Build Isuzu 4BD1T Lexus LX450 (Land Cruiser) Build

[gerg]

I found this as I was procrastinating painting my baseboards.
http://www.heatshieldproducts.com/products/heat_shield_and_thermal_barriers/21
Lots of very cool products.
They have that ceramic stuff that is 1/4 inch thick, but its outer wrap will melt above 500F, so its designated a heat sheild and not to be used as a wrap.

 

[ForealBoreal]

I paid close to $300 bucks off the top of my head for my exhaust manifold and turbine housing to be ceramic coated in satin black and my compressor housing (wasn't needed at all) to be done in ceramic chrome.
I did it for corrosion resistance. I'll be putting in fresh exhaust manifold studs and nuts on here shortly and I'll see how its holding up.

Satin is good up to 2000 deg F and cermachrome is 1300 deg F.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

I found this as I was procrastinating painting my baseboards.
http://www.heatshieldproducts.com/products/heat_shield_and_thermal_barriers/21
Lots of very cool products.
They have that ceramic stuff that is 1/4 inch thick, but its outer wrap will melt above 500F, so its designated a heat sheild and not to be used as a wrap.

Interesting site, Vibrant performance also has quite a bit of thermal products. They are in Cananda as well so easier to get and a bit cheaper. Probably not the same quality but I have used there stuff quite a bit and its been good.

I paid close to $300 bucks off the top of my head for my exhaust manifold and turbine housing to be ceramic coated in satin black and my compressor housing (wasn't needed at all) to be done in ceramic chrome.
I did it for corrosion resistance. I'll be putting in fresh exhaust manifold studs and nuts on here shortly and I'll see how its holding up.

Satin is good up to 2000 deg F and cermachrome is 1300 deg F.

Yeah I stay away from the ceramic coatings for the most part. We used them a lot in the past on cars I was a part of building and never had any appreciable reduction in under hood temps. The Chrome will go powerdery white after a few months and the black will start to lift and flake in a year or two (maybe not as bad on cast). Dollar for dollar the fibreglass wrap is the best at keeping the heat in the exhaust, down side is it holds water if the engine is not run and can cause corrosion to start. I ran it on my Supra for 4 years and never had an issue.

 

[gerg]

I think ceramics are great in tight spaces and internal stuff, but they are extremely thin coatings and the bennifit is thus reduced. Corrosion resistance is quite good. The stuff peeling off is an aplication problem, not a product problem. I do my own coatings and, when done right, it can last for a very long time. Even on surfaces you dont want it on. Be sure to mask stuff before you spray by the way.

Might also look into the melting point of fiberglass header wrap as I have done it with cheap stuff in the past and it just melts onto the manifold reducing the weave air space bennifit. You can get coated glass wrap good to 1200f and the best I have found is woven cilica wrap also from the same site (inferno wrap), but you can buy it from mopac in langley and other places as well it seems. Thermal transfer so far as I have been able to determine suggest extremely low condictivity sometimes as low as .2 which is almost as low as butter. Although it has a melting point of 1600C I believe, where as butter will melt in your hand. Now I know what your thinking... M&Ms dont melt in your hands, but they do in your mouth and thus are also a poor choice of material. Inferno wrap is quite expensive. 93$ quoted to me for a 1"x 50' roll. Prices on ebay are marginally cheaper.
http://www.heatshieldproducts.com/p...nd-header-heat-wrap/inferno-header-wrap/35/19
product number
325001 1 Inch Wide by 25 Foot Roll
325002 1 Inch Wide by 50 Foot Roll
325005 2 Inches Wide by 15 Foot Roll
325025 2 Inches Wide by 25 Foot Roll
325050 2 Inches Wide by 50 Foot Roll
325100 2 Inches Wide by 100 Foot Roll
325400 4 Inches Wide by 100 Foot Roll

 

[Wheelingnoob]

I think ceramics are great in tight spaces and internal stuff, but they are extremely thin coatings and the bennifit is thus reduced. Corrosion resistance is quite good. The stuff peeling off is an aplication problem, not a product problem. I do my own coatings and, when done right, it can last for a very long time. Even on surfaces you dont want it on. Be sure to mask stuff before you spray by the way.

