Suzuki XL-7 Daily / Sleeper Build

[dsm_ribbitpoison]

This is the Build Thread for Suzuki XL-7 Daily / Sleeper Build. Reply below.

 

[dsm_ribbitpoison]

Okay, so, after for quite some time, I got another vehicle. This time, it's a Suzuki XL-7 from 2004.

This was around for quite a long time (childhood, bahaha) as it was owned by my grandparents (dad's side). I recently got this as my grandfather wanted to give it to me, and it took us 2 years to get the paperwork resolved.​

So you might be wondering... how can a guy like me make a thread of building a daily and sleeper out of an XL-7? See, this is where the fun part begins. While most cars (like a DSM or the old Mirages for example) have extensive parts for modifications, and even you can make an N/T DSM have a 4G63 out of an Evo due to the layout of the engine bay being 180 degrees flipped (or with heavy fabrication if you are extremely dedicated, the GS-T/GSX 4G63), there's a lot of documentation and forum pages in many forums (such as this one) and YT channels. However, this is way too different, since well... it's a Suzuki.

The Suzuki vehicles have a ton of forum sites, however, those are mainly (and unfortunately) dead, and some don't even have the information one would want. So, it's time I do something I've never done before, and that's custom fabrication of parts for this thing, or sourcing parts from different vehicles or shops.


Which start off with my engine theory.


The Suzuki XL-7 has a longitudinal layout (which means LS engines, JZ engines, some 6G engines, etc), which means this already works with most engines out of the box. However, I want to retain the stock engine it currently has (for now) to build some power out of it. The engine in question? An H27A. It's a V6, but because it's Suzuki-based, there's barely any evidence.

I was researching on how can I build this engine for a potential turbo build, it is possible, however the results were for the H25A (the smaller variant). Some aftermarket pistons that are a direct fit for this engine are from the Honda B series pistons, however, this presents a new problem. It's only from the Honda B20 engines.

Because this is an H27A, the bore and stroke is rather different, so I'd have to resort to getting new pistons machined out. But again, there's no information.

All help is welcome to see what can I use and can't use for this vehicle.

 

[victorgalant]

Okay, so, after for quite some time, I got another vehicle. This time, it's a Suzuki XL-7 from 2004.

This was around for quite a long time (childhood, bahaha) as it was owned by my grandparents (dad's side). I recently got this as my grandfather wanted to give it to me, and it took us 2 years to get the paperwork resolved.​

View attachment 722050

So you might be wondering... how can a guy like me make a thread of building a daily and sleeper out of an XL-7? See, this is where the fun part begins. While most cars (like a DSM or the old Mirages for example) have extensive parts for modifications, and even you can make an N/T DSM have a 4G63 out of an Evo due to the layout of the engine bay being 180 degrees flipped (or with heavy fabrication if you are extremely dedicated, the GS-T/GSX 4G63), there's a lot of documentation and forum pages in many forums (such as this one) and YT channels. However, this is way too different, since well... it's a Suzuki.

The Suzuki vehicles have a ton of forum sites, however, those are mainly (and unfortunately) dead, and some don't even have the information one would want. So, it's time I do something I've never done before, and that's custom fabrication of parts for this thing, or sourcing parts from different vehicles or shops.


Which start off with my engine theory.


The Suzuki XL-7 has a longitudinal layout (which means LS engines, JZ engines, some 6G engines, etc), which means this already works with most engines out of the box. However, I want to retain the stock engine it currently has (for now) to build some power out of it. The engine in question? An H27A. It's a V6, but because it's Suzuki-based, there's barely any evidence.

I was researching on how can I build this engine for a potential turbo build, it is possible, however the results were for the H25A (the smaller variant). Some aftermarket pistons that are a direct fit for this engine are from the Honda B series pistons, however, this presents a new problem. It's only from the Honda B20 engines.

Because this is an H27A, the bore and stroke is rather different, so I'd have to resort to getting new pistons machined out. But again, there's no information.

All help is welcome to see what can I use and can't use for this vehicle.

I also own a Vitara, but mine is the 4 cylinder. J20A. In my experience people dont really like the v6, but everything is posible. I would just put a cheap turbo and rip it.

 

[Pjj]

I thought this was going to be some insane 4g63 swap or 6g72 aha. my enighbour has/had 2 of these, both v6 one black and one greyish green. sucks theres not much support for them they were very reliable for him

 

[dsm_ribbitpoison]

I also own a Vitara, but mine is the 4 cylinder. J20A. In my experience people dont really like the v6, but everything is posible. I would just put a cheap turbo and rip it.

