I am getting ready to start a diesel conversion project, my donor vehicle is an 86 diesel trooper and the project vehicle being an 89 v6 trooper. My main question is this; Besides the engine itself, and transmission(t case and bellhousing incl.), plus diesel starter, what sort of modifications do i need to carry over to the new vehicle? Will the stock 89 cooling sysem be adequate for the diesel engine? I suppose i can hard wire a glow plug controll switch-but what else should i be prepared to do? Thanks in advance,
Josh

I am (slowly) converting an 88 Trooper from 4cyl. gas to diesel. Read about it here and on this forum here .

Off the top of my head, you will have to deal with:

- Frame modifications, as the C223 is meant to bolt in to the early-style (to 1986) Trooper chassis (correct me if I am wrong on this).

- Clutch: C223 uses cable-operated release lever, '89 chassis is set up for hydraulic clutch - needs to be addressed. Jerry Lemond has some advice on this, see my thread.

- Cooling system: radiator outlets are on opposite sides of radiator tanks (many, many things move from one side of the engine bay to the other in this project, you'll see!); diesel radiator is larger, you'll need it anyway. Good news is that it bolts right in.

- Fuel system modifications: filler neck will not work w/ diesel pumps, no fuel return circuit on the V6 Trooper (I believe, again, someone correct me if I am wrong), adding proper diesel filter etc.

- Exhaust: exits on opposite side of engine (diesel vs. gas)

- Power steering: pump location at opposite side of engine, need new line(s)

- Electrics: various wires to be extended/shortened to reach new locations (starter is a good example, is on opposite side of engine). Much unnecessary fuel injection wiring clutter can be removed (dash must be removed to do it properly). Gauges need to be rewired, etc. Be sure to get the Isuzu factory electrical manual from www.helminc.com

- Air intake must be swapped/modified

- Throttle cable must be swapped/modified

And a host of other things...

Since you have a donor vehicle, your project will be much easier as you can simply swap parts from one to the other - many parts will bolt right on to the 1989 chassis, airbox, fuel filter/pump, radiator, etc... the driveline might be another story, though. Much of the custom work I did will not be necessary for you, as I used a non-USA engine.

Good luck - let me know if I can be of any help.

EDIT: Realized half-way through that I was talking as if you were dealing with a 4cyl. chassis - some comments may not apply, but I am not sure as I've never owned a V6 Trooper.

Thanks for your info, i actually have been following your progress for a little while! An inspiration...so i wonder if i need to get both years elect. manuals ? Since the older sytem is sure to differ greatly from the newer. And thanks for the link BTW-nice! I definitly need to get some manuals. Supposedly the drive train will match up which will ease the transition for sure, and i was also told the engine would bolt directly in- if not, i wonder what sort of mods will be needed- easy as adding new mounts maybe??
Thanks again for the help, luck with your project!

Don't bother getting the 1986 electrical/service manual, enough is available online for you to get by. Send me a private message and I can get you the appropriate links. You may also want to check eBay for manuals, as they do show up from time to time, but they seem to sell for too much (I would not pay more than $15-$20, as a new one is around $35).

Jerry Lemond or another more experienced source can say for certain whether the driveline will bolt in. It is my understanding that the frames differ between the two trucks in the area of the transmission crossmember, which is what the transmission mounts to. I have not been underneath an older Trooper to be able to say how different they might be.

Just had to redue my clutch conversion from a cable to a hyd on my amigo seems to be working well,I took a bronz bar and turned it down.I think was 3/4" bore and reduced it to a 5/8" and used a brake cup from a ford fiesta.Has plenty of travel and so far no problems.As far as my conversion to the 92 amigo that was biggest task.(other than it came back out for a rebuild <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />)

Tdamigo, please post some photos and details of your conversion if you can. I (and I am sure others) would like to see how you did it.

I am not sure how to post pics here?

You have to have access to a server that will host pictures. If you want, you can send them to me and I can host them for you.

Thats alright don't want to trouble you.

Well i have dug into the project, soon i hope to have some pics up for everyone. Actually i am kinda suprised how user UN-friendly the isuzu design is. The construction is very rigid and durable that is for sure, with many tack welds and single piece construction utilized, but the placement and close proximity of most of the bolts is nowhere near the convenience of say, toyota design. Not to say that i am unhappy with Isuzu design, just merely irked that it is not more "shade tree mechanic" friendly. Maybe i am way off base here, i dont know, but i do know that i have several broken tack-welded nuts inside the frame that i do not have access to at this point and its going to be cold-chisel time in gettin the bolts off. All that said, the removal of most engine components is pretty much done- just have to rig up a come-along to remove the engine/tranny combo. I would suppose the diesel transfer case will need to be used as the gas one probably has diff gearing? Also, i sawed the exhaust about 3 or 4 feet back from the header so as not to screw around with the mounting bolts which looked pretty rusty and i didnt want to have to tap one out should it break...