Builds "Salt shaker" the Suzuki samurai build (1 Viewer)

[Roastchestnuts]

So excited to do a comprehensive build on a Suzuki samurai i just picked up. New to the sammy scene but I have always wanted one! I picked this one up for $3,000 Witch was about right for the project I think. Not a terrible deal. The samurai has 98k original miles, Working AC, Stock carb setup. Pretty much unmolested engine bay. It has a spring over axle lift, high steer kit, and some bigger 31x10.50 tires under it. THe front bumper has got to go! that might be the very first thing it do.

Has some rust. windshield frame is toast and I am planning on picking up a new one. Some more rust is hiding in a few places. the cowl under where the windshield frame attaches is suspect too. I imagine I will need to weld in patches. has a few rust spots in the typical spots. the drivers door and the passenger door hinge area have spots I am a little worried about. Just will be difficult repairs. Most problem areas look to be easy to obtain patch panels. or just make my own out of 18 gage.

previous owner was spraying fluid film on the areas probibly saving it from being much much worse.

I should take delevery tomorrow! I will update as I go

 

[clrussell]

I’m here for the show

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I’m here for the show

I am excited on this one! Ill post more pictures when Its here on the island.

 

[RevISK]

I, also, am here for the show.
I have been looking for a Samurai low key for a while. This should be fun to watch.

 

[onemanarmy]

IN

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Its Headed my way! crazy the thing is sitting on pretty much a lawn mower trailer!

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Update: I actually saw the samurai in person for the first time in a few years. I should have said on the first post here that the owner is a local friend of mine. I have seen the Samurai off and on since 2013ish. like I said previously its weirdly better looking in person. The only downside is the doors are worse than I thought. Ill probably end up buying a new set. after I have gone through everything I may post some wanted adds for doors and the windshield frame. drives really good. I took it for a test drive. starts right up. Motor seems healthy. I was there for the cold start off the trailer. it comes with some new maintenance parts like brake master, fuel pump, new top and the old top thats on it, fuel sending unit ( the fuel gage does not work but I think it could be a ground) I am going to the bank today at noonish to do title stuff . Ill post more photos today.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Alrighty! I am now the prowed owner of a crusty 1988 suzuki samurai. I have quite a list of things that I will need to do. but I can already cross one off the list! I picked up a bumper on slamazon for 102 with shipping and tax. I saw that deal and could not pass it up. I need this thing to have the stock bumper on it. once I get off work Ill get some more pictures of everything for you all. I also have a factory shop manual coming too.

 

[FJBen]

My good friend has messed around with a few samurai’s. He says people go crazy for them in California. I’m always on the lookout for one.

So easy to work on.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I am going to get the bad news out of the way first - so where the windshield meets the cowl is the worst spot on the whole car. pretty crusty rusty with holes and will need new patch panels. I cant decide if I want to save energy and find a roller without a motor or go to a junkyard to find patch panels or just make patch panels yet. I dont think it would be terrible to make panels since its all flat spots with a slight bow. Both sides were like this. the previous owner put grease there to slow it. I just took a wire brush and screwdriver and cleaned out everything there and rust converted for the time being as to not let it get worse.

the tub has some pots that will need attention but I think I can handle it. one spot under part of where the soft top connects. and I found a spot Ill need to patch in the drivers floor. the floor had been rinolined and this spot was hiding under there.

The engine has a weird surge up and down when not under throttle. not sure what that is. I might have to do a toyota 3k carb swap just to make it more simple! I am going to mess around with it when I get my FSM in the mail today.

fuel sending unit ground is bad. as the fuel gage is all over the place. I put 2 gallons in it and now the tank is full. even thought it will say half a tank or full or empty at any moment haha.

I did get a few new parts with the car - fuel pump, fuel sending unit, brake master, fuel filter, new top.

the only mechanical thing I found other than the engine surging at idle was the shifter has lots of slop . apparently a common issue.

I made a list to start crossing things off. its on the fridge to keep reminding me, Already got 2 things crossed. steering wheel orientation (steering wheel was basically oriented upside down. ) and take surfboard rack off and put spare tire on. The spare looks alot better on there even though its dry rotted.
Nice!

