1991 Isuzu Trooper - New Daily / Exploring Rig

[RealJon]

Afternoon,

I was on the hunt for a long time for a clean & reliable 1st Gen to daily while I save & build it out. Hunted all over and got hooked up with a guy over on the planet. He had pretty much gone through the whole truck to make it a very good starting point for my plan.

Picked it up back in November, fuel pump gave out on the way home. Got that replaced, had more recurring issues. Replaced injectors, wires, coil, and more. Ended up being the fuel pressure regulator. The seller bought the fuel pump and the injectors and had them shipped to me, took real good care of me on this one. Finally got to drive it work for the first time today!

Below is everything that was done before I took ownership. Pretty extensive list, felt confident enough to shell out on it.

2.6 4 cylinder 5 speed MUA5 - 200k+
31" General Grabbers on 5 snowflakes.
Big Brake front new rotors and caliper swap.
New calipers front and rear. Heated painted silver.
Stainless braided brake lines front and rear.
Upgraded larger brake rotors & calipers to second gen larger brakes and dust shields
Big new front calipers heat painted silver & pads
New lug studs and nuts everywhere they needed to be replaced
Rebuilt front hub assemblies New seals and bearings fresh grease
AISIN manual hubs I serviced and added fresh paper gasket to hub body.
New ball joints
Drop diff brackets with good stock CV axles.
Heavy Duty Tie Rods
New KYB shocks front and rear
Ironman Australia leaf springs and warrior shackles with fresh poly bushings
New U Bolts and nuts on rear axle
New pinion seal front axle. I don't remember if I did the rear seal.
Cleaned front and rear housings & added new fluid.
New sway bar poly bushings and grease
New front windshield gasket installed professionally when rust spots where repaired.
Rust spots on cowl and rear windows repaired professionally
Rain gutter body seams repaired and resealed with SEM body seam sealer
Remaining original Door trim removed, cleaned and New door trim installed.
Single tube rear drive shaft from Oliver’s in Winston-Salem.
Relocated parking brake cable for right rear Y split cable over driveshaft.
Replaced front headlights and ambers with a good set
I'll throw in a ISUZU grill emblem too.
New interior carpet front and rear
Front seats no rips no tears
Rear seat good shape one corner rip - I will throw in a complete rear seat with good fabric
Cleaned out the cowl completely
Reconditioned Front wipers. New blades front and rear.


Now for the Good stuff:
Installed Jerry cam
Clearwater head - no air injection smog holes - so if you are in an emissions State, this truck is not for you. sorry.
New Timing belt
New Oil pan both gaskets sealed up
New Cam shaft seal
New Crank seal
Crank plate J gasket - if you know, you know...
New Valve cover gasket
New Valve cover fresh bolt seals and half moons
New Ignition coil
New Spark plugs (NGK i think, i forget)
Good working dizzy and new rotor with fresh O ring
New Water pump and gasket
New Water pipe O ring
New Wires/Cables
New New timing tensioner
Serviced & Cleaned OEM injectors
New ITM Head gasket
New Exhaust gasket
New Intake gaskets
New (handcut) Throttle body gasket
Reroute IAC where you can reach it - partial j5 mod
Reroute igniter / power transistor away from the heat and where you can reach it.
New exhaust from Y pipe all the way back. It DOES have a Cat.
New magnaflow muffler.
Rebuilt OEM alternator
Rebuilt OEM starter
New EGR pipe - yes! one of the tubes I got made for all of us!
New water hoses and vacuum hoses everywhere!!
New Fuel filter and fuel lines replaced
New Steering pump
New accessory belts
New water temp sensor
New Thermostat and gaskets
Stainless braided clutch line & bypass damper
New front motor mounts - I forget the brand
NOS Coolant overflow reservoir bottle

Short term plans are as follows (this year):
Replace every vacuum & fuel line
Replace / Repair any suspect looking wiring in the engine bay
Install my roof rack and rear facing canopy
Fold Down Table on the rear door
Build a small platform for truck camping
Install my ecoflow alternator charger & battery for the fridge / internal lights / cooking
Figure out the AC problem
Tablet + Mount for Nav / Music (or I will just use my headphones and cell)
Rear Locker
Figure out a bumper & winch without adding too much weight
PRP or other brand seats, I need about 3 more inches leg room.

Long term plans are as follows (2-3 years):
3.4 Chevy V6 Swap
Fullsize Bullbar
Maybe SAS?

The goal is to have a reliable, small, comfortable rig to explore the southeast of the US. If I feel froggy the whole country.

First thing I did once it was running was load the swag & fridge up for a weekend trip soon for a "shake down". Unsure what I want to do with the exterior, mostly only care about stopping / fixing what little rust exists.

Pretty excited to get out and keep falling in love with this old square box.