Instead of blowing up the what did you do to your rig today with Samurai questions I figured I would start a little build thread.
Been a long time Jeep guy and just recently picked up an 88 Samurai. Used to wheel a 5.9 grand cherokee and wanted to get into something lighter with a frame. Still have the Jeep but will probably start parting it out in a month or two. Heres the specs on the sami.
Just picked her up:
Stock 1.3L with weber 32/36 carb
Stock 5 speed
Toyota axles front and rear, 4.11s with spartan lockers
6.5:1 with mighty kong crossmember
Toyota IFS steering box and high steer
Toyota springs front and rear
98" wheelbase
33" firestone MTs (I have a set of 35 KM2s that will probably go on it and sell these)
Just took it out on a little shakedown run to the Gulches in Laurens SC. It crawls awesome, taking a little getting used to the manual and not having that throttle response of the V8. I had problems with the motor not staying running when the samurai would lean to the front driver corner. Its running really rich too, that isn't tire smoke in the pictures. The weber carb has a 90* rotation plate on it.
Motor pic for reference
Have a few things to address right away besides the motor:
-Driver seat is way to close to the steering wheel and sits to high. Might order a set of the PRP roadsters for it. Or cut it out and make a stationary mount
-Has no storage. Need to fab up a center console with cup holders (spilled to many beers this last trip) and some storage for tools and fluids
-Front axle has some nasty wrap to it when I hammer down. I thought the rear would need a traction bar but it was pretty solid. The front is another story.
Down the road Ill be looking at a 16V 1.6 swap and using the links from my ZJ to 4 link the front, but for now I am just glad to be on the trail agian.
Been a long time Jeep guy and just recently picked up an 88 Samurai. Used to wheel a 5.9 grand cherokee and wanted to get into something lighter with a frame. Still have the Jeep but will probably start parting it out in a month or two. Heres the specs on the sami.
Just picked her up:
Stock 1.3L with weber 32/36 carb
Stock 5 speed
Toyota axles front and rear, 4.11s with spartan lockers
6.5:1 with mighty kong crossmember
Toyota IFS steering box and high steer
Toyota springs front and rear
98" wheelbase
33" firestone MTs (I have a set of 35 KM2s that will probably go on it and sell these)
Just took it out on a little shakedown run to the Gulches in Laurens SC. It crawls awesome, taking a little getting used to the manual and not having that throttle response of the V8. I had problems with the motor not staying running when the samurai would lean to the front driver corner. Its running really rich too, that isn't tire smoke in the pictures. The weber carb has a 90* rotation plate on it.
Motor pic for reference
Have a few things to address right away besides the motor:
-Driver seat is way to close to the steering wheel and sits to high. Might order a set of the PRP roadsters for it. Or cut it out and make a stationary mount
-Has no storage. Need to fab up a center console with cup holders (spilled to many beers this last trip) and some storage for tools and fluids
-Front axle has some nasty wrap to it when I hammer down. I thought the rear would need a traction bar but it was pretty solid. The front is another story.
Down the road Ill be looking at a 16V 1.6 swap and using the links from my ZJ to 4 link the front, but for now I am just glad to be on the trail agian.
Last edited:
. 
