A Rhino-Lined floor further enhances the interior of the Samurai, as do the Beard Racing seats. Petroworks' new bolt-in replacement dash gets rid of the plastic Suzuki piece, looks great, and houses a full complement of VDO gauges. The dash is available now and can be customized a number of ways, depending on the gauges you want to use.
Goodyear 32x11.50R15LT Wrangler MTRs were mounted on Petroworks' custom 15x8 chrome wheels. Gary says that these wheels work great and give more body clearance, but we thought they would provide too much scrub radius during turns. When we mentioned this, Gary informed us that he has not noticed any greater steering difficulty, especially with the power steering kit installed. Petroworks extended fender flares keep the vehicle street-legal and keep debris off the occupants. A Quick Air II 12-volt compressor makes quick work of airing up the Goodyears after a day of four-wheeling.
You can see why this Samurai is a great source of pride for Gary and the rest of the crew at Petroworks. We've seen the vehicle in action and can report that it works great on the trail and on the highway. What really sets it apart is the brand-new VW 1900cc turbo diesel. That should quiet all your friends' disparaging remarks about rice-burners.
| SPECIFICATIONS |
| Make/model: | '90 Suzuki Samurai |
| Owner/hometown: | Gary Munck/ |
| Fallbrook, California |
| Engine: | 1.9L Volkswagen |
| turbo diesel |
| Induction: | Stock |
| Transmission: | Stock five-speed |
| Transfer case: | Petroworks GRS II |
| 4.89:1 |
| Frontend: | Stock with Air Locker |
| Rearend: | Stock with Air Locker |
| Ring-and-pinion: | 3.72:1 |
| Suspension: | Petroworks spring-over |
| conversion (front); |
| Spidertrax three-link, |
| 1/4 elliptical (rear) |
| Tires/wheels: | Goodyear |
| 32x11.50R15LT |
| Wrangler MTRs/ |
| Petroworks 15x8 chrome |