Good idea if I want to break the stock motor to replace it haha, I'll consider it (actually, the plan is to find two turbos, not the big boy turbos, but OEM turbos like Evo 8s or DSM turbos.) I am not sure if the weakest link would be the pistons or the rods. There's barely any information to find out if the bottom end is forged or cast. And that's odd. People like the V6. I've seen people drop them on the Samurai/Jimny, and older Vitaras. However, that's mainly in Puerto Rico and other parts in the world not the US.

I thought this was going to be some insane 4g63 swap or 6g72 aha. my enighbour has/had 2 of these, both v6 one black and one greyish green. sucks theres not much support for them they were very reliable for him

DAMN I'd love to do this! Minus the 72, I'd go for a 75 MIVEC. I'm not a huge fan of the 6G72.

I'm not sure if the 4G63 would be the best idea bahahaha (due to the length and width of the engine vs the engine bay, but that's what engine mounts are for, right?), but the closest I can figure out is a 4G64 + G4JS head frankenstein motor swap. Funny though, the XL-7 had it's own engine for almost since it left the dealership (minus obviously changing the gaskets and whatever) and it has lasted strong, with almost 235K+ miles on the clock. I'm surprised it has lasted this long under my ownership, since I got it almost about a month ago.

It's a shame no aftermarket support exists for this vehicle, I'd love to eventually swap out the brakes for some more powerful brakes, and replace the drums with discs, and lower it for a better center of gravity if I want to race this thing. Also, not sure which rear end would work. I do know of most cars using a Ford 8.8" or 9" rear end, but I'm not sure which rear end would this work better with.


Alright, so, the XL-7 has presented me with things I knew for a month, but I wanted to list them now.

There's a noise coming from the transmission area to the differential area. There are three theories of mine that one of them could be the answer.

1) Torque converter. Granted, this one is a bit of a stretch since there's no noise in the front and the shifting is about as expected from an automatic transmission, so I may have to scratch this out of the list.
2) Differential. Some XL-7s have some problems with the differential, and I'd like to hope that it's not it. If not, I may have to shell out $800 for one, and even then, it might break on me. The possible way on just making sure it doesn't happen is if I get a new rear end.
3) Driveshaft. This is my main focus theory at the moment, as some driveshafts do present problems. I can't check it out and see because of my parking problems (not enough space on the parking, still need to get rid of the Protege), however, this could also be the main problem of the entire SUV. And since there's a Suzuki parts shop two towns away from me, I could risk it and drive there to only have the driveshaft break on me .

Overall, that's it for the OEM components. I'd like to find out more of aftermarket parts, but again, that's unknown for some Suzuki vehicles like mine.

 

[Pjj]

I remember my neighbours having some issues like that sound in that area and it ended up being the transfer case if i remember correctly

 

[dsm_ribbitpoison]

I remember my neighbours having some issues like that sound in that area and it ended up being the transfer case if i remember correctly

Isn't the transfer case normally on the 4WD version?

Mine's a RWD version, unless I'm dumb bahaha, I'm used to working on FWD cars so AWD/RWD is so foreign to me

 

[Pjj]

sorry yes his awd i forgot

 

[dsm_ribbitpoison]

sorry yes his awd i forgot

All good, no worries brother!

I'm not sure which shop would be open to do custom engine mounts for a Vitara/XL-7 for a 6G75, let alone a transmission to pair it with... If y'all got any suggestions... let me know

 

[dsm_ribbitpoison]

Well, we got bad news... Coolant spillage! So... I suppose one of the pipes broke. It's been overheating, luckily, I haven't blown my motor or blew a head gasket yet. It's still running, but I don't trust it *yet*.

So, instead, I've been taking a look at some engines. Starting with the 6G75.

I've decided to look up the engine layout of the 6G75 in the Mitsubishi Endeavor, but unfortunately, the engine is mounted horizontally...

Normally, the 6G75 is installed in a horizontal layout (as most 4 cylinder cars like the DSM and the Evo). However, I just remembered that the Mitsubishi Montero (the Endeavor's bigger, and RWD/AWD capable cousin) existed. So what do you know, I've checked the engine layout for a 6G75 Montero and well...

It's perfect!

For comparison, this is a stock XL-7 engine bay.

Now, my only problem is resolving the manual transmission problem. Normally, I could do the manual swap on the XL-7 and be done with it, but there's not enough XL-7s on the market with a Manual transmission. I'd also have to tell a shop to fabricate a driveshaft for me if I want to use an aftermarket transmission.

My first thought was going to be a T56 Magnum, but then of course, I also thought of other transmissions, like the CD001 or CD009 transmissions from the 350Z, as they seem to be good for low amounts of boost (considering how I'm going to go turbo for this build). But since this SUV is quite heavy (at around 3,759lbs from the factory), I'm still not sure what to use. And then the rear end problem. I don't know if I can continue using the stock XL-7 differential, or whatever. I am not sure if Ford rear ends would work either way.

