Builds The "Red Rocket" Troopy (6 Viewers)

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Glad to meet you!

Was a good time, again you are welcome anytime to stay. Glad you got to check that 60 out.


Great engine and 89,000 if not hammered is nothing. Seriously I can’t imagine you won’t lose money even if you just flip it. Then you have everything you need for the engine side.


Downey for 4bd1t
Downey bell housing question - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/downey-bell-housing-question.603188/


Personally I think it’s better then finding a 13bt. The 4bd is bigger and capable of more power. Lots more info on people modding those. I think 4bt swaps forum has a lot of 4bd info.
You drove my 13bt (with a slipping clutch) and then a 60 series right after that so you can kinda compare. I’m not intercooler or really turned up. It doesn’t get much better for comparing rare diesel powered land cruisers.

If you have the means, unless it’s trashed, then I don’t see how you won’t at least get your money back or more.

We do know the 4bd fits the h55f. It’s a little harder than some that readily bolts up…
 
the problem with a chevy adaptor is that you need ANOTHER adaptor to make the 4BD look like a chevy. that requires two flywheels and a spacer between them.

part of the issue is the 4BD has a back engine cover plate that is half as deep as a bellhousing, so the isuzu has a very shallow bellhousing.

in a perfect world somebody would just make a shallow bellhousing with the proper bolt patterns for whatever trans.

i havent found much on any adaptor anymore, it was a thing for a few years but seems to have stalled.

your a much more likeable guy than i am, so you may have better luck finding something, heck someone may see this thread and offer you the adaptor sitting in the corner for a swap that never happened.


edit, if you look here, you'll see the red bellhousing this guy had one off custom made, notice how shallow it is, maybe, just maybe he could hve another one or several made?
 
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the problem with a chevy adaptor is that you need ANOTHER adaptor to make the 4BD look like a chevy. that requires two flywheels and a spacer between them.

part of the issue is the 4BD has a back engine cover plate that is half as deep as a bellhousing, so the isuzu has a very shallow bellhousing.

in a perfect world somebody would just make a shallow bellhousing with the proper bolt patterns for whatever trans.

i havent found much on any adaptor anymore, it was a thing for a few years but seems to have stalled.

your a much more likeable guy than i am, so you may have better luck finding something, heck someone may see this thread and offer you the adaptor sitting in the corner for a swap that never happened.


edit, if you look here, you'll see the red bellhousing this guy had one off custom made, notice how shallow it is, maybe, just maybe he could hve another one or several made?
Yea I’m having trouble finding any adaptor left for anything, gonna have to figure out how to make my own. A bit in over my head on the fabrication end but for as cheap as I can get this engine for I think it’s worth it. There’s gotta be other options. I’ll quote your former self from 15 years ago…
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Would this be able to be pulled off or was this incorporating an adapter? Or if you don’t remember I don’t blame you, I for sure wouldn’t.

Someone also said “Having multiple pieces between the engine block and the transmission case provides us multiple options for adapting the 4BD1/2 to TLC: 1) Replace the "adapter" as RHINO suggests. 2) Sandwich an adapter ring between the "adapter" and a TLC bell housing. 3) Use an Isuzu "adapter" and bell housing and sandwich an adapter plate between the Isuzu bell housing and a TLC transmission case. 4) Use the Isuzu "adapter", bell housing and tranny (manual or automatic) and fab an adapter between the output of the tranny and the t-case”

If the drivetrain is in as good of condition as the mileage would indicate, I gotta try for this. I’ll spend countless hours researching and trying to find a work around but would rather do that than spend countless dollars on an engine.

Or maybe I’ll get lucky and someone will just have one laying around, time to start begging on the 4BT swap forums haha
 
I didn't pan my own idea out, but someone else did,,,,,,,, for an NV4500 trans

It wouldn't be a big deal for a competent machinist to do, just money.

The adaptor I went with put a ring on the 4BD engine to make it look like a chevy, it also had a flywheel spacer to make the yota flywheel the correct stick out, then any chevy to yota bellhousing works

The downside was it was long and had two flywheels the plus side was it let me space the engine off the firewall a bit and I didn't have a lick of trouble with it.
 
I didn't pan my own idea out, but someone else did,,,,,,,, for an NV4500 trans

It wouldn't be a big deal for a competent machinist to do, just money.

The adaptor I went with put a ring on the 4BD engine to make it look like a chevy, it also had a flywheel spacer to make the yota flywheel the correct stick out, then any chevy to yota bellhousing works

The downside was it was long and had two flywheels the plus side was it let me space the engine off the firewall a bit and I didn't have a lick of trouble with it.
Appreciate all the info. Can’t find or get the adaptor you’re talking about anymore. Started to post everywhere to see if anyone has/knows anything that could help. Thanks
 
This is what the plate would look like, it would completely replace the rear engine cover/half bellhousing thing.
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Here it is in this pic, you can see here why the isuzu bellhousing is so shallow, and yes, thats an H55F sitting there
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This is what the plate would look like, it would completely replace the rear engine cover/half bellhousing thing.
View attachment 3076217
Wonder if I could somehow get the dimensions on this from someone and have it water cut. A long shot but would be nice
 
Wonder if I could somehow get the dimensions on this from someone and have it water cut. A long shot but would be nice
Isuzu engine block is iron. Unless I am wrong h 55 f is also cast iron. I believe most Mass produce adapter plates are aluminum due to shipping cost. If you are to make a one-off with no intention of selling them it would likely be cheaper to do with steel plate and hand fit, measured, and welded pieces.... Making a template with a piece of plexiglass is a proven method. Only do one hole at a time put a bolt in it and continue. When you get done if you don't want to cut it out with the jigsaw and Drew it yourself you should be able to take your template to that jet cutter.
Hand fit weldment techniques are not weak, and can be perfectly serviceable. But it won't look good enough for a car show or to sell them.
4bd1 t is supposed to be really great. I believe the Australian military use those with six wheel drive Land rovers used by the SAS. I wish you luck and would love to hear that you got it done and relatively easy if you think you're able to tackle this before school. .. if you do do this and you have issue with the water neck sizes being tractor truck size on the Isuzu engine and not be able to find a suitable hose step down to your radiator neck size you can utilize exhaust tubing step down.
 
if you do do this and you have issue with the water neck sizes being tractor truck size on the Isuzu engine and not be able to find a suitable hose step down to your radiator neck size you can utilize exhaust tubing step down.