Brake master and fuel pump are on there because I have new parts. 19 is repair cowl area.

Now for the good news -

this thing drives great! its so fun to drive., no issues with the frame. the birfs were done in the last year, AC does indeed work just look at that tiny little ac compressor! , after further inspection the doors are savable! just lots of surface rust. 4x4 works great, all the lights and switches work, the clarion radio works. the hood and drivers fender is rust free.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Just like that the bumper is gone. although I am 99% sure that who ever installed the bumper welded brackets on the frame.... classic. I am going to have to start cutting stuff I guess. took apart the top. going to take the targa bars off today too. Most of these parts needed some rust treatment. I am planning on repainting this rig this summer too. My fsm should show up today. I want to tune the carb a little.

 

[RevISK]

Geo Tracker Suzuki Sidekick Samurai PARTS - auto parts - by owner - vehicle automotive sale - craigslist

CATALOG- Your car is the catalog. Parts A to Z; all 5974 parts SUZUKI Sidekick Vitara X 9 0 and Samurai GEO Tracker CHEVY Tracker EXTERIOR Parts INTERIOR Parts ENGINE Parts RIMS GLASS- 2 door , 4...

dallas.craigslist.org

I’ll be in dallas end of next week if any of this looks enticing.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Geo Tracker Suzuki Sidekick Samurai PARTS - auto parts - by owner - vehicle automotive sale - craigslist

CATALOG- Your car is the catalog. Parts A to Z; all 5974 parts SUZUKI Sidekick Vitara X 9 0 and Samurai GEO Tracker CHEVY Tracker EXTERIOR Parts INTERIOR Parts ENGINE Parts RIMS GLASS- 2 door , 4...

dallas.craigslist.org

I’ll be in dallas end of next week if any of this looks enticing.

maybe the rims. let me contact and see how much he wants for 4 rims. Thanks for the heads up! I am thinking I am going to purchase some parts here soon for the samurai on the cc because I am worried about the terrif stuff. I need a few things for sure.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I got the targa bar thing off today. did some searching for rust using my needle scaler in the bed and floor areas too. and as a good I spy kid I found the bondo and fiberglass patch somebody had done in the past. Luckly its a place that must rust out for alot of sammys as I found a Suzuki branded patch panel for this spot for 30$ I am a little worried car parts are going to go up in price so I might go ahead and purchase some parts like the windshield frame and a few other things I know Ill need tomorrow.

It looks pretty cool without all the extra soft top stuff!

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I pressure washed the frame and thenI drove it to do some work before I did a deep tear down. after this shot was taken I pulled the seats and took the needle scaler to look for more rust. I think I have found most of it. Found some more in the rear of the tub. some really well hidden bondo in a few spots unfortunuty. the left and right bed corners are toast. I did purchase those panels. Unfortunutly I kept digging and I 100% need wheel wells and some bed side patches at the least. I gotta buy those still.

after that I converted the rust areas with caroseal just till I get my shipment of metal and patches in. then I tool all the seats out and checked the front as well. didnt find much bad rust in the front floor pants luckly.

Then came the windsheild frame. Just like the fj40 I had to use my air hammer to turn those mother trucking screws to get it off. Luckly I got it off. the cowel area under the windshield to cowl bracket is real bad on both sides. Luckily its all angular pieces. I should be able to burn in new metal at least. But man that frame was toast. the whole bottom was gone.

Alot cleaner after pressure washing !

Look most of the bottom of this frame is missing!

glad I took the fenders off. I was actually expecting alot worse here.

So I will be at a stand still till I get more parts in. I am waiting on all kids of things that I bought from Home - Suzuki Parts USA - https://suzukipartsusa.com/ I have fold down windsheild kit, a later model year front grill kit, windsheild gasket, some wires, rotor and cap, windsheild gasket, windsheild frame, a new shifter kit 12mm to get rid of that slop, some hard ware and a few more things!

