Chrishoky

iTrader: (9)

LOL! Well at least no one can question your commitment!

kickerfox

Well... I was actually searching Craigslist for a fixer upper car for a friend of mine and stumbled across the Amigo. Since I had a spare engine, why not? Worst that'll happen is I'll flip it and make $2g.


I see why people hate these cars (Isuzu). It's a pain in the *** to work on, they rust badly, and that pull type clutch was a nightmare to get apart.


It's going to be awhile until I get back to the 8. I had a business partnership go south and had to move everything to a new location. It's like starting all over and a lot of work to get set up again.

kickerfox

I found time to get the Amigo engine rebuilt and installed but that's about it. What a bear to work on. The Amigo's engine bay, body, and even the interior look like 80k miles but the frame and undercar look like 300k miles. The engine was a cakewalk to build but a pain in the *** to install. I'm sure the 2wd version would be a lot easier. I can easily understand how some people hate working on Isuzu but most of what they're bitching about I won't be using in the 8. Like the pile of intake crap and that horseshit pull-type clutch. Hope I don't have to do a clutch any time soon.

It has a broken Y pipe and throttle cable but here's the first start.
Next video I post of a first start-up will be a lot more interesting.

kickerfox

Having driven the Amigo for awhile now I will conclude the following...

As for the car...
The Amigo isn't anything special.
It's rather uncomfortable to drive.
I'd agree 100% it's just another POS import mini-SUV.
It doesn't shine in any respect.
It's rusts like steel wool in salt water.

As for the engine...
The engine doesn't have valve-train noise despite what some Isuzu owner have said.
There isn't any excessive vibrating despite the remanufactured crankshaft not having been rebalanced.
It has GREAT torque at low RPM.
The torque is very smooth through the revs.
The throttle is surprisingly responsive considering the crank/flywheel/pressure plate/clutch/crank pulley rotating mass is VERY heavy.

It's still being broken in so I haven't found the rev limit RPM yet. So far I have no regrets in the engine choice and I'm really looking forward to driving the 8 with it. Even NA it's going to be enjoyable.

kickerfox

Nothing important to update... Intake flange is almost designed. That's about it. Oh. Revlimiter is 6500rpm Oh well.

Interesting thing about Isuzu though. The following cars were built in the same Indiana plant by a venture between Subaru and Isuzu.

Subaru Legacy, Outback, Baja and Tribeca.
Isuzu Pick-up, Rodeo, Amigo and Axiom
Honda Passport

Maybe that explains why Subarus rust as bad as Isuzus. Same **** steel from the same **** plant. Thank you Indiana!

plonker

stumbled across this swap thread and have been reading bits here and there, awesome work and no one should mistake you for a sheep...post 37 almost killed me

kickerfox

I'm going to update this just to say I did. Some people can't grasp the fact that I have many other projects going, a shop to run, and a life outside of the garage. Oh, and the seeds I planted didn't grow a money tree after all. Turned out to be a maple which produces syrup about as fast as I swap engines.

The only change to my plan, so far, is going with the Camaro 3.8L pressure plate and disc instead of the 5.7L set which puts the pressure plate bolts a little too close to the edge of the flywheel for my liking. Although the 3.8L is smaller, at 9-11/16", there are still aftermarket options available if needed. Plus it's lighter. It also allow me to remove some more mass from the Isuzu flywheel which will further lighten the rotating mass. I'm looking at pounds of mass removal with that combo.

I ordered the 3.8 clutch set which should be here on the 25th and hopefully the machine shop can drill the holes this weekend. If so, I can mock it all up Sunday and see how the pedal feels. I need to be sure the 8's master cylinder will provide the correct throw and not blow the piston out of the slave or not fully disengage the pressure plate.

Other then that, I found a small Suzuki power steering reservoir and bracket that will work nicely and have been cleaning the heads and other parts. I guess I can add Suzuki to my list of manufactures used in this build.

Here are a few images of the flywheel and clutch. The large clutch set is the Camaro 5.7L. The smaller clutch set is from a 300zx but is close in size to the Camaro 3.8L set I ordered.

