Mighty Might! The 4WD Terror!

In reply to drummerfromdefleopard:

Oh hell yeah. A 250 shot ought to do it pretty good.

Well, van guy doesn't know if the van runs. Won't let me see if it runs and won't budge on the price so far. Next.

I've got a call in on a wrecked, 3.8L, 5 speed, Camaro. We'll see how that turns out. I'm a little worried about lauching a with a manual. The transfer case and axles in a Samurai aren't exactly bullet proof. The good thing about that is, if the Samurai doesn't work out I can always drop the engine and transmission in my RX-7.

I did stare at it some more today, but no epiphanies were forthcoming.

that dakota bellhousing is stupid rare. iirc from 2.5 manual dakotas from the 94-95 year range.

other option: srt4 swap.

The Jeep/Dodge AX15 5-speed, the Jeep NV3550 5-speed, the Jeep NV1500, the Toyota R150F, R151F & R155F, the 87-92 Toyota Supra Turbo R154, the Isuzu AR5 and the Pontiac Solstice\Saturn Sky\Chevy Colorado\ GMC Canyon MA5 5-speeds all share the same case to bellhousing bolt pattern (Large Pattern). As such there are a number of possibilities that can be had when a 5-speed is desired: 03-04 Jeep Liberty\TJ 2.4L bellhousing: Connects NV1500 to 2.4L SOHC\DOHC Neon\SRT-4\PT Cruiser L4

GM 3800 with a turbo 700 auto? Apparently these fit quite comfortably for off-road use, but if you intend to lower it for the Challenge, it might be a whole different ball game.

Might be back to the 4.3. I found a 2000 with a transmission for $400.

No ecu though. That will mean sourcing a ecu or swapping to a carburetor.

Does a 2000 auto require a ecu for shifting or can it be hacked to work without one?

Yes. The 4l60 is computer controlled. You can use a 95ish ecu and tbi setup for cheap and easy.

ScreaminE wrote: Had anyone else came up with this hair-brained scheme, I would have expected it to fizzle out and die a slow part out... Not you, my friend. After watching you dream up and then build the jet boat, I know you're serious and this thing will be equally as bad-ass. Carry on.

I thought of something similar when I bought my neighbor's samaurai last year for $120.00.

I was going to roller skate a Miata, and then make a tube frame to attach said roller skate to samaurai body. Add turbo and done...

like this jeep

In reply to Dusterbd13:

So, the 95 computer would be able to control the 2000 transmission?

I must have more info on that Jeep.

In reply to Toyman01:

Sorry I missed this. Yes, it should. As far as I know, the trans will interchange, so it should work.

beans wrote: I must have more info on that Jeep.

It's called the "Jiata". I remember it getting some notoriety a few years ago, not sure whatever happened to it?

In reply to beans:

iirc it is a miata roller skate with a jeepish body.

are you trying to keep awd or just rwd?

The plan is to keep it 4WD. Thing are kind of in a holding pattern until I make a decision on the engine and transmission. Still digging on that one.

it's gonna take some serious chopping to lower a Samurai much...you can get maybe 3-4" of suspension drop on a stock one (not including any room for upward suspension travel), lower than that and you're running into frame rails and oil pans.

There's plenty of room to lose ground clearance by going with low-profile tires though.

In reply to GameboyRMH:

Yeah, the back axle is easy. The front, not so much. Oil pan clearance is why I don't want to do much before I figure out what engine. It's going to be a challenge.

Edited for duh.

Hey, you know what Suzuki engines make great power, are small and compact, and are readily available on craigslist? Motorcycle engines

Takes care of the transmission for you as well...

mazdeuce wrote:

Toyman01 wrote: Is there a transmission that will let me use a 2.2L Dodge turbo for RWD?

One of the Dakota transmissions will. Might be as simple as the one used in the earlier 4cyl Dakotas. Edit: quick search on Turbododge forums says a Toyota r154 transmission with a Dakota bell housing works. Probably more better searching is needed.

Just use the Dakota transmission. The shifter will be in a truck friendly place compared to the 'yota trans.

Serious Q. Is there a simple plug in and play recipe for adding a small magic snail of awesome to a Suzuki/Geo 1.6L 8V? Can the stock calibrated dribble TB injection handle it?

I have read that a FMU will make the factory injection usable, but I have no experience with it. I do have a FMU and turbo in my box of tricks, that I was going to put on my tin top. But I haven't come up with a spare 1.6 yet.

No one has hacked the ECU to my knowledge, but a Megasquirt would be fairly straight forward.