[Psychomidgit]

Hey y'all, I'm Kevin and I'm working on building my Trooper. So far I've bought plenty of replacement parts and have pulled the drivetrain. Pics will be going up when I get back from the slope. First order of business will be the engine build, then the trans/transfer case and driveline. Following that will be the diffs, hopefully lockers, then a lift and go from there.

 

[shaggydoink]

Hey y'all, I'm Kevin and I'm working on building my Trooper. So far I've bought plenty of replacement parts and have pulled the drivetrain. Pics will be going up when I get back from the slope. First order of business will be the engine build, then the trans/transfer case and driveline. Following that will be the diffs, hopefully lockers, then a lift and go from there.

Hey Kevin, can't wait to see some pics of your 88! :thumbup:

Jonathan

 

[Psychomidgit]

Ok, well I'm out in a remote location without the ability to upload the new photos I took before I headed up north, so I'll load the previous photo and tell the story of how my Trooper came to be.

So, in July 2011 I came back from my deployment to Afganistan. I sold my 84 Chevy K10 to my buddy and decided that my H2 was too much attention (broken into twice in a year, once on base :evil: ) and repairing what my ex had done to it was gonna cost too much and I just didn't feel like it. So, I got a good offer for it and picked up something I'd never heard of....

It's an 09 Mustang Bullitt. It's an awesome car, and I owe almost nothing on it, but......
I live in AK, not so good in the winter, even with my abilities, lol. I missed my Chevy, but didn't feel like picking up another overpriced hackjob of a truck, with BAD ******* engineering that you find out here so often (we have no emissions). So, I started looking around, which brought me to a mom & pop dealer. I told them I wanted a $1000 4X4, and not in red. First, they showed me a red Kia Sephia (yes, I know that is not a 4X4, apparently he didn't...). Then he showed me a red Ford Tempo, if I remember correctly, and as you can imagine I was pretty pissed off at this point, lol. When I went to walk away he stopped me and said he had something that would fully fit my description, and showed me this....

He didn't know anything other than it was an Isuzu 4X4 with a 4cyl, so after looking at how good it looked for the most part I picked it up. I knew the coolant looked bad, and 3 days later the head gasket blew. And we also found out that the heater core was unhooked, I knew what that meant being up here especially. So, after trying to find a good replacement I gave up and went to the dealer and got a new one. I also had purchased new tires (the ones you see in the pic)and a battery. Last Christmas my buddy and I stripped the entire dash and replaced the heater core, but it's still not hooked up. I also got mad one day because my tail lights weren't working so I replaced everything in the fuse box, now everything works, lol. Now the Trooper is sitting outside the shop on base with the motor and trans out of it, ready for rebuild.

 

[Psychomidgit]

So, this past week I was back home and got to work on the trooper. Here are some pics from before, during the engine pull process.

That was it while draining fluids

I just thought this was cool, 3 isuzus of different generations, with different owners, in a row at the shop. Only time I've seen that in the last 5 years.

 

[Psychomidgit]

When I actually got home, the parts gods/Jerry had blessed me, lol. This is what I saw:

My mini parts heap

This is the Distributor fix, some sensors, and an FPR

power steering pump/lines, MAF, and gearbox

Crosslink and all balljoints

And proof that Moog isn't a cheap taiwanese knock-off :thumbup:

From Jerry I recieved my multifunction switch, heater core components, and wing window components. THANKS JERRY!!! :mrgreen:

 

[Psychomidgit]

Nothing was done to the truck at this time, but, over the next couple days we tore the motor completely down....

We placed the motor on a tire, on a roller cart, lol. That's right before teardown.

This is during the teardown.

It's now completely stripped down, but, the block is toast. a thrust washer was in the bottom of the pan so the crank ate the block. Oddly enough, the motor was running strong anyways, into the bay even. It looks like I've found another new motor, but we'll see. Hopefully it'll be there when I get home in 3 weeks.

 

[shaggydoink]

Sucks to hear the block is shot, but cool to see the work you're doing, thanks for posting up!

Jonathan

 

[foytiX]

Bummer man, hopefully the motor you found comes through That is a lot of Isuzu's in the shop at once, seems like a bad omen or something :lol:

 

[Psychomidgit]

I know right, lol

 

[Psychomidgit]

Looks like it will, many props to Richey, looks like he'll be my savior, lol. Between him and Jerry, this forum has shown me a new appreciation for it. :mrgreen:
Now I just need to assemble the troops to help me get this motor out of Richey's truck and back to anchorage, lol.

 

[Psychomidgit]

Hey everybody! I'm finally back and ready to get this project moving. My transmission rebuild kit just came in so I'm hopefully going to get to work on it this weekend! If I'm not able to pick it up today I will be working on the motor, so plenty of pics will be coming.

 

[shaggydoink]

My transmission rebuild kit just came in so I'm hopefully going to get to work on it this weekend!

May I ask where you got this kit from?

Jonathan

 

[Psychomidgit]

Six States Distributors

 

[Psychomidgit]

This is how she looks after sitting for 2 years




Here's the block. I was tapping all the holes today at the shop.

Once done I'll clean it up and paint it.

Here's the finished head that needs to be assembled.



It's a cast #4! Thanks to Richey

 

[shaggydoink]

Thanks for the reply on the rebuild kit. The engine is looking good, I hope the rebuild goes smoothly for you!

Jonathan

 

[Psychomidgit]

Thank you, I'm hoping so too. Today I should be able to finish tapping the block, cleaning it and then possibly paint! We'll see.

 

[1TNLB]

Good looking Trooper. Sorry to hear about the motor, but look at all the experience you are getting by having to rebuild.

Thank you for your service!

 

[Psychomidgit]

Thank you, I was very surprised at its condition when I picked it up. Very true, and thank you for the support! Nice thing is that I was going to tear it down anyway. It's a true testament to how strong these motors actually are. I've never known a vehicle that could run so long and well without thrust bearings.

So I picked up the trans rebuild kit. The seal kit included says MSG on it though. Does anyone know if they use the same seal kit as the MSG? Or if the warehouse made a mistake?

 

[Psychomidgit]

So I was at the shop most of the day today. I was sidetracked quite a bit helping a friend of mine work on his son's Lumina. But I noticed my engine kit and got curious because in the two years it had been there I'd never opened it... At all...


This is what I found:

New oil pump

Bearings

More bearings, core plugs, and oil galley plugs

Pistons!


And gasket kit with all the gaskets stated above
I thought it had a new camshaft but I'll have to check with the machinist when he gets back.

 

[Psychomidgit]

And here's what I did with the block today:
This is it taped off








After taping it off I sprayed primer on it:



Tomorrow I'll be back at the shop and should get color and clear sprayed hopefully!