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Where have all the blank slates gone?

JR4X

wheeler
race
Joined
May 20, 2020
Member Number
445
Messages
3,409
Loc
Farmington NM
I used to have a car finding hack that was fool proof. Zuk’s were great motor home pushers because they were light, compact, cheap and got fuel mileage. Anytime I wanted to find a nice one I’d go on Craigslist and look in every snowbird destination south or north. Used to be able to look in Orlando Phoenix Austin DFW in the south. Casper Boise Seattle Bozeman in the north. And find the cleanest of the clean (because motor homers take impeccable care of their stuff) specimens of the Zuk family usually with the towbar still on it.

I’m in Florida now with 4 days to get back to Colorado and checked every page I could find. Nothing good enough to drive home popped up. So I looked everywhere else since I was stumped and same thing, no clean Zuk’s I’d like to drive home instead of flying. This thread is inspired by crispins
 
I think people got away from CL and started using FB marketplace, ... but that sucks now since it's 95% commercial sales.

You can use SearchTempest: Search all of Craigslist nationwide & more , I believe it does eBay as well.

My go-to now is the CL Mobile app. What I like is that you can put in your search criteria, then just drag the map around to search a new area. Faster than the site above and no other type of sneaky content (eBay) thrown in. No more hitting up 50 CL sites to search for the same thing.
 
There was only so many zuk's made. All the cheap ones got thrashed and scraped or built into crawlers and probably still scraped.

All the nice ones are now posted for $7500 :laughing: and ironic hipster people are starting to buy them.

Have you looked at 2nd gen 2 doors? They're a little bigger, but not much and the 2.0 is pretty awesome.
 
There was only so many zuk's made. All the cheap ones got thrashed and scraped or built into crawlers and probably still scraped.

All the nice ones are now posted for $7500 :laughing: and ironic hipster people are starting to buy them.

Have you looked at 2nd gen 2 doors? They're a little bigger, but not much and the 2.0 is pretty awesome.
I haven’t really but maybe it’s time. Everything I’m finding in good shape are 2wd’s.
 
The 4 door I had/have went pretty good for a zuk, a 2 door would probably actually be quick. Supposedly, you can run 5-6 lbs of boost without any fuel. Mods :smokin:

4 link with track bar, rack and pinion steering, much bigger clutch and hydro slave, bigger inner axles in the front, ect.

It's a bummer they didn't up size some of the other stuff though. The rear axle is damn close to Toyota size, but the shafts neck down to the little 26 spline still :laughing:

Front diff is still aluminum and the ones with drive flanges have some wierd air actuated carrier.

🤷 They're also ugly :laughing:
 
The 4 door I had/have went pretty good for a zuk, a 2 door would probably actually be quick. Supposedly, you can run 5-6 lbs of boost without any fuel. Mods :smokin:

4 link with track bar, rack and pinion steering, much bigger clutch and hydro slave, bigger inner axles in the front, ect.

It's a bummer they didn't up size some of the other stuff though. The rear axle is damn close to Toyota size, but the shafts neck down to the little 26 spline still :laughing:

Front diff is still aluminum and the ones with drive flanges have some wierd air actuated carrier.

🤷 They're also ugly :laughing:
Ex is still rocking our 04 2.5L GV I called the faux wheeler. Classic example of the perfect motor homer. 15K miles on it, most of them towed. Still had the stick on plastic protectors on the inside floor boards, new car smell. Came with the tow bar that I took off and sold. Great car still hauling her ass around towing a tear drop camper.
 
Samurai prices are through the roof right now here in SoCal. Seen one listed at 20k the other week. Most are pretty roached. Even roached ones will be listed around 5k.
 
Ex is still rocking our 04 2.5L GV I called the faux wheeler. Classic example of the perfect motor homer. 15K miles on it, most of them towed. Still had the stick on plastic protectors on the inside floor boards, new car smell. Came with the tow bar that I took off and sold. Great car still hauling her ass around towing a tear drop camper.
I've heard mixed things on the V6.

