1988 Isuzu I-Mark Turbo

Time to start your own project page and do some auto X! Let me know if you need anything I have lots of spare parts.

I finally finished my gauge pod that I started at the very beginning of this project. The fiberglass resin wasn't so bad. And the clothes pins really helped hold everything into place. The real pain of course was the sanding. Fill and sand. Sand too far, fill re-sand. /repeat.

I wanted to give a texture to the finish so I used an undercoat spray. I don't know if it was because I skipped the primer and went straight to the spray, or because the undercoat seems gummy and doesn't really dry, but it did not adhere well. It will scratch off with a fingernail.

On the whole though, I'm stoked to get the gauges that were just laying on my dash up and out of the way, but I will need to re-do this at some point in the future.

If I had to do it over I would just buy the gauge pod overlay, and fiberglass that in. I see why people really like these at eye level.

I finally sorted my poor performance issue. Turns out the timing was off. The same timing I checked 3 times? Yes, that one. Like an idiot I was setting my timing off the dowel on the balancer, because the gear tucked behind the balancer was so hard to see. Well, after putting in a little extra effort, I'm not bogging at high RMP.

Not enough pictures of the Actual car in this thread

The wheel fit and is super aggressive! Looks great.

I bought another I-Mark turbo. I actually almost bought it 7 years ago, but someone else go there first. One of the guys from the Isuzu Forum was selling it. It was a great deal for $400. And it came with all kinds of extras. Spare parts, manuals, DOHC ECU, strut brace, hood vents, plus a second turbo! The interior was pristine with the desirable Recaro seats in great shape. There was a DOHC motor from a Geo Storm too On my way up I had the joy of blowing out my sparkplug 4 hours away from home. I has quite a bit of rust I also stopped to meet another Isuzu enthusiast. we're kinda odd like that. And made it home safe and sound. I really didn't need another Isuzu, but the price was definitely right, and the interior was all there. The rust tho... I don't think it will ever recover to street use from this rust. So, what is the plan then?

Making an adjustable timing gear!  I dont really need an adjustable gear, but it will let me play with my RPM band, (And also save me if I'm a tooth off when I install the belt).

I bought some round aluminum plate from e-bay, and had to make it a bit smaller.  

Once the O.D. was correct I drilled the center hole to size.  This has to be the most accurate part of the job.

I used a small socket as a dowel to keep the pieces aligned.

Next I drilled a new dowel hole.  The current dowel in the cam is (of course) not long enough to reach the aluminum, so I used it to tie the two together.  Then I drilled the outer holes in the center of each arm.  

Holes drilled

Now that the holes were drilled in the aluminum, and would line up perfectly, I was free to cut the two sections apart.  

The aluminum section was slotted retaining the same setup and spacing from the previous hole drilling.  (It might not be clear, but that is a rotating table with indexed degrees to help me center, and remove the proper amount.)  I went with 20 degrees of movement.

I tapped it to 6mmx1.0

And you know I had to "reduce  the weight a bit"

Done:

I am happy with the way it turned out considering I put forth very little effort.  (having the right tools helps more than anything). 

One of the reasons I wanted the adjust-ability is because I re-surfaced a lot of the head, bringing the cam closer to the crank.  I think this knocked my timing off just a few degrees, and I'll be able to dial that back in as well.

I'll report back with the butt dyno results.

That is so FREAKING COOL.

My hat is off to you, Sir!  I like it!

Damn son.........

How much would you charge to make that coilovers set up for me 89 I-Mark RS

In reply to Warrickb :

The Koni 8611s are $210 each, plus $60 aluminum tube, plus $50 koni tube caps.  Then you'll need an e-bay coilover sleeve and nuts = $50.  (You can get the coilover. sleeve with generic civic springs, but I found the to be too stiff).  Then you'll neeed a helper spring on each = $35x2

Total =$640 plus a little bit for my labor.

Now, They may make a different strut for a different vehicle that could fit the same tube and be cheaper.  This would be worth looking into.  

Also, once I got done I found this :

That's a universal strut where you just weld on ears and machine the threads!  $300 each  If I had know about it I may have gone this route.  Strut Link

Hey f6sk, been following this thread for some time and I'm majorly bummed that your pictures don't work anymore. Is there any update on your Isuzu? And what FB group did you find the other one through?

Try the google browser.  For some reason Firefox thinks I'm a bad hombre.

Try the Isuzone on Facebook for a spunky little isuzu community.  

It snowed here in coastal South Carolina Which only happens about once ever 15 years.  After the storm I spotted a green fluid at the base of my heater core, so taking the whole dash out is in my near future.