Builds The "Red Rocket" Troopy

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All about the bell housing/adapter plate today. Went to test-fit it andddd... clearance issues with the firewall. This was solved by about 15 minutes of hammering. It feels bad to just hammer away on an old cruiser but this troopy is so rusty that in the next couple of years of body work it has ahead of it... this is nothing haha.

A closer look at the 2 adapter plates being used to adapt the Toyota transmission to the Isuzu bellhousing.
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wont slide onto the input shaft all the way... time to hammer
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The aftermath, but it fits now!
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Thats all today, hopefully more progress tomorrow!


You're so nice to the troopy. I used a 8lb sledgehammer to clearance my chevy. Don't be too nice.. Make sure you get plenty of clearance for engine shake during start and torquing back and forth. Believe it or not adding in all the compound angles and shapes with the hammer probably makes the metal more rigid???Right? Really hope all will be working out for you. Looking great so far.
 
You don’t need a muffler. Didn’t need one when I had the 13BT 70 and don’t need one with my 12HT
I currently don’t have one, but I at least need to extend it back as it’s just a really short dump pipe under the drivers door.

It’s straight up frito lay sounding.
 
I ran one with louvers instead of perforation, and then ran the louvers to not scoop the exhaust if that makes sense.

But I'm no expert so take it as my own experience.
 
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I currently don’t have one, but I at least need to extend it back as it’s just a really short dump pipe under the drivers door.

It’s straight up frito lay sounding.
Hmm, mine on the Ute dumps in front of the left rear tire. With windows closed I don’t hear it much if any with all the other noises 🤣 if I want to hear it I roll down my windows 😉😁
 
Hmm, mine on the Ute dumps in front of the left rear tire. With windows closed I don’t hear it much if any with all the other noises 🤣 if I want to hear it I roll down my windows 😉😁
haha, seems a turbo really cuts the pulses of sound,,, i drove it a couple times around the neighborhood getting it road ready, then drove it to the exhaust shop with only a foot of exhaust after the turbo, it was too much obviously. i didnt really know what to expect once the full exhaust was on and i thought i wanted at least a bit of muffler, hence the straight through glasspack. prolly didnt afterall, but i really did like the result.
 
Well the bellhosuing now fits! The transmission was sagging in the rear angling the input shaft upwards. With it jacked up correctly it levels out the bellhosuing, along with the firewall being beat in, this leaves enough room for the bell housing to tighten up all snug!


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Many issues lie ahead... now the engine goes in for the first time

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good job man
i was wondering if this was going to end up being one of those 'forgotten' swaps
cheers :beer:
 
I'm genuinely stumped... most of the stuff with this swap has sorted itself out or there is some clear work around but this is very damming. The starter wont fit, it doesn't clear the frame rail, watch the video below to get a full idea what I'm talking about... good news is the oil pan clears!


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Like I said in that video, if the triangle bolting pattern was even then I could just clock the starter motor straight down but sadly it only mounts 1 way. I'm currently cursing some 85-year-old Japanese man who engineered this little section of the 4BD1T. It's so close to being perfect... but its not

This is how it mounts to the engine, need to somehow gain 2 inches of clearance to the passenger side.
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I hadn't read about this in other threads for 40/60 series but I assume its cause their frames don't bend inwards nearly as much as the 70's? (This is totally a guess someone more knowledgeable please comment) aswell as the fact that the transmission is clearly off center to the driver side... by quite a bit. If there was some way to even it out and get it more centered then there might be hope but at the moment I am STUMPED.

Please anyone with any more knowledge or skills with this kinda thing chime in. I'd love any advice anyone has



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good job man
i was wondering if this was going to end up being one of those 'forgotten' swaps
cheers :beer:
I'm too deep into it at this point, with every road block there's always a work around that is found... just with this most recent one I don't even know where to start to find a way around this roadblock haha
 

Not sure if this one will help or not, but check in 4btswaps for info on 3 bolt direct drive starters. They’re much more slim, they may not have the body hanging off.
 
According to the frame dimensions in the FSM, the 75-series is 630mm between the frame in the engine bay, and the 60-series is 676mm, so 46mm or about 1.8" difference. You mentioned that the transmission is offset, is it supposed to be that way or is it just at an angle because there is no engine attached to it? The transmission in my Prado would wobble all over the place when the engine wasn't attached, I had to bolt up the engine, then measure between the frame rails to the center of the crank pulley to center the engine so I could make engine mounts.
 
best part about doing this stuff is creating solutions and winning
especially when you dont come from an automotive background
 
You can make this work. You made adapter plates to bolt uncommon engine/bellhousing/tranny together. Get some aluminum plate drill, jigsaw, welder together and figure out how to clock that starter around and extend the motor shaft by welding if need be...?.. Notch the frame and weld a reinforcing plate. mount the engine off center, or higher up........................Noone made a successful helicopter for years because they were all trying to be overly perfect to cancel out the twisting force of the rotor blade....It took Sikorsky to say "screw perfect" put a tail rotor on it to push against the twisting of the rotor blade.....Voila. You will figure it out.
 
I'm genuinely stumped... most of the stuff with this swap has sorted itself out or there is some clear work around but this is very damming. The starter wont fit, it doesn't clear the frame rail, watch the video below to get a full idea what I'm talking about... good news is the oil pan clears!


View attachment 3212327

Like I said in that video, if the triangle bolting pattern was even then I could just clock the starter motor straight down but sadly it only mounts 1 way. I'm currently cursing some 85-year-old Japanese man who engineered this little section of the 4BD1T. It's so close to being perfect... but its not

This is how it mounts to the engine, need to somehow gain 2 inches of clearance to the passenger side.
View attachment 3212342

I hadn't read about this in other threads for 40/60 series but I assume its cause their frames don't bend inwards nearly as much as the 70's? (This is totally a guess someone more knowledgeable please comment) aswell as the fact that the transmission is clearly off center to the driver side... by quite a bit. If there was some way to even it out and get it more centered then there might be hope but at the moment I am STUMPED.

Please anyone with any more knowledge or skills with this kinda thing chime in. I'd love any advice anyone has



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so close!!! you'll think of something
 
Is there a non-geared starter option in the Isuzu line for this engine family? The gearing reduces the size of the starter required for this engine, but the offset pushes the armature body into your frame. If a non-geared starter is in the product line, it would be bigger overall (definitely longer) but it would not have the offset, which might tuck in next to your frame rather than interfere with it.

Applications where a non-geared starter might have been used by Isuzu for the motor family might be stationary motors, ag equipment, construction equipment, ...
 
Is there a non-geared starter option in the Isuzu line for this engine family? The gearing reduces the size of the starter required for this engine, but the offset pushes the armature body into your frame. If a non-geared starter is in the product line, it would be bigger overall (definitely longer) but it would not have the offset, which might tuck in next to your frame rather than interfere with it.

Applications where a non-geared starter might have been used by Isuzu for the motor family might be stationary motors, ag equipment, construction equipment, ...
good thought, I had a replacement aftermarket high torque starter in my old '84 merc, it was actually smaller than the ome.
 

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