Hello all,

              Starting to research a motor swap for my 86 JX samurai, is the 1.6 swap pretty painless to perform? And anyone ever put a 22RE motor in?? If so how did it go ? Any info would be greatly appreciated

The 1.6 is a pretty straight forward swap. Not a tone of fab skills required.
The 22RE is a pretty advanced swap. Study up on your fab skills . You will have to redesign the entire under hood geometry.
 There are some length issues to deal with...

What Boxcar said.  There are a couple of SJ's running around with full Toyota running gear under them, which I feel is the way to go if your going to swap in the 22RE.  That way you get the ability to chain your transfer cases together, but still keep the smaller vehicle.

Instead of the 22RE if you need more power then the 1.6l I would look into a 2.0L/2.3L conversion from a newer Tracker or Suzuki Areo.  Even the 1.8l is a nice swap.  You keep the light weight and can bolt them up to the stock transmission or use a 2wd transmission from a Tracker/Sidekick.  ewbewley had a 1.8l with computer/wiring and a 2wd transmission a few months ago and could probably hook you up.