 

[Roastchestnuts]

First parts are starting to show up. Here rear bed patch panels. here an actual suzuki branded one! crazy this one shipped from puerto rico!

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I am going to rant for a second. I should have stated the rust above was 100% due to the fact somebody threw fiber glass resin and filler down as a repair. they most likely did it strait over bad rust. I HATE this type of repair. Id rather see rust holes. Filler is not for HOLES! its hard to tell visually even with a magnet because it will still magnetize to whats underneath (even if its swiss cheese underneath. Unfortunately I found 4 spots in the bed like this. where they litterally pushed bondo into a hole full of rust. Fortunately 2 of the spots look easy to repair at least. and even more fortunately is that these are the only bondo spots I found in the whole car aside from the window that was so far gone that I am replacing the whole frame.

I will hopfully start some patches and cutting things out before the week is done. I should get my patch metal in today and I bought a small metal brake for the 20 gage to help with this project.

My big lofty goal is to start painting before the end of June. I think I am going to try eastwoods roll on self leveling primer and do the whole job in a car tent carport thing. I am planning on repainting it a factory red color. any other color suggestions out there? dont worry I will spray on the color and clear.

I am kinda going out of order. I should do things like brakes and carbswap before body work but since its not a driver right now I might as well get the hard stuff out of the way.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Update I worked on the samurai for about an hour yesterday. I started cutting some of the tub rail apart to start patching. I should also get some goodies in the mail today from UPS. things like my new samurai grill (I got a the later one) and my lower grill support. I got my bumper in yesterday. With my front bumper I will have to do some fab work. at some point the front spring hangers were changed and it did some funky stuff to where the bumper mounts. Ill post a picture this evening to show what I am talking about. you can see it in the pictures above.

I think they moved the front shackle to the rear. somebody school me on the benefits to this. Is it something to do with the pinion angle on a SOA lift?
Edit* somebody did a shackle reversal. Apparently it improves some of the sketchy short wheel base solid front axle driving characteristics. This seems like a good mod. I might clean up some of the fabrication and leave it. I know because of this mod the front bumper mounts are long gone and Ill have to fab something to make it work.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Also does anybody have any sugguestions on rims for these. I think the CJ steelies will fit the samurai? I kinda want a stock look with 30 inch tires. I thought about super traxion style skinny tire!

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I got quite a few new parts in yesterday. The front grill, the shifter can and base as its a good upgrade to get rid of shifter slop and lower grill support were the three big ones that are oem. I bought plug wires and a cap and rotor. the plug wires are kinda trash and I think I am going to buy some NGK ones or something. They do work however and it does run a lot better without a stumble. The cap also did not fit and I am a little annoyed about that. I will contact them and tell them that. I don't care that I may not get my money back though. it was a cheep part. Luckly everything else I got was oem suzuki. I also got the fold down windsheild parts that I am really excited about. I think In the places that I removed screws I will put m6 bolts back in. I am not a big fan of philips fasteners for things like the windsheild or the lower grill support. when taking them out its a nightmare.

I m annoyed when I was installing the shifter something shifted out of neutral into a gear and I have been having a difficult time figuring out what and how to get it back in neutral. I think I found a couple of the issues and will report back this afternoon. I also looked at my FSM and think I have figured out what i did wrong. Will report back tomorrow.

This is the old shifter base. you can actually see why I had so much slop in the shifter. the locater pin is actually broken. I am lucky it did not fall into the transmission. Ill get a better picture this afternoon. the old shift cane is also wallered out bad. No wonder I had so much slop in the shifter.

new shifter base that is fitted with a 12mm shifter locator pin. The originals were 10mm pins and a common problem with them is breaking. and causing sloppy shifting.

Below I was test fitting the grill and lower grill support. I have the Suzuki emblem for the front as well. I cant decide if I want to paint this part yet. I am repainting the vehicle a red color. I figured for this project I would learn how to repaint. Plan is to over prep for paint work. Its a small enough project so it should be economical to repaint and easier than most. I am going to try out eastwoods self leveling roll on primer I think. Does anyone have experince with that? Painting is still a way away but I am excited about it.