Well today a friend and I were out at a local junk yard picking up parts for my rig, there has been this sammi out there for as long as I can remember. My friend has been looking for a Samurai for a while for one that was the right price and I think we might have found it.

We got to talking with the people at the yard and said we can get it for around 500. The thing is this beast is in sorry shape. The engine has been removed and who ever pulled it hacked the wiring harness to bits as well no one has any ideas to the exact year of the sammi. Body, well its ok aside from the door and front fender bashed in. Trani? Its in there but no idea on the condition. All this was taken from a quick observation as the zuke was burried in 4 feet of snow.

Heres the plan: #1 rule behind this project is "cheap" although i know stuff on a vehicle this far gone can nickel and dime "cheap" projects to death. Also need to get it on the road as fast and easily as possible, so an easy engine swap with an engine readily available, the yard has a couple sidekicks and trackers for an engine and parts. Going to try and get the zuke cheaper if we get an engine in the deal too. Lift and junk can wait till later. Although neither of us have messed with engine swaps before we both are fairly mechanically inclined so I don’t think it should be to hard as long as we have some what of an idea of what parts we need and what to do. The final planned build up for this is spring over and what ever else it takes to get 33’s under it.

Here’s there questions: After searching the archives on pirate I found that it appears that the 1.6 sidekick motor is an easy and cheap swap as well as fairly common. I think a 1.6 liter 8 valve motor would be the best bet as it appears to be the cheapest swap. Should we get the trani and engine together? Like I said im not sure on the condition of the transmission in the samurai. I’ve looked at the swap kits and it looks like they have a adapter to mount the 1.6 to the samurai trani and some come with a fuel pump for the fuel injection swap. Would it be better to keep the transmission in there or try and get the transmission with the 1.6? What about the transfercase will it mount up to the back of the sidekick trani if we decide to go with it? Since the wiring harness is thrashed what do you recommend to do with it?

I know that’s a lot a questions but I couldn’t find all the answers I was looking for in the searches I did. I greatly appreciate any responses and help and please my excuse my lack of knowledge on zuke.

Are you sure that it's worth $500? I only paid $600 for my 88.5 tintop, bone stock in great shape. Still had the carpet, seats, everything in good shape with no rust. Air conditioner even worked.

Doesn't sound worth the money to me, you can buy a daily driver in that same price range.

Stuff is a little harder to come by in ak so they jack the prices up, we were going on the idea that we might be able to talk them down alot if we get the parts from them as well. Thanks for the posts.

One thing I consider is time, how much is your time worth?

You do have a point and one of the main ideas of this project was to get it done fairly fast and in seams like you have implied that it will take alot of time and effort to do. Ill talk with him some more about it. Thanks for the help, im glad i finnaly signed up for PBB :D

The problem that I see taking a lot of time is the chopped up wiring harness. I'm not sure what the 1.6 swap entails since I haven't done one but I was under the impression that the wiring kits needed a complete harness in the zuk already. I don't know how much of a problem it would be to deal with that on top of everything else.

I would recommend getting in touch with Brent at Trail Tough or someone else who does a lot of 1.6 swaps and get his opinion on dealing with a harness like that.

I can see how finding zuks in Alaska can be a problem but what about bringing one over from Canada? Any better luck on finding a complete one there?

Keep in mind that to get this thing on the road you are going to have to deal with a salvage title. This means smogging (if applicable up there), brake system and light system inspections. Typically these tests end up costing a couple hundred bucks to do.

:eek: holy shit guys, did you see that????? a noob searched!!!!! ....where is the world going?

I'm suprised someone took the engine out, leaving the trany in it's place. Just seems like it would be easier to pull it all out, then drop the trany in the backseat.

I'd say you're paying too much. Especially since cheap is the name of the game... right off the bat you are dropping a bit of coin on something that can't even move on it's own power, and you havent even began to do engine, axle, spring and rubber swaps.

Dude - Anchorage has IM - no Sidekick for you unless you can make it look like a 1.3 and not get caught. Better luck finding a rusted out VW Diesel - even an NA would have more power than a 1.3., and is exempt even in Los Anchorage.

Alaska does suck for prices. You sound young - got a week or two to waste? Seattle is a couple hundred right now. Buy a stock runner for and drive back up. You could have a nice, rust free rig for a grand.

500 is too much for a thrashed wrecking yard rig, even up here. If you look around, you can find them for a few hundred, running. Mostly in the valley. MIght take a while to find one tho'. Wrecking yard rig should be $100 - check the towing company auctions, too.

I would look in Canada. They seem to of had alot more samurai's, and different versions like the SJ410 and the LWB samurai, imported then we did in the US.

I don't think I would take that thing if it was given to me for free!

$500, wasted tub, no motor, tranny in an unknown condition, and a trashed wiring harness? Sounds like a mess to me.

If the body was in great shape, but no motor, maybe.

If the motor & drivetrain was in excellent condition, OK

but it doesn't sound like you have a lot to work with here.

come on you guys! just because he did a search does not mean he doesn't deserve a big welcome to the darkside!
:vader:


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