Dedicated!

Everyone in my club tends to move the turn signals inside the grille.  Not exactly legal, but they don't get broken. 

I had every intention of doing exactly that, but was having trouble seeing my way through it. While I was mulling it over I stumbled upon this. It was super easy and took less than 30 min. I will be building a bumper in 2 weeks and will put the turn signals in it when Im done.

I would like to convert to a smaller LED turn signal if I can find some that will pass inspection.

I found this video on you tube yesterday  , I found it very helpfull for changing the clutch. Also, zook94 recommended cutting 1/2" off the frame tab that the tranny mount sits on and that made a world of difference getting the tranny back in place. I wish I had remembered to fill the tranny after I installed it though, so I wouldnt have taken a bath in gear oil. That really complicated things while I was trying to line it up and get it back into place. I recommend a jack on a hard flat surface. Working in the lawn is proving to have many disadvantages, but it sure is comfy.

Today is metal repair 101. Im going to replace parts of the floor pan and patch holes else where on the body.

On the Samurai you can just take the shifter off and pour the gear oil in through the top.  No mess required. 

Note, this does not work on a 4wd Tracker.  The shifter area and transmission do not have a passage to allow the oil through.

I had heard that and I remembered it when I was filling it up, for some reason I forgot the bit about the oil pouring out the back if tilted rearwards.
Next time I will get it right... God I hope there isnt a next time.

The rust wins. There is so much rust between the body and frame that I would need to take the body off to repair it properly.
Im not going to do that, not yet anyway.
In the meanwhile I'll make some structural reairs and seal up the holes. Then Ill coat the whole thing in chassis saver and hope to slow the rust down until a later date.

From the look of it and the DMV history, this must have been someones beach truck.


This is the tranny tunnel repair. Its the best I could do as a hobbiest working with scrap metal.




Going to finish the rust repairs today and rebuild the transfer case with 4.91 gears.

The transfer case rebuild went smoothly enough. I broke 2 bolts, pushed out the Low gear when I didnt need to, put a bearing on backwards and am missing the shifter sheet, but otherwise very smooth. It would help if Low Range supplied instructions with their kits. I used the instructions for the Trail Creeper kit I found on the interweb and... well, thats why I pressed off the low range gear. It didnt hurt anything but its not any easy task without a press.

Rock Roads Mega Mount needed some tweaking and instructions for a boob like me. I got the mounts wrong and cut down the bolts before I realized that they went in from the bottom.


I used some Kevlar fabric i had laying around and Chassis Saver to patch the holes in the floorboards and elsewhere in the interior of the body.












This is what it looks like from below if you only coat one side, I coated the bottom after the picture and the end result is an impressively strong patch for a single layer of Kevlar and some fancy paint. I used the silver Chasis Saver because of its ability to fill in holes and gaps. I will put 2 coats of bed liner on next and it should last long enough for a proper repair.






I started replacing the U-joints and WOW what a pain in the ass! I wish I had a press, the vice isnt strong enough so I am using a 3lb hammer to push the cup out as far as I can and then grab it with the vice and working on it till it comes apart. It is slow going and I almost gave up when the first U-joint looked good. Then I found the resolve to replace the other joint and discovered two caps were dry and one spline and its bearings had been eroded to dust.





I finished building my lower shock mounts.





And then decided to add a little extra material on top to hold the mounts on to the axle tube for hard hits, and a little piece on the bottom to deflect any hits to the bottom of the shock from rocks or what have you. I figured since they will be hanging a bit below the axle I dont want to snag them on a rock and rip a hole in my axle. Their not pretty, but considering I've had about 15min of welding instruction over the course of my life and Im working with hand tools and little patience, I'm happy. At least they are not rusting yet.




If I all goes well with the steering knuckle rebuild, I should be driving her to work on Monday!  

I can see the light! Even if its just the sun through a rust hole.  

The bedlining is done, the engine comparment is back together (except for some vaccum line mystery), and the dash is back together complete with new LED gauge lighting and speedo cable!

Getting close!

If you jump over to Ack's Faq you can find a vacuum diagram.

Getting close is right, I'm having trouble putting the tools down and coming in for dinner.