Might also look into the melting point of fiberglass header wrap as I have done it with cheap stuff in the past and it just melts onto the manifold reducing the weave air space bennifit. You can get coated glass wrap good to 1200f and the best I have found is woven cilica wrap also from the same site (inferno wrap), but you can buy it from mopac in langley and other places as well it seems. Thermal transfer so far as I have been able to determine suggest extremely low condictivity sometimes as low as .2 which is almost as low as butter. Although it has a melting point of 1600C I believe, where as butter will melt in your hand. Now I know what your thinking... M&Ms dont melt in your hands, but they do in your mouth and thus are also a poor choice of material. Inferno wrap is quite expensive. 93$ quoted to me for a 1"x 50' roll. Prices on ebay are marginally cheaper.
http://www.heatshieldproducts.com/p...nd-header-heat-wrap/inferno-header-wrap/35/19
product number
325001 1 Inch Wide by 25 Foot Roll
325002 1 Inch Wide by 50 Foot Roll
325005 2 Inches Wide by 15 Foot Roll
325025 2 Inches Wide by 25 Foot Roll
325050 2 Inches Wide by 50 Foot Roll
325100 2 Inches Wide by 100 Foot Roll
325400 4 Inches Wide by 100 Foot Roll

That is the wrap I use, its withstood dyno load cell tuning where the manifold, turbo and down pipe where white hot. Works good in my mind, its the stuff you can get at Mopac. I use the black coating as I like the look better than the natural.

 

[gerg]

Did it insulate well? I was pretty stoked when I tracked down the thermal transfer rating. It is honestly almost as good as yummy asbestos (roughly .15).This stuff also sheds fibers and you should wear a good mask and apply it moist. Coinceidently, Canada is one of the few countries in the world where you can still buy asbestos, and is also the world leader in exporting it, mostly to 3rd world nations mind you. Go Canada!

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Did it insulate well? I was pretty stoked when I tracked down the thermal transfer rating. It is honestly almost as good as yummy asbestos (roughly .15).This stuff also sheds fibers and you should wear a good mask and apply it moist. Coinceidently, Canada is one of the few countries in the world where you can still buy asbestos, and is also the world leader in exporting it, mostly to 3rd world nations mind you. Go Canada!

Yes you are talking about the DEI stuff, I have used it a lot both fibreglass and there "Titanium" The later is the one that uses lava rock as the main material. It works very well. I plan to just use the fibreglass stuff on mine, I do not plan to see anything over or close to 1200f post turbo. I have run the fibreglass based stuff up to 1600f pre turbo with no issues on the down pipe.

When applying it I always use Nitrile gloves, a mask and put it in a bucket of water. it makes it way way easier to apply. When its dry its the worst stuff in the world to try and put on. When its wet you can get a nice pattern going as you wrap. it will stink and steam the first time you run it but after a few heat cycles its good to go.

I also plan to use this material where the exhaust will be close to the break lines. http://vibrantperformance.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1022_1355_1356_1361&products_id=2371

Then this on one spot I know it will be close to the floor. http://vibrantperformance.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1022_1355_1356_1359&products_id=2365

 

[Gengis]

Hi all
Getting back to your A440F gearbox choice.
I am thinking of pulling the trigger on a very neat HJ61 1986/7 with all the right goodies 12ht a440F and no stupid mods, quite standard actually. 269K on the clock but a tow hitch in sight but no further info on the history.
I am new to auto boxes, but age and recent use of a Prado 3.4 petrol with auto box has got me sold.
My concerns are:
What do I do if the auto box is tired? Extreme in Australia offer nice up grades but at one hell of a price for cash strapped South African.
Are upgrades valve boddies and clutch kits available from other sources?
I hear that convertors and cooling upgrades are mandatory, but is this good enough for a 30 year20 +++ year old box. Are you going with Extreme or are there others that you know about for your mods?

