Build "Salt shaker" the Suzuki samurai build

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svsisu said:
Sorry for your no spark issues... you need a diesel. No spark, no problem, sort of.

How long until the compressor is back up at the tire shop? I could come down/or meet you at the ferry and get them done in Buxton. What's your desired time frame? Happy to help, if it's help.

Fun surf up here yesterday:

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I have some tire irons... and a massive 60 gallon compressor I might try and do it my self. I just need to put some ply wood down or somthing so I am not doing it in dirt. Ill let you know though. Any tricks you know of?

also if the motor ever goes a diesel in these is really an easy swap. alot of people use volkswagon ones. I have also seen kabota diesels being used in willys jeeps and it would be cool to do it in a samurai too. Not sure about speed though. might make the already slow vehicle even slower haha.

Jellous of the surf. I went last weekend a few times and it was fun.

spookizuk said:
Sorry to hear about the electrical issues- I wish I could give some insight there, but I got nothing. I would not be surprised if a ground has gone bad if you've had a ton of rain.
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Yeah Its frustrating because it was the daily. Now yee old bicycle is the daily till I figure this out. Hopefully this weekend will prove to be fruitful. I traced 12 volts to the coil. so I am getting power to there. I am going to ohm test the coil to make sure. I am going to find all the grounds and clean them up. Then I am going to test the halifax sensor in the Dizzy (Suzuki calls this the ignition module) Its basically a pertronix. I am not getting spark to the plugs. There is also some sort of noise filter that causes spark issues that I need to figure out where it is and check that. Ohh I will also check to make sure the rotor is spinning. I had the thought last night that my timing belt could have broken and that could be the problem. It was on the list of things to replace. I have never heard any bad noises but who knows.

Hoping the ground is the issue because its the cheeper fix I think.
 
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I bought a cheep dizzy off amazon just incase the ignition module test bad. (you cant just buy the ignition module any more). If its fine I can send it back. no harm no foul. if the old dizzy ignition module is bad I can have my current dizzy rebuilt by petro autoworks in california and It will be OEM after I do that.
 
Probibly one of the more physically demanding jobs in the automotive world. (and I have pulled and installed toyota 2f engines). I have never done this job before. I loaded my brain up with youtube knowledge and went for it. I mounted my first tire on the rim. Now only 3 more to go hahah. Tires make all the difference! honestly it looks so good! made me completely forget about my electrical demons!

Dirt on the rim. I didn't scratch it up too bad.
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Look at the rear tire compared to the front. at full lock it does not rub on anything either.
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passenger side for reference.
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I cant wait to to give it for a spin when I get everything sorted.
 
New wheels and tires can really transform the look of a vehicle. Especially when the old ones were way too wide off set and been on the vehicle since 2013. I am really sore from mounting the 4 tires on the rims. It was just as much work as I remember doing this when I was 24 years old... except I am majorly sore at 35 the next day. these wheels and tires seem to be about perfect for the SPOA lift his samurai. The best part though is if I decide to undo the lift with a 2 inch OME leafs is that the wheels will still fit.

I took it up to speed to the north end of Ocracoke and I just hit 55 and held it in 5th but a strong head wind would probably slow it down. But it does seem like less strain on the drive train when shifting through gears. According to the speedo it was 55. I am guessing the speedo is not correct with over sized tires. I was probably going 55 when it says 50 on the speedo. I still could benefit from some new lower range t case gears to make it more drivable off the island.
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Now I just need to get a spare tire. I think I will probably need a spacer for the mount.
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You will notice that I said I drove it. My electrical issues seemed to be this coil. and apparently my pertronix spare coil was garbage too. I pulled the coil out of my izusu pup and funny enough it was the exact same aftermarket yellow ACCEL coil. I swapped it in and fired right up! I also replaced both battery terminals. and tested the ignition module in the dizzy. it ohmed within spec at 150. I cancelled my order of the dizzy and ordered a new coil that will be here next week.
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Get this app:
apps.apple.com

Speedometer 55 Pro. GPS kit. App - App Store

Download Speedometer 55 Pro. GPS kit. by Stanislav Dvoychenko on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like Speedometer…
apps.apple.com apps.apple.com

It’s great for knowing your correct speed but can also track your mileage etc…
 
A Sammy popped up on my local CL for a good deal… so tempted but it’s shovel money into the wind season so I must refrain.
 
