check out my new Samurai Project

[3.5Pajero]

Hey guys, just wanted to show you all my new SJ70 and my thoughts so far..
So I picked it up from Tirau on the weekend for $2500 without a warrant, towed it back to Auckland on a transporter and drove it down to the local VTNZ - failed on a couple of exhaust leaks and a dodgy stop/tail light. Fixed the tail light with a bit of CRC and some scotchbrite and plugged the exhaust leaks on the roadside with a smear of exhaust putty and when that didn’t work hose clamps a strip of tin and car bog + an explanation to the testing guy that it was just a quick fix to get me back to Whangarei. PASS!!
It’s a 1990 SJ70 Samurai with the factory G13BA engine and absolutely no mods of any kind other than the fog lights and a kill switch. Pulled up all the carpets and found a small rust hole in the drivers foot well and some bubbled paint in the front corner of the bonnet, other than that it seems to be fairly rust free.
I do have a few questions for the Zuk experts out there and I realise that some of them are likely answered in previous posts - So I will continue to trawl through history, but I also realise that new members come along with new thoughts and expertise and it would be great to get your thoughts on certain issues as well. (wanted to get in before I got as seems to be a regular response whenever someone new asks a question that sounds like it would have been answered before…??)
In return for your help, I would like to think that in time I may be of assistance - my background is in mechanical engineering, I am a certified fitter and turner, and currently work for New Zealand's only Oil Refinery looking after their rotating equipment - Pumps, compressors, blowers, fans and steam turbines of various sizes and makes - diagnosing faults and making repairs. Hence it is in my nature to want pull things apart and make improvements.

So the first thing I noticed driving home towing the transporter behind the SJ is a ticking noise coming from the engine when under acceleration? Tappets maybe? Don’t think it is a wiped bearing but will have a good look over it this weekend. Oddly it seems to disappear when the clutch peddle is slightly depressed, but not depressed enough to unload to motor...

*There is a shudder in the rear in first and second gears at low revs? No idea what that one is..some kind of vibration suppressor issue?

*Third, I think someone forgot to put the synchros in the gearbox! However it is making me learn how to drive a real vehicle again after owning the pajero, double clutching and getting the revs just right - quite satisfying when you get it right! Are all SJ's like this? Or will I notice a world of difference by rebuilding the box? And as it is now my daily driver, does anyone have a spare box I could rebuild and then swap over to minimise down time? Would be keen to buy or some kind of a deal where I give you my old one when finished if you are just looking to keep a spare lying around.

*A giant flat spot from the carby low down in the rev range, Idles fine, never needs the choke to start - just has a flat spot when you put your foot down it will die for a sec then away she goes.

*Mudbits.co.nz - does $45 for an inner drivers side door handle sound right? If anyone has a spare they would like to part with for anything less I would be keen and could even send you my one if your Zuk is just a hack, it works fine but just has a screw in place of the bit you pull to open the door. Also I just put the trailer coupling through the drivers side rear indicator lens(Bugger!) so after one of those as well. Although I thought $15 from mudbits is probably pretty reasonable..

*what does it mean if you put the 4wd lever in neutral and 3rd,4th&5th sound like they are going to fall out of the gearbox an die a horrible horrible death?

*keen to know what wheel offset you guys are running on your SJ's? looking to get a bit wider without having to add lips to the flares, and as I will likely be buying from trademe probably wont get to try before I buy.

As the exhaust manifold is cracked, I will probably fit a set of extractors in the near future ever though there seems to be fairly mixed views on the effectiveness when fitted the G13's from members on here.

Lastly for now, my drivers seat feels like it has a couple of bricks under it! Is there anything slightly more comfortable that can be made to fit? The guy I brought it off had some ugly old sheep skins on the seats which I promptly biffed, now starting to wish I hadn't been so quick to get rid of them!!!

