Short story: I bought a 1986 Samurai last weekend and it's awesome. Here's a cool guy low-angle shot to keep everyone's attention:
Longer story: My wife and I finally paid off our student loans earlier this year so I started thinking about getting a fun little project. A nice bonus from work made that thought turn into something real. My buddy has a fairly built samurai that's hilarious to drive, and my other friend snagged one last year. Their influence got me hunting for one of my own and I repaid them by enlisting them in my hunt.
The cool part about buying a third car that I really don't need is that I could afford to take my time and find a good one. The annoying part was that seemingly every good one in my price/distance range had evaporated the second I was ready to buy. Luckily my patience held and my friend sent me a link to what looked like a really good deal on Craigslist. I reached out the day it was posted (Friday) to arrange a meeting the next morning. The seller was great: replied quickly, used whole sentences, etc. A miracle when it comes to that website. Problem was that someone else got to him first and set up a meeting for that evening. The rig was two hours away so I couldn't just rush over, and I resigned myself to missing this one. Womp womp.
Lol and behold, I got an email from the seller telling me that the first person didn't show! This was the first time I've been happy about Craigslist flakes. I told my lovely wife (who supports my dumb little hobby) and we worked out the logistics of the next day. The samurai was already set up to flat tow so she came along to just enjoy the drive. I installed a trailer light harness on my Xterra a few weeks ago for just this sort of situation. So we had to get gas, acquire cash, and buy some magnetic tow lights on the two-hour drive to the seller's house. My stellar route planning worked out perfectly and we got to the provided address pretty much right on time.
Posting this part because I should really get back to work. More to come on the acquisition and a bunch more photos of the rig.
It's the spring of Suzukis here on GRM! What are the wheel and tire specs? Looks like a tuff little rig.
I really like mine. It reminded me of the Stompers I used to play with when I was a kid.
On 33" tires with 5" of lift, it was pretty much unstoppable. I ended up lowering it, dropping it to 29" tires to make it streetable. It's still pretty much unstoppable.
In reply to maschinenbau :
Spring of E36 M3ty-side-street slaying small suv shenanigans!
Plus a few other 4x4 builds...
In reply to maschinenbau :
Love your new X-90. Didn't Red Bull have a few with a big can on the back?
Tires on my Samurai are 215/75-15 Dean Wildcats (rar) wrapped around what I'm pretty sure are Geo Tracker wheels.
So, the acquisition. The address given by the seller took me to a fish hatchery in the middle of nowhere near the coast. Very pretty place and very rural. I thought "no way this is the right spot" but there was nowhere else even close it could be so I pulled it, expecting someone to stop me. No dice. I cruised around the grounds a bit, looking for a little blue 4x4 and came up blank. I saw someone in a riding lawnmower so I pulled up and asked if I was at the right address and if she knew the seller. Turns out he lives in federal housing, tucked away in the back of the hatchery. Something that probably should have been communicated with the address, but not a huge deal. This ended up being more fun anyway. I followed her directions and sure enough, there was a awesome Samurai parked right in front. Seller was super cool and upfront with the few issues the rig has. He let my wife and I take the Samurai for a test drive without him, which was nice. The little trucklet drove as well as I expected, 4x4 hi and low worked, and it was in as good of shape as the photos promised so I was sold!
He had two whole extra sets of wheel/tires, a bimimi top, car cover, Weber carb, and some other stuff included in the sale and was asking $5750. I didn't want the wheels with studded tires so I asked if he'd take $5500 and keep them, and he agreed. We signed papers, loaded up the goods, figured out the tow bar situation, and the wife and I were off on our way home.
The drive was pretty uneventful, save for this being the third time I've towed anything in my life. I took my time, utilized passing lanes and turnouts to not be "that guy" on the way home. I badly need a drop hitch next time I drag this thing anywhere, as y'all will see in the photos. Worse part about the drive (other than a FedEx truck stopping right behind a blind hill on a 45 mph road) was not eating lunch until like 2:30. Google maps gave me a way to save ONE MINUTE, which I foolishly followed and bypassed the only places we could have stopped to eat before that.
Here's the part everyone scrolled past my essay to get to: PICTURES!
I'll start with the ones from the seller:
The photo below shows the other mod of note, besides the wheels/tires: a very nice Doug Thorley header.
