1988 Isuzu Trooper diesel conversion

The old drivetrain is out. It took a bit of doing, and some mistakes were made, but the Troop is ready for the new engine. The process (after first soaking every bolt I could find in PB B'laster for a couple of days - best penetrating oil I've found):

The transmission has to be removed first, from underneath obviously, requiring the removal of the driveshafts and frame crossmember. Getting the driveshafts out without air tools was a small challenge - the trick is to wedge a pry bar in the U-joint and against something else (floor, frame, leaf spring, etc.) to keep the shaft from turning while the bolts are removed. A socket can be used on the bolt heads, but it won't fit quite straight. Try turning the shaft and finding the best position to fit the socket.

The rear shaft is supported in the middle by a carrier bearing, which can be detached by removing two bolts. The rear shaft can then be slid rearward, out of the slip yoke at the transmission output, and then the whole shaft can be removed from the truck by sliding it forward until it clears the carrier bearing bracket. Just don't get it tangled on the emergency brake cables ...

The frame crossmember was a tough one. The truck had seen farm duty, and the frame was packed solid with dirt and gravel. This had, in turn, trapped water above the crossmember bolts and caused much corrosion. The bolt tops are accessible through holes in the frame (once the dirt is removed) and I oiled them liberally for a few days. Still, the first two I tried to remove broke off in the frame. At least the crossmember would be free, even if all of them broke, but the drilling required afterward was unappealing, so a bit of heat was applied.

First try heating a bolt using a MAPP torch (not quite oxy-acetelene, but it will cut steel) yielded the same broken bolt. Now 3 of 8 were broken off. We decided to try more heat. Starting with propane (the Magic) - to save money on MAPP and oxygen tanks - and then switching to the MAPP torch (more Magic), we got the bolts to glow a dull red and that was enough to get them out without damage. Heat is your friend in cases like this. Still have to drill 3 of them out, though. More later ...