Re: 87 Suzuki Samurai
Among the other big tasks I had to tackle was the wiring and installing the VSS (Variable Speed Sensor) in the dash.
I began the electrical mods by removing the cluster, wiring harness and computers from the Sidekick.
I removed the VSS from the sidekick cluster and installed it into the Samurai cluster. Interestingly enough, the Samurai cluster had a spot with screw holes for it!
I soldered a yellow wire to a tab on the right and the remaining metal tab with the screw threads was the ground.
The wiring harness seemed like a daunting task though I don't think it's the $300 job all the Samurai vendors want to charge. Though I hear Zuks Off Road only charges $150 which seems far more reasonable.
I removed all the electrical tape from the harness and used zip ties to secure the wires in key locations to keep the wire branches and configuration mostly the same.
I removed all the stuff that I absolutely knew I would not be needing. Things like the headlights and blinkers, the brake fluid level sensor and a few other miscellaneous things. I identified and labeled everything I could. I'm beginning to think that the issue the woman I got this Sidekick was having was due to the lack of a Torque Converter Clutch Relay. I never located it.
I was extremely concerned about the transmission control module being an issue. I had heard from someone on a suzuki samurai facebook group that I would need to keep the TCM for it to work correctly or so that it the ECM wouldn't throw up a code and the check engine light.
I had wanted to keep the cruise control module and the cruise control actuator as it would have been pretty nice to have. The Honda Civic I've been daily driving has spoiled me with Cruise Control and Air Conditioning. In the end I removed most of the wiring and left the plugs for the TCM and Cruise Control Module thought I will probably remove them and the associated wiring sometime soon.
I'm pretty sure that my exhaust was not the original and that the exhaust I had on the samurai was custom. There was some weird stuff going on with it. I had heard that when some shops do the engine swap that they use the original muffler with the sidekicks catalytic converter. Mine kind of fit.... The downpipe going to the catalytic converter was really close to the frame. I couldn't use one of the spring bolt's on the frame side of the flange from the header to the downpipe and a tab on the downpipes heat shield was also rubbing the frame. My muffler sits maybe an inch or two too far towards the rear to really reach the flange on the end of the catalytic converter but I made it work temporarily. I think I can have an exhaust shop redo the flange from the header and the hangers for the rest of the exhaust system.
So I guess that the air intake pipe on the top of the engine as well as the throttle cable bracket will hit the samurai hood when you close it. You can solve this with a body lift or a hood scoop I hear. I chose to do the mods Brent from trail tough gave me over the phone.
For the throttle cable bracket I had to cut off the top of it and grind in the notch that's just below where the original throttle cable was secured.
(I'll try to get some better pics soon)
The air intake pipe bracketry needs to be modified as well. If you measure from the center of the original holes 1-1/4 up and drill two new holes (5/16" drill bit worked great) then cut off the bottom of the bracket as well as the bracket that goes over the valve cover.
My hood clears pretty well. I think its barely touching that boxy thing that's sitting under my throttle cable.
Getting back to the wiring harness I opted to keep my ECM on the drivers side, the harness modification instructions I was following from Warbird intended for me to deconstruct the wiring harness wire by wire and would have had me end up with my ECM on the passenger side where the original 1.3L ECM was but I really didn't want to take the harness apart that much. I drilled two extra holes in
the firewall for the Engine harness to enter the cab and for the Igniter, MAF, IAC and grounds to exit the cab and commenced to deconstructing the original harness and integrating the new harness.
I don't do anything in order so I took a break from the wiring to get the air box to fit. I removed most of the original mounting tabs from the air box as well as shortened the flexible hose about a half inch.
Eventually I got fuel pump mounted with some heavy duty zip tie mounts and heavy duty zip ties. I removed a check valve on the return line and added new hoses.
I thought I got everything wired in and proceeded to try to start the thing after pressurizing the fuel tank with air to prime the pump. I ran into some issues with the wiring on the fuse block as well as what I thought was the ECM being dead before I got the thing to start for some reason the following morning. The first thing I noticed was that the temperature gauge shot all the way up. After asking around I learned that I needed the temperature sensor from the 1.3L for the gauge to function correctly.
After I got that installed I started it up again and was letting it run for awhile. I noticed that the needle still shot all the way up before I noticed smoke coming from the cluster. I shut off the engine and disconnected the battery and removed the dash.
The trace led to the plug which in turn led to the black/white wire which I never properly spliced to the new harness. My best guess is that the current from the temperature gauge or the other gauges needed somewhere to go and the black/white wire trace wasn't up to handling the load. I repaired the trace with some wire and soldered between the spots that had completely burned up.
After I got that repaired I took it out for a test drive! I managed to get the Samurai up to 80mph! I'm sure it could have gone a little faster but I honestly don't like speeding too much.
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You do nice work, glad it's going so well!
