Hi all, new to this forum, but not new to Samurais. I've had somewhere around 6 or more through the years, but haven't had one for around 5 years because of various reasons. But I was just given a starter project, an '87 Samurai missing the engine and has some body rust. Frame and running gear all look good though, and the rest of the drivetrain is there (axles, trans, t-case). I won't miss the engine that much, since I would have swapped in a Sidekick 1.6 injected engine anyway. And I may just know where there is one from a friend's project he is no longer doing.
My rough plans are spring over, 1.6 engine, t-case gears, some body mods and tubing work, and run 33s eventually. Maybe even my 34x10.5 LTBs that are on my XJ right now. With the 'wheeling I do, and the terrain we have, doing too many mods to a Samurai ruins it. Light weight, very slightly wider (just some Jeep or Ford wheels with less backspacing and slightly wider), and slightly longer wheelbase works very well. I may possibly entertain the idea of Toyota axles since they would be bulletproof under a Sammy, but they are extremely hard to come by here in northern New England. Use of the Sammy will be for some rocks, mud, and tight trails. My XJ will be the rock crawler and used for weekend campouts, where the lack of room in a Samurai can cause problems.
About me: I'm a 37 year old mechanic, have owned several Samurais, and have been modifying them before Calmini was even doing anything with them. I swapped in a Chevy 2.8 V-6 into one mud bogger, and did a 1.6 swap before there were any kits available. As a machinist (in those days) I also fabbed my own driveshaft spacers before any were available to buy. I like fabbing my own stuff, I'm usually very short on money (mechanics don't make much up here, slightly less than the WalMart checkers), and am good at thinking outside the box. My projects are usually designed by what I have available or can get cheap, rather than coming up with a dream idea and having the funds to make it happen.
O.K., I guess I've bored you enough, time to go lurk and see what has progressed in the world of Samurais in the past 5 years.
Jim
