WL: 1986 samurai mtdi swap

well i figured id start a thread on here, i might as well, i got my motor, mechanical pump, samurai, just waiting on my acme kit right now. Im starting off with an 86 samurai:

then i bought donor car, special thanks to arne and picking it up for me and being patient in the whole process of getting the car.

pulled the motor next, waiting to sell body right now



and my mechanical pump, off of a 2.8 vw lt eurovan or something like that from europe that they never produced in the usa, its supposedly a relatively bolt on swap.


plan is to lift samurai 5" and throw 32x9.5x15 super swampers under it at the same time. thats all my current progress, going to do a timing belt and water pump with new inj pump

I would be interested in the engine harness, ecu and the alternator, since you
are going M and all.

Looks awesome. Subscribed.

2many diesels said:

I would be interested in the engine harness, ecu and the alternator, since you
are going M and all.

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engine harness is actually out of a gas car, thats the reason i pulled this engine was because it was a poorly done swap. but ecu and alternator are yours. i have an entire second wire harness in a plastic tote, but its all tangled up and im not sure what its from.

oil_me said:

Looks awesome. Subscribed.

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thanks!!!!

samuraitd said:

plan is to lift samurai 5" and throw 32x9.5x15 super swampers under it at the same time. thats all my current progress, going to do a timing belt and water pump with new inj pump

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Nice plans, there are many times I wish I had more power, like with a TDI.

I am running the 32x9.5 Swampers on mine and they dig like crazy, even more with the truck chains. Don't forget about the lockers, but you may want to go with Toy axles since the stock Zuki ones are a little light. I also inverted the center of the front wheels and welded them back on for 1.5" backspacing, otherwise the large lugs on the Swampers will hit the springs. It was easy to do and they balanced well. The 5.5" wide tire is perfect for the 9.5" wide Swamper, don't let anyone tell you different. Don't forget about the gearing, you will need a reduced transfer case at the minimum. I am running a 4" Calmini lift with shackle reversal (don't recommend it), 2" body lift, and had to clearance the fenders another 1.5" to clear the chains since the tires would stuff too much. Look for some old CJ front springs and do that conversion (CJ's in rear, rear springs up front) for a lift rather than going with a kit, you'll be happier. SOA would have been nicer but they're illegal in Maine and mine is (was) road legal (minus the chains, which they treat as studded tires).

She's been over a few times but it still runs great, it's just relegated to plow duty now since most everyone I know got out of 4 wheeling years ago.

(click on pictures to enlarge)






And the ubiquitous towing of the Jeep shot.

Mark, its you! I recognize this rig, one of my favorite sami's of all times!



Remember me? Here is a clue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp2ffw47OaU

Daxe! Good to hear from you again, it has been awhile. You just never know who you'll run into and where.

Abacus said:

Daxe! Good to hear from you again, it has been awhile. You just never know who you'll run into and where.

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good guess, but its Randy (Zooky). Yea, its a small world!
To stay on topic, I think a MTDI in a sami is the perfect combo. Can't wait to see the progress on this

The video was posted by Daxe then, so that's who I thought this was. Sorry about that. The last I remembered Daxe was living in western MA and you were moving for a new job, but that was over 10 years ago. I should have looked at your profile because Daxe was a courier and you were an aircraft mechanic, I would have picked it up then.

Holy cow, Randy, I didn't think you'd live when your wife saw the video of you rolling the Zuk down the hill. That was pretty nasty and I almost rolled mine there more than once. I remember when you cut off the rest of the roll cage so she wouldn't be so freaked out when you came home. Good to hear from you!

You must remember these then, since you were there:





I don't know, the AHU is a pretty good platform just the way it is, I might leave it in its current form and not go M-TDI, but that's just me. I can understand the dilemma and will be helping my older brother swap some form of an AHU into his '82 Westy this spring, but he hasn't decided whether it'll be manual or not.