What are you talking about? The 4BD water outlets are the same size as common Cruiser rad hose sizes. 1.25"-1.5"

A good option is the RoamerDrive NV4500 bellhousing and then a AA adapter to splitcase. Not the cheapest option but the NV4500 really is a better suited transmission to that engine in terms of ratios and physical size.
 
What are you talking about? The 4BD water outlets are the same size as common Cruiser rad hose sizes. 1.25"-1.5"

A good option is the RoamerDrive NV4500 bellhousing and then a AA adapter to splitcase. Not the cheapest option but the NV4500 really is a better suited transmission to that engine in terms of ratios and physical size.
I have no Idea the sizes of the ISUZU 4BD1 water neck output sizes. I"m just assuming they are larger than standard ..... I swapped a cummins 4BT in a chevy years back and the hardest part of the swap was the water hoses. It took me 16 man hours start to finish. The biggest hold up was trying to find water hoses/ way to adapt the large Cummins size to smaller chevy pickup radiator. After 2 days of searching and trying to find hoses, I just bought exahust tubing step downs to make it work. ...........It's great if he has no issue...It's just wastefull of your time to go around the parts stores looking for some hose with stepdowns that might work somehow when you can just use exhaust adapters to do the same thing and quickly.....

J..----We're rooting on you to make your awesome ideas work and keep your troopy going. Check your own priorities, school etc. Talk to your parents. You'll do the best thing.-R.
 
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Hooking up the 4BD was the easiest part of my swap, it was almost like everything was made to work.

Radiator bungs were on the correct side and size

Alternator was on the correct side and hooked right up

I had a custom pressure line made for the 4BD power steering pump, but otherwise was easy and straightforward.

Throttle cable fell into place

Fuel lines were on the correct side and just asked to be connected

Exhaust on the correct side

The intake tube even pops right into the rubber intake boot.

It was all VERY familiar

The thing to keep in mind with my swap was I replaced a 2F, like the F and H family engines the isuzu is the same

With the B series engine EVERYTHING is going to be bavkwards.
 
@Pacer has an Isuzu in his 62. Bet he can provide some guidance as well.
I installed a Mitsubishi 4d34 in an ol' fj62.

No adapters, Fuso bell housing bolts to the front of the a440 trans and the diesel torque converter drops right in.

Aisin still makes this trans housing, and many box trucks/buses/medium duty vehicles used it well into the 2000s.

I don't think this information helps the OP as it seems they are looking for a manual transmission option.

Happy to provide further details if anyone needs.
 
I installed a Mitsubishi 4d34 in an ol' fj62.

No adapters, Fuso bell housing bolts to the front of the a440 trans and the diesel torque converter drops right in.

Aisin still makes this trans housing, and many box trucks/buses/medium duty vehicles used it well into the 2000s.

I don't think this information helps the OP as it seems they are looking for a manual transmission option.

Happy to provide further details if anyone needs.

My bad. Anything non-Toyota all sounds the same to me! 😂😂
 
Well... I'm home and the POS of an NPR is home with me. I'm honestly a bit amazed that it made it home without leaving me stranded. I'll have much more to post about this trip, and this possible engine swap in the coming future. Only issues were... loss of all power steering, 1 tire blown out, sway bar being ratchet strapped on, another tire all bubbly and deformed that was scaring the crap out of me, horrible shaking over like 60mph, the leaf spring mount that wasn't connected to the frame anymore due to rust, the frame that was already rusted 75% of the way through in a lot of places, wooden body mounts (not even processed wood, just looked like sticks and pieces of wood someone found), and I'm sure there's more I was missing. But DANG that engine runs great. I knew if I didn't at least try id be kicking myself in the future.

This engine is STRONG! Cylinder compression is as follows.
1: 415
2: 415
3: 410
4: 420
You can literally bump the starter, with no glow plugs and it will fire right up... crazy. Turns out it had 84,xxx miles on it and now after 700 miles of driving back home its somewhere at 85,250ish miles, stupid low. I'm now the 3rd owner, guy before me bought it from the original owner, some father/son landscaping service. He paid $2500 for it and just wanted to break even. This engine blows me away with its acceleration up hills in a 12,000lb vehicle, cant wait for it to possibly be in a 6000lbs troopy.

Now I just gotta find some sort of adapter kit/work around, sounds simple enough but will likely be impossible to find a kit or parts, just gotta figure out how to make my own.

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Incase yall are wondering why its so cheap
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and a quick band photo, 5 guys 1 box truck
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Its late, I'm tired, just wanted to give the update, will type more tomorrow about everything.

 
Great you guys eventually made that trip.
Can't wait to hear and see more. The stopover at @FJBen was a great teaser.
Thank god you made it home safely with that rust bucket. I once drove a Landrover in similar condition from GB to Germany. I know how it scares the s*** out of one if you can't trust the next step on a pedal will bring the desired result. But at least the engine has undergone a thorough test drive now. Good luck on the build.
Cheers Ralf
 

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