second O2 but never installed one.

EGR has been deleted. I don't want to reinstall it, but there are connectors that need homes. I am unsure what I will do to trick them into submission. I feel like I need to do something to optimize this engine and make it work like it should.

 

[WoodburyZuk]

Cool sami. Cool build. Cool jet ski. I’ll be watching. I have basically the same setup on 36’s and it just plain works. Also I had that exact 550sx. Wish I never sold it!

 

[DirtRoads]

I opened Pandora’s box.



As you can see by my previous pictures, the intake piping was complete garbage. I'm not exactly sure how I landed on that situation, but it sucked. It had been sucking, and I'm sure it is a lot of the reason why I generate blue smoke from a cold start for the first several mi..les.

In the process of installing the Donaldson filter assy P/N G070018 with mounting clamp P/N H002070, I discovered way more heat related carnage than I anticipated. I knew that the bottom of one pipe was pretty warped, but I had no idea that I had taken out both my inlet temp sensor and my MAF sensor.


FAAAAAWK.

So another $150 to Rock Auto for some freshies, and I'll be back to work on Tuesday. Additionally, I have a downstream O2 sensor en-route that the Trail Tough harness is wired for, and a water temp gauge (first time for everything). The harness also comes pre wired for idiot lights for the alternator, oil pressure, and water temp, all of which I would like to tackle at some point.

I am still missing the VSV assy for the front of the intake manifold and the entire EGR system, but one step at a time. I'd prefer to just install a resistor and fool the ECU if anyone has any info on that.

Slow slow progress but I now have a deadline of a wheeling trip on July 23.

 

[DirtRoads]

That July wheeling trip was great

Left Memphis on Thursday morning headed for Chocolocco in eastern Alabama. Hit Oak Mountain and rode mountain bikes on the way.

Wheeled Choc a little Thursday night and all day Friday. My friend in the red TJ had a pretty bad roll coming down a downhill v-notch shitshow of a trail in the afternoon. Hydrolocked the engine, had a misfire, it was 100 degrees. Got it sorted out, and kept wheeling. Finally headed to town for dinner and fuel and he had a wheel come off while rolling around 40mph. Took out the bumper and rear quarter of a brand new 4runner, but luckily no pedestrians or anything. Beer and vodka was consumed when we returned

Woke up Saturday and rode Coldwater MTN on MTB. One of my favorite days riding, the trails there are just excellent. Wheeled Choc a little that night and met these dudes in cab trucks, the rest is captured on video

Small photo dump:

 

[DirtRoads]

Cab trucks doing cab truck shit.

edit: video works on my phone but not my computer?

 

[DirtRoads]

And then hot springs in August. Also hot as balls.

Double rainbow yo!

The top of Bailey's Boulders in an annoying situation.

I had this thing CLIMBING. OUT. of the obstacle. We were done, it was hooking up, we were practically headed home. And my dern engine sputters, loses power, and shuts off. It seems that I have a fuel pickup situation happening at that specific attitude at that specific fuel level or lower. So. Dumb.

I want to move the tank back underneath anyway, so I'll probably end up with a different cell. But this was one annoying situation considering how many times I have been denied on this obstacle, before getting this far.

This is Kyle's Samurai. Kyle is on this board, but I think he is afraid to post

 

[DirtRoads]

In the pipe coming up the steep side of Four Fingers. Obviously video does nothing any justice.