Green machine Version 2.0!

k1n3k

k1n3k

Desert Dawg
Alrighty! So now that my TDI swapped rig is gone and we're looking at a totally new build, time for a new thread! So here is what I am targeting:

1. reliable - it will be an adventure rig, and it will see some long trips of 1000+ miles. Breakdowns suck!
2. reasonably capable - not a hardcore crawler but able to get through just about everything other than big rocks
3. somewhat comfortable - Long trips means good seats and working heat, a stereo, maybe a cup holder. maybe.
4. reasonably fast - it needs to keep up with my friends samurai with a 1.3. not asking for a miracle, just 55 mph.
5. light weight - I had a similar build once, it was 2200 pounds ready to rock. Thats the approx target weight again.

Here is what we're starting with:

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Its a 1.3 with a weber carb. It will be getting a stock airbox with a corolla carb. The wiring needs to be carved down to get rid of the computer, and to clean things up. It will need a stock break booster and stock axles. I'm thinking about keeping the YJs but i was really happy with my OME 1.5" lift and am leaning towards doing that again. As it sits, it has a dana 30 front and a dana 44 rear. Good axles, but heavy. that goes against goal 5, so we're ditching them. The RZR seats are terrible and that is against goal 3, so bye bye. It will get dodge neon seats as they are easy to mount, comfortable, and very cheap. I've mounted them multiple times in multiple rigs and swear by them. Once the axle are changed out, then it will get bumpers. I have the drawings still for these, and this is VERY close to what I will be building. This was the first iteration of my second samurai, and what I am looking to duplicate:

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As you can see, its not a super built rig. but that thing saw more of the utah back country than any other vehicle I've ever owned. Thousands of miles on dirt, and I daily drove it for a couple years and loved every second of it. After doing a diesel swap to it and going to YJs spring over and 33s, it was just too much, and the swap involved way too much modification to revert it back. It would have required a frame swap, new fenders and still a bunch of sheet metal work. Then my wife had some medical bills pop up, so it got sold. Now that those are taken care of, there was enough moent left over to buy the new rig, and its got better paint, NO rust whatsoever, and is near enough a clean slate that I can make it what I want. So here we go!!!
 
I hear ya, man. Mine is a daily driver and configured almost exactly as you plan (but not as pretty as yours). It does very well on- and off-road. Stock (rebuilt) 1.3L with 3k carb using original air intake, stock exhaust, OME 1.5" springs with stock shackles, stock wheels with BFG LT215/75R15 KO2s (very good off-road and quiet on the highway). Pretty much go wherever I want off-road and I don't have a problem keeping up with traffic on 65-mph highways. Peppy and fun to drive even on extended trips. Smaller tires make a big difference in on-road performance. You're going to love it. (Following).

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(photo taken by beekiller)
 
So not much of an update, but hey some progress is being made. Ordered up a 3k carb and install kit from certified machine, and tracked down some of the parts I was wondering where I was going to find them. I've got 3 axles lined up, 2 fronts and a rear. the rear has a munched gearset, so I'll be grabbing the other front for parts. 650 bucks for the three! Parts must be getting more sought after! That aint cheap! But I'll sell the dana stuff to compensate. 

Also have a good brake booster, new pedal assembly, and firewall brake lines. Free! Driveshafts might be an issue, but we'll see. They can be ordered, though I rather not.  But last time I was in my shed I DID fid my package tray! I can't live without that little bugger! Such a nice place to keep snacks and stuff while exploring!  I think I still have my stock carb hat and air filter box from the TDI swap, but my shed is buried until spring.

It. Just. Wont. Stop. Snowing.  >:( >:(  As is I can't see out of half of our windows in the house.  We don't have a plow truck this year so we're having to rent a skidloader every time we get dumped on. 3 times this month we've had to rent one.... Between that and the broken healthcare costing us an arm and a leg to keep my wife going, progress is slow due to lack of funds. 

One thing I am considering is a pieced together Epic Trek SPUA setup. I have the YJ rear setup already, I would just need the fronts. Anyone have any experience with this? I am tempted but I want to keep it nice and low. Not so much worried about flex as I am ride. 
 
bunruh said:
Are you planning on running GSX carbs on this setup now? 
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Eventually, sort of? To get the project rolling it will be the Toyota carb swap. But the intake opens the pathway for turbo EFI in the future using motorcycle throttle bodies. But thats a future project.

For now though, I have a trade deal worked out with a guy in twin falls for the axles as well, that's a much higher priority.
 
So a few updates on this. Finally got past the hellscape that was winter, and was able to get it into a garage. 

I was able to find someone who wanted the dana 30/44 setup, and he even bought the two TDI engines I had left over. I was also able to offload the sidekick transmission I had left over. He brought the parts down to me, and we swapped the dana axles and YJ leafs for stock axles and cash. A shiny new OME lift kit is on its way from Trail Tough, and I'll be ordering some brake parts as well to get this beastie back on its wheels. Once I get some parts on hand, I'll start uploading some pics. 

Once its on its wheels again, I'll build some bumpers, and I have a 1.6 16v to swap in. My wifes poor sidekick just isn't long for this world, so I'm taking the engine to shove into the sammi.
 
Anyone have any experience with the Doetsch Tech 3000 Prerunner shocks that come in the trail tough version of the OME lift kit?

I am hearing some people say they are total garbage, and some say they're fine. Low range was back ordered and I bought that kit last time and was quite pleased with it. The trail tough kit was cheap enough compared to low range that I can still buy the OME shock separate and still save 50 bucks  [thumbsup] , but I rather not spend the extra cash if these are fine.
 
