Next project, Suzuki Samurai

[rcx132]

I am one happy bunny, I've just bought an almost immaculate Suzuki Samurai with 41'000 on the clock ツ
I really wanted one of these, but they're all so rusty and I was stressing out that I'd be taking on another 12 month project. This one only needs a bit of work, some underseal to preserve it, new seats, fix dashboard, service. It will get a 1.6 engine which is a straight swap apart from having to wire in the ECU.

These cars are even simpler than a Land Rover or a Fiat, super light weight, really lovely to work on.

The big good news is that it doesn't need much work which means I can then get on with my big project, which is to build a space framed racer.

If you remember I put a similar post up a few weeks ago, when I blindly bought another one of these cars, apparently rust free, through a friend. Well when I picked it up it was a dog, waste of money.

 

[Wallace]

Nice, what's the box section like behind the seats?

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Nice, what's the box section like behind the seats?

A reflection of the house UPVC window(s)?

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Remember when you fit the 1600cc engine that the VED will then go into the higher band.

 

[rcx132]

Nice, what's the box section like behind the seats?

It's all good. All I've found is rust on the bonnet and the lip that holds the tailgate seal. Both easy to replace, a days work maybe with painting. In a few places the paint is lifting, I will MBX it and paint, max two days work. Bumper is dented, £40 for new one. Then it's just little bits like few bolts missing, sunvisors are blown, glove box hinges, that kind of stuff.

Remember when you fit the 1600cc engine that the VED will then go into the higher band.

What I'm not looking forward to is the process of declaring it. On Piston Heads they were saying that DVLA wants proof of engine capacity and it's a pain. But VOSA do checks around London so not risking this beaut being crushed, I want it above board.

I don't know what VOSA are looking for but every so often I see VOSA operations on the road side stopping cars randomly. Any ideas what they are doing?

 

[armalites]

Depending on who opens the letter when it arrives at the DVLA you may or may not end up with a whole load of pain. In most case where a vehicle doesn't have classic status ie tax exempt they will ask for a receipt for the fitting of the engine. Just be aware if everything is not in order they can put a marker on the vehicle saying it can't be used.

This is quite a common discussion on one the Series landrover forums I'm on.

A friend declared a replacement engine on his 80s Mini and he had to provide an invoice to prove it. Comedy thing is he recently bought a imported Mini , he noticed there was a typo on the original paperwork where they had put an 11 instead of H (or something like that) for the chassis number. He tried contact the previous country DVLA to sort, tried finding the original owner. In the end he just sent the all paperwork to the DVLA with loads of pictures and a full explanation and within a couple of weeks a log book arrived on his doorstep with the correct chassis number! He had thought he would be stuck with a lemon and spend months cutting red tape

 

[Wallace]

A reflection of the house UPVC window(s)?

I see what you mean! There's a box section that rots out on the floor pan behind the seats, not an easy repair.

 

[Migmac]

Brilliant wee jeeps, had two. Like you say easy to work on and very capable of road. Did have a Vitara but it wasn't quite as good as the wee 410/413

 

[rcx132]

I see what you mean! There's a box section that rots out on the floor pan behind the seats, not an easy repair.

I'll double check that later today.

Depending on who opens the letter when it arrives at the DVLA you may or may not end up with a whole load of pain. In most case where a vehicle doesn't have classic status ie tax exempt they will ask for a receipt for the fitting of the engine. Just be aware if everything is not in order they can put a marker on the vehicle saying it can't be used.

This is quite a common discussion on one the Series landrover forums I'm on.

Ok. Well I'm fitting it myself but I can get a letter from a friend's business. Let's see what happens.

Brilliant wee jeeps, had two. Like you say easy to work on and very capable of road. Did have a Vitara but it wasn't quite as good as the wee 410/413

I have a vitara as well. It was great when I was single, it's more of a cross over car, the SJ/Samurai is much more serious off road. You know some of them, especially the ones sold in places like Portugal, had a PTO output for running farm machinery!

 

[rcx132]

I see what you mean! There's a box section that rots out on the floor pan behind the seats, not an easy repair.

Wallace, I can't find this section. This is what I have: By the way the black stuff is dirt, not rust.



You can see the condition, the seams are all fine, but the seam sealer has started to break off in places, and the boot floor pan paint is worn. I think what the car needs is a body service, fix the two rust areas, and reapply some of the seam sealer, and Dinitrol it all.

Just seen this Samurai, it's better condition but they aren't miles apart and it's £3600: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253079640052?ul_noapp=true
I paid £1200 for mine but I got two of them in the price, the second one is for spares as it has good seats and bits that the good one needs. Mines a non runner though as the electrics have blown, no matter as I will do a custom loom for the new injection engine. I've now ended up with three Samurais if you include the dog that I was mis-sold by a friend. The other two are only good for parts, I'll break them up, keep the good bits I need, sell the other bits and weigh in whats left.

 

[Wallace]

That's the section, runs from arch to arch across the car and the rest is underneath. Looks really good.

 

[Migmac]

A PTO, would liked to have seen one. A good chance the jeep would turn and the implement stay put!
Have you seen the KAP landmaster? I was just telling the wife yesterday I would sell my L200 and get one, be great for what I use my trucks for

 

[rcx132]

A PTO, would liked to have seen one. A good chance the jeep would turn and the implement stay put!

Ha, yeah it's hard to imagine.

