88 Samurai Build

[Brownsxj]

There has been a lot of nice builds popping up on here lately that have inspired me to start my own thread. Be patient as it will take me a little time to get all the photos in order and bring you guys to where it is now.

So I picked up a 88 Samurai in October ‘17 complete without a motor or transmission. I saw it for sale on Craigslist here in NC out towards the coast. It was a clean little thing with 99 percent rust free tub and frame.

So I called up Sam Winget to see if he still had my old Toyota axles from a previous build. I was able to purchase them back and threw them in. I also painted the hood black in memory of my old samurai I had a long time ago.

I was able to get a spot in Justin Horton’s garage to have a good covered workspace.

 

[Creekin]

The rig looks to be in amazing shape.
What motor/drive train is planned?

 

[Brownsxj]

When I met Sam to get the Toyota axles, he happened to have a 92 22re, trans, and tcase in his shop. I wasted a bunch of time and effort with a Grand Vitara setup and ended up calling Sam to see if he would let the Toyota stuff go. Justin Horton was thinking about the samurai idea too, so we made a day trip out of it.

 

[Brownsxj]

In the quest for more Toyota parts we acquired a first gen pickup. Off this we were able to get rims, rollers, brake booster, clutch master, pedal assemblies, motor mounts, and some other random parts.

 

[Brownsxj]

The rims were in really nasty shape. So I scraped, wire wheeled, and threw some paint on them.
Some used 33x12.50 Ko1s were then mounted.

 

[Brownsxj]

Before I worked on the rims and tires, it was time to finally see a motor in this thing.

 

[skyhighZJ]

Looking good. Looks like a pretty solid 1st gen Toyota. What’s the plans for it?

 

[Brownsxj]

The frame had rust everywhere. It was parted out.

 

[Brownsxj]

I picked up a Fj80 steering box from Frankenyoter. I wanted to use this because of the forward facing pitman arm. For the mount I reused the old samurai 1.3l frame side motor mount.

 

[Brownsxj]

I bought a Dr. Z Fab kit bumper for the front. I had to modify some of the pieces to get a good fit on how they all interlock.

 

[Brownsxj]

So I love doing fab work and always wanted an ARB bumper. So I added more metal to the kit bumper.

 

[Brownsxj]

Next was fitting a radiator. Everything is starting to get real tight in there. I ordered a Spal 16” fan from Griffin.

 

[Brownsxj]

So the Friday of Hurricane Florence I ran up to Alro Steel in Greensboro to get some 1.5” DOM. They agreed to stay open long enough for me to get there. Really nice people to work with.

I started with the engine bay so I could finally bolt the front end back on for the last time of the build.

Also bought some Baja SS seats. I have always wanted a set.

 

[StretchASU]

Looks dumb, wont go for shit. Driver is fueled by blue cans.

 

[336wheeler]

Blue Can Mafia

 

[Brownsxj]

Took you long enough Stretch

 

[77GreenMachine]

Doug Lane, who used to get on here a lot, has almost the identical setup. Toyota drive train, even blue. That thing would flat out go on some 33” boggers! I wheeled all over Harlan with him years ago. I don’t think he wheels anymore. This makes me want to reach out to him and try to get him to come out again.

Nice build!

 

[Brownsxj]

Thank you 77GreenMachine. The blue one on here is gone now, mine is the silver one.

Let the cage work get started!

 

[Brownsxj]

A family friend/ co-worker of mine pulled up to the job site a couple of weeks ago with a transmission issue in his wrangler. The AX15 blew a bearing and took some gears out with it, so we had his trans rebuilt. While waiting for it to be finished, we went ahead and put a 2.5” lift (springs, uppers, lowers), wheels, and 33” Ko2s. Why not right?

33s came from #89wrangler. Thanks again.

 

[Brownsxj]

So this brings us to now. Tonight I hope to get more done on the cage.

The pics were from last weekend. New highsteer arms were a must. The last set I screwed up drilling them out for a 5/8” bolt. The framing for the seats should move pretty quick I feel. It will be real nice to bolt in the seats and get a feel for how I will be in it. But also to be able to move into the spreader bars behind the seats as well.

 

[Brownsxj]

I made this little guy just now before coming home for dinner. I had a bunch of work calls flood in walking into the shop (aka no service area)... should have kept walking. But got a solid hour. Should help as I can’t bridge between the seats and keep the tube from clapping the floor.

 

[Brownsxj]

More pictures of the use.

 

[Brownsxj]

Had some help in the shop today. My wife Marie wanted to hang out building a 4x4 Lego’ish thing while I worked on my Suzuki’ish thing.

More done on the subframe and seats mocked up.

 

[Brownsxj]

It has been sitting for a while since I have been traveling a little with work. I haven’t accomplished much since the last update. I pulled the gas tank but tonight I had some time and a spark of motivation. I notched the dash to get around the a-pillers to see where I can put in my spreader bar concealed under for visibility. This is a crucial moment too because this effects wiper motor, hvac, and most important...my dash cluster... I still have hopes I can graft my Toyota one in somehow.

 

[Brownsxj]

A little more cagework tonight. A-piller spreader under the dash with about 4.5” space to help fit a cluster back in there.