Isuzu 4BD1-T swap into a '92

[doug720]

On the 4bd1 and 2 oil pans. The only difference is the sump bump out on the side. All other diminsions are the same. On my swap, I bought a used 1 oil pan from Tom's delivered to my house for $75.

These are tall engines, and on 60/62's, a minimum 3" lift is needed to make it work. There have been many swaps with these engines completed, and everyone has needed that amount of lift.

Great work by the way, can't wait to see your test drive post!

Doug

 

[Wheelingnoob]

So nobody is making an adapter that goes straight from the Isuzu motor to say an a442f ?

No one you can buy it off of. Myself as well as a few others are making adapters that allows the Isuzu bell to bolt to the Toyota A44x transmissions for our selves. May make a few more once i have ensured it works as expected but it will not be a bolt in kit. The way the OP is going it is the only all bolt together kit at the moment. Why do you want one that bolts the two straight together? You need some thickness in the adapter to get the engine away from the fire wall thats why the two adapters is nice it gives you that thickness.

 

[jtaylor]

And it sputters to life!

Ok, so I reached a huge milestone today. I started and ran the engine! I got the rest of my oil plumbing done, and the power steering.

I then cut down and re-welded the exhaust down pipe, but for now it's an "up" pipe, until it gets to the exhaust shop to hook it up for good. The clearance is tight on the brake booster and firewall, but very workable.

And I started it and ran it for a bit. Sorry for the crappy video quality, my camera takes ok stills, but the video sucks. I'll get some better video down the road, especially on the first drive, (so I can video any catastrophic failure!) Hah!

Click on this to see some poor quality video
It ran pretty rough, but there is probably a ton of air in the lines, plus the air intake is not hooked up, but it ran!

Once I get a little more run time on it, i'll check the valve adjustment. I adjusted them once, and they were all over the place.

It does have oil pressure, cause one of the fittings was leaking from not being tightened down, so I fixed that, and no other leaks so far, and I have hooked up the isuzu sender to the toyota wires, but haven't gotten in the cab while running to verify that it's reading.

Whew!

So what's left? A radiator, condenser, intercooler and associated hoses and mounts. Gotta wire in the Isuzu actuator so I can turn the injection pump on and off with the key. Then some misc. tidying up and wiring. Still a lot of work to do, especially for the radiator, I am probably going to build a new channel on the inside of the engine bay to bring it closer to the engine, so I will have plenty of room for the intercooler behind the grill. And I will have to build/modify a fan shroud. A little bit of work ahead, then trouble shoot and fix problems.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Awesome job man! Can't wait to be at that stage with mine.

On the idle you can try cracking each of the injection lines one at the time when its running to purge the air out of the lines. I also bumped up my idle little and it seemed to help mine smooth out.

Congrats again.

 

[Douglas S]

Do you know what the thread size and pitch is for the hydraulic fittings that go into the steering box?

 

[cjmoon]

Holy AN fittings.....

Ya you need to compile a list of all the fittings used it to make it easier for me to order. But its running, nice!

I couldn't get the video but that's probably apples problem. Stupid apple iphone.

 

[jtaylor]

Do you know what the thread size and pitch is for the hydraulic fittings that go into the steering box?

I think M14x1.5 but don't quote me on that. I do know that russell does not make a size hose end to fit it, it's an inverted flare, that's why I tigged on an AN fitting to adapt it.

Yes, holy AN indeed, even got a pile left over. Gonna keep a few for spares and return the rest. I didn't really know what would work for the given space, angle, etc. so I had to try a few different things to see what fit best.

 

[jtaylor]

Radiator issues

So today I started fitting up the radiator. I modified the toyota mounts to push the rad back 1.5" to get a little more clearance for the intercooler and piping. Main issue is it won't clear the hood. I sectioned the rad support 1/2" to drop it down to the frame rails. But my eyeball says it won't clear the hood. And I don't want to modify the hood to make clearance, if I did I would just cut a big scoop out for the intercooler and call it good.

So I am looking at an aftermarket radiator that is approx. 28"x20". That size would allow me a little bit extra room to run intercooler piping. I am already planning on cutting out some sections of the front clip to route the 2.5" tubes. And with moving the radiator back I am going to have to modify the clip anyways to get the condenser in there. And the stock isuzu radiator is about a foot too tall (not really but close).

I also considered having my toyota rad shortened (height wise), but don't know if that is even possible? Anyone know?

If I do with an aftermarket rad I will also use a bigger trans cooler, don't think I will find one with a cooler built in like the stocker.

I think this might be the hardest part of the whole swap....

 

[69rambler]

It's a lot of work to move the rad back and snake an IC around the battery in an 80. I did one 80 that way, it worked, but it was tight. Give me a call and I'll dig out the notes on the parts I used if it would help.

