Good plan, thats how I did the lines on my van. Same reason I used blue too so I could see which ones I did. Yeah I've been wanting to get rid of the cat honeycomb and adjust the valves anyway. Also the timing belt I had from the dealer is looking like its fraying and almost ready to break so new one of those as well, OEM made by Mitsubishi. I also have a custom exhaust made for a turbo van coming in as well. Hopefully its not too load. May have to re-jet the carb for it but won't install it until its running reliably again. The vacuum lines are a holdover from trying to meet emissions and drivability using a carb. My 80 RX-7 was the same way. You can remove all the lines except the one for the dizzy advance but (big but here) you need to understand how that affects functions on the carb and the systems relying on vacuum like transfer case shifting and such. If you go this route the carb will be cold natured when you drive it and it may require a higher idle so it doesn't stumble when loads like lights or the radiator fan kicks on.
Latest on the van. Its been down now for about 2 months. I rebuilt the OEM carburetor but that didn't work out, it refused to idle even though the fuel cutoff worked and pulled it off and went through it again. The rebuild kit was a joke, the gaskets it did have that matched I used but it lacked a bunch of other rubber parts a kit should have. Anyway, heres how it went down. I swapped the rebuilt carb back on and it wouldn't even start. I then started looking at more things and removed the EGR valve and cranked it up. Boom! It starts just fine and the exhaust is pouring out the EGR port. Hmmm, exhaust restriction? I put the EGR back on and had my wife try to started it while I had my hand on the muffler tail pipe. No pulses, nothing. The muffler was clogged. So I was on the right track removing the catalyst honeycomb but just didn't realize the muffler collapsed on the inside. I removed the old muffler and I couldn't even blow through it. First time I've seen a muffler that clogged up. So I swapped on the turbo muffler from J Works and man it fired right up on the choke and ran like a demon until the choke pulled off and it tried to transition to idle. Thats where it has been at for the last few weeks. I messed with the carb but could not get the idle to spill fuel out and run. That new muffler sounds awesome too! So the plan now is to swap to a motorcycle carb. Thanks to @Bigsullie000 for sharing his Nibbi carb conversion journey with me. I have a carb and the parts coming in this week and will be doing the conversion over the holiday break. I will definitely do a full write up with notes, links and recommendations. There have been a lot of carb swap threads, which I have read through, but they leave out or gloss over things a lot of folks need to know.
Great progress report. You are definitely on the final leg of this journey, and after that, your little van will be repaired, upgraded, and ready for its second life in the US. I have heard of the ceramic honeycomb inside a catalytic converter breaking into chunks that block the exhaust, but a completely clogged muffler would have been way down on my list of likely culprits. Hopefully my old brain will retain this new information in case I need it in the future. After one year of owning my Hijet mini truck, I'm halfway through my Hijet project list (old man, low mojo) but I catch myself most evenings looking for a 4WD kei van on Japanese car exporting sites. I can't justify having a motorcycle, 4Runner, kei truck and kei van and paying taxes and insurance on all of them, particularly only driving 4000 miles a year, but I really want a 4WD kei van.
Yeah, I ran it hard for 2+ years with almost no issues, it was time for some TLC. The turbo exhaust is very radical and looks insane on the van.
I'm looking forward to seeing some pics of it on the van. What does it do in the way of noise inside the van?
It has some noise but that provides extra protection right? Seiously, I can't tell as I have the engine hatch open cause its not running yet. I'll do a short video of it when its all buttoned up later.
Sorry to hijack thread. Like this, with a kangaroo on it? I also spend most evenings looking and more mini trucks too but every now and then I wonder, hmmm should I sell this thing? I brought it back to life and the reality is I'll probably never let it go, but just to tease you It is truly amazing how good this thing is in the snow with studded 13" tires
So got the van all squared away and working great but then the battery dies with 2 months left on the warranty (which won't mean jack at return time I'm sure). So off to Wally mart to pickup a new one.
Wrote up the carb swap I just completed https://minitrucktalk.com/threads/suzuki-every-carb-swap.24819/
Did this change effect your milage? Any noticeable change in power or torque? I would love to hear that exhaust.
