So I know a guy who said that when he put an Isuzu 5 speed behind (or next to lol) his 2.8, he had to run the shift cables over the top of the air intake tube, and then make a bracket to keep them out of the way of the throttle body. Said this is due to the fact that the Isuzu was designed for the iron duke, and so they go in at a different angle. Is there a way around having to do this? Because if for no other reason not to do it, it would be UGLY!
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06:13 PM
PFF
System Bot
fierofool Member
Posts: 12810 From: Auburn, Georgia USA Registered: Jan 2002
haha ok. thanks for the picture. by the way...no offense about the ugly part lol. doesn't look as bad as i thought. I would like to have a five speed in my car, and isuzu would definitely be doable price and attainability wise for me. How do you like the isuzu with the 2.8? performance and durability and such...ever give you any issues?
bloozberry: same question to you about the isuzu...good choice for the 2.8 in your opinion? and also do you have any issues with the cables interfering with the throttle linkage?
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08:58 PM
fierofool Member
Posts: 12810 From: Auburn, Georgia USA Registered: Jan 2002
I had some interference problems. In my pic you can see some of the wrap is missing. That's where I had nylon cable ties around it and through the metal bracket. They're removed in that pic because I had just changed plugs.
I've had 2 85GT's with the Isuzu swap. Both of them have made a considerable number of hard runs during Run For The Hills and the scouting runs to prepare for them. Never any issues on my part, but I don't dump the clutch. One of them has over 100K miles on it after the install into the V6.
First gear on the Isuzu is a little short. It gets you moving. Because of the ratio, the engine will rev quickly requiring you to shift to second a little quicker than the other 2 manuals. Second and Third are pretty good. You can run up to about 60-65 pretty easily in third. That's often where I run during our mountain excursions.
On the first one, we went under the tube like Bloozberry, but it put a hard bend in the cable right at the long metal end. Made it very hard to shift, so we moved it over the top. That's the one with over 100K miles. But Blooz isn't the only one that's went under without any problems.
In the swap, remember, you'll need to get a throwout bearing for the Isuzu. Bearings are specific to the transmissions.
I'll take a better picture today and post it so you can see how I've run them and what sorts of clearances there are around the throttle quadrant... but I haven't had any problems whatsoever. As for gear ratios, I think it works just fine with the 2.8.
I'll take a better picture today and post it so you can see how I've run them and what sorts of clearances there are around the throttle quadrant... but I haven't had any problems whatsoever. As for gear ratios, I think it works just fine with the 2.8.
As promised, here's two views of the Isuzu cables on my 2.8. I had no problem routing them far enough away from the throttle quadrant to be safe. They do rub up tight against the bottom of the CAI tube though, but that's no biggie since there's no relative movement between the two.
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