My father has had this samurai for a while. I just rebuilt the motor and haven't had time to really fall in on getting it up and running. I'm going to get starting on it this weekend. A little back ground on me. I build Nissan's sr20's, Vg30DETT's. I own a 300zx Twin turbo and have built it from the ground up. My mechanical skills are better than average.

  Now onto the problems with the sami. Its a 87 or so. 1.6 8 valve geo motor, Stock trans, Stock x case.

  1. The clutch doesn't fully engage. When the transmission is bolted snug to the engine the clutch won't engage and constantly slips. I think its the wrong throw out bearing. I haven't cross checked the lengths, or even know if there is more than one throw out bearing available.   Need to know what throw out bearing I need to order for the engine trans combo.

  2. Loud whining noise coming from the x case. I know its a bearing, just wondering if there is a common bearing that does this so I know which rebuild kit to get. The one with the five bearings for the main shaft or the counter shaft rebuild.

 3. When we first got the sami it would climb pretty much any thing. Then I deployed for 15 months and when I came back I went on a few drives and noticed while the front hubs where locked in the sami wouldn't climb some things it used to. Back wheels would start spinning and the front wouldn't do anything. I'm guessing my dad drove around with the front end locked in the whole time I was gone. I've never tangled with locking hubs and my understanding is there are some springs that get weak and that's what causes them to not lock in any more. Which rebuild kit do I need to order for the stock hubs.

  I know there are probably write ups already out there but with my time line and current events I don't have time to sit on the net and read and hunt the info. If a few people could post some links for me to read up on and get thing driving good again before I head back out it would be great. Thanks everyone and I look forward to the reply.

On the front hubs, they are probably frozen up.  I would unlock them, then pull the end off and clean things up.  Once you have them off you will see how everything goes together, it's a pretty simple system.  You shouldn't have to pull the entire hub off.

Not sure on the clutch.  I'll ping a buddy and see what he has.  Did it work fine before the rebuild?

For rebuliding the transfer case, you probably just need the stock 5 replacements.  But for only 40 more you can replace the needle bearings as well.  Might not be a bad idea just so it's done.

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.php/suzuki/samurai/transfer-case/transfer-case-rebuild-kits-and-parts.html

I should have mentioned. Before the rebuild, the clutch was replaced. I think the one we replaced it with was the sami clutch. Did the whole kit. press. plate, disc, TOB. The problem started at that point. I cross referenced the part numbers for the clutch kits between a geo kit and sami kit. Different kits. 190mm vs 180mm i think.  Then did the same with the individual TOB. Same TOB. This leaves me at a dead end on the subject.  I have both kits LOL. I tried the geo clutch kit while putting it back together. Same issue. Back on the sami clutch. IDK. Maybe the fork got bent some how. I'm pulling it in the garage tomorrow to start. I still haven't had time to start the damn thing after the rebuild.

You have to use the clutch kit for the flywheel you are using (the engine or tranny makes no difference at all). 
The TO bearings are the same, so no matter what TO bearing you used, it should not cause a problem.
Did you have the flywheel turned (take it to a machine shop or auto parts store and have them grind the surface)?  If not, then it could be that the surface is glazed and that is why the clutch is slipping.
Did you clean the flywheel and clutch surfaces with brake cleaner before install?  And were you careful not to get any grease or oil on the surfaces during install?
Did you adjust the clutch cable after install?  It is very likely it needed adjusted, so if you didn't, that can cause the clutch to not fully engage.  With the clutch pedal all the way up, you should be able to move the arm on the side of the tranny just a little bit back and forth and hear the TO bearing "click" against the pressure plate fingers.  If the arm is tight, that means you need to adjust the clutch cable, because the TO bearing is still pushing on the pressure plate fingers and not allowing the clutch to fully engage.

I would also agree that the lockout hubs are probably just rusted up.  There is probably nothing broke, they just need taken apart and cleaned and lightly lubed and reassembled and reinstalled.

Clutch adjust help:

http://www.acksfaq.com/samclutchadj.htm


More on clutch cable:

http://bbs.zuwharrie.com/content/topic,114315.0.html

I hope that this helps!

Pulled the hubs apart via the 10mm nuts. Passenger side was great. Moved free and was well greased. Driver side not so much. Went ahead and removed the whole housing via snap rings, etc.  I noted that the front wheel bearings are alot like military vehicles, which is good for me. Cleaned the drivers side hub, sealed it back up and re-installed it. Don't know if that fixed it yet. Will update more later.

The clutch adjustment wasn't the issue. The actuator arm that the cable hooks to doesn't have any free play at all. Clutch is obviously under tension with out the cable hooked up. I'm going to pull the transmission back out tomorrow and make sure all the parts are in operational shape per the post above.

I still have to get the motor started and timed and work the bugs out of that install. Freshly rebuilt and never started as of yet. Hopefully It'll be running tomorrow and will be able to get the clutch cable mount. I can't remember what I did with the clutch cable mount or even what it looks like. Any one have a pic of the clutch cable route and mounting point.

Ok got the clutch cable mounted, rechecked the timing belt, did a compression test. So far everything is ok on the bottom end. Valves are adjusted per fsm. So far I'm not getting spark. Here's some pictures of what i'm working with.

More pictures, And yes i know the carb isn't hooked up, I'm manually filling it with a little gas. I just want to get the motor to kick over for a second so I know its going to fire. The Gas tank has 3 year old gas in it and I'm going to put a different fuel pump on.

 And the last two are of my other ride that I put together. I know EFI, direct ignition, and turbo's. Learning distributors, carbs, and things with plug wires is a new animal and kind of backwards to me. I'm sorry for the dumb questions everyone. 

Are you looking to swap to an electric fuel pump or are you going to keep the manual pump?

Yes going low pres elec pump. It doesn't have a place for a manual pump.

Ah, right.  1.6L engine, I forgot about that.

You could pick up an EFI setup from a 94 or older Tracker as a way to bypass the carb issues.