Thread: lets put an END to the MYTH!

Originally Posted by NikolaiV

The pile em high sell em cheap (after building them cheap) mentality is why they have been NZ`s best selling light truck - think Toyota Corolla... I`ve driven quite a few (big and small Isuzus) never by choice.

I`ll take your word for it on Isuzu powered landies, but I can`t say that my old 2a with the B vibrated much more than a normal series landrover, and it would cruise at 100km/hr all day.

The family business has a now 25 year old NPR. In 25 years we've done front wheel bearings, rear gearbox seal, one cam follower and two door hinges.
All the other trucks from that era are dead and used a lot more fuel before they died too.
Toyota dynas, mitsubishi canters, daihatsu deltas (same as the dyna), they're all gone. Yet the NPR's from that era are still $6k, even with ludicrous mileage.

No commercial truck from 85 was a pleasure to drive.

Originally Posted by Dougal

No commercial truck from 85 was a pleasure to drive.

Have had a Citroen Picaso as a hire car a couple of times. It seemed familar to drive however it took a while to figure out why. Then one day it struck me it was an Mitsubishi Canter of the mid eighties. Well at least the lack of connection between steering wheel and where the vehicle was going plus the gear change which was very much a matter of a randon selection basis if a lot of attention was not paid.

At least Citroen has added moved forward a little by adding some sound proofing. Although the quality of the interior fittings was higher in the Canter.

Read most of this thread. Interesting. Had a 86 Isuzu powered County for 11 years from 88. I think I pioneered the gearbox mods to fix the input bearing failure problem on the 5 speed.
I turboed and intercooled it and boosted it to 20psi and also put a a ford AOD auto in which has mechanical 3rd and 4th. 12lb boost at 1200rpm. High ratio transfer gears and big overdrive on AOD - 32%. Car is till going strong. I hear about it every so often. Since I sold it in 99 I have had 300tdi in 130s and a disco and now I have had an Xtreme for 8 years. I loved the County for its sheer brute force and towing ability, but the xtreme with the TD5 is the best by far. Mine is chipped, gassed, upgraded intercooler (4 times original capacity) 19psi boost and opened up the exhaust so its 2.5" all the way through. It lugs down low and goes like hell if you want it to. It pulls away in 5th at 45kph. It will cruise happily at over 150kph with low EGTs. (Done it once to try it out) In saying that if the 4B was still an option I would still have one cause I don't think you could break it or wear it out and the limits of a TD5 aren't really known yet.

do tell more about this ford AOD

The ford AOD box uses the torque converter in 1st and second and in third and fourth bypasses the torque converter completely with a shaft that effectively links the box with the crankshaft. This is great for engines like the 4BD as low engine revs and high torque generate lots of heat through a torque converter. Also there is no vacuum modulator, just a shift cable that connects to the throttle. Fitting it is a bit of a pain depending on how you look at it and how mechanically adept you or your mates are.

Engine adaption.

1. make an adapter plate out of 20-25mm steel or aluminium to adapt the box to the engine. original starter motor and flywheel are left in situ.
2. Make an adapter hub which mounts the drive plate to the flywheel at the correct spacing.

Transfer case adaption.

1. remove extension housing on auto box and have an adapter made to mate to the transfer case.
2. Using a tailshaft female spline which suits the AOD machine the transfer case input shaft/gearset out and press fit and weld the spline.

Obviously these 2 operations are dependant on each other for spacing, dimensions etc.

The transfer case ends up being back a little so the mount bolt holes in the chassis need to be redrilled and the front and rear tailshafts lengthened and shortened respectively. To clear the gearbox the front tailshaft has to be remade from smaller diameter solid material.

Fiddly bits

1. A B&M shifter or similar needs to be fitted.
2. The difflock/transfer lever sits further back so a new cover has to be made for the opening on the trans tunnel. I made mine out of leather that matched the carpet.
3. there is a bit of fiddling necessary to get the shift cable organised so that it has the right travel ratio with the throttle.
3. a great big tranny cooler is required.

AODs were not fitted to Aussie cars as far as I know and mine came from the states, but parts are readily available and getting them rebuilt locally is not a problem at all.

Overall the conversion was brilliant and totally changed everything with the car. It quite simply became the lazy mans 4WD. With the outstanding torque and power of my engine it was always just point and shoot. The only disadvantage was steep descents but judicious brake usage handled that. Another option to consider with a conversion like this is a manual shift kit.

One thing I did forget is that I found it necessary to have 1.22:1 transfer gears otherwise the engine revs were too low in top gear. not to pull the car, but to cool the engine.

Dave

I would convert my TD5 to auto but the torque its developing would trash the sprag clutch in the standard ZF.

Originally Posted by farmport

Read most of this thread. Interesting. Had a 86 Isuzu powered County for 11 years from 88. I think I pioneered the gearbox mods to fix the input bearing failure problem on the 5 speed.
I turboed and intercooled it and boosted it to 20psi and also put a a ford AOD auto in which has mechanical 3rd and 4th. 12lb boost at 1200rpm. High ratio transfer gears and big overdrive on AOD - 32%. Car is till going strong. I hear about it every so often. Since I sold it in 99 I have had 300tdi in 130s and a disco and now I have had an Xtreme for 8 years. I loved the County for its sheer brute force and towing ability, but the xtreme with the TD5 is the best by far. Mine is chipped, gassed, upgraded intercooler (4 times original capacity) 19psi boost and opened up the exhaust so its 2.5" all the way through. It lugs down low and goes like hell if you want it to. It pulls away in 5th at 45kph. It will cruise happily at over 150kph with low EGTs. (Done it once to try it out) In saying that if the 4B was still an option I would still have one cause I don't think you could break it or wear it out and the limits of a TD5 aren't really known yet.

20psi on an intercooled 4BD1 would easily beat any TD5 with 20psi.
You'll get over 200hp (150kw) at 3000rpm and over 600Nm peak on the Isuzu with an intercooled 20psi and safe EGT's.
In comparison doesn't the TD5 run 20psi stock with 100kw?

Lara in Belgium has a TD5 he's spent a lot of time and money on, he's running a 2.8L stroker kit, large variable vane turbo with 1.8 bar (28psi) boost which delivers 590Nm.
I don't think he's disclosed power figures.

Originally Posted by rijidij

Well, the ZooZoo is looking good so far. I just happened to time some runs in my 300Tdi 130 the other day for my own interest.

'96 Defender 130, 31" tyres, empty.
R380 5 speed with 1.41 LT230. GT2556V variable turbo with full size 'Alisport' intercooler and fueled up.
0-100 17+ seconds.

Murray

One run so far in a 130CC fully loaded (tares out at approx 2660kg) running 33" MT's, 300Tdi, stock turbo, fuelled up, boost pushing 16.5/17psi, 3" exhaust.

0 to 100Km/h in a high 19sec from a standing start. (the road had a slight hump in the middle).

Going to try it again on another, flatter (but grippier/deader) stretch of road.

Originally Posted by Dougal

In comparison doesn't the TD5 run 20psi stock with 100kw?

No. I believe 14.5psi