New (to me) Samurai

[Somecallmetimm]

Just picked up this 88.5 Samurai
The Good
31" mt, soa, ott steering, new top and winch.

The bad...
rust
t-case is in need of a rebuild
shifter is sloppy


Plans include:
1.6 swap
RUF/CJ suspension
take care of the rust
4:1 gears in the t-case
roof rack
neon seats
family roll cage

It'll mainly be used for the occasional road trip, trails and light rock crawling.

20141020_181925 by somecallmetimm, on Flickr

20141020_181852 by somecallmetimm, on Flickr

 

[houndofmeath]

Awesome, always rad to see more Samurai on the road. You'll be saving gas and driving in the slow lane. Rust is tough, my sami has some pretty bad spots I've been battling as well. AND a sloppy shifter, but I hear thats a standard problem with the samurai. This is supposed to help http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/sloppy-shifter-fix-bushings-and-bolts.html

Thing will take you anywhere though.
Good luck!

-Rob

 

[Somecallmetimm]

Hey Thanks for the tip.

I bought it from my dad, so I've been lucky enough to have driven it previously. It's a very impressive little thing for as simple as it is.
fortunately there are a couple guys in my club who have Zuk's, one on 37's w/ a 4.3 TBI, th350 and d18 twin-sticked, stretched, on d44s with trailworthy dual bead locks. The other on 35's w/ a 1.6 8v, 5 speed, 4:1 twin-sticked case and a RUF/CJ suspension with missing links. Both were built for rock crawling and they excel at doing so, I'll be building with tamer trails/roads in mind with a better balance of storage, capability and reliability.

 

[zukrider]

the sloppy shifter is just a shifter sheet, no need for a rebuild on that account!

I much prefer the 4.9:1 gears from trail tough over ANY 4.16:1 gear set. Far better for all activities.

and to be honest, skip the RUF/CJ swap and save for YJ's. you will end up there anyway. i always ran the stock in rear, and RUF in front, with 5" shackles, and adding the 2nd up leaf from 4 front leaf packs to each spring. worked great. ive had 9 samis, 1 on yj's, you will love the result.

Last bit, dont skimp on high steer, and never buy from Calmini or there products from others. also, NO ROCKY-ROAD OUTFITTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck and have fun with it!

 

[Patrollife]

Nice!

 

[Somecallmetimm]

Thanks!

Sadly it'll be a slow build, but it will grow. As I does I'll update things here.

 

[Somecallmetimm]

Slow build for sure. It's finally legal and on the road for now. I have a temporary replacement t-case I'll be slinging in this weekend. After pulling up the astroturf carpet in the back, i found how bad some fo the rust is.
I'm debating on whether to just patch it, or go ahead start doing custom work to it.
20141111_171054 by somecallmetimm, on Flickr

 

[Somecallmetimm]

I threw a temporary patch on the rust hole in the back. The more I looked for rust, the more I discovered. So the debate boils down to restoration vs customization. I'm leaning more toward custom... but to what extent.

The debate continues...

In the mean time... let's go riding!!!

A group from my club got together and did a little vehicle testing on some back roads east of Mulvane Kansas. It was a short route of less than 60 miles, but it was beautiful and relaxing to get out. And it just happened to be gorgeous out.
Here's a few pix from the trip.

The line up.
My Zuk, XJ, ZJ, YJ and F350.
20141129_151526 by somecallmetimm, on Flickr

I passed over this bridge with no problem.
20141129_152651 by somecallmetimm, on Flickr

You should always test trail limits with the biggest vehicle
20141129_152751 by somecallmetimm, on Flickr
My winch can hold more than this bridge.... Hmmm...

20141129_153141 by somecallmetimm, on Flickr

 

[Somecallmetimm]

With the awesome weather we've been having I had to go topless for a while. Despite the 33 degree drive to work, this afternoon will be near 70. So it will be worth the little bit of a chill to enjoy the day to the fullest.

20150126_085435 by somecallmetimm, on Flickr

 

[Somecallmetimm]

Today I did the mods to the door hinges to easily go doorless.

 

[Somecallmetimm]

So 10 years ago a couple friends and I started the Christian Off-Road Association. We've grown in size, over the years, but never had much luck getting members outside of the Wichita, Kansas area.

This weekend we officially started a Kansas City chapter of the club! Things are gearing up and the first meet and greet will be May 16th which just happens to be National Go Topless day!

I'll post up more details and things come together if anyone is interested.

 

[Somecallmetimm]

I picked up some spacer/adapters for my trailer to match the bolt pattern on the Zuk. The trailer is torn down for repainting and a bit of a build up right now... pix would be boring. Picking up rims this weekend, and next week getting tires mounted...
Next trip I get to test how the gutless wonder does with the extra weight of the trailer. Should be interesting.

Started looking into the 1.6 swap.

 

[Somecallmetimm]

Ok... maybe one picture.

20150313_170632 by somecallmetimm, on Flickr

 

[Somecallmetimm]

A few updates.
I dug out my old jeep trail cover and was pleased that it fit as well as it did.
20150531_205603 by Tim, on Flickr

Built a tailgate table out of scraps I had sitting around. I still need to seal it and will likely go with a clear coat because I like the distressed/reclaimed wood look.
20150531_170907 by Tim, on Flickr
20150531_164655 by Tim, on Flickr

Got new rubber on the 2 wheeler. Gotta love Craigslist.
20150530_143258 by Tim, on Flickr

 

[Somecallmetimm]

Getting ready for the night runs at the 2015 Crawl 4 Christ, July 4th weekend at Disney Oklahoma!

20150608_115941 by Tim, on Flickr