Swift 1.3 DOHC into a Samurai

[lxer96]

This post has been a long time coming but I feel it will be useful for those of you who are going to or have thought about doing this swap.  I will include the total costs of the stuff I used for it.  All the new parts came from Advance Auto Parts unless noted otherwise.  Once all the parts are gathered the swap can be done in a weekend if you're by yourself or if you have a friend or 2 with you, probably in a day.  You will notice that very little fabrication work was done on this project.  I used parts from other vehicles to simplify and speed up the process.  Also I don't have much experience making things so it's probably for the best!

First the parts:
NEW
Boss clutch kit for a Samurai $70 ebay(yes a stock Samurai clutch has held up well for my 98% street application)
Samurai flywheel $50
Bosch Fuel Pump part#69100 $99 w/lifetime warranty
Purolator fuel filter part#F63169 $9
Mazda 323 GTX distributor cap $27
Swift GTI rotor $9
Electric radiator fan $70
30a switch $5 Wal Mart
48" universal performance radiator hose $60 ebay
2" Thrush Turbo Muffler $20 Summit
2" free flowing catalytic converter $60 Summit
Cheesy chrome resonated exhaust tip $9 Summit
90-93 Accord cold air intake $13 ebay
universal MAF adapter for cone filter $10

Used Parts:
Swift 1.3 DOHC engine and harness $700 Aftermarket4x4 (Heckuva deal I think)
Sidekick 1.6 16v tubular steel exhaust manifold $100 Aftermarket4x4
Swift MAF meter $35 MNSamurai
Sprint thermostat housing $15 MNSamurai
Samurai Tach cluster $45 Ka4yqi
80's Ford truck external fuel pump mount $5 U-pull it
91-96 Escort fuel filter mount $5 U-pull it

Fab Work
Modification to the harness $450 Trail Tough
Speed Sensor Modification $85 Trail Tough
Exhaust Manifold machine work $30
Exhaust plumbing $140 Sharpsburg Muffler

Total $2121

I will not go into to much detail about how to remove and install the engine as it has been covered many many times.  I will say that I used the stock Samurai engine mounts and did not hammer my firewall in any way and it fits ok.  Also the Samurai transmission bolts up perfectly and the Samurai starter was also used. 

Engine Modifications:
Once you remove the engine it's time to swap over the Samurai oil pan and pick up tube to the GTI engine.  They will be a direct bolt in replacement of the Swift pieces.  Make sure your pick up tube has the o-ring on it.  I had to bend the mounting brackets on my pickup tube because they came in contact with the crankshaft.  I just bent them until I could turn the engine over without it hitting anything. Now swap out the GTI water pump pipe with the Samurai one.  Either get a new o-ring for it or be really careful with the old one.  I'd recommend using some kind of lubricant when pushing the pipe back in the water pump housing so that the o-ring slides in where it's supposed to, otherwise it'll leak.  There will be one extra opening on the Samurai pipe that you will not need.  Cap it off.  Now is also the time to put on the Sprint thermostat housing.  There will be a large extra threaded hole you will not need so cap it off as well.  It's the one in the center.

Ignition Modification:
I used a fairly simple set up for mine. A Mazda 323 GTX cap and a stock GTI rotor.  Looking at the 323 cap you will notice it has no spring loaded center brush.  I drilled out the 323's center brush deep enough for the center brush with the spring from the Samurai cap to fit in it.  Again be careful doing this.  I did it a little at a time until it was perfect.  The reason I chose to do this instead of putting a spring on the rotor was simply because I didn't want to mess with anything that moves.   The rotor is spinning pretty fast in there when the engine is running and I didn't want to risk anything  vibrating loose.  The cap ends up looking like this when the engine is in.  The only thing that touches the firewall is the little dust cap as you can see. 


Fuel System Modifications:
The stock fuel filter was used as a screen for the new pump since the pump is only high pressure on the output side. I used the famous Ford fuel pump due to no fancy connections and plentiful stock at most part stores.  It is mounted to the underside of the body using the mount from an 80's Bronco that is made for this same pump.  It has good insulation and fits perfectly with the pump. You can't hear the pump when the engine is running.   The power wire is ran down the transmission tunnel using the factory bendable wire holders along the way to keep it in place.  It is grounded to the speedo cable bracket nearby. Make sure you have the pump oriented in the right direction.  I did mine backwards the first time only to hear bubbles blowing in the fuel tank the first time I turned the key on.  The pump set up looks like this.


