The side piece - "cheap" Samurai beater

[Bebop]

Rear shafts will take a beating before breaking. But when they do, they usually take out the sidegears and carrier with them.

 

[paulevans76]

Couldn't have asked for a nicer day and a basically otherwise empty park than Sunday at the Gulches with CORE. Hooked the sami up to the burb and took my middle son Luke with me for the first wheelin trip with me, just the two of us.



He's been with the whole fam to Uwharrie in the trooper before, but we don't usually get a lot of just us time. I figured it would be a great opportunity since I would be taking it easy regardless since it's a shakedown run.


We had a great mixed group with 4-5 guys that were hitting all the crazy lines and the moderate rigs able to sit back and watch.



Unfortunately the fuel issues reemerged. I must have rust and gunk in the top half of the tank. Every time I fill it past half full, the sputtering hesitating BS comes back. So anytime I had to give it some beans up hill or through an obstacle, if it put a load on the engine, it would try to die. So like the first little gulch section we hit, I almost didn't make it out. Had to back out and clutch dump in low 2nd and use momentum. Needless to say, I had to avoid most obstacles, and had to pray it would make it up even fairly easy hills. It wouldn't stay running very well without staying on the gas, but I tried to keep it running to burn off the fuel so maybe it would improve. Also discovered a small coolant leak at the lower rad hose, so I have some more stuff to buy.

I can't find a good EFI tank new in stock (yet) except out of India, which I'm not interested in waiting on and potentially discovering issues. I may give low range or petroworks a call and ask about actual lead times on one of the extended range tanks that come with a skid as well. It's more than I want to spend, but if it's a viable option, I want to get this done sooner than later.

 

[DirkaDirka875]

Couldn't have asked for a nicer day and a basically otherwise empty park than Sunday at the Gulches with CORE. Hooked the sami up to the burb and took my middle son Luke with me for the first wheelin trip with me, just the two of us.
View attachment 346694

View attachment 346695
He's been with the whole fam to Uwharrie in the trooper before, but we don't usually get a lot of just us time. I figured it would be a great opportunity since I would be taking it easy regardless since it's a shakedown run.
View attachment 346698
View attachment 346697
We had a great mixed group with 4-5 guys that were hitting all the crazy lines and the moderate rigs able to sit back and watch.
View attachment 346696
View attachment 346699

Unfortunately the fuel issues reemerged. I must have rust and gunk in the top half of the tank. Every time I fill it past half full, the sputtering hesitating BS comes back. So anytime I had to give it some beans up hill or through an obstacle, if it put a load on the engine, it would try to die. So like the first little gulch section we hit, I almost didn't make it out. Had to back out and clutch dump in low 2nd and use momentum. Needless to say, I had to avoid most obstacles, and had to pray it would make it up even fairly easy hills. It wouldn't stay running very well without staying on the gas, but I tried to keep it running to burn off the fuel so maybe it would improve. Also discovered a small coolant leak at the lower rad hose, so I have some more stuff to buy.

I can't find a good EFI tank new in stock (yet) except out of India, which I'm not interested in waiting on and potentially discovering issues. I may give low range or petroworks a call and ask about actual lead times on one of the extended range tanks that come with a skid as well. It's more than I want to spend, but if it's a viable option, I want to get this done sooner than later.

I have a gas tank in a chassis im selling if your interested. Not sure of the condition of the insides though but i can look at it.

 

[paulevans76]

I have a gas tank in a chassis im selling if your interested. Not sure of the condition of the insides though but i can look at it.

If it's an EFI and you get a chance to take a look and it's in good shape I'd be down to grab it. I'm about to call Petroworks to see how long the wait is for one of their ext range deals. Low range said at least a month, but I wanted to check with the source directly. Suzuki parts USA is out of stock, but there's a Spectra from rockauto and there's also the clean and recoat epoxy option.

Oh, another fun story from getting it ready. Half of the reason I got one of these is the ability to go topless and doorless. But I could not break the door hinge screws loose with anything. That factory locktight is no joke. Impact driver and even a shake n break wouldn't do it. So I welded nuts to them and got them out easily. Prior to this, I disconnected the door straps on the inside. So it was ready to come off. I figured the paint and rust would have held the door a little bit when I went to yank it off.

But buddy I only grabbed the door handle as I was reaching in the window to grab the inside handle, and that door fell like a guillotine directly on my left foot, donned in nothing but a leather flip flop. Youch! I bet the strap saved my skin, and I'm surprised nothin was broken. If it had hit my toes, pretty sure it would have been a different weekend. Lot of bruising, but ice and elevation kept it from getting too bad.

Of course the other side stuck to the body a bit more and I had to wrestle it off

 

[grapehead]

I've had good results with the clean and recoat process. Eastwood I think is what I'd used.