1. OEM Isuzu flywheel.
2. Modded Isuzu flywheel
3. 5.7L disc on modded Isuzu flywheel
4. 5.7L Pressure Plate on modded flywheel.
5. 300zx Pressure Plate on modded flywheel.

kickerfox

The clean lip on the circumference of the flywheel (#7) is where I had the machine shop take a light cut so the CNC can reference off the edge since the clamps will block the center bore. If you take a look at the hole on the far left, there's not a lot of meat there and I'm worried the threads would cause the bolt to push outward on the flywheel and possibly crack it.

The 300zx pressure plate will fit the 3.8L disc so that gives me another pressure plate option should the fingers of the 3.8L disc not be in the ideal position.

6. 5.7L pressure plate too close to the edge.
7. Edge of modded flywheel.
8. 5.7L vs 300zx disc.
9. 5.7L vs. 300zx pressure plate.

kickerfox

More Isuzu tidbits...

A 6DV1 won the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in '96.

6VD1 - V6 It is nearly unknown that the Isuzu 6VD1 V6 engine was a 1996 Championship Winning DTM engine.
In the early 1990's, Opel (GM Germany) was having problems with their narrow angle V6 engine in the Calibra DTM race cars. They eventually decided to use the Opel Montery (Isuzu Trooper) 3.2 liter all aluminum 6VD1 engine, because the wide 75 degree angle and more durably block structure could handle higher engine speeds better than their own engines. Cosworth destroked the 6VD1 to 2.5 liters, built custom heads and individual throttle body induction system, and dry sump lubrication system. According to the most conservative power specs, the engine made 457 HP at 12,000 RPM. The Japanese sources cite 485 HP at 12,300 RPM. The race shops who bought the remaining engines, after DTM changed their engine displacement rules, state that the true specs are 540 HP at 15,000 RPM.
The Isuzu V6 would make a very good power plant for a race car, if built correctly.

I'm so amused that this engine was even put on a track. I'm sure you'll argue "well it's heavily modified bla bla bla". It's probably in this video somewhere.

kickerfox

Since I used all my new parts in the Amigo, I've had to reorder them. That's when I stumbled on a possible oil pump option. When these motors spin a bearing it's always #1 and no one knows why. I think the idle oil pressure is around 7psi. eek. Adding two turbos is only going to lower that pressure. This other pump might help.

The non-vvt non-gdi engines, like mine, use a different pump then the vvt gdi version, like the '04 Axiom. The blocks are the same except for one difference I just noticed.

In my '99 block, the oil feed to the cylinder heads is taken off the #1 main bearing. In the front of the engine is a port with a steel ball capping it.

In the '04 block, this plugged passage is open and the oil pump has a hole to feed oil directly into that passage. I'd assume they cap the hole off the #1 main. The '04 pump looks like it may also have a poppet valve to regulate the pressure into that hole as well as the main poppet to control pressure to the rest of the engine. I'm sure this is done due to the vvt oil requirement. The rear of the pump has a different cover as well which may indicate a change in the gerotor set.

If that's the case, I'll use the '04 pump but leave the front of the block plugged. If that pump has extra volume, the whole engine gets it. The earlier non-vvt engine doesn't have any oil issues with the heads so the mod would only be for the extra volume the whole engine can benefit from.

Here's some pics of the older pump on top, new one on bottom.

kickerfox

Clutch showed up. This set should work fine. I wish I kept the old Isuzu clutch so I could weigh it. This entire assembly (flywheel, disc, and pressure plate) weighs 34lbs. It's significantly lighter then the original. The pressure plate mounting holes are in a good location and it allows me to cut another ~5/8" off the edge of the flywheel's radius while still maintaining the step that the ring gear sits against.

kickerfox

I dropped the flywheel off at the shop this morning to have the last cut made and they cut off to much! They ruined my flywheel. At least they did right and found me a junkyard replacement and even drove there to get it.

They re-machined that flywheel to my specs and will be drilling and tapping the pressure plate holes tomorrow morning.

I plumbed up the concentric slave cylinder to the 8's master and it'll throw about 1/4". According to various Google sources, the stock LS1 pressure plate needs to travel 1/4-5/16". I'm guessing my GM v6 pressure plate might not have to move as far as the LS1. Should work fine. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

The final clutch arrangement consists of the modified Isuzu v6 flywheel, '94 Camaro 3.4L disc, '94 3.4L or '98 3.8L Camaro pressure plate (either fits), an '08 Colorado concentric slave cylinder, and a Miata pilot bearing in an aluminum adaptor, that I lost. I hope that turns up.

