isuzu 4BD1T swap?! (1 Viewer)

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Updates on progress of the adapters?
 
RE: 4BDt1 conversion

I am also interested in this conversion for my 90 FJ62. I would like to stay automatic trans. So are the problems the same if if staying with a modified A440 or if going to a 700R like axle clearance , exhaust, starter, drivelines and transfer case?


Thanks,


ozwick
 
Just pickup a 4bd1-T out of a 85 GMC manual 5spd, plan on putting it in my 85 fj60. I am going to buy that adapter plate from dave at isuzudieselswapper and get a hold of a adapter to mate my stock tranny to the motor. It should work fine until I get off of this island then I'll look at getting the H55 tranny later on down the road. Pretty excited about the swap:) I was reading this thread a week ago and I think their was a guy who was tring to make an adapter to mate the isuzu 4bd1 directly to the A440 or H55 cant remember. I wonder what progress he made? Does anyone know?
 
progress is slow and time consuming, 88tlc is/was working on an adapter and i will at some point make a plate adapter to run toyota everything from the engine. but i'm not in a hurry as mine is up and running great.

i think the H42 will be fine if your not running high speeds. i also think with daves adapter you will be able to keep the tranny in the stock location, good for many reasons.

problems with the A440 are the adapter right now, it doesnt exist. problems with a 700r4 are the same as a v-8 conversion, but i would be a bit concerned with front shaft clearance, unless you can figure something out you cannot favor the driver side with this engine cause you have a big starter right there, so you will most likely be running a skinny front shaft, which is no problem.
 
I did a little measuring between both motors. It seems that the only real disadvantage to this motor compared to the 2F, is the height. As far as the front drive shaft clearance I'll have to look in to that. Well if you build that adapter some time in the next 6 months let me know I would be very interested. Mean time I'll be throwing around different ideas until its time to make that big decision.
 
Hi everyone- looks like I'm late to the game here, but I just finished reading up on this thread. I've been considering an Isuzu diesel swap for over a year now, but did not have enough info. This thread answered a lot of questions.

Is anyone looking into this config for an FZJ80:
Engine: Isuzu 4HE1
Tranny: AW450
Transfer Case: existing HF2AV (FZJ80)

It seems to me this might be the easiest swap because:

1. it does not require an adapter from engine to tranny (although it may require one for the HF2AV transfer case)
2. for those of us in CA, we must obtain an engine with a build date equal to or newer than the vehicle it is going into for it to be legal, which narrows it down to the 4BD2 or the 4HE1

But has anyone looked into the basics of this config like clearance issues, etc? Has Rodney from Wholesale Automatics in AU responded to the questions about the AW450? Does he offer an extreme tranny rebuild on the AW450?
 
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I did a little measuring between both motors. It seems that the only real disadvantage to this motor compared to the 2F, is the height.



i have a side by side pic of the two engines when i was doing the swap several pages back, you can see in the pic and you should have seen with the tape that the isuzu is not any taller than the 2F, in fact, its shorter under the hood. having this engine under my hood is good for you guys cause i can tell you physically how it looks. i put the engine low in the frame, i easily have 4" of clearance to the hood, plus,, i kept the engine off the firewall about 6",,, if the engine was against it like normal and lifted a couple inches i think the oilpan would clear the front axle with no lift and maybe, maybe just a little notch in the corner.

its a rehash for some of you, but i'm sure there are a few who havent seen the pics.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=157088
 
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i just noticed that were over 500 replies and 23 thousand views, is that some kinda record??
 
Rhino, thanks for that link came in real handy. I still might need to get the 4bd1t engine manual because my engine is dated 10/85 and the turbo housing is in a different place which is where all my question are coming from. I have to do a little work on this motor because its spent all its life on Kodiak island (cosmetic wise). The good thing is that the motor only has 39K original miles (purres like a kitten) and I got it at a really good price so I guess a little elbow grease will pay off at the end. I think I am leaning more on the Chevy NV4500, its cheaper than the H55 but better than having the H42.
 
Rhino, thanks for that link came in real handy. I still might need to get the 4bd1t engine manual because my engine is dated 10/85 and the turbo housing is in a different place which is where all my question are coming from. I have to do a little work on this motor because its spent all its life on Kodiak island (cosmetic wise). The good thing is that the motor only has 39K original miles (purres like a kitten) and I got it at a really good price so I guess a little elbow grease will pay off at the end. I think I am leaning more on the Chevy NV4500, its cheaper than the H55 but better than having the H42.

There are 3 different turbos that I know of.
A wastegated IHI-RHB6. My 85 year engine had one of these fitted. Good turbo but hard to get parts for.
A wastegated Garrett T25. Like bigfoot, I've seen blurry photos and individual parts but don't know where to find one.
A freefloating T25 (as per Rhino's engine) which bolts up to a T3 flanged exhaust manifold.

