Post by oldskooler on May 7, 2013 19:56:07 GMT 1
some of you may remember me playing with the idea a couple of years back of converting a mates mk1 van using an izuzu 1.7td engine while keeping flat front and not touching the bulkhead. well after the project being on ice for some time now due to lack of time ive just made a start back into it again. i done a similar conversion on my mk2 escort van a couple of years back using one of these engines and although it was a difficult conversion it has worked out an awesome job with great power and mpg. what drew me to these engines originally was theyre unreal reliability and the fact theyre a good 2 inches shorter than a pinto.
i done a trial fit into a scrap mk1 cab i have a couple of yrs back and it was looking possible. but as with any of these projects i discovered a couple of possible difficulties........
anyway, heres the latest!!
well im figuring you all thought this one has gone off the radar at this stage, lol!! but ive finally got round to taking her in to have a proper go!!
i have been anxious to check it out for the last while as i only realised a few weeks back that this van being the early one has the shallower bulkhead than the later ones, so the trial i did on the later scrap cab before didnt count for as much as i thought.
got her in ready for sugery.
and promptly got the v4 and box out.
this is a real sweet old van in really good order so im going to approach this conversion in a way that it could be reversed down the road and put back to original if needs be so no severe chopping or cutting etc. although i have to agree with my mate who owns the van in saying if it works out as well as my escort van did, it ill have this engine forever more!
so rather than removing or bending the original gearbox hanger out of the way i just dangled the engine alone in the bay for a gander.
pretty tight fit.
not much to spare round the turbo but i reckon id just get an intake elbow on.
r/h side dont look bad at all.
i reckon to free up a bit of room ill cut down the inlet manifold and air intake assembly same as i did on the escort van and run the air filter somewhere else.
will be tight enough for a rad to fit but id imagine flat front pinto conversions would be as tight as this??? comments welcome??
if i used a pretty wide rad i could offset a slimline fan to one side id say.
it looks pretty sweet in there if i could get it all to work.
still a lot of bits to figure out before goin ahead full steam!!
next job is to get the box bolted on, bend out the original hanger tabs for the moment for clearance, and check is the the gearstick location too far forward in this van with the shallower bulkhead sending the engine further forward. it was working out fine with the later bulkhead.
i done a trial fit into a scrap mk1 cab i have a couple of yrs back and it was looking possible. but as with any of these projects i discovered a couple of possible difficulties........
anyway, heres the latest!!
well im figuring you all thought this one has gone off the radar at this stage, lol!! but ive finally got round to taking her in to have a proper go!!
i have been anxious to check it out for the last while as i only realised a few weeks back that this van being the early one has the shallower bulkhead than the later ones, so the trial i did on the later scrap cab before didnt count for as much as i thought.
got her in ready for sugery.
and promptly got the v4 and box out.
this is a real sweet old van in really good order so im going to approach this conversion in a way that it could be reversed down the road and put back to original if needs be so no severe chopping or cutting etc. although i have to agree with my mate who owns the van in saying if it works out as well as my escort van did, it ill have this engine forever more!
so rather than removing or bending the original gearbox hanger out of the way i just dangled the engine alone in the bay for a gander.
pretty tight fit.
not much to spare round the turbo but i reckon id just get an intake elbow on.
r/h side dont look bad at all.
i reckon to free up a bit of room ill cut down the inlet manifold and air intake assembly same as i did on the escort van and run the air filter somewhere else.
will be tight enough for a rad to fit but id imagine flat front pinto conversions would be as tight as this??? comments welcome??
if i used a pretty wide rad i could offset a slimline fan to one side id say.
it looks pretty sweet in there if i could get it all to work.
still a lot of bits to figure out before goin ahead full steam!!
next job is to get the box bolted on, bend out the original hanger tabs for the moment for clearance, and check is the the gearstick location too far forward in this van with the shallower bulkhead sending the engine further forward. it was working out fine with the later bulkhead.