The filter I used came from a 91-96 Escort due to the same reasons as the pump.  Also the Escort mounting was used.  I put it just underneath the intake manifold on the passenger side.  It looks like this.

People have asked me why I put it there.  It's easy to get to.  It's close to the engine so stuff has less of a chance to get into the rail and that's where it was on the Escort!

Exhaust:
I used a stock exhaust manifold from a 1.6 16v Sidekick.  This one in particular was tube steel and not cast.  Using the GTI exhaust manifold gasket as a template you will see that most of the bolt holes line up perfectly already.  Some of the holes you will not use because the GTI doesn't have as many studs holding it on.  I had a machine shop drill out the ones I needed to use to make it fit.  Once you get that part taken care of you will have to cut 1" off each of the runners where they mount to the head flange in order to get clearance from the steering shaft.  Also the egr bung will have to be closed off with the welder.  Once the mainfold welded back together you can clean it up and throw on a nice coat of high temp paint!  Purty!


Wiring:
I looked to Trail Tough for this.  The harness came back labeled for an easy installation.  All I had to do was use wire taps to connect them to the existing wires.  Mine matched color for color.  The speed sensor was also plug n play.  There's a single yellow wire that connects it to the modified harness.  Everything else plugs in to the stuff under the hood.  The harness was ran into the cab from a spot pretty close to where the factory ecu was.  I used a 2" hole saw to carefully drill out a spot for the harness to go through.  You will need to use a 2" grommet to keep the sharp edge of the new hole from rubbing through the insulation of the wires.  I got one off a car at the junkyard.  The hole is here:


Cooling:
The stock radiator is being used with an aftermarket electric fan wired to a manual switch inside the cab. The 48" radiator hose was used because the thermostat is on the opposite end of the Swift engine.  I also used a small piece of the stock upper radiator hose to connect to the 48 incher due to clearance.  It was the only way I could think of to get it to work.   The stock lower radiator hose fits perfectly when using the Samurai water pipe. Here are a few pics. Pardon the coat hanger hose bracket.  I had to use something to keep it off the exhaust manifold!




Intake:
I used the cold air portion of a cheapie Accord intake with a HKS filter I had laying around from another project.  The pipe had to be shortened quite a bit but it seems to be doing the job. 

Other odds and ends:
The brake booster line had to be flipped upside down and bent a little to work with the new engine.  The stock temp sender wire and oil pressure light wire will have to be used in order for them to work correctly.  Make sure you remove the factory ecu.  The Sensor light will stay on if you leave it in.

I'm sure there are little things I'm forgetting but I'll be happy to answer any question you may have if I can. 

[Isaiah]

Have you driven it yet?

[lxer96]

Yes, put about 2000 miles on it so far.

[Isaiah]

How is it? 

[MN_samurai]

very nice writeup!  swift GTi powered samurais are a lot more fun to drive than with stock motors.. lol.

[lxer96]

It is pretty much a night and day difference.    With stock tires and my old complete 1.3 engine in the back it will cruise at this speed if I want.  Of course it's kinda scary drivin a Samurai this fast...

[Schultzie]

Wow .  That speedo reading is a photo chop, right ?  Crusing at 80+ in a Sami.  Scary indeed, but fun I bet...

[lxer96]

No photoshop.  Notice how there's no tach needle?  It's way up there at that speed.  Like 5000ish LOL

[Isaiah]

You have to be at 5000RPM to go 85, even with the DOHC?

[mattlocks]

You said at the end to remove the factory ecu..Im assuming the samurai's ecu? Does that control the cataletic converter? Just wondering if it would pass smog.
       Plus, I dont know much about the swift engine , but how many mile's can you get out of the swift motor?

[lxer96]

As far as I know the only piece of emissions equpiment is the o2 sensor.  The cat works all by itself with no electronic help.  I do know that there was a California only model that had more emissions stuff.  Yes unplug the Samurai ECU.  Yes the engine turns that high.  I'm guessing it has more to do with gears than the engine.  As far as milage goes I dunno.  It seems to be a well built motor.

