1988 Isuzu Trooper diesel conversion

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

On the road

After the hood was completed (except for the awful rust repair at the front edge - I will be smoothing this out soon), I plated and insured the truck. I also adjusted the front suspension, as it was bottomed out from the added weight of the diesel engine. Next was a trip to the exhaust shop, and the trooper now sports a full turbo-back 2.25" exhaust system, which sounds great (I will try to get some photos of this later). Finally, I spent a good deal of time cleaning the carpets and the interior generally, as it was pretty filthy from farm use and neglect. It's quite nice now.

I also realized the clutch is junk, and am wishing I had changed it when I had everything apart. A new clutch kit arrived from Australia last week, so I am now going to remove the transmission to install it, along with a new rear main seal. After that, it's down to some wiring cleanup and tightening the drive belts for immediate tasks. There will be some more rust repair a bit later (rear doors), but that can wait a while.

I can say it's a lot of fun to drive - good response, lots of torque (when I can get it to the ground). More later once the new clutch is in.
posted by acy76, 9:53 PM

1 Comments:

Good job mate ! I've also done the same conversion on my '86 2-door.
Swapped 93 Pontiac firebird for it. Luckily the isuzu 4JA1 ( KB250d) and 4JB1-T (KB280) engines is plentyful and cheap over here in South africa.
Transplanted a 4JB1 ( sourced turbo downpipe from Japan , includes butterfly for exhaust brake !), big MFer intercooler , new Gearmax local diff with 5.11 gears and vacuum operated difflock , 5" body lift , 33x12.5x15 coopers . Still planning on doing a complete front suspension swap from ~ 88 - 92 hilux 2.2 4x4 solid " nuckle" diff to get rid of them bastard cv's. Already broke the origional trooper diff (rear) , and 5 front cv's. A lot of people overlook the trooper as a get-into-it-and-back 4x4 , but trust me , with the 4JB1T motor , 'box , difflock and some good 33 or 35 inchers , you will be able to scare yourself pretty good with this thing ! My top speed with this setup was a solid 100mph with the old 4.55 diff ( not recomended with these tyres tho). With the 5.11 closer to 140KM/H , returning 10km/l. you do the math. I own 2 more Isuzus with these motors. A Double cab 2x4 . and 4x4 LWB pickup workhorse. In town there's a guy that use one of these pickups as a courier vehicle , and he already passed 1 million KM's 'bout 650 000 miles on the original 4JA1 2.5 motor. Like they say - ISUZU delivers(Google for Isuzu KB280DT DC. Nice project , and enjoy !
commented by Blogger Gatvol Fourie, 11/05/2009 5:24 AM  

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