Isuzu Vcross

[gloverman]

Ok so whos heard of an Isuzu V-cross. For the guys from the USA you might know them as Isuzu VX. Only 5958 ever made. 4153 US spec and 1805 Japanese spec. Heres some more info

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isuzu_VehiCROSS

Until recently I hadn't heard of these until a customer calls in wanting to put a 1uz into his. Then another one turns up at a workplace across the road. Then the customer calls in again and I thought he had his painted but no - he had purchased a second one.
Well the customer had a VVti 1uz sitting in his shed so I wired that and he drove in on Monday and we started the stripping.

 

[gloverman]

Tuesday

And this is what it looks like by hometime on Tuesday. Yes have done a fair bit of planing today. Normally alot of planning happens before the job starts but on this one we weren't even sure it would fit into the engine bay. We have decided to ditch the GM borg warner Torque on Demand transfer case and attach a toyota transfer onto the A650 5 speed auto.

It also appears that there is a bit more room than expected as the headers that where set aside for my Surf seem to fit as with my oil filter housing.

The day ended with us sitting the Radiator back in and planning the next days work.

 

[Man4God]

Pretty cool swap! There must be an inordinate number of those trucks running around SoCal, cause I see them frequently. Nice work too man.

 

[gloverman]

There where alot more that went to the states. Are they mainly 4 door ones? Motor is in , connected with a few little mechanical bits left then exhaust system and I have to wire the motor into the vehicle. Cheers

 

[Man4God]

There where alot more that went to the states. Are they mainly 4 door ones? Motor is in , connected with a few little mechanical bits left then exhaust system and I have to wire the motor into the vehicle. Cheers

No, they are all 2 door samples. Should be a fun truck when done. I love the Isuzus but hate the affiliation with GM they had. Particularly that crappy 3.1 v6. What an awful motor.

 

[Bushwhacker]

.......We have decided to ditch the GM borg warner Torque on Demand transfer case and attach a toyota transfer onto the A650 5 speed auto......

So the Toyota T/case fits the A650?
I have a spare one here that I'm thinking of fitting to my own kz185/1uz conversion. My customer wants a manual gearbox on his VVTi Hilux conversion so doesn't need it.
And where are those headers from? They look tasty!

Good work on the ISUZU, fugly car though!

 

[gloverman]

The Toyota T-case now fits the 5 speed. We spent many hours coming up with a plan and many more making the adaptor. We have another vehicle with a A650 with a prado T-case on it. Toyota in their wisdom changed the rear bolt pattern on the gearbox , output spline is bigger , rear speed sensor is different and there is a one way clutch in the rear tail shaft housing. Rear gearbox bearing is an issue as they are often spinning in the tailshaft housing. Theres a few tricks to making the box change gear correctly too. Awesome set of ratios.

Headers are the third set in our range. We make a basic log set , a longer performance set and now have added these shorties to the range.

 

[gloverman]

found these photos on the pc so I thought I would share.

 

[gloverman]

Some underbody shots. Will get some topside and inside next time its in. All is running good except for the 140km/h speed cut. After a conversion like Im pretty pleased this is the only issue. Customer loves driving it and had to put new tyres on due to lack of traction. Everything works , ABS , airbag , 4x4 system , dash with tacho and all warning lights.

 

[datjas]

Nice conversion work!!

 

[gloverman]

A few shots of the engine bay. Fuel system from the vehicle has been converted to a returnless system which suits the engine which still runs stock ECU. A/c is all fitted up and working. There wasn't enough room down in the stock position so we made a remote setup(even though I try not to run them). The coils and spark plugs can be removed without a issue. The back RH one just clears the booster on the way out. Complete LH loom has been rebuilt. Most of the system runs through the factory fuse box. I added one relay into the box which used the last space so two where fitted behind the fusebox, one for the new spot lights and another as an alternator relay as the Isuzu used the alternator circuit to switch quite a few things and the Lexus alternator light circuit wasn't strong enough for this. Stock radiator is doing the job well with a pair of electric fans added.

 

[omalley]

nice!!!!!!

 

[gloverman]

Thanks. Its a work in progress. Recently fitted an upgraded Valve body to the transmission and wired the converter to have driver switchable lockup. Also now has a custom alloy radiator and external oil cooler. Customer uses the vehicle everyday as his work vehicle too.

 

[omalley]

Lexus 5 speed auto to Surf transfercase

hello i had been looking for an adapter of a 5 gear autobox ls400 1998 to fit a 1995 1uzfe into a 1993 surf transfer case and keep working the 4x4, as like you done it
do you know how can i find one? or where?
thanks
and very good job!

 

[JustenGT8]

I love these things. I've not seen one imported to Oz yet so might not be SEVs eligible.

I'd have one though, toughest looking crossover out there by a mile

 

[gloverman]

For the Adaptor we made the whole lot ourselves. No one that I know of is making anything like this commercially. Its a pain that Toyota changed so many little things between the 4 and 5 speed. Its not the first 5 speed 4x4 we have done either.

Justin this guy has two of them. A stocker and the VVti Uz one. I had never seen one before and then just after meeting this customer another one turns up across the road from the workshop. Only about 6000 made so not alot around. I think only about 1800 JDM and the rest where USDM models with the 3.5 V6. It goes really well and is very capiable offroad too. Same economy as the stock V6 as well.

 

[omalley]

would you be interested to make the adaptor commercially?
for me (1??) and i know that a good man in wales will be happy to know about it, due hes done several 1uzfe swaps