Great torque down low it revs out really well. Has a lot more power than it did with the plugged exhaust haha. Haven't had time to measure mileage yet. I posted a vid on FB here but its a private group so not sure you will be able to see it or not https://www.facebook.com/groups/1830995063761364/posts/2300424750151724/?__cft__[0]=AZXNwzoVs8N1Xt-2tM3yme06YOy9wIvNbnRo-NDS609_NyWvl1cEXsG2GJ4Czh48IIw1NOiKefcLhFcQK6gUPhsyosSZbq4Z_ygmoI4wjHku3mP8oCVWH2RLXhOBqMlltTBVrEpyv5jp6oDfqyP0HY9bIgGUKKtkY4env61oAFv0ZxbEpIiFRzigiShMlBndFcI&__tn__=,O,P-R
Used these to replace my headlights. So much better and plug and play. Thanks for the link! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5FXFQQS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
I finally figured out what my 13in wheels came off of, a Wagon R, which is the upsized non-kei version of the van I think. Always learning new things. Also, my paper work says the van is a 95 but based on the serial number t he date of manufacture looks to be late 96 or even early 97. See this post for details https://minitrucktalk.com/threads/c...every-model-numbers-reference-1987-2007.24783
Where did you pick up that exhaust though? Also can anyone source the front passenger lower body panel for my 93 every? My profile pic shows the silver piece just forward of the door but I need the other side. Thank you
Got it on 500yenshop.com which is where you may be able to find that piece you are looking for. Also try G & R Imports in Missouri, they have parts cars I think. https://500yenshop.com/en/yahoo-auctions/detail?id=g1110260647
I just bought some rear shocks for a 86 Suzuki Samurai MONROE 32207 from rockauto. I had to trim down the rubber bushings on each side and also trim the metal bushing insert. They fit great and are gas shocks so should be much smoother. I have a bunch of front suspension parts coming in from mini4x4.ca hopefully next week, waiting on the tension rod bushings. https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=60199&cc=1271102&pt=7556&jsn=367 This pic shows the old shock at full extension with the new one also at full extension, so about 2 inches different at the most.
Awesome so does that seller on yahoo auction ship to the us no problems? He does have the panel I need!
So the way 500yenshop works is you deposit money with them first, then go to the sites they provide for shopping (yahoo auctions, yahoo, and rakutan) and bid on or buy things. They will then use your money to pay the sellers and will collect things together for you to ship over. They let you group things into one or more shipments and they charge fairly reasonable fees to do all this. It pays to order multiple things together if you can. I know it sounds sketchy but I've used and many other folks in the minitruck community around me use it. Usually takes a week or so for them to get all the items in their possession and then a couple of weeks to get it shipped over. If you get that exhaust it will probably cause your van to run lean because its got less restrictions. If the van is turbo that could be an issue but maybe not. When I put it on, I cleared out the cat and replaced the OEM carb with a Nibbi PWK 32mm, so had to tune the carb anyway.
Does us all a favor and add the make/model/year of your van in your signature. That way help will be more focused.
I swapped in a new timing belt. I had one of those JZK brand belts from when I bought it 3 years ago and after 22,000 kilometers I was nervous about its condition given the rep these belts have. So a swapped in a new Gates belt I got from Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075Q6XBLQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1. The JZK belt was showing signs of delamination and had fibers hanging off the edges in places. Not a good sign but probably caught it just in time.
Motocheez's buddy Jeffro has a kei truck he painted to look like a yellow Tonka truck. Very cute. He replaced the timing belt with an eBay part and it broke a week later. Fortunately, the interference engine survived... maybe idling when the timing belt broke? He replaced it with a quality timing belt and all is good. A timing belt isn't a place to save a few pennies. I'm even concerned that a Gates belt bought on eBay might be counterfeit. My Hijet's water pump exploded a few months ago. I was procrastinating the repair and then my 93 year old Mom broke her hip. She has dementia so I've been spending 12+ hours with her every night in and out of the hospital and rehab for the last two months so there has been no time/energy to repair the Hijet this summer. Mom's using her walker again so she should be able to go home in a week or two, so I need to order the water pump and timing belt. I'm doing both at once. I had intended to do both as preventative maintenance last year and didn't. I'm glad the water pump broke and not the timing belt! I'm also glad the water pump died a couple of miles from home. The previous night, I was out racing around on dark back country roads in the middle of nowhere in an adjacent county, past midnight. That could have been very inconvenient. Looking forward to getting my Hijet back on the road, and doing all of the upgrades that I bought last year and still haven't installed. I miss driving the Hijet. :-(
Yeah, counterfeits are a problem. The Gates belt I got from amazon appears legit. Made much better than the JZK for sure. We'll see. Been there, done that with older parents (both have passed now ). Good luck with your mom.
I did some research last night while Mom was sleeping. The GMB timing belt and water pump kit on eBay is probably legit and is probably good enough, but I still think I'll pay significantly more for either original Daihatsu parts or AISIN parts. I've read reports of people replacing the original timing belt tensioner with the tensioner from an after market kit and the tensioner bearing failed in a few months. No more than I drive, this is probably the last water pump or timing belt I'll need so I might as well do everything I can to do it right the first time. With the health of an aging parent, every medical intervention can have dire consequences. With old JDM vehicles, every mechanical intervention can have dire consequences.
Another source for parts at better pricing that from JDM is https://mini4x4.ca. They have reasonable prices and as long as your total shipped order is less than $700.00 theres no customs fees and it ships direct to your door.
The 95 was probably totally exempt from federal regulation, which lasts 20-years for emissions, and 25-years for safety equipment. So, the 95 would be far easier to import, and if the paperwork says 95, the Customs folks probably would not want to expend the effort to look up the serial number on a Japanese site to double check.
It came in summer of 2021, so it was already Fed exempt due to t he 25 year rule for importing. Even if its a 96 or newer these trucks are all exempt from any Fed standards, so no valid reason to worry about emissions or safety equipment (unless its imported less than 25 years old of course). It always just gets a safety inspection. On my NC title it says 96, oh well. In 2026 no more inspections at all. Yeah!
