Hello Guest

sidekick engine swap in a sami?

  • 8 Replies
  • 2945 Views

0 Members and 3 Guests are viewing this topic.

sidekick engine swap in a sami?
« on: November 13, 2009, 06:41:50 PM »
I am wanting to put a 1.6 in my sami but have some questions.

     Can i use a 16 valve motor and bolt up my sami head?

     How hard is it to wire the 16 valve and what all do i need to do?


*

Offline zukimoo

  • 330
  • 2
  • Gender: Male
Re: sidekick engine swap in a sami?
« Reply #1 on: November 13, 2009, 07:25:51 PM »
if you put in the samurai head on a 16V then you loose all the good extra power. Get  the motor in the zuke and then find someone that is good with a wiring diagrham...you can also spend some money at trail tough...they will mod the 16V harness and it will bolt right in...go all the way...16V complete and it'll run.

Another thing...one local guy kept trying to get more power to turn his tires...he tried 2.8, 4.3 and it always went to hell real fast. FInally got him back into the 4's and he put in a 16V. Still not enough power when all along he was ignoring me and not doing the gears. Now he's got a cam, header and everthing else and still trying to get it all working....still no gears.

I'm running the stock 1.3 with 512's and I could drag a house...I'm only running 30's but gears are first.
85 SJ413K SUA, 30" BFG muds, 512's, lockers and DOHC soon...
81 LJ80, 800cc of pure power....Stock
06 Baja Buggy

*

Offline ack

  • 1659
  • 34
  • Gender: Male
  • Professional askhole
    • Ack's FAQ
Re: sidekick engine swap in a sami?
« Reply #2 on: November 13, 2009, 07:43:57 PM »
I am wanting to put a 1.6 in my sami but have some questions.

     Can i use a 16 valve motor and bolt up my sami head?

Yes you can.  You need an adapter plate for the transmission and a set of engine mount adapters.  Many of the big Suzuki vendors that advertise here hae a complete kit for this.

Yes, you can bolt up your Samurai head but you instantly lose the performance qualities of the 16-valve head and the ability to use electronic fuel injection.  Many of us (myself included) have a G16 block with a Samurai or TracKick G16 8-valve head so that we can use aftermarket carburetor setups - and lose all the wiring and vacuum hoses.


     How hard is it to wire the 16 valve and what all do i need to do?

You can wire it yourself although there is not much DIY documentation on the process.  Again, there are vendors that can do it for you for a bit of money.  It's somewhat important that, if you choose to run 16-valve EFI, you obtain both the wiring harness AND the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) with the engine so everything matches up.

I hope that this helps!
Ack

'88 Samurai, '88.5 Samurai TT, '11 Ford Transit Connect XLT
Ack's FAQ  http://www.acksfaq.com

I too am considering a Sidekick 1.6 8 Valve for my tired 1.3L Samurai, my iPhone dynolicious dyno program shows 30hp at the rear wheels which jives with my 55 mph in 4th gear top speed. The engine is too tired to continue, and if I am going to spend $ on a rebuild I'd rather have a 1.6.
I went to a local salvage yard and located a  1989 Sidekick and noted the engine looks 100% like my 1986  1.3 with the exception there is no mechanical fuel pump provision in the head. I was seriously thinking about purchasing it when I stumbled across something on the internet that said early Sidekicks came with the 1.3 also. 1989 Samurais had EFI (As did this sidekick) so using the presence of EFI may not indicate it's a 1.6.
So how can you tell a 1.3 from a 1.6 8V in the junkyard environment?

*

Offline ack

  • 1659
  • 34
  • Gender: Male
  • Professional askhole
    • Ack's FAQ
Re: sidekick engine swap in a sami?
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2010, 07:15:01 AM »
Yes, early sidekicks came with 1.3s.  The easy way to tell if the engine in a Sidekick or tracker IS a 1.3 or 1.6 is to look at the displacement markings cast into the engine block on the exhaust side next to where the transmission bellhousing bolts onto the engine.  1296cm3 = 1.3.   159xcm3  (whatever "x" was, I can't remember) means 1.6.

The TBI-breathing Samurais and 1.3 Sidekicks used an electric fuel pump - thus the mechanical unit was deleted from the 1.3 head in those installations.
Ack

'88 Samurai, '88.5 Samurai TT, '11 Ford Transit Connect XLT
Ack's FAQ  http://www.acksfaq.com

*

Offline wildgoody

  • *
  • 8134
  • 67
  • Gender: Male
  • Turbocharged 150HP 1.6L 8V 93MPH 1/4 mile
Re: sidekick engine swap in a sami?
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2010, 02:29:30 PM »
More valuable is the gears that came in the 1.3L Sidekicks, I have seen only
one, and my brother found it, now those gears live in his 4 door with a 16V
engine pushing them.

I'm not sure, but I thought the 1.3 SideKicks had a carburetor as well
as the Sammy's   

Wild
Real Trucks Are Built, Not Bought,
And Chrome Don't Get Ya Home.  

An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.

Re: sidekick engine swap in a sami?
« Reply #6 on: January 16, 2010, 07:45:03 PM »
Which gears are you referring to? Transfer case gears or transmission?

*

Offline wildgoody

  • *
  • 8134
  • 67
  • Gender: Male
  • Turbocharged 150HP 1.6L 8V 93MPH 1/4 mile
Re: sidekick engine swap in a sami?
« Reply #7 on: January 17, 2010, 08:46:29 AM »
Neither, The differential gears are 5.62:1 as opposed to 5.125:1 Manual trans
or 4.625:1 Auto trans gears that came in the early Sidekicks.

Right now that's the best you can do for low diff gears and keep the stock
axle under your trucklet, unless you can find a set of 5.83s like I have. I bought
them from Heather and Nathan several years ago when they went to an SAS system
and put FJ axles under their 4 door

Wild
Real Trucks Are Built, Not Bought,
And Chrome Don't Get Ya Home.  

An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.

*

Offline Chuck S

  • 36
  • 0
Re: sidekick engine swap in a sami?
« Reply #8 on: January 17, 2010, 06:12:03 PM »
I am putting a 1992 1.6 from a Tracker into my '87 Sami. I plan to keep the TBI. I have a shackle lift on my Sami. I also plan to use rear springs on the front. Do I still need to change the oil pan or will there be enough clearance? Also where can I get an updated wire harness or diagram?