So even though it has a few issues, I am absolutely stoked with my new Zuk and looking forward to getting out there and doing it! Safe to say im hooked. Any help you guys can give along the way would be greatly appreciated. And if not I will stumble along with the aid of the 'forum search' and post up the details and solutions as I work through the issues above.

Cheers Guys.

[pjb]

*A giant flat spot from the carby low down in the rev range, Idles fine, never needs the choke to start - just has a flat spot when you put your foot down it will die for a sec then away she goes.

Weak spark? New leads and/or plugs might help.

[pruggerdore]

Flat spot when first touch throttle could be accelerator pump plunger not working. look down carby top and crank throttle linkage (engine not running) should see a squirt of petrol. also check vacum advance on dissy working. overall tune should sort it

[UBZ]

Nice Looking Zook !

So the first thing I noticed driving home towing the transporter behind the SJ is a ticking noise coming from the engine when under acceleration? Tappets maybe? Don’t think it is a wiped bearing but will have a good look over it this weekend. Oddly it seems to disappear when the clutch peddle is slightly depressed, but not depressed enough to unload to motor...

Tappets would be first port of call , could also be the small spigot bearing that is pressed into the flywheel .

*There is a shudder in the rear in first and second gears at low revs? No idea what that one is..some kind of vibration suppressor issue?

Have a look at the jack shaft UJ's (gearbox to transfer) for play , also check to see if the transfer case long mounting arm is twisted or the bushes torn on the transfer case or gearbox mounts .

*Third, I think someone forgot to put the synchros in the gearbox! However it is making me learn how to drive a real vehicle again after owning the pajero, double clutching and getting the revs just right - quite satisfying when you get it right! Are all SJ's like this? Or will I notice a world of difference by rebuilding the box?

You should not have double clutch a SJ gearbox ! Should be smooth changes .
Pull the lever out and have a look at the shift bush and locating pin , they have a habit of flogging out .
They can be quite a noisy gearbox bearing/ gear wise even after rebuild .
I have a 5speed gearbox sitting at home , unknown condition but seems to change gears fine would suit a rebuild , make me an offer .

*A giant flat spot from the carby low down in the rev range, Idles fine, never needs the choke to start - just has a flat spot when you put your foot down it will die for a sec then away she goes.

As the others said , accelerator pump , ignition system or an air leak some where

*Mudbits.co.nz - does $45 for an inner drivers side door handle sound right? I

Thats a rip off !
You can get a brand new one from http://www.suzistroe.com.au for 12$ AU

*what does it mean if you put the 4wd lever in neutral and 3rd,4th&5th sound like they are going to fall out of the gearbox an die a horrible horrible death?

Sounds like the gearbox is poked , should be just a nice gears turning in oil sound

*keen to know what wheel offset you guys are running on your SJ's? looking to get a bit wider without having to add lips to the flares, and as I will likely be buying from trademe probably wont get to try before I buy.

Really depends what size tyre you want to run . 15x7 rims with a 0 offset sit nicely in relation to the flares , but suit a 30-31" tyre ideally . 27/28/29" tyres are more suited to the factory 5.5/6" rims , but you could get the centres flipped for more offset .

[BlakeJ]

welcome to the sj/sammy fraternity, UBZ pretty much dominated all your questions there as he is a ball of knowledge for these things (did you end up selling yours UBZ?)

I can help with the seats, i fitted recaro fishnets, look the part and are really comfy, not squishy soft comfy but snug and good posture comfy, check them out on the build thread http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/Forums/ ... 18&t=30542
were pretty easy to adapt to fit

[Rotazuk]

Google " samurai flat spot " should get some results like this

http://zukioffroad.com/Tech_Library/vent_tube.shtml

May be your problem . I did not give it much credit but I guess its a suzuki part number

Chris

[3.5Pajero]

Thanks for all the helpful comments so far guys!

@BlakeJ - your Zook looks awsome! made we want to go looking for a 1600..Im guessing you would have to certify for that engine swap? Like the look of those Recaros to, do you know what they came out of origionally? I've been looking at some from a Bighorn but was thinking they might be abit big. Any chance you could have a quick measure up of the overall dimensions of your ones sometime just for a comparison?

