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SPOA opinions required


 
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ideal_dog
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 307
Location: Daventry, Northampton

PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 12:30    Post subject: SPOA opinions required Reply with quote

I've now started getting into the technical stuff with my newly acquired, non rusty SJ.
It's a SJ410 and I'm swapping all the running gear from my Samurai into it which means relocating the spring hangers.
I've stripped the 1st axle out of the 410 and am about to start cutting and re-welding the chassis and can't make up my mind whether to do a SPOA conversion whilst at it.

The problem is that I want the car to be more practical than show.
I don't want to raise the car 6" just to make it look good, and have it handle terrible on the road and more unstable off road.
I'd like the extra little bit of ground clearance achieved by moving the U-bolt ends and location plate to the top of the axle, but don't want everything else to suffer.

I drive the car to wherever I go playing so it needs to be road usable too, but it also has to preform really well off road as nearly the only time I drive it is when I'm driving it to somewhere to play offroad.

Basically I want to know peoples opinions of the SPOA conversion, any real pros & cons people are aware of through experience please.

The first pictures of the new zuke starting it's transformation.


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Alan

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 12:30    Post subject: Google Ads keep this community free to join!


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me and the wife
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Joined: 07 Aug 2007
Posts: 1013
Location: gosport

PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 16:25    Post subject: Reply with quote

mine is fine and iv got spoa. i would hapilly drive it everywhere Very Happy
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ideal_dog
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 307
Location: Daventry, Northampton

PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 17:15    Post subject: Reply with quote

Did it change the driving characteristics much?
I've heard that they can get a bit wandery and that they lose a bit of their top end speed after the conversion.
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Alan

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me and the wife
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Joined: 07 Aug 2007
Posts: 1013
Location: gosport

PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 17:58    Post subject: Reply with quote

tbh i didnt really notice any diffrence and as for top end speed i killed that with 31s Twisted Evil hence the 1.6  conversion  Very Happy im a firm beliver that they should have come from the factory spoad like the toyota hilux  Very Happy
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ideal_dog
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 307
Location: Daventry, Northampton

PostPosted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 12:31    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cool, thanks very much for your opinion.
I think I probably will do the conversion.

Did swapping to a 1600cc Vitara engine make it that much more powerful and capable of decent speeds on the motorway even with the 31s?

As you probably know, I ruined my 1300 engine last week and am planning to put a Vit engine in, but can't find a suitable (affordable) engine right now, so have managed to get hold of another 1300 which I'll fit just to get me back on the road.
I am looking forward to doing the 1600 conversion in a little while when I can afford it better.
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Alan

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ideal_dog
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 307
Location: Daventry, Northampton

PostPosted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 11:24    Post subject: Reply with quote

me and the wife wrote:
tbh i didnt really notice any diffrence and as for top end speed i killed that with 31s Twisted Evil hence the 1.6  conversion  Very Happy im a firm beliver that they should have come from the factory spoad like the toyota hilux  Very Happy

I had found myself a 1300 engine to replace my broken engine, but then at the last minute someone I know decided to break their Vitara so now I've got a 1600cc 8v Vitara engine to replace it with  Very Happy

I have read all sorts of things about doing the swap but can I ask you as you've done it yourself, is there anything I need to look out for?

Do I really need the adapter plate or is it not too risky to drill new holes?

Why doesn't anyone use the Vitara gearbox too, why stick with the SJ gearbox?

What starter motor do I use?


Any answers from anyone that knows would be appreciated before I start this job next weekend  Very Happy
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Alan

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ideal_dog
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 307
Location: Daventry, Northampton

PostPosted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 15:54    Post subject: Reply with quote

I now know why they use the SJ gearbox. It's a lot easier as it's a separate gearbox and transfer box set-up rather than the Vitara's gearbox / Transfer box combined set-up. You would also have to mess around resizing the gearbox tunnel etc as the Vit box is bigger.

You don't strictly have to have an adapter plate to couple the Vitara engine and Samurai gearbox, you just need the 2 top Vitara gearbox bolts as they're bigger threaded in the Vit block and also to drill through the engine block for the 2 bottom gearbox bolt holes. You can then nut and bolt them apparently.
I have to have a close look at this before I drill anything though as I'd be very upset if I have the wrong info and knacker my new engine crybaby

I don't suppose anyone cares too much about that information, but I just like to know the reasons behind things and thought I'd share it just in case  Wink
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