Thread: Isuzu C240 powered Series 3

Hey Gromit,
I'm re-reading the whole thread, but am only up to the 200th post. you may have covered this in the later posts, but I'm wondering how the C240 low engine revs & torque go with the standard gearbox and diff ratios.
Did you end up running the high ratio box? If so how does the engine go with that ratio?
I have standard 4.7 ratio diffs in mine and stock gearbox but do have 3.54 diffs to swap in if I need to. Though that may be too high a ratio.
What's your opinion of a good combo to suit the C240?
Cheers,
Nathan

I used the high ratio transfer box that came installed but had to carry out some repairs.
An early poster told me it would struggle but far from it......

If you swap diffs the low range ratio is also changed so depends on how you will use it. A high speed transfer hardly affects low range, approx 40:1 ratio in 1st low as standard and 39.5:1 with the high ratio transfer box.

Sits on 100kph effortlessly on the freeway but....in a 60kph limit it doesn't really like 4th gear, prefers to be revving in 3rd.

Accelerates well (for a NA diesel). Having read comments on the Land Rover diesel it seems to out perform it but I don't have any personal experience to make a real comparison. Maybe I'll get one of the young blokes to video & post on YouTube at some point.

Colin

Originally Posted by gromit

I used the high ratio transfer box that came installed but had to carry out some repairs.
An early poster told me it would struggle but far from it......

If you swap diffs the low range ratio is also changed so depends on how you will use it. A high speed transfer hardly affects low range, approx 40:1 ratio in 1st low as standard and 39.5:1 with the high ratio transfer box.

Sits on 100kph effortlessly on the freeway but....in a 60kph limit it doesn't really like 4th gear, prefers to be revving in 3rd.

Accelerates well (for a NA diesel). Having read comments on the Land Rover diesel it seems to out perform it but I don't have any personal experience to make a real comparison. Maybe I'll get one of the young blokes to video & post on YouTube at some point.

Colin

Cheers Colin,
With all the plans I have, looks like a high range conversion is going to be added as well.
I plan on some off-road playing and don't want to lose too much low range. I have run 3.54 diffs before and found them fine in general offroad use, but I plan for steeper hills with this one. Hence the Thomas winch that will be going on some time soon-ish.

Originally Posted by rangieman

Seen van`s similar in Aus that were called Datsun Homer , Don`t know if the Homer had a diesel as i have only ever seen petrol powered ones .

Prince Homer - Wikipedia

Chris, if you can believe Wikipedia petrol for the Homer.



Colin

As I was doing some painting on another vehicle today I did some more work on the spare bonnet. The existing paint is sound so it was sanded & all the minor imperfections filled.

I usually use etch primer in rattle cans, I intended to etch the bare aluminium and rivet heads but the rattle can decided not to play. I've had a couple where despite lots of shaking initially the nozzle seems to block so I will have to wait for another nice day to etch & then primer filler.

DSCN4701 by Colin Radley, on Flickr

I think I have enough Spanish Olive to spray the bonnet if not it's becoming an expensive hobby to keep buying acrylic paint (about $250 for 4 litres). The paint I've been using came with Wallit in amongst the spares so it's about 6 years old !



Colin

Wallit's dash is badly cracked so with the wet, dark evenings I decided I should do something about it.

I have a spare dashboard which is as bad, if not worse.....
DSCN4806 by Colin Radley, on Flickr

So I used a paint scraper to lift off all the old vinyl which was very brittle. I saved the clips that hold the vinyl at the bottom edge as I can't find replacements, well OK I found them in the UK but not locally.
Where the foam underneath has been exposed to the air/sunlight it crumbles and needs to be cut out.
DSCN4818 by Colin Radley, on Flickr

So next messy job was to cut it out.
DSCN4820 by Colin Radley, on Flickr

Then apply some foam sealant (in a can from Bunnings). Make sure you have acetone on hand for the cleanup & wear gloves. I sprayed water on the areas where the foam was being applied then spread the foam with a knife.
DSCN4823 by Colin Radley, on Flickr

When it's dry carve with a sharp knife & sand.......



Colin

Probably needs a bit more foam filler in a few spots but nearly there.
DSCN4826 by Colin Radley, on Flickr

There was some stretchy black vinyl that came with Wallit which I guess was for re-covering the dash. I did visit a trim supplier yesterday and found that stretchy black vinyl is about $60 per mtr, minimum length 1 mtr. This would be enough to recover 3 dashboards.

Tonight I made some timber pieces to clamp in the vent openings & screw holes to hopefully make the vinyl stretch into shape & stick in the recesses. I have some spray contact adhesive from another job so I'll try applying the vinyl and see how it all goes once I'm happy with the surface of the foam.


Colin

Took Wallit to work today through the traffic into Dandenong.
Left a reasonable distance between me and the car in front only to have people fill the gap, started to think I was slowly going backwards.

My Wife's car had a problem (Territory TDV6) so she borrowed my Territory and when I got to work in Wallit I used the work ute for the day. She could have used the Defender but that's been sitting for months waiting for a cambelt to be replaced. I got stuck into the job on Saturday (because the pressure was on) & managed to break my breaker bar trying to undo the crank pulley nut (thanks to Rangieman who came to the rescue).
I was off to Winton (VIC) for the classic event Sunday so didn't get to really test run the Defender. Have now done that tonight so SWMBO is using the Defender tomorrow and hopefully the Ford dealer manages to sort the problem on her car.

It was fun going through the traffic in Wallit but I did notice when stationary in traffic with a truck or big 4WD beside me the noise from the Isuzu was quite loud. Once you get moving the diff whine drowns it out .....!


Colin