The freefloating T25 is the latest of the three and is the same turbo used on the 4BD2. I'm currently running a wastegated T25 (from a nissan 1.8l petrol engine) on mine with excellent results. Gives me 10psi boost before 1500rpm and delivers 19psi at 2000rpm if needed.
 
ASTR and I looked at that...search for our posts. The backside of the AW450 has the same bolt pattern as the A440F, so the A440F's transfer case adapter would likely bolt up, BUT the A440F's output shaft is different length, diameter and spline count than 2WD AW450. *Maybe* an A440F's output shaft would swap in to the AW450, that's something he was hoping to investigate (he had the AW450, I had the A440F). Used A440F output shafts usually have heavily worn splines, so that's a factor when looking to junkyard this dealio. A440F's are also same bolt pattern on the front side, so you could conceiveably do a bellhousing swap to put the A440F/transfer behind the 4HE1, but not only is the A440F input shaft different, but nobody thinks a stock, used A440F is going to hold up to a 4HE1 even if you ignore the high stall of the A440F's torque converter. And building up an A440F wouldn't be cheap.

And I have no idea how similar an A440F's transfer case is to an HF2AV...

Does seem like it could likely work with a custom AW450 output shaft, to me, if the A440F's output shaft would not swap into the AW450.

If I misspoke at all in any of the above, please holler, as I'm a bear of very little brain.

Steve

Hi everyone- looks like I'm late to the game here, but I just finished reading up on this thread. I've been considering an Isuzu diesel swap for over a year now, but did not have enough info. This thread answered a lot of questions.

Is anyone looking into this config for an FZJ80:
Engine: Isuzu 4HE1
Tranny: AW450
Transfer Case: existing HF2AV (FZJ80)

It seems to me this might be the easiest swap because:

1. it does not require an adapter from engine to tranny (although it may require one for the HF2AV transfer case)
2. for those of us in CA, we must obtain an engine with a build date equal to or newer than the vehicle it is going into for it to be legal, which narrows it down to the 4BD2 or the 4HE1

But has anyone looked into the basics of this config like clearance issues, etc? Has Rodney from Wholesale Automatics in AU responded to the questions about the AW450? Does he offer an extreme tranny rebuild on the AW450?
 
ASTR and I looked at that...search for our posts. The backside of the AW450 has the same bolt pattern as the A440F.......

I have both the AW450 and a A440F transmissions in my possession. My intent is to do a side by side comparison of the two with hopes of combining parts from both to come up with a hybrid that will allow a 4HE1 to be mated to the TLC split t-case. I have great intention, just haven't had the time. When I do get to it, I'll post results.

The AW450 was never availble with the 4BD1/2 engines therefore this will be of little help for those looking to swap in a 4BD1/2.
 
theSherpa and astr- thanks for the info!

I was looking into the transfer case compatibility issue earlier in terms of A440F w/ an HF2AV and here is what I found:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=147536

So it looks like one tranny option is a hydraulic A442F from Rodney at Wholesale Automatics. I will have to followup with him and find out about A440F compatibility with the HF2AV.

User lagwagon also said he would look into this since he has/had an A440F and HF2AV out to compare so I just PM'd him about it.

Hope this helps!
 
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theSherpa and astr- thanks for the info!

I was looking into the transfer case compatibility issue earlier in terms of A440F w/ an HF2AV and here is what I found:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=147536

So it looks like one tranny option is a hydraulic A442F from Rodney at Wholesale Automatics. I will have to followup with him and find out about A440F compatibility with the HF2AV.

User lagwagon also said he would look into this since he has/had an A440F and HF2AV out to compare so I just PM'd him about it.

Hope this helps!

Just looking at pictures in the FSM, it looks like the output shaft configurations on the A440F and the AW450 are very similar so it might be feasible to swap them. I don't have any information on the A442F. Here are the FSM pictures for the A440F and AW450 transmissions:
A440F.webp
AW450.webp
 
There are 3 different turbos that I know of.
A wastegated IHI-RHB6. My 85 year engine had one of these fitted. Good turbo but hard to get parts for.
A wastegated Garrett T25. Like bigfoot, I've seen blurry photos and individual parts but don't know where to find one.
A freefloating T25 (as per Rhino's engine) which bolts up to a T3 flanged exhaust manifold.

The freefloating T25 is the latest of the three and is the same turbo used on the 4BD2. I'm currently running a wastegated T25 (from a nissan 1.8l petrol engine) on mine with excellent results. Gives me 10psi boost before 1500rpm and delivers 19psi at 2000rpm if needed.

Yep, my turbo be the first one IHI-RHB6. Your right about it being pretty hard to find parts for. Dougal, are you running the free floating T25 on your 85' 4bd1 currently? If so, what type of mods did you have to do to use it?
 
I just spent a bunch of time reading this thread, I would like this in a 60 also it should be a nice setup, I have driven a NPR and they go pretty well, I even considered putting one in my chevy box truck in place of the 6.5 (after I blew the second one) but the emmisons and computer would need to work so I passed. but in a 60 it should br great. especially if it didn't need a lift.
 

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