68 baja build

[dustymojave]

Well it's only been 4 years...Welcome back.

[Piledriver]

Welcome back!

[bikesndbugs]

Good to be back.
Good to hear dusty is doing a bit better.

Working on the f100.
Might be selling that to downsize to something a bit easier to tow . Nissan frontiers rating is only 6500 so I’ve been thinking a samurai or maybe a buggy.
If I go buggy I want a beam car combo spindles extended arms 3x3s bus box. Motor I’m impartial water cooled would be nice but vw is fine
More of a dual sport.

Samurai would be a bit more broad as far as what I can do but no going fast. Thinking pretty stock lockers low range transfer


I’ll post some of the 65 bug when I get to it.
That’ll stay a class 11 style for a bit until I get time to pull the body lift and replace the a pillar kickers

[dustymojave]

Thanks Travis.

Was just watching a YouTube (FabRats) on repairing his brother's Samurai with a Toyota 22R, Toyo 5speed manual gearbox, Toyota axles. Seemed pretty cool and in rural Utah, smog is no issue. Not way wide. Not stupid horsepower. Good trail vehicle and cheap. But then again...You live in San Diego County, Cali. Where getting such a vehicle past smog check is a problem. The Suzi engine isn't bad though. A neighbor of mine back in the 90s was going with his club to the Rubicon. A couple days before leaving, his CJ5 put a rod through the side of the Chevy 350 block. So he called his pals to let them know he and his wife weren't going. They talked him into coming up anyway and taking his wife's daily driver Samurai hardtop for running around. Somebody else's Jeep broke down on the trail. So they chased parts in town and brought them to where the Jeep was broken in the Samurai. That was damned near 1/3 of the way through the Rubicon. They wound up taking the stone stock Samurai on street radials all the way through the Rubicon. Pictures and all. The trail is more extreme now due to lots of higher horsepower rigs and lots of traffic. Think... The Rubicon was once a wagon trail.

[bikesndbugs]

Ahh yes smog that is the main downside to a samurai.
Hard to get around that. I might go for the registration in a no smog county but with how things are going I wouldn’t be surprised to see that loophole change.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I've had several Samurais. Never had problems with any of them except that they had to pull out of the states because of rule changes that were made. They didn't have enough dealers and repair places across the US when the rules changed so they just gave up and pulled out as I remember. https://www.motortrend.com/features/suz ... fferences/

Because of this, parts were difficult to get as was a fix to the seat belt warning system. I never had a problem with mine and I still miss them.

From what I have heard, they are doing well around the world... just not here.

Lee

[chuckput]

Yep, my sister has a Honda Odyssey mini van that wouldn't pass smog up in San Bernardino County, so now it is registered at my address here in Imperial County. I too, wonder how long until the state closes that loophole. Imperial County has some of the highest unemployment in the nation, yet I am sure we have more cars registered here per capita than most California counties.

[dustymojave]

Suzuki didn't pull out of the US market back in the Samurai days . They made an agreement with GM to sell their replacement for the Samurai, known as Sidekick, under the Geo brand name. They were selling them and other passenger cars like Geo Metros under the Geo brand name. They continued in the US market far beyond the Samurai.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Suzuki didn't pull out of the US market back in the Samurai days . They made an agreement with GM to sell their replacement for the Samurai, known as Sidekick, under the Geo brand name. They were selling them and other passenger cars like Geo Metros under the Geo brand name. They continued in the US market far beyond the Samurai.

Dusty, I have had both of the Samurai and Sidekick and a Grand Vitara rigs. My last was a new 2010 Grand Vitara which was close to the time they pulled out. For repairs and parts in my area they were hooked to a Mopar dealership. I did a search about the contact between Suzuki and GM and the only thing I saw was for parts 89 -74 (GEO?)

I finally got rid of the Grand Vitara in 2019. I had good luck will all the Suzuki's I had. If they did hook up with GM, other than the Geo, I have never seen any other attachment for any reason.

Occasionally (usually online or now and for imported older versions [Craig's List usually]), I have seen new models sold around the world but not here in the states (not sure about Canada).

Lee

[bikesndbugs]

Still pretty set on a samurai.
Got the f100 going again (broken pushrod into the clutch master) drove it to work for 2 weeks. I was letting my girlfriend borrow my frontier so I could do cv axles on her crv.
Sparked a bit of interest in the f100 for a second until I somehow broke a grade 8 bolt on the front axle clamps. Same as an early bronco setup. I was looking at the front end and noticed a missing bolt upon further inspection it sheared off. I guess its more of a pull force than shearing. I could just replace it but if it broke once on the road not sure I can trust it in the future. It was a relatively new bolt also like 2 maybe 3 years old. Just another thing broken on that truck. Its a cool truck but if I want to really use the thing I need to pull it back down to frame and redo most of it.
I built it a bit more light duty than what it needs for how Ive been using it. Either sell it or let it sit till I want to rebuild it.

In the meantime Im thinking samurai while the girlfriend votes for a yj. with a 6500 lb tow rating on my frontier I worry about weight but shes hoping for an automatic in a yj.


Now onto what Im here for today.
got the 65 towed home. It was my uncles and I inherited it. been told it has a 1900 and also a 1600 in it so who knows. Has a single webber 44 and a doghouse cooler vented valve covers so its a start regardless. been sitting for about 10 years
Got it running on a water bottle of fuel. seems to need a fuel pump and the tank is pretty much pure varnish not sure if I want to even bother with it or buy a new one entirely. any tips for cleaning out what is essentially gel in the lines.

got right to it on the brakes got all 4 wheel cylinders, soft lines shoes and a master cylinder replaced. brake pedal feels pretty good for a bug.
Adjusted the pushrod a bit and found the clutch line hook is almost completely worn through. Im thinking Im gonna tig some metal back on there and grind it back clean.

Then I Pulled out all the old carpet to reveal the horror underneath. Seems when the car was last "restored" in 1997 they put floor pans in it when they did the body lift BUT they didn't weld them in. SO the pans are separated from the tunnel the seats are bolted on a crossbeam into the heater channels and the floors are all dented because my uncle thought they were skid plates. and turned out they weren't even welded to the car.
fair bit of rust in the passenger kick panel area might just need cleanup and weld as its on the corner. package tray needs to be replaced also but nothing is too horrible.

image4.jpeg

image3.jpeg

image2.jpeg

image1.jpeg

image0.jpeg

passenger front quarter area is full of bondo and there is a few spots of rust around the car that are deep enough to pit but not enough to go through.
plan with this one is rally/street build kinda vintage speed look. 356 replica wheels all that jazz. for now Ill be pleased with running and driving.