There are times when spinning really helps, like when Wild Bill attacked a hill from a stop and had to spin all the way up in his Sidekick fuel injected 1.6 Zuk. I tried everything I could and the 1.3 just didn't have the power (even with the Pony carb) to snap off the line, and he was even turning 34" Swampers with his. Those were the days...

Still, the instances of when that would be needed are pretty rare.

my first tdi car is already gone, shes going to a good home to be rebuilt with another tdi, lol, but now that its gone i can buy another tdi to daily drive.

unfortunately i wasnt able to finish tonight with the mechanical pump because the rear mount didnt bolt up correctly, so im going to fab one up tomorrow on the mill. But here is some progress pix, the PO used too long a bolt on the crank snout as you can see and it beat up the seal pretty good. one of the bolts was broke off in the snout, so i got a new snout and seal on order. see pix

started painting my zuk today, unfortunately i only got the front half sanded and only partway primed before it started raining. Also, i did some serious engineering to create the bracket needed to connect the rear of the mtdi pump. here is progress pix.

cant figure out how to link youtube directly on here. somebody can show me maybe???? anyways, heres a link of the video running. like i said, somebody needs to show me how to embed on here. lol
ahu mtdi running

I have been kinda lacking in this build thread on here, so Ill do some updates. Picked up a tracker transmission to use instead. Pulled my old motor and transmission and traded for some tires.

Did a little test fit today, no tranny on it, but set it in engine bay just to see how it will look. I like it!!! Yes, its sitting at an angle, it's still being supported by the hoist.

Also took a mini wheeling shot before I started to rip everything apart.

How it currently sits, I still need to: Spoa rear axle and install locker, install front cj springs on rear axle. Install ruf sami kit, rear springs up front, which moves front axle forward and rear axle back a few inches.

Myself being lazy ordered acmeadapters motor m ounts, they came today, now to just fab up an adapter plate to the engine.

samuraitd said:

Myself being lazy ordered acmeadapters motor mounts

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Nice shiny new item...I still have that down pipe flange and gasket you low balled me on and had me box up...

GTiTDi said:

Nice shiny new item...I still have that down pipe flange and gasket you low balled me on and had me box up...

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oh crap, completely forgot, sorry. My paypal is jacked up, do you have anyway to send me an invoice like the businesses can? I can pay by credit card that way if you can. I think you just need to request money, pm sent to you again.

samuraitd said:

oh crap, completely forgot, sorry. My paypal is jacked up, do you have anyway to send me an invoice like the businesses can? I can pay by credit card that way if you can. I think you just need to request money, pm sent to you again.

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Request sent!

On the fence... This ^ or a RZR?

Does the Acme adapter not work with a tdi or are you just going to save the money and do it yourself. I was kind of wanting to do this swap myself.
Now that I'm thinking about it, is it because you have the tracker transmission and not the original Samurai?

frozenplum4 said:

Does the Acme adapter not work with a tdi or are you just going to save the money and do it yourself. I was kind of wanting to do this swap myself.
Now that I'm thinking about it, is it because you have the tracker transmission and not the original Samurai?

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It will work with a tdi. I'm making it myself to save money, acme makes kits for both the samurai and the tracker. I would highly recommend just buying the kit if you can afford it.

Also, the only difference between the samurai and the tracker bellhousing bolt pattern is two lower bolts that are about an inch farther out on each side.

BlownBusa said:

On the fence... This ^ or a RZR?

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This. I have driven both, but it also depends on the usage. If you want high speeds, go with a razr, if you want something to offroad around the farm, hit up some mud, or spend very little money on, GO WITH TEH SAMURAI!!!!! I love mine with a passion.

Installed my crank tonight. By far, one of the most difficult and tedious tasks I have ever done.

Nice build. I had no idea people were using VW diesels in other projext until I got on this forum. Keep up the good work.

Learning about TDI's.

I bought my adapter plate tonight, after months of waiting, doing nothing, sitting, wasting money with school (lol), and trying to make my own adapter plate as well. Here is how my zuki currently sits, all it needs is shock mounts, shocks, steering, fuel tank reinstalled, motor put in, exhaust.