RevISK said:
Get this app:
apps.apple.com

Speedometer 55 Pro. GPS kit. App - App Store

Download Speedometer 55 Pro. GPS kit. by Stanislav Dvoychenko on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like Speedometer…
apps.apple.com apps.apple.com

It’s great for knowing your correct speed but can also track your mileage etc…
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I had used a gps speedo app on it prior. I think I tested it kinda recently with the 31s. I think the samurai speedo was more accurate a 30 and below and seemed to be slow at 40 and up. but these tires are smaller so I m guessing it will be closer to accurate. Maybe Ill test it out today when the rain stops. I wanted to weld up the floor pans in the 55 today but right now as I am typing a water fall is coming out of the gutters... guess the welding will wait.
RevISK said:
A Sammy popped up on my local CL for a good deal… so tempted but it’s shovel money into the wind season so I must refrain.
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honestly for a cruiser head, samurai should feel right at home. they are really overbuilt for how tiny they are. I really feel like they are a mini fj40. A suzuki jimny lj20 popped up recently around here (the dream little jeep car for me) but cant afford it this time of the year...... These dang christmas gifts are killing me this year!

I think eventually maybe in the next year or so I want to pick up a tin top samurai or jimny ja22. I think it be cool to have one of those too.
 
So now I am looking at Tcase gears. I am thinking 4:16 over 4:90 mostly because I am running 30s now and I dont really plan on driving up hills and stuff. anybody have any input?
I cant get over how much better this sammy looks! It also really drives better but It tops out about 55ish with the pedal to the floor on stock gearing. I think the lower tcase gears I would loose some top end speed but it should go 55 easy instead of the pedal to the floor.
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Roastchestnuts said:
So now I am looking at Tcase gears. I am thinking 4:16 over 4:90 mostly because I am running 30s now and I dont really plan on driving up hills and stuff. anybody have any input?
I cant get over how much better this sammy looks! It also really drives better but It tops out about 55ish with the pedal to the floor on stock gearing. I think the lower tcase gears I would loose some top end speed but it should go 55 easy instead of the pedal to the floor.
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You need to do a side by side of how you got it and now.
 
RevISK said:
You need to do a side by side of how you got it and now.
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Good point!

These pictures don't do it justice on how roached out it was... the only body panels that did not need welding new patches or replacing were the hood, tailgate and drivers fender. I pretty much replaced or patched everything else. behind the fender flairs a lot of hidden rust was lurking. more than I thought it had there when I bought it. But hey nothing I couldent handle!
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Drivers side And passenger side of the cowl were both roached. the driverside was all bondo! This was the first repair welding I did.

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Everything in the picture below was replaced. That windshield ended up breaking. the windshield frame was mega trashed. even the spots that didnt look rusty were rusty!
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spookizuk said:
It's been a lot of fun seeing this come together. I also saw your Sammy on instagram, either ZuksofArizona or Samurai.Szn reposted it. Let me know if you go the turbo diesel route eventually- that's something I've had my eye on!
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It was Samurai.szn! he is super nice! I will let you know. Id love to build a diesel in this sammy. another Idea is a super charger for the 1.3 would be really cool! the super charger is more than I payed for the sammy though hahaha.
 
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I love this "funny car" as my wife calls it. I really dont have a whole lot to fix left. I want to replace the front seats. I will also need to paint the hinges. and regeara the tcase.
 
I got some new OEM door cards for the samurai for Christmas. It looks so good . Not too hard to install either! This Kit from Suzuki parts usa moves the lock to the top of the door. I like this better. These door cards are the nicest thing In the interior right now haha.

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I also got this Roadlessgear soft top bow thats stainless steel. My old one was swiss cheese. so this was a worthy upgrade. It also came with a bag that you can store it in.
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I bought these a while back. but I also have metal windshield hinges from roadless gear. I need to clean up the gasket. I found water under the plastic hinges and I am hoping this helps. These hinges are cool because they have a pin that you can pull out and it allows you to remove the windshield all together.
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Finally installed seatbelts. These dont have the retractor gizmo. I believe these are for a Suzuki SJ410.

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Now I just need some new seats!
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My compressor is getting stickered up!
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Cant forget the Cruiser outfitters sticker. @cruiseroutfit
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I think I am going to paint the rims white like factory. I think that will look better. Ill test one out first to make sure. I can always repaint it black.
 
The ProCar 90 seats are pretty great for the price. I put them in my 40 and it was a good decision.
Cost less than redoing my OE ones.
 
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