Have you seen the KAP landmaster? I was just telling the wife yesterday I would sell my L200 and get one, be great for what I use my trucks for

Never seen a KAP Landmaster but just looked it up. It's a Jimny conversion?
Yeah I just sold my L400, but in favour of a Ford Galaxy! Wife wanted a more refined car! Though that meant taking a big hit in towing capacity. I'm not a fan of those big diesels any more, heavy and slow.

 

[rcx132]

Also decided I'll keep the leaf sprung suspension and not bother with the coil conversion that I was talking about in another post. The leaf springs have grown on me, they are a period feature, and they have a certain appeal as eliminate the need for suspension links.

I wouldn't mind a few inches of suspension lift though just to beef the car up a bit, really surprised by the prices though, a set of leaf springs that give extra lift are £400 - £800. Other options are to add shackles to get some lift, but lift springs sound better, not just a cleaner solution, but also eliminates the old sagging springs that are currently fitted.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

That' a great looking samurai...I remember wanting one of these in the late 90s...even back then they were rusting badly!

The only down side I can see is that there won't be much welding on this one for us to peruse!

 

[Migmac]

My first jeep was Jap built and the second was built in Spain, the Spanish started rusting within the first year. The jap one did 130 000 miles reasonably problem free. Engine seized but that was human error, wrong oil. The Spanish one, had several issues I can remember, front passenger wheel bearing would seize solid whilst you were driving. Not a nice experience. We had four of these jeeps and they all did it. Mine also got a new carb, it back fired all the time and nothing Suzuki did would stop it from doing it. New carb sorted it. Think it got a new diff too. Suzuki GB sent Jeff Farmer out to investigate all our problems and he agreed with most of our issues and had everything replaced or sorted. This was all within the first six months. Great wee jeeps though, always wanted the pickup version but they are pretty scarce

 

[CompoSimmonite]

I'm swopping the engine in my Marlin Roadster and have kept a photocopy of the V5 relating to the engine donor vehicle (which I'd owned for a couple of years) to prove providence to DVLA.

 

[Coo]

Regarding Tax change with a different engine...

A guy on another forum (Volkszone) email DVLA asking about changing CO2 rating by doing an engine change...
The reply indicates that you cannot change a vehicles tax rate.

Thank you for your enquiry received on x/7/2017.
Your case reference number is xxxxxxxxx.

It may be helpful if I explain that CO2 emissions are measured as part of the type approval process that each variant and version of individual vehicle models must undergo before they can be offered for sale in the European Union.

The CO2 figure used for setting the tax rate will be given on the Certificate of Conformity (CoC) following the type approval test.

A car's carbon dioxide emission CO2 figure will be recorded on the V5C Registration Certificate, and once set will remain unchanged throughout the lifetime of the vehicle and won't be amended after an engine change.

I hope this helps.

Very interesting!

 

[rcx132]

The only down side I can see is that there won't be much welding on this one for us to peruse!

I don't mind these welding projects, what I do mind is a backlog of projects! At least with this one not needing much work I can start my buggy this year.

My first jeep was Jap built and the second was built in Spain, the Spanish started rusting within the first year. The jap one did 130 000 miles reasonably problem free. Engine seized but that was human error, wrong oil. The Spanish one, had several issues I can remember, front passenger wheel bearing would seize solid whilst you were driving. Not a nice experience. We had four of these jeeps and they all did it. Mine also got a new carb, it back fired all the time and nothing Suzuki did would stop it from doing it. New carb sorted it. Think it got a new diff too. Suzuki GB sent Jeff Farmer out to investigate all our problems and he agreed with most of our issues and had everything replaced or sorted. This was all within the first six months. Great wee jeeps though, always wanted the pickup version but they are pretty scarce

I just checked and mine is Japanese made. But I wouldn't slate the Spanish factory too much, they were also producing Land Rovers under license, and, according to Wikipedia, their Land Rovers were doing better because they were used in more harsh terrains like Africa, so they were getting more feedback and making faster improvements. They then sold their tooling to Iran who still make series Land Rovers to this day.

The Samurai is still made in India, I just ordered a full original moulded carpet, direct from Suzuki India for a whopping £25 !!

I'm swopping the engine in my Marlin Roadster and have kept a photocopy of the V5 relating to the engine donor vehicle (which I'd owned for a couple of years) to prove providence to DVLA.

Good method. I've got the V5 reference for my donor engine, hopefully will be enough. DVLA are a bit c**p, they can't search their system by engine number to find an engine, but they can search by VIN, they can then see the engine number and then know how to class the engine.

Regarding Tax change with a different engine...

A guy on another forum (Volkszone) email DVLA asking about changing CO2 rating by doing an engine change...
The reply indicates that you cannot change a vehicles tax rate.



Very interesting!

Interesting? I'm a geek and I'm finding it all too complicated. With the EU classes and modern type approvals it's all got complicated. But I think with older cars it's much easier. The Samurai is old, CO2 classes don't apply, it's taxed using the older categories.

 

[mechman]

Also decided I'll keep the leaf sprung suspension and not bother with the coil conversion that I was talking about in another post. The leaf springs have grown on me, they are a period feature, and they have a certain appeal as eliminate the need for suspension links.

I wouldn't mind a few inches of suspension lift though just to beef the car up a bit, really surprised by the prices though, a set of leaf springs that give extra lift are £400 - £800. Other options are to add shackles to get some lift, but lift springs sound better, not just a cleaner solution, but also eliminates the old sagging springs that are currently fitted.[/QUOTEYears ago when I had transits that sagged at the rear end, I used to fit an extra top leaf off scrap springs (cut the mounting bushes off first like) always worked for me.