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Re: My VG30-Powered Samurai

Posted: 27 May 2013 13:09
by okayfine
Tough to see the actual room in there. The engine will move towards the right side when it torques over. Not much, but it does move.

Re: My VG30-Powered Samurai

Posted: 20 Jun 2013 00:52
by iniazy
Finally got my self to work on my project. I finally installed the new fan, but unfortunately, to no avail. The engine still heats up. I believe I need a larger or more efficient radiator.

I captured this image that shows the fan while the engine is running, to show how close it is getting to the engine. It barely fits.

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I believe I have to replace my radiator with a larger one. Looking at the bright side, it means I'll retain my planned power steering plans, because I'll be using the previous low profile fan.

This fan didn't feel like it is blowing any more air than the flex-a-lite that I had, although it is supposed to blow more than twice as much. It sure didn't feel like it.

Also, an annoyance, whenever I leave my car without running it for a while, air seems to find its way into the break and clutch lines. Driving me crazy, I assume the fluid should leak out, not the air leak in. Never seen that happen before.

Re: My VG30-Powered Samurai

Posted: 22 Jun 2013 12:32
by iniazy
I found the right radiator for the Samurai. It's the 2007 70-series Land Cruiser radiator. This car is foreign to you guys in the US, because "it doesn't meet your safety standards" :P

The radiator is slim and tall, and drops just right between the frame rails. But I will have to get rid of the steering stabilizer, unfortunately.

Also, I'll have to cut out a piece of the radiator and then weld the exposed pipes off, to fit it around the steering box. I don't feel like finding a box that would fit on the outside, then have to do a whole lot of work getting the steering linkage over there and all that head ache.

I planned originally to make everything bolt-on. Unfortunately I am going to have to deviate a little from my plan, but I want to deviate as little as I can.

Here's a picture:

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This radiator is massive, designed to cool off the 4.5 L Inline-six engine of the Land Cruiser.

I will have to improvise a way to fit the A/C condenser though, but I'll worry about that later. Wish me luck.

Also, once the radiator is fitted, I'm planning on getting this fan, which is a perfect fit for the radiator and perfect thickness for my narrow application.
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Re: My VG30-Powered Samurai

Posted: 22 Jun 2013 12:43
by okayfine
iniazy wrote:Wish me luck.
Good luck!

Re: My VG30-Powered Samurai

Posted: 22 Jun 2013 12:49
by two_68_510s
Looks like a great shroud on those fans.

Re: My VG30-Powered Samurai

Posted: 22 Jun 2013 13:45
by iniazy
Yeah and only 2 1/2 inches thick. Perfect for my tight setup.

Re: My VG30-Powered Samurai

Posted: 11 Jul 2013 04:44
by iniazy
Ok, a quick update:

I got a power steering box from a Suzuki Jimny, which bolts right on to the Samurai frame:
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Then chopped off the steering stabilizer:
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Dropped the Land Cruiser 76 series radiator in place:
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And hooked up the power steering box to the power steering pump using hydro lines from a Nissan Cedric, which turned to bolt right into the Suzuki Box like it was made for it! Those Japs work together when they build their cars!

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The eye bolt from the Nissan bolted right into the steering box, exact right thread.

Hydro line routing:
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And into the Nissan Cedric power steering pump:
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It all worked out quite well. Still have yet to get the electric fan, then I can get the Zuk started and running.

Re: My VG30-Powered Samurai

Posted: 31 Jul 2013 19:06
by iniazy
Ok, finally some updates.

I made a new upper tank with a 90 degree inlet, so now I have no issues with the A/C compressor belt. Close, but doesn't touch.

Also, the new dual fan from Flex-a-Lite (VW Schirocco fan) fits, albeit very very tight, like everything else here.

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In order to fit the fan, I have to take off A/C belt, power steering belt, power steering pump, power steering pump bracket, and engine inlet pipe, all of that just to fit the fan. I hope it last very long.

Right now still getting things back together. I'm fitting the fan using through-core zip ties, and need to finish doing the power steering hoses.

I also fitted a Suzuki Jimny power steering reservoir and bracket, which was an easy fit:
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So this brings me to the following question: The hoses into and out of the PS fluid reservoir, do they need to be some special hoses, or just ordinary hoses that match the size? I don't think there is any high pressure at that end of the system

Re: My VG30-Powered Samurai

Posted: 13 Sep 2013 05:12
by iniazy
I'm glad to report that my Samurai has been driving well recently, and now I'm working on hooking up my A/C too.

However, I need some advice from you Nissan gurus. Apparently I had a bad transmission, and the fifth gear is very noisy and keeps popping out of gear and into neutral. This morning I was driving on the highway and as usual, the shifter popped out of fifth gear, but this time something wrong happened and I lost all my gears except the fourth 1:1 gear. I had to drive back home on fourth, and now I need to rebuild my transmission.

