Three years ago my dad purchased a used Suzuki Samurai to replace our trusty 1993 Toyota Lite Ace. Just recently he (finally) convinced to stop daydreaming about owning and modifying a classic Volkswagen Beetle and instead help him out with the Samurai.
Well, here we go. We haven't started on anything... yet. I did show him a few youtube videos of some problem areas for the Suzuki Samurai, most notably the shifter. I won't be surprised if the alignment bolt for the shifter is already broken, similar to the video. This will probably the very first thing my dad and I will try to address with the Samurai, finances, time, and resources willing.
After that if we're crazy enough we'll probably try to find a way to tackle the electrical wiring of the Samurai. None of us are electricians though, and I do not know any reliable automotive electrician, but I do agree with my dad that the wiring harness should either be restored or replaced.
After that we'll probably need to find new seat belts for the front seats. I think they still work but they're so old the plastic is about ready to crumble.
Writing about the Samurai and what improvements we can do to it brings me back to our 2001 Toyota Rav4, aka my daily driver.
My driver and I have noticed that all four wheels leak air fast. We fill it with 32 psi on a Saturday and come Monday some wheels have 28 psi and others have 30 psi. I've even had an experience where one tire became totally deflated. When we had it sent to be vulcanized there were no punctures, but they did notice that air was leaking from the rim so they put some sealant on it.
This means that we'll have to have the rims fixed. I do notice that the paint on the rims are mostly chipped. I won't be surprised if that is the reason why air is leaking out faster than what is normal.
Aside from the rims, the Rav also needs a new stereo unit. This isn't much of a problem since we have a spare head unit here that we can probably have installed to replace the current head unit.
Finally, one last thing I'd like done on the Rav4 is to have the steering wheel leather wrapped. The current state of the steering wheel is very old and crumbling. My hands literally get dirty whenever I drive it, because the material of the steering wheel is turning to dust.
Yeah, so many things my dad and I would like to have done to the car, but resources aren't readily available. Hopefully my dad and I get to sort things out so we can have the cars back up to our standards.
Out.
