Had some time today to crawl back under the samurai and swap out the doughnut gasket for the flat one. No more leak! I also fixed the horn and flexed the suspension as far as my jack could go.
Had some time today to crawl back under the samurai and swap out the doughnut gasket for the flat one. No more leak! I also fixed the horn and flexed the suspension as far as my jack could go.
Huge update today: I replaced the haggard Suzuki badge ziptied to the grill with a brand new one. Ignore the weird angle and fisheye effect; the wife's car was too close to the Samurai to get a reasonable photo. Feel free to laugh at how ridiculous the bumper looks though.
Before:
After:
I noticed some cracks forming around the passenger-side windshield wiper arm so I ordered the big one-piece reinforcement from Low Range Off Road. Installation was fairly straightforward with the exception of needing to grind like 1/8" off the end to avoid hitting the windshield bracket cover. The annoying part is that the brace comes with a textured powder coat so my spray paint doesn't quite match. I also gave the wiper arms a fresh coat of paint while they were off.
Cracks:
Brace:
Brace installed:
New (old) wheels and new (used) tire day!
I snagged some used 215/75-15 Maxxis Bravos today for $300 installed at my local sketchy tire shop. They're actually safe to drive on and fit the bill of round and holds air. That's all I need for now. I got them put on the sweet alloys that came with my samurai, so no more steelies.
The offset (-2 mm) puts the tires right out at the edge of the fenders. The steelies were a little more sunken in.
I also got brand new lug nuts (thanks to everyone in my other thread who showed me how to check the lug seat) to replace the rusty trash that was installed. I also removed the center caps, as they were also all rusted. I'm not sure what my plan is with the caps. I could paint them, but I don't know what would look good with the polished wheels. Could also buy new ones I guess? Doesn't really matter though; that's a problem for future me.
In reply to thatsnowinnebago :
You will be surprised how much chrome will clean up with some steel wool and polish. I'd be you could remove 95% of the rust on the caps.
In reply to Toyman! :
Oh yeah? I'll have to give that a try then, thanks.
I checked and adjusted the valves on my Samurai today. Good thing too, as 7/8 were out of spec. Pretty straightforward job, with the adjusters being that nice screw and locknut type. I took the opportunity to slap some paint on the valve cover too. It was a low-prep, low-effort situation to cover some surface rust. Just hit it with some brake cleaner and sent it.
We've got some really nice weather for the next few days so I popped the bikini top on. One of the extra parts I was thankful to have been included in my purchase.
Toyman! said:In reply to thatsnowinnebago :
You will be surprised how much chrome will clean up with some steel wool and polish. I'd be you could remove 95% of the rust on the caps.
I took a look at the center caps today and realized that the chrome (or something else shiny) plating is actually peeling off. So I think these might be destined for paint.
In reply to thatsnowinnebago :
That's unfortunate. You might consider media blasting them and then nickel-plating them. It's pretty easy to do.
Love this thing!
crazy that someone makes a wiper cowl brace for such an old/low volume vehicle. glad they do!
wyndscreen said:Love this thing!
crazy that someone makes a wiper cowl brace for such an old/low volume vehicle. glad they do!
There's at least three options, haha. These little things have some hardcore fans so most parts are pretty easy to find.
Toyman! said:In reply to thatsnowinnebago :
That's unfortunate. You might consider media blasting them and then nickel-plating them. It's pretty easy to do.
I've been thinking about flat center caps with like a Suzuki logo or something. I found some caps for a Carry that were neat but I need to measure the center hole to see if they fit.
In reply to thatsnowinnebago :
How about 3D printed? https://www.printables.com/en/model/774196-tapacubo-suzuki-jimny
In reply to Toyman! :
Ha, how about that? That's a good idea. I bet there's a library or makerspace around here with a 3d printer.
Big update today: I've got music again! The radio that came in the samurai literally fell out shortly after purchase so I needed to replace it. One of the POs attempted to make a faceplate for the factory radio box but it didn't hold up, hence the radio falling out. I kept waiting for one to come back in stock at https://suzukipartsusa.com/ but it turned out they're NLA so I had to order the entire box for $28. Have I mentioned how cheap parts are for these things?
My other samurai friend tells me that my experience with the faceplate breaking isn't unique and he suggested sticking something under the radio to help support it and take the weight/leverage off the plastic. I decided instead to make a little bracket that bolts to the back of the deck and it attached to the box. I initially tried some epoxy, but that didn't stick so I went with a rivet instead.
I went with the $50 Jensen digital media player (aka no cd player) on crutchfield for the radio. I saw the cool 80s radios in a different thread today and thought maybe I should have got one, but then I figured it's not worth putting something expensive in a tin can with a vinyl roof. This deck is not a looker but that's ok. It connects to my phone and plays music just fine.
These things are so light and so shallow, compared to what I'm used to. It barely goes past the sleeve thing:
The radio wasn't powering on at first, so I got my multimeter out and discovered the constant 12v wire wasn't getting any power. I did some digging and found that the wire is fused and that fuse was blown. Easy fix! I also discovered that my samurai had an alarm installed at point when I found the box just kinda dangling behind the dash. There was a horn under the hood so I had my suspicious already but I hadn't done any looking yet.
I've heard too many horror stories here about old alarms causing all kinds of havoc so I really wanted that thing out. I wasn't sure how integrated it was to the ignition so I took the fuse out and tried to start the samurai. It fired right up, so then I moved to the two wires you can see in the right of the photo. Removing those also didn't cause any problems. I later realized they just went to the horn under the hood, haha. That got rid of the box, and then I just had to take a couple screws out to remove the horn from under the hood and the whole system was out! I was supposed to be getting dinner started like 20 mins prior to this so I didn't take any photos of the process. Just this victorious one of the whole mess removed from the car. Good riddance!
My favorite part of working on the Samurai is how simple they are.
Chasing wires is pretty easy when there are only 25 of them.
In reply to Toyman! :
Absolutely. I had no fear tracing the 18" of wire for that 12v constant.
What is probably the most important mod on the whole rig came today:
Fun little things on a whole lot of levels and remarkably capable off road. Also beloved by the motor home set here because they are strong enough to bolt on an A frame and tow it behind the bus.
This one, picture in 2011, belonged to a friend and has a turbo Celica motor and was very, very competitive in the "partly modified" class.
I got a terminal mounted auxiliary fuse box and dual charger from Bluesea for the Samurai. Right now I have no way to charge my phone, handheld radio, etc. so that'll be a nice addition. The car came with new, but kinda crappy battery terminals that I wanted to replace before hanging that fusebox off them. I conveniently had a pair of nicer marine terminals in my tool box to do just that.
The more savvy among you might notice the cable terminals are not installed correctly. This became immediately apparent when the positive terminal just fell off in my hand when I removed it from the battery:
I also just so happened to have a pair of good quality terminals in my toolbox, that fancy heatshrink with the goo inside, a hammer crimper, and a heat gun. AKA everything I need to properly terminate these cables.
And just like that, I have a happy, safely connected battery:
Fixing those battery cables also apparently solved a weird issue I was having where turning the blower fan on would cause the idle to jump up like 300 RPM. Now it's rock solid with the fan on or off. Not sure why it helped but it did.
Toyman! said:My favorite part of working on the Samurai is how simple they are.
Chasing wires is pretty easy when there are only 25 of them.
Totally true, I really miss mine. Removing the engine only took a 10 and a 12 0r 13mm and a pair of pliers, it was still warm on the stand after only driving it across the yard.
weak grounds can cause all sorts of weird issues
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