@Rotozuk - Cheers for that, it hadn't even crossed my mind to google for suzuki flat spots, but the description in that bullitin sounds exactly what im getting with mine. So im going to get the local dealer on to it today and see if they can track down the vent tube. Plus im going to book it into Transtune in Whangarei for a tune up once the extractors are on, had really good results from them with my old VC Valiant at reasonable prices.

Haven't had a chance to get under it and check for bent/twisted mounts yet but will have a good look tonight.

[BlakeJ]

cheers mate, the rule as far as im aware is more than a 20% increase in power needs to be certed, so ive taken it from 63hp to 100ish, but it depends who does your warrant, most places will not even notice. I was told the seats were out of a bighorn when i brought them so should be fine, i just welded them onto to the factory samurai mounts

[keithal]

cheers mate, the rule as far as im aware is more than a 20% increase in power needs to be certed, so ive taken it from 63hp to 100ish, but it depends who does your warrant, most places will not even notice. I was told the seats were out of a bighorn when i brought them so should be fine, i just welded them onto to the factory samurai mounts

i thought if you changed the capacity you need cert fullstop
but if making mods to the factory motor you can increase power up to 20 % without cert

[BlakeJ]

yea as i said i wasnt sure,i just know that people have got warrants with 1600 sammys before without cert, sometimes they dont even check under the bonnet

[suzookyman]

Hey mate, great Sami you got there and at a great price too!.I can probably help you out with the door handle as im sure i have a few around somewhere. Im in Whangarei so thats handy for ya. When I get a chance I will have a look thru my pile of bits.
Al

[3.5Pajero]

Hey Suzookyman, yeah I was thinking it was a good price aswell, and it goes okay, but It feels like it's had a pretty hard life. Just in the last few days the shudder coming from the back end under acceleration at low speed has virtually disapperaed. From trawling the net, a few others have had the same sensation and put it down to worn drive shaft universals. So I guessing its possible that towing the transporter home from auckland may have moved things around or loosened up a bit? Either way I'll get on and replace them.

Anyone brought a 5speed overhaul kit in the past? seems to be a bit of variation in price. would be nice to know who you go yours from and what the quality was like.

Cheers.

[3.5Pajero]

Starting to look a bit more useful thanks to the wifes hair dryer/pink sticker remover and a set of Cooper SST's (235/75/15) ex. Zukmeister.
Tyres are the perfect size for the standard suspension - haven't been able to find any rubs yet.

Picking up a new timing belt/water pump etc from partmaster tomorrow and then I just need to get my gearbox sorted and it sould be good to go for a run somewhere.

[zukmeista]

Looks much better Especially without those gay pink stickers

[Tarmac]

Looks good without stickers and sounds like a gd price too. I have never brought stuff from them but know a guy in OZ I went to school with who reccomends locktup4x4.com.au

[zukmeista]

Looks good without stickers and sounds like a gd price too. I have never brought stuff from them but know a guy in OZ I went to school with who reccomends locktup4x4.com.au

By far the best/cheapest place to buy suzuki parts.
http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.php/suzuki/samurai.html

[Tarmac]

Looks good without stickers and sounds like a gd price too. I have never brought stuff from them but know a guy in OZ I went to school with who reccomends locktup4x4.com.au

By far the best/cheapest place to buy suzuki parts.
http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.php/suzuki/samurai.html

Had my eye on them as well, who do you use to ship the stuff to NZ for a gd price?

[zukmeista]

Looks good without stickers and sounds like a gd price too. I have never brought stuff from them but know a guy in OZ I went to school with who reccomends locktup4x4.com.au

By far the best/cheapest place to buy suzuki parts.
http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.php/suzuki/samurai.html

Had my eye on them as well, who do you use to ship the stuff to NZ for a gd price?

Send them an email, they will sort it out.

