Horny Legend Samurai

[Parker Wismar]

Bought this samurai a few months ago for too much money because I needed a commuter (what’s a better commuter than a samurai?). It was owned by some old guy who had it as his pride and joy the last 25 years. Came with all the old man goodies- foam in every corner to stop rattles, multiple first aid kits, creepy German poem, safety brakes. It also has a sidekick hybrid rear axle, 4.62 axle gears, arb front, Detroit rear, ome springs, shackle reversal in the front, power steering, and a 4.19 t case with rear driveline disconnect.
After some thorough cleaning and removal it was looking pretty good! The stripes and factory stainless dress up panels make this thing horny, a real horny legend (check out hornylegends4x4 on the gram for big inspiration).
I’ve driven it like this for the past few months with really no issues or work, surprising for most 80s vehicles I buy! I took it on one wheeling trip out in red rock canyon and going towards randsburg. The samurai did great! Suspension is not great, but it’s really fun and agile. Lockers and gearing are good and it’s light enough to crawl just fine. The carb would get weird on steep hills both up and down, want to replace that. The only failure was a busted clutch cable which we were able to zip tie back together

 

[Parker Wismar]

After another month of driving about 80 miles a day the inevitable happened, something actually broke. The rear main seal completely gave up and suddenly most of my oil was underneath it. Time to finally do some maintenance and upgrades. Running the rubicon trail august 11th and need to get it ready by then! Planning on changing the rear Detroit to an arb (Detroit is too clunky in the canyons with the short wheel base, I drive twisty canyon roads every other day), rcv fronts, t case cradle, axle trusses, trans rebuild (shifting 1st to 2nd is bad), chromo rear axles, Harley cv carb, suspension seats, aluminum radiator and fan clutch, and some suspension improvements.

After staring at it long enough and trying to figure out how to get the leaf springs, shackles, shocks, and bump stop/max up travel to what I wanted I was going to have to redo most things. Shackle angles were straight up and down, leaf springs were a little w’d, up travel was 3 in less than it could be, shocks limited droop significantly. So I made a quick executive decision to just link it front and rear! What could go wrong? I only have to be on the rubicon in three weeks. Links and air shocks weren’t that much more than the springs and shocks and brackets I was looking at. I could also see a clear path for all the links to fit just right and clear at full maximum bump without cutting up the rear floor or raising the engine. So we’re doing a barnes 7/8 4 link kit rear, 7/8 3 link kit front, 3/4 heim steering, and 2.0x12in air shocks. I’m hoping to keep it low but have plenty of flex, travel, and strength to wheel it hard and drive it without concerns or mechanical sympathy. Also going to run some massive 31sx10.5 and links are going help push the little clearance I need and make suspension travel more consistent so they don’t spontaneously tuck and bind into the wheel wells. It should look great and meaty when it’s done!

 

[dwphoto]

this thing is majestic.

you gunna through dual cases in this beast?
Rubicon Trip in Aug, Tick Tock!

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

ALways wanted one!

 

[neverenoughAZ]

I am wanting to build a zuki. Can't wait to see what you have planned.

 

[2012SVTSC]

Rad!

I love the samurai!

I actually wanted to build a g13 motor for my CRX when I was going to race it in a modified class with a huge weight advantage for anything less than a 1.3l, anyway I didn't.

I do have a DOHC g13b head if you are ever looking for one.

Also fun fact, the 1st gen honda CRX used a engine series know as the EW, the EW1 was in the early base model. It was a 1.3l but honda being honda forged the crank shaft for the engines.
Honda then sold the crankshaft design and tooling to Suzuki... Suzuki proceeded to make crank shafts with that tooling for their g13 series motors. But they cast theirs. Long story short, if you want a forged crankshaft, Get a 1.3 honda EW1 one.