[mattlocks]

Thanks for the reply. Im in utah so I dont know if there was a different model as well. I think I might have to look into this swap.

[dwrlhc]

sweet! i'm really tempted to say screw the 1.6 idea and go dohc swift myself. lots of guys in gti's spinning the lil 1.3 way up to 8800 rpm on stock bottom ends with no drama!

[Jeremiah]

Why not just put the DOHC head on the sami bottom end?

[dwrlhc]

because the gti bottom end is filled with high quality forged parts-crank rod and pistons. sami stuff is cast and cant handle any real rpm without the threat of throwing a rod out the side of the block.

[Jeremiah]

because the gti bottom end is filled with high quality forged parts-crank rod and pistons. sami stuff is cast and cant handle any real rpm without the threat of throwing a rod out the side of the block.

Oh... well so much for being lazy / cheap then  I've been eyeballing the 1.6L upgrade myself... how does the DOCH handle the low RPM stuff?

[Cy-Zuki]

Velly Interesting!

Ditto above - OK so it revs but what is the torque like compared to normal Sammi engine?
I suppose the next question would then be: what is the torque compared to a 1600?
I would imagine the torque would be less than the 1600 and may be even less than
our old friend the Sammi???

Am likely to be mahoosively wrong, I'm just guessing.

[MN_samurai]

i cannot speak for lxer96, but i know my gti powered samurai has far better low rpm pull than any 8v 1300 i have ever had.  please note that i run carbs not efi. 

[lxer96]

It simply outperforms my old 1.3 8v in every way.  Where my old engine would kinda sluggishly chug along, this one doesn't stay in the low revs long enough for me to notice a loss in torque if there is one.  The throttle response is 10 times better.  I also have a 1.6 8v Sidekick and the GTI in the Samurai feels alot more powerful.  Might have something to do with weight though. 

GTI  100HP@ 6000rpm 83.2ft/lbs @ 5000rpm
1.3 8v 60 HP @ 6500rpm 76 ftlbs. of torque @ 3500 rpm
1.6 8v 80 HP @ 5400rpm 94 ftlbs. of torque @ 3300rpm
1.6 16v 95 HP @ 5600rpm 98 ftlbs. of torque @ 4000rpm
   
 

[Jeremiah]

There's a swift in my hood for $700 *drools*

[lxer96]

Just to add, it also passed GA emissions today!

[ka4yqi]

All right on the emissions. Did they look under the hood? Right now we dont have to be inspected, but its coming.

[lxer96]

Nope.  I'm hoping that the "1300" on the valve cover will throw them off since it's still a 1.3l

[Jeff@TheQuadShop]

If anyone else wants to do this swap I have 2 running GTI motors still in the cars with harness and computers that I may sell.

[ZukiJon]

If anyone else wants to do this swap I have 2 running GTI motors still in the cars with harness and computers that I may sell.

What condition are the cars in?

[ZukiJon]

You have to be at 5000RPM to go 85, even with the DOHC?

5K is nothing for a GTi, I had one in high school and used to spin it alot higher

[Jeff@TheQuadShop]

What condition are the cars in?

One is totaled and the other is disassembled.

[Jeff@TheQuadShop]

5K is nothing for a GTi, I had one in high school and used to spin it alot higher

They make peak power at 6500 rpm with redline at 7000.

[ZukiJon]

They make peak power at 6500 rpm with redline at 7000.

I know for a fact it'll go over 8K and hold up, but it really isn't making much more power if any at that point. I was hard on that car, and it never gave up. I was a kid, whatdya expect, I had fun but know better now. I'd love to have another as a DD.

[Jeff@TheQuadShop]

I have one as a daily driver that is super clean and has the rare Suzuki 7 spoke alloys.

[ZukiJon]

I have one as a daily driver that is super clean and has the rare Suzuki 7 spoke alloys.

I plan on buying one within the next year. I almost put my Zuk up for sale recently, and planned on buying something with a dreaded payment. I've decided to kep the Zuk and put the money that I'd put out on a car payment aside and in about 8 to 10 months I'll be able to get a really clean Swift GTi (with no payment!) .

