Suzuki Samurai w/Softop for bugging out?

[MarkW]

Here's mine:

[TDW586]

Hey, this thread was fairly recently bumped. That's good, because that means I don't have to necro it to post pictures of my new Zuk.



Need to fix a few things to get it street legal, of which it having no taillights and no windshield wipers are the most obvious. I may also be buying a set of 31x12.50R15 Super Swamper TSL's and wheels from the guy I got it from.

[Regular Guy]

TDW, you got a Zuk? Awesome. I have one for years, it's still on the road. You probably know this already but they are super easy to work on.

[TDW586]

Yes sir, and there's plenty of work to do on this one. It's trail ready, but I've got to fix a few things to get it street legal; taillights and windshield wipers including the wiper motor. Maybe some other things, we'll see. Absolutely love this thing.

[Tater Raider]

Paint it please?

[BullOnParade]

Paint it please?

Not even!

[TDW586]

Me? WHY? It's beautiful.

Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk 2

[Tater Raider]

For me it's very, very, well, green. You like it though so more than good enough for me.

Man is it green.

edit: spelign

[TDW586]

Tater Raider, you are a philistine. It is a work of hillbilly art.

Anyone ever remove the windshield frame on one of these? Those screws are not moving, and it looks like I'm going to need to get it off to fix the windshield wipers/wiper motor. I've soaked them in liquid wrench for about 48 hours now, not budging. Impact driver gonna be my best bet?

[KJ4VOV]

Tater Raider, you are a philistine. It is a work of hillbilly art.

Anyone ever remove the windshield frame on one of these? Those screws are not moving, and it looks like I'm going to need to get it off to fix the windshield wipers/wiper motor. I've soaked them in liquid wrench for about 48 hours now, not budging. Impact driver gonna be my best bet?

Mix up a little ATF and acetone (about a 3:1 ratio) and let that soak into the threads for 30 minutes. It's the best penetrating lubricant I've ever used. Far superior to Liquid Wrench and PB Blaster. And yes, you'll probably need to use an impact gun if that doesn't do the trick.

[Traction Control]

Sure some of you may know already, but a 1986 Suzuki Samurai Sport (SJ413) was used in AMC's The Walking Dead television series.



I forgot who it was supposed to be driven by. I think it was the family that left in season one.

[Tater Raider]

Sure some of you may know already, but a 1986 Suzuki Samurai Sport (SJ413) was used in AMC's The Walking Dead television series.



I forgot who it was supposed to be driven by. I think it was the family that left in season one.

You nailed it. Morales and his family split off from the main group in episode 5 in the Sami.

[moab]

i owned a Sami for several years. It would beat out many another truck four wheeling up in the Cascade Mountains of the PNW. It seemed to go further in snow than any other vehicle we used. And man was it fun. I had the hard top and a soft top. I even drove this from WA to Socal when I first moved here. All I owned was the Sami and a Coleman cooler and a sleeping bag. LOL!

One thing to look out for is they don't have temp gauges. My motor blew right after I bought it cause I was young and didn't notice that there was a slow leak in the radiator or I probably just forgot to check the coolant levels. And I was abusing the shit out of it off road and on. So I had one of those used Japanese motors put into it by a local shop that specialized in that. This was back when they were importing all those Japanese motors as their laws were that they could only run a car for so long. IIRC. And then the motor had to be replaced. Like a 60k or something. I doon't know if it's still that way. It was for pollution reasons IIRC.

About 6 months later I blew a freeze plug in that motor. And it to blew again. Again no temp (idiot) gauge. And I was a young jackass that didn't install one. I took it to the Suzuki dealership to a get a diagnostic. And the Suzuki dealership agreed to put a brand new motor in it. If I signed over my rights to sue the local shop for the motor going out. I guess they were wanting to deal with their competition in a direct way. I was young and poor so I said yes. And got a brand new Suzuki engine installed for free. I could not have afforded to even have it fixed otherwise. So anyway I walked out with a brand new motor installed for free. Shitty that they sued the local place. But I was young and poor. Did I say mention I was poor? LOL!

I loved that car. I put Honda seats in it by welding up brackets. An essential as the original seats sucked. I drove that thing for years. Loved that car. Was great in socal with the top off. But then it got stolen and they burned the motor out. PRobably had something to do with it not having an idiot gauge. Or they were just abusive on it. It got totalled.

Bottom line - best 4x4 I ever had. Loved that car. But be sure you get an aftermarket temp gauge installed. It will save you. It also had a really cool lock box installed underneath. About the size of 3 or 4 loaves of bread. I padded it inside. And would keep everything from guns to cash in it. If I ever get a piece of rural property I will get another one. They are just way fun and way good off roading. I agree that they would be great in a PAW. as they are small enough to go anywhere.

Do yourself a favor and pick up a Samurai. Put a temp gauge and some new seats in it and your good to go. Any problems I had with mine were from my own abusive use and ignorance. Luckily they are way easy to work on. I don't think the used motor cost me much to have put in. I was really poor at the time. I did a lot of work on that car myself too. Really easy to work on.

PAtrick

PS - It sounds like this car was a POS that always dropped motors. But it really was about me being fresh out of the Corps and kind of crazy. I abused that truck. And it just kept on going. With the exception of overheating. For whatever reason it never made a lot of noise or smoke when it burned the motors out. So I just didn't have time to notice. To shut it down. Nothing else ever went wrong with it. My wife still talks about that car. It was the first car I had when we met. 20 years ago. We used to drive it everywhere - surfing, camping, four wheeling, around Los Angeles. They are damn near bulletproof with a temp gauge installed. I bought mine for $1500. I don't know how much they go for these days. But they are probably the most overlooked 4x4 there is. All that bad press brought the price down. But for those of us that know. They are great 4x4's.

[moab]

Just saw this while searching for camo painting:

http://www.krylon.com/projects/sports-r ... -sidekick/

[BullOnParade]

Just saw this while searching for camo painting:

http://www.krylon.com/projects/sports-r ... -sidekick/

Saw what?

[Rev]

I'd really like a Samurai, but I tend to find them a bit highly priced for me. If anyone see's a functional one at junker prices let me know. I might be willing to travel some distance to acquire it.