This clutch has been a project in itself. Swaps are a lot easier when you have an entire drivetrain to drop it. Mixing and matching is a lot of time, work, and research but I love the challenge.

Couple pics before drilling. I still have to sandblast, resurface, balance, and paint it.

kickerfox

Got the flywheel resurfaced today. Then it dawned on me that I could just shove a big bolt through the assembly for testing and measurements. It functions well but this clutch pedal is invisible. It's way to easy to push. A stage-3 pressure plate would probably feel like a stock clutch. But it is a functioning solution. Now I can scrap this pile of flywheels, pressure plates and clutch discs that's been kicking around the garage.

A pill bottle served as the fluid reservoir since the brake master isn't installed.

The clutch line I had made is way longer then it needs to be because I knew I'd have to mock it up outside the vehicle. Once final, I can have it shortened to the correct length.

VaioStreams

Have you fit the V6 in the RX8 yet? i was paying attention to this a few months back then life happened and stopped. how is the build going?

kickerfox

It's slow going because I have so much other crap going on. The motor was test fitted but I haven't started on the mounts yet. I can't do that until the trans is bolted up and I might as well get the clutch finalized first.

kickerfox

Flywheel painted.

kickerfox

Found time to cut and drill the injector rails and my EV6 connectors finally showed up.

kickerfox

I have a problem with my Solstice transmission that's bothering me. I'm not a transmission builder (I have rebuilt one before) so if I tear into this thing it'll take me a little longer then a seasoned trans tech. I'm not looking forward to it.

The problem is when moving the shifter side to side it's not nice and smooth. I can feel it catching on something. My first thought was the rail selector. It felt as if one of the selectors was out of place.

I popped off the tail housing to have a peek. I was right. The 3-4 shift rail is slightly out of position. Normally I'd blame this kind of horseshit on the drunken or hung-over GM employee who's over worked and under paid and constantly frustrated that the 100lb high school sweetheart he married is now 310 and doesn't clean the house or bathe the kids anymore. I digress... This screw up is on Aisin.

Now I have to decide if I want to tear the whole trans down to re-grind the shift rail detent or just leave it and deal with the problem. I'm afraid one of these days a quick 2-3 or 3-4 or 4-5 shift could bend something if it got hung up.

Pics. Not the middle selector is a bit higher then the other two.

kickerfox

Here's the gears.

Laminar

Test fit: https://www.rx8club.com/frankenstein...6/#post4464733

Looks awesome so far. Keep up the good work.

KFC

My mock up V6 is in my 8 and I only cut 2 small sections out of the bulkhead, put the 5 speed gearbox in a 231bhp version, stock flywheel, clutch, gerabox back to the wheels are standard. Stock subframe and steering rack, moved the ABS unit and hard lines, should have about 210bhp 170lbs of torque. Not balistic but still fun to drive. In England we have a lot of corners which is where the fun is, not in a straight line, boring. I started the mock up chassis that I scrapped in May then started my real one August, hope to have it done before Christmas..

kickerfox

The KL swap right? What did you end up figuring for the starter?

kickerfox

Seems the 8's clutch master cylinder may be a bit small to push a concentric slave. I was expecting the disc to flop around under the pressure place but it was still bound up tight with the pedal down. I fitted a Hyundai Elantra master cylinder into the car. It takes very little modification to make it fit. I need to change the end on my hose but that's not a big deal. I'll put an AN fitting on the end and use a AN to flare fitting or see if they make a female flare for the hose end. A short piece of brake line was bent 180 degrees to reach the masters outlet. The inlet uses a hose to the brake reservoir like the oem master.

kickerfox

I got that master cylinder sitting pretty and the last thing to do was lengthen the push rod. When I popped the clip and pulled the seal to remove the rod I saw that the piston was not the advertised diameter but actually smaller then the stock master. It was only the seal that was larger. Oh well.


I shall continue my hunt for a compatible master (80s Jeep might work) and if I don't find anything I'll just get a Wilwood and be done with it.

Laminar

While you're playing around with the clutch, have you done anything to reinforce the bracket?