Isuzu Project: Stratotrooper

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
I'm a firm believer, if you dream it you can do it.

As long as it doesn't look like this.

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Wow.
 

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
Phase I:

Bit of an update, due to work, weather, travel, and other commitments; building the engine back up has been fairly slow going. That hasn't been a bad thing. Its allowed me to take some extra time, double check everything. All told its been a pretty enjoyable project. But, its finally all back together and ready to go in the vehicle again! Plan is Friday evening the engine goes back in, and hopefully firing it up come Sunday!

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jeeper

Currently without Jeep
Location
So Jo, Ut
Mi MIL's car blew a motor in June. I still haven't even freshened up the donor motor going in. I wish I were more committed, like you.
 

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
Phase I:

Today a big milestone what hit, finally got the engine back into the vehicle! With a little help from my dad and a friend it went right in. Worst part about the whole process is that the engine mount bolts are in the worst location. No easy way to get to them. But with a little contorting, a universal joint on the ratchet, and two sets of hands it all went together in about an hour.

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Tomorrow I'll be starting early to get the transmission back in and everything else connected. Don't want to rush it, but it'd be sweet if I could fire it up tomorrow evening. Fingers crossed!
 

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
Phase I:

Well, plans being what they are, nothing worked out the way it was supposed to yesterday. First, the spindle wouldn't fit into the new pilot bearing that came with the kit (probably should have checked that before installing it). So I had to get another pilot bearing; which fit, but very tightly. So the second go around with putting the tranny up went better, but it was arduous as we wiggled and pulled to get it to go in.

We were slowly going around tightening up all the bolts on the transmission when I observed, "Oh, hey! That lower dust cover need to go in." Well… that dust cover appears to have to be installed between the flywheel and the engine. There is no way to do it otherwise! Not sure how I forgot that after disassembling everything, but here we are. So I pulled the tranny again and will have another go at it today.

All was not failure though. One of my biggest gripes about pulling the transmission on a Trooper is that all the sensors use bullet connectors, which invariably pull off the wire every time you try to separate them.

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So when I dove into this project I vowed to replace all those with weather pack connectors, and I did!

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Find victories where you can!
 

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
Phase I:

Here is the offending dust plate properly installed:

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Once that was in place, it was just a matter of getting the tranny back to where it had been 24 hours before. So again, with a lot of pushing, pulling, and wiggling it went in!

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And I was done for the weekend at that point! Getting the transmission installed was way more frustrating than I wanted it to be, and when you're frustrated two things happen a) you make mistakes, b) you're not having fun. I didn't want to make any mistakes and the whole point of this project was for it to be enjoyable. I didn't need the car on the road to get to work on Monday morning so better to take a step back, relax, and come back at it fresh.
 

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
Late to the party, but im glad to see you tackling all this. This job is not for the faint of heart.

Its great to see pics of your dad too, he's a great guy. It's refreshing to see someone keeping an older rig alive rather than just replacing it with something new. Great work!
 
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Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
Phase I:

Yesterday evening I got to the point of turning the key, and I just heard the starter spinning; which was annoying. Got a new starter this morning, threw it in and…


Its ALIVE!!! Just need to get all the ancillary stuff bolted back up (exhaust, drivelines, ect.) and it'll be on the road!
 

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
Ok, so new problem:
I replaced the piston mounted down on the transmission (slave cylinder) that pushes the arm on the throw out bearing and now the clutch pedal has zero pressure. I have bled and bled and bled the system, nothing. Has anyone had this problem? Any suggestions? Bad master cylinder maybe? Need to use a pressure bleeder?
 
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