Seems like a great little compact engine with I believe the same pattern as the 4cyl.
 
They used to be a dime a dozen. Those days are gone!
 
I didn’t find anything I couldn’t live with out. Only Vitara/Trackers I could find were at car dealerships and they were all over $5K.

The one 2.5 V6 I had experience with was great. Disclaimer though. Got it at 15K miles and the original owner had been using mobile1 since it was new and I kept that good full syn thing going. It has over 200K on it now and doesn’t have any rattle to it. But I have heard the ones with the failing timing chain tensioner and they sound like they’re eating themselves.
 
I didn’t find anything I couldn’t live with out. Only Vitara/Trackers I could find were at car dealerships and they were all over $5K.

The one 2.5 V6 I had experience with was great. Disclaimer though. Got it at 15K miles and the original owner had been using mobile1 since it was new and I kept that good full syn thing going. It has over 200K on it now and doesn’t have any rattle to it. But I have heard the ones with the failing timing chain tensioner and they sound like they’re eating themselves.
So basically, they won't run to 300k with zero maintenance like a 1.3/1.6:laughing:
 
I picked up a 2000 GV with 125k on it around a month ago. It was a motorhome toad that also got daily ish driven towards the latter part of the po's ownership. The v6 was in fact eating itself due to the timing chain failure and subsequent guide failures. It had gone so far as to chew through the timing cover in two spots.

I replaced the tensioner and guides and have ran a bunch of oil through it to get the metal flake out. Seems to run well and has decent power. There is an o ring sealing the block to the lower crank cradle that is leaking a bit but it's not worth tearing into. Hoping lucas oil stop leak slows that down.
 
So basically, they won't run to 300k with zero maintenance like a 1.3/1.6:laughing:
I think your giving those little turds WAY to much credit. 1.6’s are some the most head gasket blowingest engines on the road. No 1.3 has ever gone over 200K, I’m going to need evidence otherwise to change my mind. Every 1.3 I’ve ever seen smoked and had low compression from worn rings and cylinder walls.

And don’t get me wrong, I know the V6’s aren’t exactly pillars of reliability.
 
I think your giving those little turds WAY to much credit. 1.6’s are some the most head gasket blowingest engines on the road. No 1.3 has ever gone over 200K, I’m going to need evidence otherwise to change my mind. Every 1.3 I’ve ever seen smoked and had low compression from worn rings and cylinder walls.

And don’t get me wrong, I know the V6’s aren’t exactly pillars of reliability.
I don't know, samurai's ony have a 5 digit odo:laughing: my first 1.3 was treated terrible (got it when I was 16) and only blew bec2i drove into 5' of water at 6k rpm. :laughing:

I replaced it with an 8v and it was treated equally bad, driven on its side, constant Rev limiter, never killed it.

I was just throwing out a number, my experience with zuk 4cyls has been great
 
I don't know, samurai's ony have a 5 digit odo:laughing: my first 1.3 was treated terrible (got it when I was 16) and only blew bec2i drove into 5' of water at 6k rpm. :laughing:

I replaced it with an 8v and it was treated equally bad, driven on its side, constant Rev limiter, never killed it.

I was just throwing out a number, my experience with zuk 4cyls has been great
I think we’ve bickered about this before. The only ones I’ve had good experience with are 16V’s. I’ve had two blown up 16v’s, and two blown up 8V’s a 1.3 and an 1.6. I wouldn’t have another 8V if it were free.
 
I think we’ve bickered about this before. The only ones I’ve had good experience with are 16V’s. I’ve had two blown up 16v’s, and two blown up 8V’s a 1.3 and an 1.6. I wouldn’t have another 8V if it were free.

Yet you still run zuk stuff :flipoff2:

Like I said, I only have had a few. The 8v was a total grandma unit. Came out of super cherry 2wd auto with like 60k miles. Even had the barcode stickers on the valve cover from dealer service. It ran well, I could do donuts on dry pavement with 37 reds :laughing:

My current 1.3 leaks a lot of oil, but not all the time:laughing: the 2.0 is just sitting there begging to be dropped in and turbo'd.