My questions are:
1. What caused this problem?
2. Can I put in some other gear set with a taller over drive gear, for better cruising?

Thanks,

Re: My VG30-Powered Samurai

Posted: 03 Nov 2013 01:12
by iniazy
Some updates regarding my transmission problem.

I tried to take the transmission out without touching the engine, but it turned out to be impossible, because of the tight Samurai body. So I had to remove the whole engine in order for me to get to the transmission.

After removing the engine, I took the transmission apart, to find that the counter shaft was broken.

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The broken part:
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The reason it broke is because of a mistake I made when I swapped the transmission shells (bell housing). The bearing of the counter shaft was smaller than the bearing retainer hole, so that caused some play in the counter shaft:
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So I bought a replacement transmission, which turned out to be in really really good condition, and took the housing off to swap it out:
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This is the new transmission. I went out and searched for a larger replacement bearing to avert the previous mistake. I had some difficulty finding one, as most bearings shops did not carry the size I needed. Eventually I found one, and here it is:
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Notice the difference in size between the old one and the new one.

The new transmission after fitting the new bearing:
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The bell housing fitted snugly this time:
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Now I'm dropping the engine and transmission back into the Samurai.

Taking my time, since I can only work on the weekends.

Re: My VG30-Powered Samurai

Posted: 24 Apr 2014 12:17
by iniazy
Hi guys,

just a final update to this thread, to let you know that the truck with the Nissan engine and tranny is running great. Here are a couple of videos, FYE:

A group of my local friends having a bit of fun in my toy:
[YOUTUBE]gHvwGYhaX5U[/YOUTUBE]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHvwGYhaX5U

Trailing my fellow Harley riders:
[YOUTUBE]ZevfOdX84nY[/YOUTUBE]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZevfOdX84nY

Yes, it is quite noisy from inside.

Re: My VG30-Powered Samurai

Posted: 24 Apr 2014 15:40
by Byron510
Good to see it running, now let's see some real off roading vids!

Byron

Re: My VG30-Powered Samurai

Posted: 25 Apr 2014 00:51
by iniazy
Sure I could do that. I just wasn't sure members of this forum would be interested in Off-road videos.

I still have a bit of work on the 4WD system in the vehicle, once done and out off-roading, I'll post some pics and vids.

Re: My VG30-Powered Samurai

Posted: 17 May 2014 23:19
by iniazy
I've bought a 90's Nissan non-turbo 300ZX oil pan to replace my current oil pan. The current oil pan has the hump in the front of the engine, which interferes with the steering links and might get struck by the front diff.

Here's how the old oil pan looked like:

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My Nissan non-turbo 300ZX oil pan off e-bay:
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This will provide ample clearance from front diff and all the steering links.



So I installed the 300ZX oil pan and oil pickup now, and it fits almost perfectly, except where it mounts to the oil pump, the bolt holes (four bolts) were slightly off alignment, so I thought the pan is rigid enough to keep that area shut, with the rest of the pan bolted shut. I thought of drilling holes, but it was very difficult to get the correct measurement. I'm not sure why they didn't align, but my guess is that my pump and engine is from the 80's models, and the pan is from the 90's models, so probably there's a small difference in the oil pumps.

Got the old oil pan off, now both pans set side-by-side to see how they differ:
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The two oil pickup tubes, side by side:
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I had a small problem, the front diff didn't provide enough clearance to remove the old pan, or to install the new pan, so I devised the following solution:
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Lifting the car off the axle from the bumper with the engine hoist, to clear the oil pan.

Oil pan securely in place, and best part is that it is now blocking the hole that was exposing the flywheel with the old pan. I was so pleased with this positive side-effect:

Old setup:
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New setup:
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The new pan perfectly clears the front diff and steering links:

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Also relocated the dipstick pipe. The VG30 engine has provisioning for three different dipstick locations, one in the front right side (the original location in my engine), one in the front left side, and one in the rear left side. My new oil pan needs it to be in the former, left-rear. So I punched off the brass plug, then I had great difficulty taking out the pipe from the original location, as it seems to be pressed into the block. After many attempts, I finally succeeded with great difficulty. Then the problem arose when I need to press it into the new location. Of course that would be impossible, so I sanded off a layer of the pipe until it was thin enough to be tapped into the new location with a hammer. That worked.

Old dipstick location:

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New location:
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Notice I had to notch the heat shield on the driver side to allow the dipstick pipe to come through.

Re: My VG30-Powered Samurai

Posted: 18 May 2014 11:35
by okayfine
That's a lot of work. Any other projects/repairs planned?