Build Diesel Conversion to Isuzu 4BD1T

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MANUCHAO said:
Dude... that's a labor of love eh...
Dont go round saying is a poorman's diesel conversion.. that is quality work right there !!!!

Very well done !!!
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Agreed. And, clever engineering there... make Rudolph D proud Ma Man!
And, Tenacity.....
any lesser Man would have caved.....
not you...
not you.....
 
Klinetimes,

All of the 4BD1T's are not intercooled and all of the 4BD2T's are intercooled. It is not a requirement, but if you want the absolute most horsepower out of your engine, you would want to. Mine has plenty of power right now and I haven't even turned up the fuel screw on the pump yet. I'm waiting until I get boost and EGT gauges before I mess with that.

Mookie,
I've been averaging 26mpg but I just checked my mileage yesterday and after 300 miles of driving around town with my newly hooked up AC system running full blast due to Tucson heat, I averaged 24.9mpg. Still not too bad for a truck that weighs this much. The Isuzu diesel swapper adapter system makes the back of the Isuzu look like a chevy and then you need a chevy to toyota bell housing. Go to www.isuzudieselswapper.com and you can see all the info. You can also use a NV4500 tranny with this guys kit http://www.4bdconversions.com/

Thanks,
Don
 
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That's about comparable to my 3,000lb 4-cylinder daily driver. "not too bad" lol
 
That mileage is unbelievable. I may have to go buy a NPR truck so I can grab the motor!
 
your attention to detail is amazing. piece by piece cleaning and painting the engine - wow man. Looks like a brand new crate motor!

I am also drooling at a diesel conversion - but don't want to go SOA for one... Would a 2.5 or 3" lift suffice?

great work Don!
 
I believe you can get away with 3" lift. Doug720 did his with 3" and it has worked out great for him. Although, I think you may have to do a remote oil filter to clear the front drive shaft if you only have 3" of lift and use the later 4BD2T. I think you would be fine with 3" and a 4BD1T.

I went with SOA purely for cost reasons. $30 for spring perches. I had a couple spare tie rod ends and some steel to make a new relay rod and I made some new rear shock mounts and $12 each for some ford shock towers and $20 for some longer U-bolts and some used longer shocks from my buddy and $25 for extended brake lines and I was on my way to a cheap lift.

Fast Eddy,

Doug720 is in Kalifornia and he has the exact same conversion but with a 4bd2t so I know there is a way around the smog nazis. I'm not sure, but I thought that as long as the motor is the same vintage or newer that you could do the conversion in Kalifornia. Here is a link to Dougs build thread. His is like a manual on how to do this conversion. He did a great job of documenting the process all the way through and his came out sweet. I must have read his thread 100 times before I pulled my engine making sure I had everything lined up. Check it out. https://forum.ih8mud.com/diesel-tech-24-volts-systems/400148-journey-begins.html


Thanks,

Don
 
longbow said:
Doug720 is in Kalifornia and he has the exact same conversion but with a 4bd2t so I know there is a way around the smog nazis. I'm not sure, but I thought that as long as the motor is the same vintage or newer that you could do the conversion in Kalifornia.
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The other rule is that the engine must come from the same class of vehicle. The Isuzu NPR is at least medium duty. The conversion must use the original transmission of the donor vehicle as well.

The way some people get around the official rule is a dice roll at the DMV. If you get the right clerk on the right day, they'll just switch the fuel type to diesel. Once it's done, you're in the club forever. The downside is if it doesn't work, you're banned for life from CA and you have to sell your rig out of state or convert it back. It's a pretty serious gamble.

It would be possible to convert to a 6.2 diesel legally, because they came in some 1/2 ton trucks and even with a 5 speed. Once the title was changed, you could do whatever you wanted.
 
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Whoops, that's kind of a big one there! Hopefully Doug will chime in here and let us know how he got around that one.

Don
 
longbow said:
Tobyb, Somewhere I have all the part #s written down to do this filter setup if anyone wants to do this themselves.

Thanks,
Don
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When you find your parts list please post it up. I would like to build this filter system from my 6.2 diesel. I can't believe how cheap you were able to do this swap for. :beer:
 
very nice build. you've really got me thinking about doing it in my 62. you're mileage is amazing. have you tried towing anything with it? i'm curious as to whether it would tow as well as the SBC. again really nice job.
 
Franklin40,

I haven't towed anything real heavy with it yet because I don't really have anything that heavy to tow. I have towed my 12' trailer with my quad on it and it really seems about the same as my SBC was. As long as I keep it up in the turbos sweet range (1800-2300rpm) it pulls the hills with no trouble at all with this small trailer quad combo.

There are a guys that are really cranking these motors up on the 4BTSwaps forum and getting some amazing power out of them, but I really don't see myself cranking the fuel up on this truck because I really wanted the diesel for the mileage and don't want to mess that up with big power mods.

Hope that helps,

Don
 
yeah that's great info. i just don't want to find that i can't pull a small trailer after going to all that work. the 3fe just doesn't have any extra power for climbing hills and i don't want to swap in an engine with the same problem. it uses about all it power just to get the truck up them. i don't need to pull huge weights, just a snowmobile trailer or small boat (or better yet an offroad trailer). thanks for the info.
 
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