The 1.3 would be better for the kid buggy I'd like to build anyway.
 
I love my zuki’s, they are just under powered toys. I’d like to have a 1st gen 2 door kick completely stock to use around the yard. Wouldn’t mind having one being the kids first car either. He might be getting a minitruck though since I’m not finding a zuk.
 
The last few years it seems like everyone has gotten over the sxs thing and are buying up all the good deals

Samurai prices are insane right now
 
I haven’t really but maybe it’s time. Everything I’m finding in good shape are 2wd’s.
GET A 2WD MAN!!!! All the 4x4 parts tcase back bolt right in! Best samurai I had was a 92 EFI 2wd from an old guy in Arizona with 90k miles and MINT CONDITION STOCK SEATS!! For 1800 all stock. That thing we the best and I regret having to sell it.
 
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This guy right here
 

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Seeing this thread is giving me doubts about driving the one I just found in the snow. I freaking love winter wheeling in deep snow, but the salt is going to kill this rust free example, no matter how much undercoating I do. Fuck Pennsylvania.
 
Seeing this thread is giving me doubts about driving the one I just found in the snow. I freaking love winter wheeling in deep snow, but the salt is going to kill this rust free example, no matter how much undercoating I do. Fuck Pennsylvania.
Go ahead and use it up. You’ll at least wheel it. If you don’t someone else might DD it and finish it off rusting it out with a life on pavement
 
I LOVE my 2nd gens. I beat the snot out of a '02 4 door Vitara with nothing more than a tire change to 225/75R15 BFG ATs, and I was astounded at the places that thing would go. It also ate up all the juvenile make believe its a Trophy Truck high speed blasts through the desert I could throw at it, and that motor & trans is now living in the Samurai.

I now run a '04 XL-7 as the daily, an '00 GV as the backuo, and have an '02 GV Limited lined up as the next project. Was just going to swap in a 5 speed and spacer lift, but now I'm seriously considering a SAS and V8 swap too, and making a damn fun street cruiser/mild wheeler out of it. But then, I'm also pretty sure I can shove a BBC in it, and the extra wheelbase of the XL-7 could be handy for the drivetrain length of that stupidity.....

Few guys here locally are running 4-6" lifts and 33s on them, though CVs become an issue at that point. One guy "solved" that by chopping the frame off at the firewall, then moving it down 4", and going to coilovers front and rear. WAY more work than I'd want to put in a IFS set up, but seems to work pretty well for him. Apparently he's working on adding a turbo now.
 
I LOVE my 2nd gens. I beat the snot out of a '02 4 door Vitara with nothing more than a tire change to 225/75R15 BFG ATs, and I was astounded at the places that thing would go. It also ate up all the juvenile make believe its a Trophy Truck high speed blasts through the desert I could throw at it, and that motor & trans is now living in the Samurai.

I now run a '04 XL-7 as the daily, an '00 GV as the backuo, and have an '02 GV Limited lined up as the next project. Was just going to swap in a 5 speed and spacer lift, but now I'm seriously considering a SAS and V8 swap too, and making a damn fun street cruiser/mild wheeler out of it. But then, I'm also pretty sure I can shove a BBC in it, and the extra wheelbase of the XL-7 could be handy for the drivetrain length of that stupidity.....

Few guys here locally are running 4-6" lifts and 33s on them, though CVs become an issue at that point. One guy "solved" that by chopping the frame off at the firewall, then moving it down 4", and going to coilovers front and rear. WAY more work than I'd want to put in a IFS set up, but seems to work pretty well for him. Apparently he's working on adding a turbo now.

I've got a '01 on 33's running a 3" suspension lift and (knock on wood) so far I've had 0 issues with my CV's. It's a street/trail rig, but I don't beat on it super hard either.
 
I trailered mine home for $450. :laughing:

This was like ten years ago. Guy had one for sale locally here, said it was totally rebuilt. Everything was all painted, looked new. Was asking $10,000. Fired it up, and completely smoked out the parking lot from the exhaust.
 
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