 

[paulevans76]

Pulled the fuel filter and it definitely had some rusty gas. Checked the plugs today and they looked ok. I got it running and started messing with some vacuum lines and when I pulled the line off the VSV and the throttle opener thingy, it would finally stay running at idle, but if reconnected to the VSV, it would die. Pulled the hose off and test drove it, but it would still sputter and hesistate under load. So I probably need to clean our the vacuum system as well. The fun never ends!

 

[paulevans76]

Replaced all vacuum hoses with new stuff, ran some seafoam through everything and it will run and idle better, but still experiencing issues with the pump and or trash in the tank. It will drive fine downhill, but as soon as the motor is under load, i.e., taking off from a stop, lugging it uphill at all, and it starts starving. I assume it will be a bit of a disaster in the tank when I pull it out. I've got my name on a petroworks tank as soon as they have their shipment of sending units in (in the next week or so). Hopefully I have the tank and have it installed by end of next month.

I cannot wait to have this thing running right and get back be ripping it around the trails.

In the meantime, I have plenty of other stuff to get knocked out:
-Cut door hinges to make the doors easily removable
-Front shafts, locker, knuckle rebuild, wheel bearings
-Rear locker, backing plate, wheel bearings, brakes
-Elec power steering
-Cage & sliders
-Rear bumper
-Front turn signals & rear lights
-Half doors

 

[paulevans76]

Got the door hinges cut for the easy on - easy off doors. So got that off the list.

Next I pulled the LROR cage out of the boxes and started cleaning the tube and painting the front section. Once I started mocking things up, I realized I had 2 side pieces (the A pillar uprights + horizontal to the stock bar) and neither of the A pillar to B pillar braces. I bought it from Jeg's almost a year ago, so nobody can do anything about it. Oh well - I didn't really like the braces design anyway, so I will try and make it more betterer.

The top spreader was at least an inch too wide. Like no way in hell this would fit. So I had to bust out the portaband table and make adjustments:




Dropped the windshield to get at the dash bar welds more better.





So I'll next do the rear section, and then get some triangulating braces in, cut the handles for size and buzz those in, and then touch all the paint back up. Going with a metallic silver with custom runs and heavy/light spots.

Anyway, this was a bigass pain and I am sore in new and exciting places after contorting to get to all the welds, but it's my first cage project, so I'm diggin' it.

RCVs showed up so that's on the to-do. I'm going to touch base with Petroworks and see when they expect the ext range tanks to ship.

In the meantime, I have plenty of other stuff to get knocked out:
-Cut door hinges to make the doors easily removable
-Cage & sliders in process
-Front shafts, locker, knuckle rebuild, wheel bearings
-Rear locker, backing plate, wheel bearings, brakes
-Petroworks fuel tank
-Elec power steering
-Rear bumper
-Front turn signals & rear lights
-Half doors

 

[paulevans76]

Got the back half of the cage done. It's straight enough if you aren't looking at it straight on. Good enough for government work.





I'm gonna rig in some triangulation this weekend.

Petroworks tank should be coming my way very soon, pumped about that. RCVs & spartan locked 3rd are waiting on me.

 

[paulevans76]

Tank showed up. I got the old one out without catching my neighborhood on fire, thankfully. Pretty cool that the EFI sami tank doesn't have a drain plug. So I had to dump the top half out of the fill while it was still in the rig. It came out mostly clear. This was what was in it after I got the tank completely out and dumped it:



Yeah. So I thought I would have this job whipped in a day, but the wiring didn't really match up to what is already there for the stock EFI pump. It came with no instructions and the ones online show an older version of the tank. I also believe these are more made for folks swapping from carb to EFI motor rather than a stock EFI rig replacement. The hose from the pump out to the fuel filter isn't going to work either, so I'll be chatting with them on the phone later to see if my ideas make sense or if they have the right recipe.

Didn't get much else done, as I got honey-do'ed for most of the weekend.

 

[paulevans76]

Since I am a genius with meticulous mechanicking skillz, I was able to break the barb off a plastic fitting for the vent line in the tank. I couldn't find anything that would work in stock at lowes or the parts store, and I didn't want to unstrap the tank from the mount and pull the pump so I could get in there with a drill and tap to make something work. So, I'm waiting on a few different options via Amazon to show up tomorrow.

In the meantime I got my spare axle torn down and the spartan locked 3rd installed. RCVs are next, followed by a freshening of seals, bearings, and whatnot from the knuckle balls out.


Hopefully get both the axle and tank done and installed by the end of the weekend.

 

[Pennsylvaniaboy]

Nice work so far! that gas looks mighty gross. The new tank is certainly a wise call.

 

[Bebop]

I like the progress and your attitude, keep sharing

 

[paulevans76]

I was able to the the right barb for it and get the tank installed. Scoots around much better. I'll probably go through some filters as the lines were probably a bit gunky, but it's way better than it was.

Also got the RCVs in, but haven't put the rest of the knuckles and such back on. Quarter end reporting where I work, so I've been buried for the past week.

Hopefully I'll be able to burn in some cage bracing and whatnot and get it painted and put the top back on. The rain isn't helping with my interior patina.