[Swamped]

low range has used usps for me in the past. seems to be pretty reasonable so long as the items fit inside flat rate packages. They're easy to deal with and reply nice and quick.
You'll do better splitting freight with someone else I think when the items get big. I've brought some stuff in through suzolla on here when he did a big order.

[Tarmac]

low range has used usps for me in the past. seems to be pretty reasonable so long as the items fit inside flat rate packages. They're easy to deal with and reply nice and quick.
You'll do better splitting freight with someone else I think when the items get big. I've brought some stuff in through suzolla on here when he did a big order.

Thanks, put some general figures through "a" postal website and appeared just as cheap to bring in 2 lockrites compared to 1 for example, thought of bringing in 2 and flickin off the extra... just wondering if anyone cld recomend a company with gd rates so I didnt have to do this

[suzookyman]

Now it's lookin really good ( still need to loose that front bumper tho )
good to meet you the other day btw.
Al

[zukmeista]

Are you doing the timing belt yourself?

[3.5Pajero]

Haha yeah the front bumper is probably not to far away from sitting around the back of the house..Thanks for your help the other day Al - its nice to be able to get out of the thing without pulling on a big hory screw!
And yup I was planning on doing the cambelt myself - I was scratching around online last night for anything specific to the G13BA - torque settings etc. only interesting thing I really found was to loosen the cam rocker bolts so there is no load on the camshaft otherwise the idler wont tension properly - never done that on a SOHC before but I guess it couldnt hurt.

[zukmeista]

Might as well, the tappets probably need adjusting anyway. One trick with Suzukis is that you need to have No4 cylinder at TDC for the timing marks to be lined up. The best way to do this is to wind it over with the dist. cap off until the rotor is pointing at where No4 on the cap would be, then line the mark on the crank pulley up with the 0 on the timing cover, then it should be all lined up. Txt me if you get stuck.

[3.5Pajero]

The Samurai/G13 just became my favorite vehicle/engine to work on! Last night I replaced the cam-belt, water-pump, tensioner, oil filter, front crank seal, cam seal and thermostat + gaskets etc. First surprise was getting the whole lot for $137incl from the local. Second surprise was how accessible everything is! Whoever came up with the idea to glue a rubber bung to the roof and have the bonnet fold right back was brilliant!!

Couple areas of concern though: I don’t have a manual yet and couldn't find any useful information on tappet clearance so set them cold at 0.13 for intake and 0.16 for exhaust. Seems to be going ok. They were all sitting up around 0.3-0.4 before I started so that explains the racket it was making.

Secondly - I pulled the hose off the carby that goes to the vacuum advance diaphragm on the distributor, If I can suck on that hose and the diaphragm doesn't do anything and I can actually draw air through it quite easily I’m guessing the diaphragm is stuffed and probably the reason for the momentary flat spot under acceleration?

[pruggerdore]

yep thats the test and what I meant. find out wat those tappets should be. too tight could make a catastrophe .

[BlakeJ]

your garage looks way to clean

[Swamped]

You don't want em too tight or it could drop a valve.
Look through here for service info
http://www.suzukiinfo.com/

Same engines are in the swift/barinas too so their engine sections are the same.

[zukmeista]

0.13 for intake and 0.16 for exhaust is the correct cold setting.

[3.5Pajero]

Well I pulled off those plactic rust trap things Suzuki attached to the side of the Samurai the other night expecting the worst...As you can see by the pic, initially I was pleasently suprised! After I dug a mountain of dirt out from all the way up in the flares it all looked pretty good. Then I noticed a small rust bubble half way along the ribbed bit and poked it with my screwdriver...which went straight through...
Seems like the body underneath is still solid. I haven't had a good search on the forums yet for what you guys do about getting rid of the plastic trim but guessing it is a good idea to get the cut off disk out and remove that ribbed section of panel steel? looks like the perfect spot for hidden rust.
Thinking at the moment I'll get rid of the ribbed bit and get some heavier steel bent up and attach that - might offer some protection against rogue rocks and logs.