Regards
George

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Hi all
Getting back to your A440F gearbox choice.
I am thinking of pulling the trigger on a very neat HJ61 1986/7 with all the right goodies 12ht a440F and no stupid mods, quite standard actually. 269K on the clock but a tow hitch in sight but no further info on the history.
I am new to auto boxes, but age and recent use of a Prado 3.4 petrol with auto box has got me sold.
My concerns are:
What do I do if the auto box is tired? Extreme in Australia offer nice up grades but at one hell of a price for cash strapped South African.
Are upgrades valve boddies and clutch kits available from other sources?
I hear that convertors and cooling upgrades are mandatory, but is this good enough for a 30 year20 +++ year old box. Are you going with Extreme or are there others that you know about for your mods?

Regards
George

Well the A440F in stock form is decent, they seem to be lasting well into the 350-400k kms range some even more (on stock trucks). Not a lot of auto's can boast that kind of mileage before a rebuild. The killer to them is heat and or lack of maintenance. The converter on them when unlocked is a big heat generator coupled with the lack of decent cooler really can cause issues. The Extreme VB and converter with an external cooler would be the best way to get every bit of life out of that transmission. If the transmission is in good shape now and you take care of those things I would not worry about it. We swappped the A440F out of my brothers HJ60 and put in a H55F, the A440F had 370k kms on it and was working fine, it was starting to get tired though pushing 37" tires.

There are no other upgrade kits that I know of.

I'm working with a Mud member to tweak my VB and experiment with a 3rd gear lock up. As soon as I get a 2nd A440F from a FJ80 I will send both the VB to him for the mods. I'm going to keep the transmission stock for now as far as internals other than the VB and tweaked converter. The other trans will be stripped a rebuilt with added clutches on the OD and 1st gear clutch sets. Reason for running the stock A440F first with just the VB and Converter mods is to limit the number of things changed all at once. If there is and issue with the trans shifting then (or 3rd gear lock up) we know its a VB issue.

How this transmission and mods work out will be logged here no mater the outcome. Until I try it and get it running in my truck I can't comment directly on any of it.

I have a feeling the A440F will handle it fine with just the VB and Converter tweaks. I'm also going to be running 2 stock 80 series external trans coolers to control the temps.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Engine block is done its 5 days in a hot tanks and they are installing my cam bearings this morning so I will have the block back tomorrow. I got my Clevite/Mahil bearings on Monday and they are all made in Japan (nice).

My Isuzu parts order arrived today so I will pick up at lunch today. Then I can take the crank into machine shop to get the damaged timing gear swapped for the new one.

I still need to remove the old pistons from the rods and have the rods balanced but I'm hoping I can do that myself this weekend. The new pistons where weighed the other day and they are with in .5 gram of each other. So no need to worry about them. The rods are upwards of 35 grams separation from heavy to light so they need a bit of work. Should reduce a lot of the engine vibrations.

 

[Gengis]

"I'm working with a Mud member to tweak my VB and experiment with a 3rd gear lock up. As soon as I get a 2nd A440F from a FJ80 I will send both the VB to him for the mods. I'm going to keep the transmission stock for now as far as internals other than the VB and tweaked converter. The other trans will be stripped a rebuilt with added clutches on the OD and 1st gear clutch sets. Reason for running the stock A440F first with just the VB and Converter mods is to limit the number of things changed all at once. If there is and issue with the trans shifting then (or 3rd gear lock up) we know its a VB issue.

How this transmission and mods work out will be logged here no mater the outcome. Until I try it and get it running in my truck I can't comment directly on any of it.

I have a feeling the A440F will handle it fine with just the VB and Converter tweaks. I'm also going to be running 2 stock 80 series external trans coolers to control the temps."

Cheers Jeremy
If i deside to buy her, I'll be on your case about the VVB mods you can be sure.

 

[Gengis]

"I'm working with a Mud member to tweak my VB and experiment with a 3rd gear lock up. As soon as I get a 2nd A440F from a FJ80 I will send both the VB to him for the mods. I'm going to keep the transmission stock for now as far as internals other than the VB and tweaked converter. The other trans will be stripped a rebuilt with added clutches on the OD and 1st gear clutch sets. Reason for running the stock A440F first with just the VB and Converter mods is to limit the number of things changed all at once. If there is and issue with the trans shifting then (or 3rd gear lock up) we know its a VB issue.