I'll get some photos added here pretty soon when I get something actually totally done

 

[Bebop]

Make sure to check that the RCV bells don't rub inside the knuckle balls. I had to clearance mine since they were rubbing.

 

[paulevans76]

Got a couple triangles booger'd in added to the cage. Was going to add a harness bar but I will wait until I have the seats I'm going to end up using so I don't end up having to move anything. I got everything painted but didn't remember to take photos, probably because the heat had my brain near about boiled.

You can see the new tank in the pic below as well


Put the top back on and the rear panel is toight against the cage about a 1/3 of the way down. Hopefully it will stretch to fit to make zipping that panel easier.



I'll be working on the front axle in the garage a little more this week. In the meantime I'm setting new downhill landspeed records. Up to 73 mph yesterday! Of course any uphill grade or hell even flat grade over a certain speed and it starts dropping. Even though it's light it's still asking too much of 67hp to push a brick through the air that quick.

 

[Bebop]

So good !


I know, big sidetrack but the current owner of my old samurai sent me a pic of it from last weekend.

 

[paulevans76]

So good !


I know, big sidetrack but the current owner of my old samurai sent me a pic of it from last weekend.

View attachment 352868

Pimpin! Any sidetracks are A-OK in here. Otherwise it will be mediocre progress pics every few weeks type boring.

I gotta figure out rear bumper and rocker stuff, may just put some angle on the body, may get fancy with some poop pipe. Also I was eyeballin' a LED strip for the rear brake lights and blinkers and whatnot whenever I pull the stock bumper off.

 

[Bebop]

Look at mine. No bumper. Never missed it.

Mine was never driven on the road so it had no lights, but I really like the old school round trailer lights in the trail gate look:

 

[paulevans76]

I can dig it. I think I'm going to try keeping the spare on the tailgate for now. So what I'm hunting for is a cheapo race style 5 or 6 section light bar (red/amber/white/amber/red or some such) and see if I can slip that between the tailgate and whatever I end up with as a bumper.

 

[Bebop]

That would look cool.

 

[paulevans76]

No major updates lately - I did however drive it about 25 miles into town for an appt today. Hit the highway for about 10 mins doing 65+ and while it did ok, I'm just gonna say it's a little unnerving in highway traffic to involuntarily begin to draft a passing box truck.

Spindle nut socket showed up in the mail, so I can starting putting things back together on the spare axle with the RCVs and spartan.

Other stuff - I bought into the hype of the electric power steering conversion that a lot of samurai dudes seem to be doing. Got a nissan versa column that should work fine but haven't installed yet. I have the voltage for it and I like the idea that it's not going to need a PS pump to leach power off the motor, but I do worry that I'd to eventually break my steering box. I have a spare box, but it doesn't strike me as an enjoyable trailside fix. I think the electric setup would be fine for something I'm not going to beat on, and I don't plan to completely destroy this thing, but I don't want to worry about it. I really wish I could find an electric ram with enough travel, speed, and strength to get the best of both worlds - no pump needed and no box, but to my knowledge I don't think anything like that exists.

 

[drkelly]

No major updates lately - I did however drive it about 25 miles into town for an appt today. Hit the highway for about 10 mins doing 65+ and while it did ok, I'm just gonna say it's a little unnerving in highway traffic to involuntarily begin to draft a passing box truck.

Spindle nut socket showed up in the mail, so I can starting putting things back together on the spare axle with the RCVs and spartan.

Other stuff - I bought into the hype of the electric power steering conversion that a lot of samurai dudes seem to be doing. Got a nissan versa column that should work fine but haven't installed yet. I have the voltage for it and I like the idea that it's not going to need a PS pump to leach power off the motor, but I do worry that I'd to eventually break my steering box. I have a spare box, but it doesn't strike me as an enjoyable trailside fix. I think the electric setup would be fine for something I'm not going to beat on, and I don't plan to completely destroy this thing, but I don't want to worry about it. I really wish I could find an electric ram with enough travel, speed, and strength to get the best of both worlds - no pump needed and no box, but to my knowledge I don't think anything like that exists.

I ran the Track/Kick power steering setup on my old Sami with 34" LTB's and a locked front. It wasn't perfect, but it worked fine for many years. The biggest thing that helped was adding twin sticks to the T-case. Put it in 2-Low, and the Lock Right in the front would unlock and I could turn super tight. It shifted from 2 to 4 and back to 2 easy all day long.

 

[superpile]

Miss my Sami. Nice build!

 

[paulevans76]

Been busy with everything else lately. Installed an electric fan which kept all its magic smoke inside first try, so that rules. Freed up 1 or 2 extra ponies for sho. Should have some additional updates this weekend - buttoning up the front axle with the locker and RCVs. May get to the rear locker or rear bumper/sliders, but with my track record, probably not. Want to get in some dirt time next weekend with CORE at Uwharrie so I just want to get everything tidy and ready for that.