mith612
mith612 New Reader
5/21/09 7:36 p.m.

In my continued search for a drivetrain donor for my Opel project/potential Challenge car, I've come across a large number of Samurais. I had initially discounted them because the 1.3 motor just didn't put out near enough power for my goals with the project. But more and more exposure to the trucklets has me enamored for other reasons.

Mind you, I have never liked lift kits, big tires, muddin' or any of the things associated with that crowd. It's always been small, light, no-nonsense vehicles as my personal ideal. But having sat in the donor Tracker and pretended to go vroom vroom, I can see the fun of a lightly modded trucklet for backwoods hooliganry, and how it's still within the ideal.

The plan now is leaning towards finding a decent, running Sami, and stealing the drivetrain for the Opel. Then as that progresses, swapping in another motor into the Sami, maybe a small V6 or something else fun.

Anyways, there wasn't too much of a point of this post other than to ask ideas, gather critiques, things to look out for, and get you guys to post some gratuitous Sami pics. So have at it!

petegossett
petegossett GRM+ Memberand Dork
5/21/09 7:50 p.m.

Rust & weird cooling system issues seem to plague the Tracker/Sidekick twins. Not sure if the Sammy has cooling problems tho...

G60ING
G60ING New Reader
5/21/09 8:14 p.m.

I had a samuri that I daily drove for 1-2 years in Cali, it was a turd on the road but kicked ass when I took it off road into the river gullies. A few friends with serious off-road 4x4 trucks had difficulties where the samuri had no problems with road tires.

As weak as the motor was it was fairly trouble free aside from the little bit of oil it ate. Considering I ran it at 4000+ rpms on the highway that little bit of oil was nothing to worry about.

pres589
pres589 New Reader
5/21/09 11:16 p.m.

The ECU in the Samuri seem to die early deaths, which makes for a perfect excuse to Megasquirt I guess. I've never owned on, just read about it.

Billy_Bottle_Caps
Billy_Bottle_Caps New Reader
5/21/09 11:22 p.m.
pres589 wrote: The ECU in the Samuri seem to die early deaths, which makes for a perfect excuse to Megasquirt I guess. I've never owned on, just read about it.

That is only on the fuel injected ones from 1990-1995. Good rigs, I have had several. Good luck with your project.

BBC

ditchdigger
ditchdigger Reader
5/21/09 11:23 p.m.

Hmmm.... I am guessing some of you would like what just popped up on the local Craigslist then

http://eugene.craigslist.org/cto/1181981371.html

mw
mw Reader
5/22/09 6:57 a.m.
petegossett wrote: Rust & weird cooling system issues seem to plague the Tracker/Sidekick twins. Not sure if the Sammy has cooling problems tho...

Mine had lots of rust, but no issues with the cooling system. It was a lot of fun off road (even though it was a 2wd on stock tires)

Tommy Suddard
Tommy Suddard GRM+ Memberand SonDork
5/23/09 10:47 p.m.

I've always wanted a little turbo diesel in our tracker. That would be sweet!

petegossett
petegossett GRM+ Memberand Dork
5/24/09 5:41 a.m.

There's a Kennedy kit to bolt in a VW diesel.

Tim Suddard
Tim Suddard Publisher
5/24/09 7:32 a.m.

I was looking at Samurais, but ended up with a 94 Geo Tracker. Less money, way better on the road and it has A/C. Been very happy with this vehicle.

By the way, doing two engine swaps is a lot of work and in the vehicles you were talking about... of questionable value.

mith612
mith612 New Reader
5/24/09 6:32 p.m.
Tim Suddard wrote: By the way, doing two engine swaps is a lot of work and in the vehicles you were talking about... of questionable value.

I suppose you're right, though it shouldn't seem out of place on the GRM boards. There's no better way to learn than by doing. Plus a bit of ascribed or sentimental value is worth more than the benjamins.

mad_machine
mad_machine GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
5/24/09 6:32 p.m.

people forget that the samurai was designed as a forestry vehicle for Japan. Ever seen the mountains they have in that country?

72SuperBrian
72SuperBrian Reader
5/24/09 6:48 p.m.

A Samurai with a VW TDI could be very cool

GameboyRMH
GameboyRMH GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
5/24/09 9:06 p.m.