My other problem would be the engine mounts. I'm not sure about transmission mounts, again, I'm used to horizontal layout engines like a DSM or a Honda. I've never worked on a longitudinal engine like a XL-7. So the experience will be exciting. Then, there's the wiring such as the ECU and the speedometer. And while Miguel DSM was able to hook up the N/T tachometer to work on the Evo 4G63 (I believe?), I feel like I'd need something different for the XL-7, such as a Haltech monitor or similar.

As long as I can swap out to Mitsubishi-based parts, it's going to be quite easier on my own sanity (and my own wallet) as most Suzuki parts are quite hard to find. I don't plan on keeping the H27A for a long time.

 

[Pjj]

my neighbour did a motor swap in his old 80s bmw and made custome motor mounts, he had the motor in it, jacked it up to where it would sit, made measurements of where the stock mounts were on the car and on the motor then made them up for it. since its a heavier vehicle you prob will tear through the stock rear diff. id loo into the ford rear end out of the explorer ST if you could get your hands on one

 

[dsm_ribbitpoison]

my neighbour did a motor swap in his old 80s bmw and made custome motor mounts, he had the motor in it, jacked it up to where it would sit, made measurements of where the stock mounts were on the car and on the motor then made them up for it. since its a heavier vehicle you prob will tear through the stock rear diff. id loo into the ford rear end out of the explorer ST if you could get your hands on one

Honestly that's a great idea, I didn't think of the rear end from the Explorer ST would be a good idea. The question is if it's a direct swap or if I have to make some custom fabbed parts to make it work.

My other problem is the transmission, which again, still debating on the 350Z manual trans or the actual T56.

 

[Pjj]

Go with the one that is more readily avalible and easier/cheaper to find replacement parts for

 

[dsm_ribbitpoison]

Go with the one that is more readily avalible and easier/cheaper to find replacement parts for

Fair enough! I've been taking a look at a thread from Morphius about adapter plates for 4G63s and 6G7X engines. However, I'm not sure if he's still around (and the post was made about 20 years ago... go figure ) and even if he's not around, I wonder if it's possible to make adapter plates for let's say, a CD009 trans to hook up to a 6G75 with ease.

I'll also have to acquire the 6G75 engine, and maybe an engine hoist (or an engine-less Vitara) to make the measurements... The Vitaras and the XL-7s from the same era use the same H25A/H27A mounts, so finding a small SUV like a Vitara would be beneficial for my research. Had to spend some cash with groceries and parts for the XL-7 (whoops ), so gathering funds for a swap will be difficult.

 

[Pjj]

one thing i love about junkyards, is if they have the vehicle i need there in stock i just go take my measurements/ look at how something is laid out/ or see if im missing something on my car . adapter plates arent a problem, worst case message a company who makes them for like the LS motors and see if they can do one up for yours, just give them the measurements you need. lastly dont forgot youll need to figure out a clutch arrangement that will work with the input shaft from the trans and the flywheel arrangement

 

[dsm_ribbitpoison]

one thing i love about junkyards, is if they have the vehicle i need there in stock i just go take my measurements/ look at how something is laid out/ or see if im missing something on my car . adapter plates arent a problem, worst case message a company who makes them for like the LS motors and see if they can do one up for yours, just give them the measurements you need. lastly dont forgot youll need to figure out a clutch arrangement that will work with the input shaft from the trans and the flywheel arrangement

That's what makes it great! Unfortunately, most of the junkyards where I live have been slowly closing... I've went to one 2 weeks ago to find a windshield wiper fluid container cap, and it was all closed and the only things that were there were abandoned junked Corollas.

Yeah, that's probably the next step if I can't find any. Now that part's going to be tricky. I still haven't figured out if I can use the 350Z components or the 6G75 components.

 

[Pjj]

what about a getrag 420g trans out of a 97-03 bmw 5 series v8? its a 6 speed manual transmission

 

[dsm_ribbitpoison]

what about a getrag 420g trans out of a 97-03 bmw 5 series v8? its a 6 speed manual transmission

Honestly, any suggestion works! Is that a good transmission?

Apologies if it took me so long.

Got some goodies!!

Well, a goodie. I planned on updating the Stereo Unit to this, as my current unit is still the OEM head unit, . I have to setup the wiring tomorrow, but other than that... This is good to go to be installed! (I was heavily tired of not having a Bluetooth head unit on my XL-7, and I certainly will not get one of those FM things that are so cheap.)

Also, I was doing a bit of research for upgrading my brakes (and potentially replacing the rear drums with discs), and I do know of one of the cheapest ways to get into Brembos is if I buy CTS-V brakes. Someone has managed to adapt CTS-V front brakes on their DSM, however, I am not sure if they will work with an SUV.