Here's two photos showing the terrible angle of the tow bar: 
The other whoopsie I realized when I got home came from reading about the tow bar and the proper way to hook up the safety cables. There's a little loop on the arms themselves that I guessed was the right place. Coincidentally, the directions were extremely specific on never ever hooking up there and to only use the mounts I didn't see on the tow bar bracket itself. Don't be dumb like me and read the directions first folks. Luckily nothing bad happened but I won't be risking it again.
I ended with the other four wheels to match the nice aluminum wheel on the spare. They've got snow tires mounted at the moment so I will be running the steelies for a while, until it comes time to get something bigger under it. I have no desire to keep those tires, so I'll cut a good deal to anyone around Portland OR who wants some little snow tires.
The biggest issue with the rig now is that exhaust behind that nice header has no catalytic converter and was installed very foolishly. Whoever did the work didn't use any of the rubber hangers (but left them installed?!) and instead drilled a hole in the tub for a giant bolt to hold one of the factory brackets and then hose clamped that to the pipe. This of course makes an awful racket and will not pass smog. I also hate how cat-less cars smell. I've ordered a new stainless system from Roadless Gear that promises a "deep throaty" sound. Not sure how deep a 1.3 liter motor can be but I'm gonna find out this weekend when it arrives. You'll notice the whole system is $425. Samurai parts are hilariously cheap.
Exhaust hanger bolt:
Hose clamp:
Suspiciously straight pipe from header to muffler:
Very cool. I'm looking forward to which direction you go with it.
I'm currently running a 235/75R15 with a 1" body lift. It's a decent tire size for stock gears and the 1.6 swap.
The first time I built it I was running 5" of lift with 285/75R16 and 5.28 gears in the axles. It was unstoppable in the dirt and mud and I loved the way it looked but it was a bear to drive on the street. So much bump steer and zero power.
iansane
SuperDork
4/5/24 10:09 a.m.
What a cool little rig! That'll be hilariously fun to bomb around the woods in.
That thing is in phenomenal condition and seems like a steal at that price. Good job on getting a good deal!
In reply to Toyman! :
Thanks! I'm thinking long term I'll end up with 6.4 transfer case gears, YJ springs, and 31x10" SxS tires. The extra polished wheels I got are 15x7s which is a excellent fit for that size.
Near term the thought is to change the fluids, fix the broken stuff, slap on the bimimi top once the rains stop, and just sort of enjoy it.
EDIT: I forgot about the awful diamond plate interior panels. Those also gotta go near term.
In reply to dculberson :
Thanks! I was stoked when I saw the paint was every bit as good as the photos promised. It might be original, but the jury's still out. Badges and decals are missing, but I don't see any evidence of overspray in the door frames or under the hood. It's shiny so I'm happy either way.
In reply to thatsnowinnebago :
Mine is sitting on YJ springs. That is a very worthwhile swap. The ride difference is noticeable.
In reply to Toyman! :
That's what I hear! Are you running a double shackle in the front?
In reply to thatsnowinnebago :
I relocated the rear spring mount and am running Trail Tough missing links instead of shackles.
On the rear, I relocated the front and rear mounts and built custom shackles to set the ride height where I wanted it.
The only thing I changed when I lowered it and went to a smaller tire was relocating the springs from above the axle to under. That was worth 3"-4" of drop.
In reply to Toyman! :
SPUA seems like the way to go for driveability.
Are the missing links sketchy at all? They look like they should be but everyone but Rocky Road uses them.
You lose a lot of roll resistance with the missing links. What you do get is articulation.
In reply to onemanarmy :
2011. Got the Pro-4x with the locker and lifted it with Ironman's Foam Cell Pro kit. Feels like a luxury car after rolling around in my samurai 
Toyman! said:
You lose a lot of roll resistance with the missing links. What you do get is articulation.
Haha sounds exciting. Of course everything is exciting when you're driving around in a 63 hp tin can...
Replace the transfer case shifter sheet with the aftermarket brass one.
I installed the Roadless Gear exhaust system this evening. Sounds great and it's so, so nice to not have the exhaust vibrating the body. The exhaust isn't ricey, doesn't buzz, and has zero resonance at 3000 rpm. Every bolt came right out and nothing broke. Pretty sweet. I assume some of that is due to "rust protection film" visible in my pics.
I do have a bit of leak between the header and the rest of the system. I only used the doughnut gasket, not the flat one. Not sure if that was right or not. It got dark and I got hungry before trying the flat one too. The hanger by the cat is also nowhere near reaching the one on the frame. I've got three others so I figure it's ok.
Old system next to shiny new one.
A cat!
The new muffler is nicely tucked up underneath the rig
Little shiny tip