Yesterday I placed some sheet metal over the holes in the wheel wells to protect the patching.

Today I finish replacing the ujoints (if they arrive) and start on building a front bumper.

All I have left is rebuilding the knuckles, replacing the exhaust, welding on the shock mounts, replacing the brake lines and installing the fender flares (if they ever get here). Oh and some little stuff like putting the seats back in and refilling the diffs...
 
Wow, actually that still seems like a lot to have done by Sunday evening.

Here are some pics of the sheet metal repair in the wheel wells.







I thought I was going to get the bumper built yesterday but only got as far as repairing the front crossmember.



Im not sure if I am going to work on the bumper or the shock mounts tonight.

Thinking that Samurai was either beach driven OR northern salt got too it!!Picked up mine ready to drive,new tires ($1400),4x4 works great.Think there is a small (3"x6") hole pass floorboard...terrible terrible!!

Thinking that Samurai was either beach driven OR northern salt got too it!!Picked up mine ready to drive,new tires ($1400),4x4 works great.Think there is a small (3"x6") hole pass floorboard...terrible terrible!!

Thanks for rubbing it in.


I welded the shock mounts on and installed the shocks. That went pretty smoothly.






I also built the bumper... This took 3x as long as it should have, including running out of wire and having to take a trip to Lowes. Of course they didnt have a big spool so I had to get a small spool and re configure the welder. Im happy with the final product though.








The bolt on exhaust system required quite a bit of reworking to get it to fit. In fact the rear tailpipe had a few bends removed and still needs some work. Its a Lowrange Tri Y header and Magnaflow full system. Its a little louder than I would like but not ridiculous.


The steering knuckles didnt get rebuilt, it turns out the caliper was frozen, so I replaced it with one off the spare front end.

The OTT steering kit from Low Range had some clearance issues with the caliper and required somne grinding of the control arms to fit.

I finally was able to put a seat in it and take it for a spin for the first time in what seems like weeks. I couldnt turn left and it seems I had the steering adjusted one extra turn of the wheel. I fixed it this morning and took it to work, a little late but who cares.

End result, this thing is weak.

So, do I mess with the carb, rebuild the engine or swap in a 1.6 8V?
What should I expect a fresh 1.3L with full exhaust, 4.91 gears and 31" all terrains to be like? Right now I cant get it out of 4th exept down hill. On the freeway it is all I can do to keep her at an indicated 55mph. The smell of the exhaust tells me soemthing isnt right with the mixture. Its a brand new catalytic converter, it shouldnt make my eyes burn going down the road.

I am enjoying reading your thread.  Pls post more details and pics bro. 

I went through the same modification headaches before.

http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/technical-discussion-beginner-repair/newbie-with-samurai/msg230195/#msg230195

Well I got pulled over already for no inspection. So I had to put on the original fender flares until the bushwackers get here and get an inspection.






I also rechecked the timing and found that it was a little retarded, actually it was alot retarded (2degrees BTDC). I also plugged the crankcase breather  hose and it is running better, but it still has a knock and some bearing noise associated with the clutch. I am going to pull the engine either for a rebuild or to swap in a 1.6 8V. Im trying to get an idea of what to expect from the 1.3L if it was freshened up with the header, 4.91 gears and 31" all terrains.
Any ideas?

Passed inspection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I took it to work this morning and it is running much better, not perfect, but much better. 55mph no problem, 65mph on the freeway with not to much effort. I readjusted the timing, landed a vacuum line and plugged the crankcase breather line. The line was coming off the valve cover, hitting a T, then off to the manifold and 12" of 3/8 hose open on the other end. She still smells like she needs some more tuning, hopefully I can make some positive adjustments on the way home today.
I havent had the time to thoroughly go through the carb and all its associated servos and vacuum lines, but I did adjust the cold fast idle effectively.
Im not sure how much time I want to spend on this setup, I am pretty sure I will be upgrading to a 1.6 8V soon. I am thinking of running a Corolla carb on the 1.6 with the stock 1.3 manifold.

Im going to need some springs to hold the brake lines away from the wheels and tie rods.

Im still  sucking in exhaust, hopefully I can reroute it out the corner and get it to stop coming back into the cab. Amazing that with the top and doors off this would be a problem.