[Jules083]

So a friend got this thing in trade last year, it was half built and the guy gave up on it. My friend stole the tires for his Sammi and never did anything else with it, then last night I finally talked him out of it and brought it home.

The motor is supposed to just need timed, although I find it hard to believe that someone would get this far and not start it over a bit of timing. Unless he means cam timing, which I hope not because I've never done a sammi motor.

Otherwise it needs:

Cage
Shock mounts welded on
Seats mounted
Wiring cleaned up
Lighting, radio, etc
Driveshafts look too short, there's a lot of splines sticking out. I'll have to pull them and see where I'm at.

Later on I want beadlocks and propane. I think I'll stick with leaf springs for now assuming they work out ok.

I may lower it, probably by putting the springs back under the axle and/or maybe removing a lower leaf or two. Thoughts?


It has, or at least is supposed to have:

Fresh 1.3 rebuild with cam and header, never started
6.5 transfer case gears, still new
Rebuilt yoda axles, front is trussed with high steer arms. I don't know about gears or locker(s) but the steering is still manual so I hope the front's open
YJ springs, on top of the axle
33x12.50 TSL's that were mine to begin with.
Rear tub is narrowed, needs a little bit of touch up work but isn't too bad
RCI fuel cell



I'm going out to the garage now to mess with timing. I understand how to time the distributer, but any words of wisdom? Specifically on a brand new motor that's been sitting for at least a year and has never been started? I'm planning on pulling the plugs first and putting a shot of oil in each cylinder first then cycling the motor a bit.


Here's where I'm at now. As you can see this thing was forgotten about in the weeds. :shaking:

 

[Jules083]

Well, I got it to run. Guess it was just distributer timing, I'm surprised. Currently I have to dump a little gas in the carb though, it's not carburatoring correctly. Fuel pump works. I'm printing out a few wiring diagrams now, there's a lot going on with that carb. Should just order the propane kit now and save some headaches.

I did look around a bit. At the very least it's never been started and the pistons are new, and the rockers are new.

 

[86chevyjoe]

you must break the motor in on gas before you run propane!!!

 

[Jules083]

Good to know, thanks. W
swapping carbs now, just trying stuff. Wont feed it fuel.

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[Jules083]

Well, it sat in the garage forgotten about until last week. I bought a used Weber off Ebay, got it hooked up, and it purrs like a straight piped kitten now. :smokin:


It flexed about as much as I expected stock YJ leafs to do. Should be a little better when finished, as the back is really light right now. 6.5 gears are nice, wish I'd put them on my last Sami now.











I'm not sure what to do about these return lines. I blocked the return line from the fuel pump, and ran the carburetor return line back to the tank. Is this right? If so I'll clean it up some more and make it right, it's just mocked up for now to see if it would work.











Here's where the motor is at the moment

 

[Jules083]

I keep staring at this thing and wondering if I should lower it any before I start the cage. It seemed stable from the bit of driving around the yard I did, but it just looks tall compared to most Samurai's I see on here.

The kid I got it from bought this kit and installed it:

Roadless Gear. Sky YJ Wrangler Leaf Spring Swap Kits

I'm tempted to take it off, and mount normal shackles. It seems like, from rough measuring, I can at least lower it an inch, maybe 2. It seemed like the kid didn't really know what he was doing, and was just buying parts and throwing them on.

 

[Jules083]

Progress is getting made finally. I hauled it to a friend's garage, who is more experienced at building these critters than I and has a bit better work ethic. I seem to get 2 beers in every night and spend the rest of the night drinking and staring at it.

Cage work is mostly done. Rear driveshaft works, but I need to put something better on. The angles are wrong, front joint has a steep angle and rear is straight on. Once I come across a double-cardian Toyota staft I'll keep this one as a trail spare. Front shocks came in yesterday, still nothing for the rear. Gonna put the fronts on, get bump stops and limit straps made, then move to the rear. The front flexes a bit too much in these pics, I doubt the leaf springs would survive. Once I limit that plus add some weight the rear should do a little better.

Still need to clean up the wiring, add gauges, buy an air filter for the weber carb, lights in the back somehow, plus all of the little stuff that kills your time and budget. Probably going to haul it home either today or later on this week so he gets his garage space back, and I'll finish that stuff up later on before summer.



Any thoughts, or any issues anyone can see? Front fenders need trimmed still, tire hits the front corner.