Isuzu Trooper Owners Club UK™

[thedorris]

Well this is my third stint in an isuzu, about 8 years ago i had my first in the shape of a champagne coloured '94 swb duty which was great fun if a little sluggish  

After spending years in other makes of 4x4's, mainly 4x4 orientated and finishing last year in a nicely modded shogun i knocked it on the head for a while due to lane closures, family commitments, bordem, loss of job etc  

This year i began to redeem myself as going without a 4x4 in my life was proving difficult   , i traded a citroen van for a nice '94 Bighorn 3.1, which was very tidy, used it for a while but i never off-roaded it.



I sold up then as the year went by i kept mulling over what i wanted.
I liked the size of the bighorn but it felt old and looked it inside as well, but for daily duties i wanted something a little more modern and up to date(ish) and a bit cheaper on the pocket to run also.

Then i debated for some time about going for a post '97 trooper, yep, 4jx1  
I used one some years ago and was impressed with how refined it was and how well it went, but this was before all the horror stories come to fruition.
I deliberated on lpg but finding a good 3.5 without starship miles and at sensible money was almost impossible.

I've read upon them until i got so obsessed by it, it was literally taking over my life and at this time of year, people who have got them up for sale were generally taking the absolute piss on the prices, and i swore if i read another advert that read 'don't get stuck this winter' or 'snows coming' or 'pulls like a train..' i was going to give up and by a  Puch Maxi  

I fretted some more about the 4jx1 motor, what if this, what if that etc etc... But decided that i just needed to man up and just bite the bullet, to stop fannying about and get one, and a good one at that too, so i decided i was going to give one the benefit of the doubt  

I went with my best bud Adam 'Issics' to pick up his and i drove his back, and i was sold on it, i just knew i had to have one so the hunt was really on!
(I'm going to blame him for my purchase because he made me do it)

So, a few weeks down the line i found a nice one up for sale in Chesterfield, some 100 odd miles away, but out of my budget  
But fortune favours the brave, so i picked up the phone, asked plenty of questions, did some negotiating with adam's help and finally secured a deal in budget - result!  

So anyway, a nice trip home, proved excellent on the diesel too, it was pressed into immediate action as on the night i had a call from 'a mate' who was stuck in a field. So an hour of digging and pulling and damn hard work proved a baptism of fire for the motor!

And here it is........





93k, replacement engine with new injectors, loom, turbo, gaskets, clutch, transfer case the lot and she drives an absolute peach  
Its got a fancy radio and some pimp tastic windows which at night is a bit of a pain in the 'arris but on the flip side it looks good and it keeps prying eyes from looking in.
She sits slightly stanced with its nose slightly down, but given how it rides and sits i think its got uprated spring in the rear.

Pressed into service straight away, towing trailers, covering miles, carry carp everywhere and not even in 24hrs of ownership and she's filthy!

Usually at this stage i get a bit obessed with minor details that aren't right, but i haven't had the chance yet. i've had it 5 days and done about 500 miles with no time for fettling yet.
I'm quite into detailling so at some point i'm going to be going to town on this with a clay bar, polish, stonechip on the underside as its been stood up before the previous owner had it and would benefit from a tidy up.

The badges need touching in.....





The 90's style flaking off pinstriping is gonna have to go...



And i need to re-align the rear quarter bumper up as its a bit on the p155, thnk its off the bracket....




Niggles?
Just a couple. It can take quite a bit of cranking over from cold to start, about 10 -12 seconds. It kinda fires after a few seconds and dies and then re-starts afterward. The previous owner full warned me as he spent a bit of time looking into but tech 2 threw no results and glow plugs didn't sort it so he accepted thats how it was. But i experimented the other morning by pumping the hand primer from cold 4-5 times and low and behold, it fires straight up after 3 cranks on the key.
I've read somewhere about the fuel draining from the pump to the tank on these so perhaps some non return valves in the line or some extended looped fuel hose is order of the day and perhaps it might sort it  
It also has flakey laquer on the bonnet which will need addressing in the new year  

Plans?
Well hopefully santa will leave me a snorkel, and some coil spacers will be ordered in the new year followed by some aggresive tyres so it will be an ongoing project if you like, but won't stray too far from standard as its gotta be a daily driver  

So anyway, sorry for waffling on, i've hardly posted in all the time i've been a member so take this as penance as i've put a bit of effort into this post  

Oh, and hoping for a cheeky days laning over the festive period so if anyone is playing let me know.

Lee

[Google]

[marmite]

happy days matey      

[issics]

Well bilge me, someone's been busy on the old keyboard. This is a cracking motor and served us proud the other night when I made a tit of myself, even if we did break the light cluster with a 5 ton tow strap. If I can make friends with my trooper I might post some pics of it, but after the ball joint fall out we aren't speaking at the min.

Great post as always mate.