1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T Ford ZF5-42

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Skerrvydog
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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel 5 Speed build

Post by Skerrvydog »

Sweet! Good score Jon glad to see you're making headway, make it happen!


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79 Wagoneer - "Sally" - Work in progress
((SOLD))87 Grand Wagoneer - "Benjamin Brown, Plow Dog": The brown helps disguise the rust.
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Nikkormat
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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel 5 Speed build

Post by Nikkormat »

I'm following this thread! That sounds like a heck of an adventure.
Gabe, "reformed" Jeep hoarder.

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Adventure_Wagon88
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1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T NV4500

Post by Adventure_Wagon88 »

Welcome aboard Nikkormat! WT91 the 4BD1T was commonly found in Isuzu cab over box trucks. In the US I believe we only got the 1 from 87-91 and in 92 they changed to the 4BD2T which is indirect injection and not as good of a motor. In international markets they ran the 1 and 2's simultaneously for many many years.

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Adventure_Wagon88
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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T NV4500

Post by Adventure_Wagon88 »

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It's official! I hauled ass up north of Binghamton NY, a 2.75 hour drive each way for me, to get the motor. It was still in the seller's Suburban, so I looked it over, heard it run, tossed him an envelope full of my hard earned cash and started cutting, unbolting, and disconnecting the motor. In just under an hour we had it out and on my trailer headed back south. Of course I forgot to get video of it running in the burb. Can't wait to get to work on this!!

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Adventure_Wagon88
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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T NV4500

Post by Adventure_Wagon88 »

Oh yeah! For those of you looking for the "children's illustrated edition" of this, follow me on instagram! http://instagram.com/fullsize_adventures
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az chip
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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T NV4500

Post by az chip »

I hope you got everything! Why did he sell?
'81 Cherokee Chief 81 WT Chief/MSD 6/Holley Sniper/ Rusty 4" Spring lift/ Bulltear oil adapter/K&P Engineering Oil Filter/ NP 208/ Serehill Light Harness/KC LED Headlights/ Evil Twin Fab Roof Rack and sliders/ Ross mirror mounts.

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Adventure_Wagon88
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1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T NV4500

Post by Adventure_Wagon88 »

He had it in a 1995 Suburban for a few years. He let the Suburban sit for the winter and the rear end leaked all its fluid so when he started driving it again the rear grenaded. The burb had some other issues so he listed it for sale whole. I started talking to him about it and he decided to sell me the motor since that's all I was really interested in and he would keep the trans and body for other things. After seeing the Suburban I don't think anyone would have paid close to what he was asking and put that thing back on the road. So it was a good deal for both of us.

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Adventure_Wagon88
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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T NV4500

Post by Adventure_Wagon88 »

Picture time :-)

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az chip
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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T NV4500

Post by az chip »

Uh oh! Someone is getting a BATH! LOL
'81 Cherokee Chief 81 WT Chief/MSD 6/Holley Sniper/ Rusty 4" Spring lift/ Bulltear oil adapter/K&P Engineering Oil Filter/ NP 208/ Serehill Light Harness/KC LED Headlights/ Evil Twin Fab Roof Rack and sliders/ Ross mirror mounts.

SJTD
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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T NV4500

Post by SJTD »

Can you splain what that big "thing" in the center of the flywheel is?

Crank extension? Does the chevorey flywheel bolt to that?
Sic friatur crustulum

'84 GW with Nissan SD33T, early Chev NV4500, 300, narrowed Ford reverse 44, narrowed Ford 60, SOA/reversed shackle in fornt, lowered mount/flipped shackle in rear.

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Adventure_Wagon88
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1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T NV4500

Post by Adventure_Wagon88 »

SJTD wrote:Can you splain what that big "thing" in the center of the flywheel is?

Crank extension? Does the chevorey flywheel bolt to that?
Yes, that is all part of the adapter. The aluminum piece on the bell housing and the crank extension piece. The guy I bought it from had a 700R4 behind it, the flexplate bolted right to that. I will be bolting a Chevy flywheel to it, and inserting the correct pilot bearing, then the NV 4500 will bolt up as if it was a small block Chevy. The Isuzu flywheel is still there, the starter cranks off of that.

Nikkormat
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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T NV4500

Post by Nikkormat »

Needs a neutral balanced flywheel then! I'm sure you know that but... I know I could screw that up...

Should be hard to stall with all that flywheel weight!
Gabe, "reformed" Jeep hoarder.

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Adventure_Wagon88
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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T NV4500

Post by Adventure_Wagon88 »

Thanks Gabe!

Progress has been slow the last few days but progress is progress. The oil pan had some rust pitting and developed a leak in transit so I need to locate a new one. Almost got the front end off and original drive line ready to pull. I also need to shop the local U-Pull yards for a NV4500...guessing that's gonna be a haystack and needle kinda sitch

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Adventure_Wagon88
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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T NV4500

Post by Adventure_Wagon88 »

It's obviously not something I need to worry about immediately but curious if anyone knows how similar the cowl profile of a JK is to the FSJ. I love the Rugged Ridge modular snorkel and thinking of modifying theirs to work if it would be anywhere close, or has anyone done anything similar?

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Cheapthrills
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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T NV4500

Post by Cheapthrills »

Cool.... cant wait to hear how well you likw it

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Adventure_Wagon88
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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T NV4500

Post by Adventure_Wagon88 »

360 is OUT!

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az chip
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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T NV4500

Post by az chip »

Awesome! Half way there with 97% left to go! LOL.
'81 Cherokee Chief 81 WT Chief/MSD 6/Holley Sniper/ Rusty 4" Spring lift/ Bulltear oil adapter/K&P Engineering Oil Filter/ NP 208/ Serehill Light Harness/KC LED Headlights/ Evil Twin Fab Roof Rack and sliders/ Ross mirror mounts.
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66stepside
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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T NV4500

Post by 66stepside »

You're not wasting any time- this build is going to be epic!

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Adventure_Wagon88
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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T Ford ZF5-42

Post by Adventure_Wagon88 »

Well I had to revise the title as there's been a little revision in the plans. I made the unfortunate discovery that my adapter isn't going to work with a NV4500. So I reached out to Dustin from DieselAdapters.com and he's gonna make me one of his Small Block Ford adapters. I picked up a beautiful ZF5-42 last night for a steal, so that's the direction we are headed in now. Planning a NP203/205 doubler behind that. Shockingly, measuring from fan mount surface to center of rear DS yokes, that whole new drive line will only be a total of about 4" longer than the stock 360/727/229. Im not quite sure what the distance from front yoke to pumpkin will be yet for the front driveshaft but I'm guessing about 6" longer than original.

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Re: 1988 Grand Wagoneer Diesel Isuzu 4BD1T Ford ZF5-42

Post by Adventure_Wagon88 »

Made a few purchases and a little bit of progress recently. I'm trying to get a few things in line before winter--namely the driveline parts stocked up, and the floors and firewall painted before we get too many more days capping at 50° or less. I really hope to get the driveline in place and running over the winter so by spring I can be back to tinkering on smaller stuff. A few pictures to accompany:

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14 bolt full floater. Gonna get the Ruff Stuff swap kit for it to do a heavy duty diff cover, pinion guard, perches, shock mounts, and disc conversion.

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Getting the engine off the floor and onto a proper stand. I hope to post a video of it firing up soon.
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