Im in the army so im not home often so i dont have a whole lot of time to work on my samurai while i am home. But when i do get home id love to be able to drive it with no problems... so the problem is that i have the regular 1.3l engine and i believe it has a bent valve cuz the engine block ticks when it runs so i havent been driving it. I would like to upgrade my samurai to run with some more power but i can only spend about $5000. so what should i do...? Im stumped and i really dont wanna get a new samurai all together... i looked at the 16valve 1.6l engines but im not all that vehicle smart... Also my samurai is all stock at the moment... its a 1987... any ideas?  thank you.

you can rebuild your motor for alot less than that....with the right gearing the little 1.3 will actually work great. I know it's not a highway rig but anyone who bought a zuke to fly down the highway is on some good drugs....yes my zuke does cruise down the highway but it's got to be pushed. Any swap is going to cost money and require alot of work. IF you have  a local shop that you trust then you can get the job done there.

If you want some great power you can swap in a 1.3 DOHC (Swift), 1.6 8V or 1.6 16V...they all have their ups and downs.....

yeah. all my friends tell me to sell the thing but i dont wanna give up on it lol. theres a shop just down the road, one of my good buddies works there... im just not sure what all is required to do a good swap cuz from what i hear if i upgrade to a 1.6l i gotta get a 3 inch lift and im not quite sure where to get all the proper parts. im just afraid of gettin everything i think i need and then end up missin somethin u know?

You don't have to lift it to fit a 1.6 but you would have to modify the oil pick up pipe and the Sammy sump, you'll most likely also need a power bulge or scoop on the hood to get clearance for the injection system.

First, thank you for choosing to serve your country!  Many appreciate your choice.

Long ago, I was in your position - Samurai-wise.  I didn't know diddly. All I had was some mechanical skills and that was it.

After getting a lot of help from the Zukin' community - both here and at other popular websites, I decided to "pay it forward" and created an independent Suzuki 4x4 based search engine website to help folks find answers to their questions.

Ack's FAQ has over 550 searchable links to Suzuki offroading modding and maintenence information from across the internet - including links to great articles and posts right here at Zukiworld!

I hope that you will visit Ack's FAQ (http://www.acksfaq.com) and find the information that you are looking for.

$5000 is a LOT of money to spend on a Samurai!

You can buy a completely-rebuilt engine from several sources for around $2000.  You can have your engine rebuilt locally for even less - around $1000 or less is possible if you remove and install the engine yourself.

A lot of folks (myself included) go for a 1.6 8-valve with an aftermarket carburetor (assuming
local emission laws allow for it) like the My-Side CV carb kit from Zuks Offroad or the Weber DGAx 32/36.

But the first thing to do is start searching and then ask questions when you can't find the answer!

Use the search feature on this (and other) forums followed by a trip to Ack's FAQ

 hope that this helps!   

...and that, fellow Zukers, is why I am proud to be an American.

Thank you, captchee, for your wisdom on this subject and your service to our country!

service , your welcome .
wisdom ? some times i wonder about that  lol
 there are good days and  bad lol

Okay, then information that can be useful to a serviceman/woman about on-post facilities.

I had forgotten that a friend who was in the Air Force found help with his S-10 PU and Samurai in the places that you suggested.   

I found a zuke for a friend two year ago....

1988 removable hard/soft top
minor rust, basic SOA, bad plug due to improperly installed heli coil and a few other minor problems....$2200

Found good used engine....$250, installed and set up/tune up for another $400
Added one good ply and re-arched everything $300
very nice set of aluminum rims with 33" $1800
thorley header around $300 with 2" exhaust another $200 (this was worth every penny)
512's front and hybrid rear
cross-over steering
some more little mods

He's got around $5000 in total and the thing looks great and when you hit the gas it fly's. I've been zukin for about 15 years and the header in his makes the thing run 200% better. This is with a fairly high milleage motor.

If  you got the money then get it done. You won't regret the money if it's done right. after seeing this motor run and another one that I put a high rev cam in I'd keep the 1.3 as long as I could.

I know some people are going to jump on this but if you got the right gears and some mods you can really have a fun rig. Keeping the 1.3 keeps it very simple.

One guy I know went out and got a coil kit, runs toy's, 1.6 16V with toy tranny and t-case, header, exhaust and alot more stuff....he's got over $20 000 in this zuke. He doesn't know which end of the wrench is the box end. He gets these backyard mechanics to work on his truck and it's never done right. In the last 4 years of his working on the rig he's probably driven it about 200km's. It's very complicated and very fragile. He keeps paying people to try to fix the same problems. I tried to help him out and do some work for him but it's just not possible with the time I've got.

I run the 413K with SUA and 30" BFG, I don't do deep mud but if I want to go it doesn't let me down.

LMAO i wouldnt call the folks at CSMS or  MATES back yard  mechanics LOL
 but maybe thats not what you were speaking of LOL