[Jeff@TheQuadShop]

I plan on buying one within the next year. I almost put my Zuk up for sale recently, and planned on buying something with a dreaded payment. I've decided to kep the Zuk and put the money that I'd put out on a car payment aside and in about 8 to 10 months I'll be able to get a really clean Swift GTi (with no payment!) .

Smart man!!!

[zuku26]

subbin'

[augeter]

I have thought about this also. My question is the timing belt cover seems to be missing on most of the DOHC Swift conversions. Is there a problem using the stock timing cover? Out in the sand of Nevada the sand eats up pulleys and gears pretty fast without a good cover. I found this out on my first Samurai.

[lxer96]

They warp...  That's the only reason I don't have mine.

[lxer96]

Just an update.  It's been almost a year since I did the swap and I drive it everyday.  I've put roughly 8k miles on it.  I'm getting an average of 28mpg which doesn't make sense to me considering what they get in the swift body, but I guess the added weight and drivetrain loss, coupled with the lack of aerodynamics makes it hard to get any better.  No major problems so far.  I've had some oil leaks and an idle issue that turned out to be a vaccum line hooked up wrong.  I can't say enough good things about it though. This motor should have been a factory option. 

[jimbo jones]

my mate and I did this conversion in his zook





we used the stock sammi dizzy with a angle drive adaptor

[zukskywalker]

I was just about to ask you where you got your right angle disty adapter from when I noticed you're an Aussie. Got any deals on those adapters for us Yanks? I'll gladly take a used one for a good price!
(BTW: Nice pics, and...if the Swift block is the same as the Sammi block why is the Swift engine always leaning to the right on this swap?)

[jimbo jones]

the block is the same but the head angles down if you look at the manafold the top sits flat this motor came out of a 89 gti swift here in Australia the we cut the origanal thermostate housing and rewelded it so it points to the right and ran a brass pipe under the maifold for a factory look the angle drive adptor can be bought here in aust for $400 aus

[jimbo jones]

heres the web site for the angle drive


http://www.suzisport.com/shop/

[geckocycles]

http://www.dgtuning.com/ Also and cheaper but this is a website and no tellin how old it is. I see lots of stuff here that is long out of production. LOL.

[lxer96]

How does the distributor advance timing?  The stock one is ECU controlled. 

[geckocycles]

You use the EFI, stock dizzy and ECU.

There were some carbed versions of the Swift overseas that had mechanical advance. Not sure if any made it over here or not. I heard they are rare but I did see a posting for sale of a mechanical dizzy from a Swift on a UK forum.

[lxer96]

I was told by Suzisport that it would not work with a US spec EFI system.  Don't know what the difference is.  That's just what they told me when I looked into getting one of these. 

[jimbo jones]

http://www.dgtuning.com/ Also and cheaper but this is a website and no tellin how old it is. I see lots of stuff here that is long out of production. LOL.

The adaptor will only fit the mk1 motor and this one you have foi d is n the uk the price will work out the same as the Aussie one
if you have a mk2 or 3 you need to use a Mazda dizzy cap and rotor button I used this on my mk2 motor and works fine I have a thread somwere on another fourm about how to do it I will have a look and copy it to here

[jimbo jones]

I did the 323 cap on mine and my mate did the angle drive on his I think for the money the Mazda cap wins hands down but don't think for a second its a straight bolt up
the Mazda cap is 2 small and needs to be opened up with a die grinder go slow and keep trial fitting it its about 2mm that has to come of you will also need the Mazda rotor button now to get this to fit the gti dizzy you will have to crack open the gti rotor button and remove the brass sleeve, on the Mazda rotor there is a little metal bit where it sits on the shaft remove this and discard there is also a little lug in there this also needs to be removed (I put a flat screwdriver in there and snapped it out) then you need to enlarge the hole with a drill not to much the brass sleeve out of the gti rotor need to be taped in make shoure the screw hole is in the right spot as its a press fit and wont come back out once the brass sleeve is fitted drill a hole for the locating screw and fit new rotor button and cap

now I did all this but see how the mazda cap has the numbers on it is it the same firing order as the gti or do I need to swap leads around?  :?