1987 Suzuki Samurai

the Suzuki Samurai are great little 4x4s.
They had some rough publicity back in the 80s, but it was all BS.

the plan at purchase was to put a VW diesel engine in, still a good plan, if I ever run across a motor at the same time I have the cash.
The Sami is about as simple a car as can be found, any transplant should be fairly simple, and folks put all manner of engines in them.
more than once I've thought about using some cheap 15 or 18 horse Yanmar or Mitsubishi when the Surplus Center has them for a thousand bucks. darn thing would probably last forever with something like that.
or even that 9hp air cool Yanmar I have in the garage, coupled to that old skool wide belt CVT thats hangin in my buddies snomobile shack...

I've also though about stuffing a small block chevy in it, might last a week if I did that... if I was careful.

But, in the meanwhile, I just keep on driving it, that little old rattley rubberband motor just keeps on tickin, its slow but will keep up with legal traffic speeds, it'll go anywhere I want to go and further. Its the handiest thing on the planet for spotting trailers in tight spots.
and its fun to drive,

by the way, if your Sami is not fun to drive, you best take a look at your suspension system, especially if somebody modified it.
now I got no problem with modifying anything, I love big tires and big motors and all that, but do it correctly, make it safe and usable

it shouldn't wander all over the road willy nilly following every crack in the road,
its not supposed to bump steer,

Driving a 'zuki Sami should be fun and easy,
it should NOT be white knuckle, struggling to keep it between the lines, fighting it every inch of the way down the road work.

Jan 20, 2011
popped a heater hose monday, couldn't get a form fitting replacement local, so instead got 5 ft of half inch heater hose and made one, replaced the other heater hose too, as it was too soft for comfort.

Due to the small size of the engine compartment and my big hands, I did have to pull the distributor to gain access to the firewall hose connections, but that was a non-event.

June 2011, think I may have abused this little 'zuki a little too much in the past weeks and will be needing a new clutch soon.
ya see, I was towing that old junk 56 school bus (big dude- 66 passemger) with the little zuki in 4wheel low, and it just might have been a bit much for the old wore out clutch. it slipped some at the time, made a little smoke and smell, but it did its job.
then today, I went in and got 500 pounds of chicken feed and the zuki was not liking it at all.
good thing parts are fairly cheap !