The IC kit I'm working on for the 80's puts a good size IC up front. The only downside is the front crossmember must be cut out and replaced with a beefier one built for the IC tubing to pass through.

A good air-air IC is worth the work though.

 

[relativistic70]

There is room for the stock rad to move back about 2". On mine I have a IC from a 99 superduty between the rad and the rad support and it does clear. Even using the factory shroud. The tight spot was routing the IC plumbing so I did have to rotate the batteries 90 degrees and I think my 4bd is sitting higher than yours. With the springs out I clear the oil pan, spaced the bump stops as I wasn't sure how much the bump stops might compress. You will be so much happier with the 4bd

 

[jtaylor]

I first moved the radiator back 2", then I bumped it up a 1/2" so I could drop it down to clear the hood, but I am not sure it will. Battery side isn't the issue for me, drivers side is tight with brake hardware. Dustin, if you could share your notes that would be awesome, I'm trying o figure out the best way to do this, I will investigate the differences in intercoolers a bit too. I have a moderately sized one, but I am not opposed to doing something different.

 

[relativistic70]

I had previously moved all the brake lines to the fire wall while installing the hydro boost so I could run dual batteries. The inner fender wells did need slight clearancing for the ford IC outlets to fit.

 

[half k cruiser]

You will be so much happier with the 4bd

Tried looking for a build thread on yours. Looks like you were gonna run an H55 behind the 4bd ? Would be cool if you could post up a thread on your experiences and maybe some mileage numbers.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Tried looking for a build thread on yours. Looks like you were gonna run an H55 behind the 4bd ? Would be cool if you could post up a thread on your experiences and maybe some mileage numbers.

I have seen his truck in person and it is running a H55F with a slitcase behind it. Very nice setup and he is getting sone impressive millage out of it.

 

[relativistic70]

Once I get my fall clean up around the farm done I am hoping to do a build thread since I did take a different approach to adapters than most people. Currently I have approximately 5000 miles post swap. For milage I seem to average 23-25 mpg in town and 26-27 on the highway. With a stock pump and the IHI turbo it doesn't jump any faster than the 3fe but it can pull any hill on the highway with out losing speed. I am very interested to see how the a440 works with this engine. I did not like the gearing with the 3fe so never even contemplated keeping it. If you have any question feel free to ask
Ian

 

[jtaylor]

More Progress

After some deliberation about radiator fitment and what not, I decided to use a different radiator. I chose a slightly smaller aluminum unit from mishimoto. A couple reasons I did this- clearance on the hood, so I can push it back closer to the engine, which will create clearance on the sides for intercooler piping, and it will create space to put the condenser behind the front clip. I will still have to modify the clip a bit to fit the piping, but to a much lesser degree than I would have before. Actually, the piping would probably not fit because of the lights and associated brackets.

So today I also wired up the actuator, so the truck will turn on and off with the key. Many thanks to the 4bd1 crew on 4btswaps.com. That site has been an indespensible resource for doing this swap, I literally could not have done this without that info!

I also routed the throttle cable, hooked up the vacumn line, and started to hook up the alternator. And on my truck, the alternator plug fits right in to the isuzu alternator, finally some plug and play!

I welded a piece of angle on the isuzu mount to create a home for the toyota cable. Just need a couple washers and some paint. I also had to make a few different pipes for the air intake so they would clear the alternator. After getting some belts on, it was interfering. I also used a slightly shorter belt, which helped maintain space to plug in air to the turbo. I also tidied up some wiring and finalized the air intake routing over the valve cover. Plenty of clearance now

 

[86tuning]

Nice work! You may want to use steel AN fittings for the power steering. The aluminum ones will be at the edge of their rated pressures. Or just have somebody crimp up regular ps line for you, since you have the exact lengths.

Really looking forwards to test driving an 80 with one of these diesels in them.

 

[Douglas S]

What kind of pressure does a power steering line see?

 

[half k cruiser]

This is an excellent write up. Thank you for all the helpful information. You and others here have convinced me to go with the Isuzu motor, soon as I find a donor truck.

 

[86tuning]

What kind of pressure does a power steering line see?

Working pressures should be around 1500psi. The max rating of regular AN hose is about that. The power steering hose has a higher rating of 2500psi.

Russell Hose has a special power steering hose, vs the regular aluminum AN hose. If they didn't specifically have hose and ends for power steering, I wouldn't have known or said anything. This is just what I saw in their catalog when I was shopping for hose and ends for racecar stuff.

http://www.russellperformance.com/mc/hose/main.shtml
http://www.russellperformance.com/mc/hose/power_steering.shtml

edit: looks like their PS hose ends are 'special alloy' and not stainless.