87 sami engine mods any ideas?

[airmanwilliams]

ok so I want to start saving for a new engine since my little 1.3 has a hard time getting my 3" lifted sami with 235/75r15s over 50mph on the highway. I want to drive it to idaho to visit my grandparents but I think it will take about 5-6 hours to get over the mountains instead of 3 hours it takes in my dodge neon. The engine I have just got rebuilt and has 767 miles, headers, cat and magnaflow muffler and still is wimpy as hell.

Can anyone please give me some ideas on what to swap in that wont cost an extreme amount? I would like one of the v6 vortech kits but since im in school and supporting my wife and son I wont be able to afford that until im all done with school in a few years if even then.

Thank you, Brandon

 

[Kiel]

1.6 -16 valve

 

[Stephen]

Redline is at 6k, use everything you've got. I ran a stock carb on 235/75/15's for 8 years and never had a problem hitting 75mph on the flats. The mountain passes were slower, but not bad. Just keep the revs high and you'll scoot along OK.
If you want more power on the cheap, find a 32/36 Weber carb to replace the stocker. The dual barrels will complement your Thorley header. More air in, more air out. You can pick a Weber up from any of the Suzuki aftermarket places (Petroworks, Hawk, ect.) for not too bad. And you can probably find one used for quite cheap if you look around. That particular carb is a common modification for lots of vehicles you'd just need the correct mounting plate.

 

[zukking01]

I had a 1.3 with hedder and carb and it would pull 6" lift and 31 down the road at 65-70 no problem. I later swapped a 1.6 8v with the hedder and carb and it was a lot better.I then did a 4.3 swap and it was a PITA! It was expensive and a long time to do the swap.

If I ever did a swap in a samurai again I would go with a 1.6 16v engine.

I think Myron on zukikrawlers is selling 1.6 16v engine with harness for under 1K and he is in Arizona so shipping or pick-up wouldn't be bad.

 

[Mope]

Another vote here for the 16v. My 8v 1.6 does well, but the 16v is much better. For reference, a stock 1.3 is about 60ish hp, a 1.6 8v is about 80, and a 16v is about 100.

Another thing to consider is doing a set of 4.16 gears in the transfer case. It will make it lots better offroad, and it should help with the highway driving as well.

 

[Venture13]

Check the classifieds driveline ads out.. I just posted a sweet 1.6 8valve.. All up to spec.. Pretty much giving away.. Have all the adapters, High flow PS pump and 250 amp alternator.. Talk about a difference in power..

 

[LWB SCOTTY]

The 1.6 16v is the way to go. I have 36's on my samurai and I have no problems on or off road with the 16v. Its a lwb too so a little heavier then the swb. Transfer case is geared 5:1 and stock yota gearing in the diffs. I would however love to do a VW diesel. But with the 16v I can use 5th gear on most incline sections of highway with the occasional down shift to 4th.

 

[zukijames]

or buy some gears and a myside

 

[bryson]

I ran a 1.3 on propane, and milled the head for more compression. Ran better and stronger than any other 1.3 I'd ever driven. No other mods to the engine (no header, no internal engine work, no head mods other than the milling...) and it was even spinning a power steering pump too! Just a small single barrel carb (forklift flavor) as well. I used all forklift parts to convert it, so it was VERY cheap (I think I was in to it maybe $100 with the tank and lines, because I scavenged most of the parts from a scrapped forklift.) I'd certainly recommend it.

 

[zukijames]

and are you running stock muffler and cat? i was strait pipe and that helped mine alot.. then put a highflow cat and a flow master on and it helped even more and was a super cheap

 

[redneckbronco]

Buy gears and a myside1 or mysede 2. Gears from a sidekick or tracker range from 4.62s to 5.12s which will give you some power to the wheels and will bolt in altho you will probly want to put the geared ring and pinions into your Sammi steal housings.

Oh yea youll only want the front diffs, as the rear gears will not fit in a stock sammi housing. I ran the Sidekick diffs in the aluminum housings for a year bfor I had problems and even then it wasnt the housing that broke but it was the Rear r@p that broke.

 

[airmanwilliams]

so are you saying I can only do the 5.12's up front? if so what do I do about the rear gearing?

Does anyone else know of any other cheap mods?

 

[redneckbronco]

Lol no, U want 2 5.12 front diffs. U can bolt the sidekick diffs rite up but bcus of their aluminum housings they are very weak so youd want to put the gears in your steel sammi housings. You could very well do 4.62s from a sidekick and I believe their much more common. and will scoot you around very well with the size tire your running.

 

[redneckbronco]

Oh and have u put a venturi tube in your carb yet? thatll help it a little bit. and also on the left side of the carb theres an air adjustment screw that will help yu adjust the carb a little bit better

 

[airmanwilliams]

can I directly put the 4.62's in the sami diff housings without problems? I dont want to lift too much more or change the tire size while im still in school so it the 4.62's work that would be great. Do you know what year I can find those in. I still have the vent tube from before in the carb so im set on that but I just noticed that a vacuum line is disconnected from the mcv and the intake. I also just found the line that goes in and blew through the jet thats in the middle and nothing gets through either end do you guys know where I can get a new one?

 

[O'neal]

Run a myside kit(better in the long run than any carb)and 5:12 gear's.Your rebuilt 1.3 should scoot along....It will probably gain more when it break's in alittle more.Need more later,add a turbo

My old sammy I had run a low mile 1.3 with a weber,rollin 35" MT claws,D44's and it seemed to do ok on the road,not fast by any mean's....could only pull 4th and downhill I could hit 5th.

 

[airmanwilliams]

maybe once im out of davis county I will get the myside but right now the shops I talked too said I wont pass emissions with an aftermarket carb I have to have the original carb on it which is stupid. some guys have told me to just put the stock on for inspection and put the other on afterwards but thats alittle much for me. I hope in a couple weeks here to go down to orem and pick up 4.62 diff's and try to find someone to put them in for me for cheap, no need to go lower im told since im not doing anything much until im done with college.

 

[O'neal]

How bout sourcing a harness with all the EFI from a samurai and swap it over?

 

[iamsparticus]

wow all this talk of sami stuff makes me want to build one, hey if you need someone to install your new diffs i can do it for really cheap, im in ogden pm me if you are intrested

 

[airmanwilliams]

How bout sourcing a harness with all the EFI from a samurai and swap it over?

If I knew what to look for and if it didnt cost an extreme ton I would do that. Im in school at the very least for another year and a half so the less I can spend the better.