Since I sold my 86 Eagle, I was looking for another offroad capable vehicle. One of the things I didn't like about the Eagle was the lack of space. Also, the slanted rear door cut down on rear cargo room. I had a short list of vehicles I was interested in. Jeep Grand Wagoneer/Cherokee(FSJ), Mitsubishi Montero, Isuzu Trooper, Toyota Landcruiser and Land Rover. The Jeeps have a big following and the prices are quite high for decent ones, plus I wanted something that was a little more modern(not 70's) on the inside. Landcruisers also fall in the too expensive category for my cheap butt. Land Rovers are cheap, but have mechanical and electrical issues I don't want to deal with. That left the Montero and the Trooper. I leaned towards the Montero, but I wound up with a Trooper. I pass an auto repair shop on my way to the office and there has been a Trooper parked there for 2 years, I stopped by a couple months ago and talked to the shop owner and he said it needed engine work and the owner didn't want to have it done. It turns out the owner of the Trooper is a good friend of my dad and I called him and made a deal with him and now own an 88 Trooper with a 2.6L and auto. Where it sat for a couple years I rented a tow dolly and used a chain hoist to get it on the dolly. That was fun. I gave it a much needed bath. I'll be installing the new engine at the shop at my work and getting in the shop was fun by myself, also. I used a winch we have on a cradle. I bought a wrecked one in Chattanooga and used the same dolly to tow it to the shop.
I steamed cleaned the engine and pulled it into the shop with the same winch method. I pulled the engines out of both of them. That's about as far as I got so far. I spent bit of the first part of the year working in Minnesota and my daily driver Ford Festiva had a cracked block and I replaced the engine last weekend. I'm going to pick up some parts to reseal the Trooper's replacement engine and hope to get working back on it soon.
Congrats on your Trooper buy Freek! Looks like an LS trimmed model? We have a '88 XS 4 dr Auto 2.6L we've had since new. Its about to roll over 200k. It's a keeper, holler if you have any questions. Visit the forum at planetisuzu.com if you haven't already, lots of good folks, good info there!
There isn't much room for a V8. The subframe and front axle take up real estate needed by an oil pan. Yes, it's an LS. Yours is in great shape. I'm on the forum there as RickP. I'm going to be working in the Atlanta area this week and I'm going to stop at Jerry Lemond's to pick up a bunch of parts.
Always liked Troopers - both generations. Are you sticking with the 2.6 4-cylinder? I've heard of 4.3 Chevy V-6's being dropped in.
Congrats on your Trooper. Back when I was playing with my Suzuki Samurai they had a guy with a Trooper. He had a mild 2" lift and some aggressive mud tires that were around 32" tall and it was a very capable off road machine. Plus when I was loading my Samurai back on my trailer, he would just unlock his from 4 wheel drive and drive it home 70 mph.
You could use an Exploder oil pan and dipstick, as the Exploder 5.0's have to have room for the IFS front drive axle. Also, the Exploder front accessories and radiator would be perfect for the Isuzu's limited space.
Yes, if I were to start with a V6 Trooper, that would be easy, but being it's a 4, I would need transmission, transfercase, and wiring from a V6 Trooper. Not worth the trouble. I'd have to show you a pic of the 2.6L oil pan. There is not much room at all.
I know there's not much room; I've had the 'pleasure' of maintaining a POS late '80s one with a 4-banger. But as I saw on mine, that 5.0 pan has a very good chance to fit. I'd bet, if you searched on the Trooper forum, someone might've already done it.
It's up and running after a 2 year sabbatical. It was a bit of a struggle. There were 3 different electrical issues and then trying to put something together that someone else took apart. If you're interested, you can read some of the details here. http://forum.planetisuzoo.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=85421