How this transmission and mods work out will be logged here no mater the outcome. Until I try it and get it running in my truck I can't comment directly on any of it.

I have a feeling the A440F will handle it fine with just the VB and Converter tweaks. I'm also going to be running 2 stock 80 series external trans coolers to control the temps.

Cheers Jeremy
If i deside to buy her, I'll be on your case about the VVB mods you can be sure

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Well I have not got my block back yet, I dropped off my Cam bearings to have installed on Thursday as well as my crank so they could press off the old timing gear and put on the new one I got from Isuzu.

So this weekend I took a few hours and cleaned up some more parts. I wanted to get the old pistons off the rods as well and get them ready to be balanced. I was able to remove the c clips and then the pins.

Looks like the pistons and sleeves where changed already at some point on this engine.

Not sure if you can see in that pic but all the pistons have STD stamped on them.



Again I found more evidence to make me happy I tore this engine down.

Reason to get replacement rod bolts, a couple where damaged and I figured might as well change them all.

New Pistons, really nice quality and much much nicer than the unknown after market ones I removed.

I hope to have the block and balanced rods back middle of this week. So next weekend I can spend a day and start painting the block and assembling.

Oh even though I'm working away on this engine I'm still taking the truck out and using it.

Update on the Vinegar I left a few parts in there for over a week and I have to say this stuff works very very well!

This is the backing plate from the water pump, it had about 1/8" of rust where the impeller ran. These are the two fittings off the water pump and t stat housing for the heater. One was 80% plugged with rust a week ago.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

I decided on Monday to get my cylinder head redone. I found 3 different valve seals and a visible looking leak on #4 intake valve. So they are going to tear it down, hot tank and inspect the valves and grind if needed. This way I will now have all the main engine parts redone and cleaned up. Every other part has been inspected and cleaned by myself and father. Its all starting to look good!

Should have all the parts pack from machine shop tomorrow or Friday and can really dig into it.

 

[Dougal]

The bowl edge on those pistons you've removed are different to my factory and aftermarket ones.

Mine come up to an overhang, known as a re-entry lip I beleive. Your originals are chamfered in.

Do your new pistons have reinforced ring-lands? I can't tell from the photos.

BTW, how do you like those Duratracs?

 

[Wheelingnoob]

What effect does that have? The new ones have a different re entry than the old ones for sure. It looks like it has a lip that redirects the flow inward.

Yes these pistons appear to have steel reinforced ring lands. Ill take a closer look at them this weekend when I have time.

In other news I got my parts back from the machine shop today. I need to go over a few things as it appears they took a few shortcuts that really pissed me off. The rest of it looks ok, they have a idler hub on order for me as they damaged my old one taking it off.

 

[Dougal]

Essentially, the makers of the pistons without an overhang found it more important to keep their mould cost and complexity down, than keeping your fuel economy and power up.

They've taken cost cutting to the point where I wouldn't use them.

 

[BCR4619]

What effect does that have? The new ones have a different re entry than the old ones for sure. It looks like it has a lip that redirects the flow inward.

Yes these pistons appear to have steel reinforced ring lands. Ill take a closer look at them this weekend when I have time.

In other news I got my parts back from the machine shop today. I need to go over a few things as it appears they took a few shortcuts that really pissed me off. The rest of it looks ok, they have a idler hub on order for me as they damaged my old one taking it off.

That sucks, you tear down the motor cuz it was not put together with the best care and to get it cleaned out to only get it back and the ding dongs were on the same wave length as the boys a few thousand miles away.

Something that can be fixed?

 

[gerg]

Was the overhang to redirect the flame front away from the cylinder walls Doug? Hve a pic?

 

[Dougal]

Was the overhang to redirect the flame front away from the cylinder walls Doug? Hve a pic?

I think it's to create a rolling toroid at compression and then again on expansion to help mixing. Basically more swirl and better combustion.