Samurais have bad rust, build quality fit for a slapstick comedy, barely adequate cooling systems and road manners that would only seem acceptable if your day job is driving a tractor...but they're cartoonishly hard to damage, they're generally very reliable and they have great offroad capability and are super easy to work on and modify.

jwdmotorsports
jwdmotorsports Reader
5/24/09 9:15 p.m.

Samurai's keep popping up for sale in my area and it's getting harder and harder to ignore them.

ignorant
ignorant SuperDork
5/25/09 6:26 a.m.
Tim Suddard wrote: I was looking at Samurais, but ended up with a 94 Geo Tracker.

I seriously hope it looks like this..

DrBoost
DrBoost Reader
5/25/09 7:06 a.m.

OK, you are talking to a Jeepaholic here, but I think the Sammies are pretty cool! Can't get any Geo-love from me, but the sammy is cool. Now, I'd choose a CJ-7 or 5 over a sammy, but that's just preference. The Sammy will get you where you want to go, and a few places you really don't (like in trouble).

jwdmotorsports
jwdmotorsports Reader
5/25/09 9:48 a.m.
DrBoost wrote: Now, I'd choose a CJ-7 or 5 over a sammy, but that's just preference.

I've always been an FJ40 fan myself. There's a running one for sale locally for $2500 but I don't have the money right now.

Jensenman
Jensenman SuperDork
5/25/09 12:46 p.m.

Sammies are fun but IMHO way too small. I'd go for an early (89-94) Isuzu Amigo first. It's not that much larger externally, has a nice short wheelbase but has a lot more interior room.

jwdmotorsports
jwdmotorsports Reader
5/25/09 2:10 p.m.

I haven't seen one of those in years. Knew several people who had them when they were new.

914Driver
914Driver Dork
5/26/09 6:13 a.m.

I've got an '86 Samurai, it lived its whole life in Arizona. The woman moved here and then promptly ran it out of oil. I swapped in a 1.6 from a mid-90's car. I did a SOA swap, 32" tires, lower gears in the transfer case and lockers in the front axle.

I like it!

At my last off-road outing I went places and did things the heavier Jeeps can't do. It's basically a two seater because the small cargo area in back is full of tools and tow straps. With the lift, lower gears etc., there's no such thing as driving with one hand and relaxing. You have to stay on your game 100% of the time. In stock trim, 205-15 tires it may make a great commuter car.

The VW TDI swap is popular but for all the work involved, I think there's enough torque available stock.

Zuwharrie.com is a site dedicate to Zukis, poke around there for infomation without flaming.

Dan

GameboyRMH
GameboyRMH GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
5/26/09 8:09 a.m.

Another option if you want a slightly larger Sammy-like vehicle is an older 2dr Mitsu Pajero / Montero (or the Dodge Raider rebadge) They even have versions with soft tops at the back. The problem is that some of the older models are pretty big and some of the later models are pretty heavy.

ClemSparks
ClemSparks SuperDork
5/26/09 8:29 a.m.

I got a samurai a year or so back and thought I'd use it for daily driving and fun.

Then I decided to park it at my friends land where there are at least 2 other samurais present on a regular basis. It's great. I can go twist the key and fire it up and play. It's on worn street tires and otherwise completely stock. I can get it stuck on level ground if it's wet out. But it's oh-so-much fun to cruise around on trails.

The folks who own the land also have a samurai (their second one). They put lift springs, 7.5 LT tires, and lockrite lockers front and rear. The thing is a beast. I say that based on nothing but how it looks. I still need to go for a ride in it.

They also put a winch in the back that looks like it's big enough to hoist the little samurai up into a tree if need be

I don't think it would be particularly pleasant on the street. However, street manners have never really played heavily into my reasoning on daily drivers...so there's that.

Clem

Jensenman
Jensenman SuperDork
5/26/09 10:09 a.m.
GameboyRMH wrote: Another option if you want a slightly larger Sammy-like vehicle is an older 2dr Mitsu Pajero / Montero (or the Dodge Raider rebadge) They even have versions with soft tops at the back. The problem is that some of the older models are pretty big and some of the later models are pretty heavy.

I remember those. I didn't know they were available as a soft top.

You'll need to log in to post.

Our Preferred Partners
NLpWZZRO4wBiuzFcmLjZ0GPbduPkOvi6xXRkuumsTGOmIGqpmZ3T4BImSN5f9FmX