I have the TT kit and I like it.  I haven't had the full OME setup so I can't compare.  Also, I haven't taken it much offroad yet to really get a feel for them.  The reason I went with TT kit is I contacted them and they said "The Doetsch Tec shocks we use are very durable and have a nice ride, we have had complaints of the OME gas shocks leaking and the Doetsch shocks last a long time."  I can't give much on longevity either as I have only had them on for like 1,000 miles.
 
Thats good enough for me, I'll slap them on and not order anything for now. They should be here tomorrow, so hopefully this weekend the new axles can be hung and have this beastie back on its new wheels
 
Life has been a shitshow lately. Seems everytime I get my truck running, it lasts about a week before it fails again. New heads. new radiator. New water pump. New axle. new new new new new....

SO. THe samurai is on stock axles again. Spring under with OME springs. all the parts are found to get stock brakes back into it, and all the steering parts are done. Saturday morning its time to get SERIOUS about putting it together. Its going to be a mad dash to drivable!
 
Good news everyone!

Progress is being made at break neck speeds!!!
So far over the last 2 weeks we've moved the samurai back to my buddies garage, inventoried the parts, gutted the interior, pulled the heater box out, cleaned out the heater core, chipped the tar off the floor, cut out the seat mounts and welded in the new mounts for the dodge neon seats and sliders!
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SOOO

Next up we're going to pressure wash the entire samurai inside and out, then we're going to scuff up the floor and get it prepped for a bit of 2k primer. once that is done, we're going to hit the inside with some herculiner just like I did on my last build. I was really happy with how that turned out before so I'll be doing it again on this one.
I've got wheels and tired ordered up, as well as a new top. Once the floor is done, then its just a matter of put the interior back in, service the front axle, replace the rear wheel bearings, and do the brakes. then she can be registered for street use!!!! After that, bumpers, sliders, lights! I am really considering the possibility of installing lunchbox lockers in both axles for now, and if I don't like it then upgrading to air lockers. Also weighing options on transfer case gears. Beekiller, your gearing calc is SUPER handy!

Anyone have experience daily driving a samurai with spartan lockers in it? Especially in snowy climates?
 
Not sure what your budget is, but have you considered the Kaiser locker? I think it would be a nice in between a lunchbox locker and an air locker. I think the price is comparable to the air locker though. I have considered getting one of these, but not sure what I will be fully using the rig for and I might not need it.
 
bunruh said:
Not sure what your budget is, but have you considered the Kaiser locker? I think it would be a nice in between a lunchbox locker and an air locker. I think the price is comparable to the air locker though. I have considered getting one of these, but not sure what I will be fully using the rig for and I might not need it.
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I checked it out. Those buggers look like they're about 900 bucks! 😱

I had a chinese air locker bookmarked on alibaba for a while. Looks like its gone... But I found E-lockers for $330. I know, its chinese, but thats where TRE lockers are coming from. its the exact same shop. I talked to their representative. same with the 6.5:1 t-case gears. They are the supplier for low range and the likes it sounds like. I actually bought a set of gears just to see what happens. I got a set for $288 shipped!!! 🤯 No idea on the quality and stuff though... I have a full spare t-case that I'll probably carry with me until I have some time on these. But being as I'm running a small tire and a 1.3, i might not have any problems. I'll inspect the hell out of them when I do get them, assuming a box of gears shows up and not a box of rocks.... But if the gears show up and are decent, I'll send them some more money and see what the E-locker is like.
 
Yeah, they aren't cheap. I was thinking pricing comparable to an ARB air locker. I think the TRE E-lockers are around $700, but I remember reading a thread about someone finding the manufacturer and ordering straight from them. I lost all my bookmarks when the site transition happened so I would have to look up the thread again.
 
Everything's now is made in China but I often wonder if the copies with a Chinese name aren't made in the same factory but don't pass quality control for the US named products so China sell them under their own name.
 
bunruh said:
Yeah, they aren't cheap. I was thinking pricing comparable to an ARB air locker. I think the TRE E-lockers are around $700, but I remember reading a thread about someone finding the manufacturer and ordering straight from them. I lost all my bookmarks when the site transition happened so I would have to look up the thread again.
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bbs.zuwharrie.com

Air Locker

Anyone else running the clone, are they still recommended? ??? [thumbsup] I still have yet to install mine because I'm a lazy sack. ::) What I can say though is that the compressor I got with mine was "functional" but not exactly the highest quality. Because I felt like a challenge I...
bbs.zuwharrie.com bbs.zuwharrie.com
 
sigh.... Just when you think you have the parts you need, turns out you don't, and then life gets interesting...

So the brake booster is becoming a major thorn in my side. I thought I had a working solution, turns out I didn't. Then when I decided to try to make it work with a little machining, some 20 year old kid decided life was hard and launched his car through the wall of the machine shop to commit suicide....

Burned the shop, and in the process of putting out the fire, the fire dept. pumped about 4 feet of water into the basement. all the machines that were spared heat were then submerged.... all in all I'd guestimate 700k in damage. No insurance either.... So yeah. That's really great. Progress has been slow because of winter time. Its finally started warming up enough to work then this happened.
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k1n3k said:
sigh.... Just when you think you have the parts you need, turns out you don't, and then life gets interesting...

Burned the shop, and in the process of putting out the fire, the fire dept. pumped about 4 feet of water into the basement. all the machines that were spared heat were then submerged.... all in all I'd guestimate 700k in damage. No insurance either.... So yeah. That's really great. Progress has been slow because of winter time. Its finally started warming up enough to work then this happened.
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I'm sorry to hear that man. I had my shop robbed this January and I'd rather have that happen 10 more times that what just happened to you.

I know you are going through a lot, but I'd start spraying everything with WD-40. When my safe was cut open, it released tear gas and that oxidized everything. The WD-40 helped save all of my old lathes and milling machine. I bet it will help you out in the long run.
 

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