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This is a page featuring my 88 Isuzu Imark Turbo Handling by Lotus. This car is very hard to work on since no one makes aftermarket parts in its application. My dad bought it for me in 2002 from a small car lot for $150. The dealer said that the car had a blown turbo and could'nt be fixed without putting a whole new turbocharger, boost pipe, and throttle-body on it. After working for a while, it turned out that the dealer was full of crap. What had happened was that the previous owner had never changed the oil, the turbo had started acting up and the dealer's so called "mechanic" took the turbo apart to see what was wrong. He later lost most of the turbo parts, including that expensive heat shield. About a week ago, I bought a heat shield from Isuzutrio and resurfaced it and cleaned it up. After installing it, it seemed like the primitive looking one my dad made works ALOT better.
A year later we had the car put back together and got it running. It needed a clutch badly so we took it down to a good mechanic friend of mine with a lift and had him install a Spec stage 1 clutch, pressure plate, bearings, a new oil pan, a new rear seal, a new water pump, and a new oil pump. After taking the motor apart and being able to see the bottom end, I had no Idea how the car was still running. The oil screen was caked up with about 1/4 inch of dirt and grime, the bottom end was soaked in dirt and grit and the timting belt was so fragile, when I touched it with my finger, the thing started flaking off. After seeing how bad the belts were, we replaced the A/C belt, the P/S belt, the alternator belt, the timing belt, then we reset the timing just to be safe.
The car had obviously had alot of trash in the tank, so about a year before we had it taken to the shop, me and my dad tried to syphen all of the junk out we could. The fluid that came out was orange and had a heavy mixture of gas, sugar, and rust all around the insides. Our attempts of getting the crap out were pretty much futile. We got about 15% of the junk out, but once we put gas back in the tank, it just mixed the junk back around again. So while it was in the shop, we decided that we needed to have the gas tank dropped and cleaned. The guy charged us $88 to drop, clean, coat, and reinstall the fuel tank. Recently I have went to Summit in McDonough and bought a Russell hi-flow fuel filter, it flows alot better now. Thank god for the rubber hose fuel lines on the Imark's though, I had to cut one end off to get the filter out.
It turned out that the tank had been sugar(ered?), suyrped, and been sitting without a gas cap for 2 years. The man who dipped the tank claimed that it was one of the worst he had ever done. He had to let it soak for 36 hours, then he had to coat the inside of it with some sort of rust stopper. He ended up repairing a hole in the upper part of the fuel tank with sheet metal and sealant.
This whole front page is just a running story of the major work that me and my dad have done on my car. I'll try not to add every little thing we do the the car (ex: tightening hose clamps, valve cover gasket, etc.). But I just want everyone to know just how much work has been put into this car out of my driveway. After some deep reflection, I realized that it takes alot of work to make something right and end the end everything pays off. Just the other day someone asked me to see a picture of my car and we talked for about 30 minutes on the history of the Isuzu car line, that really boosted the morale of working on my car. He talked about how it was good that someone had a rare car that you ACTUALLY have to work on instead of slapping on bolt-on stuff. So take a look around my page, stay awhile, and tell your friends.
Factory options on my car:
Fog Lights
Rear Defroster
RS Body Kit
LS Spoiler
Lotus Suspension
Electric Mirriors
Removable Sunroof
Fold Down rear seats
Turbocharger
5 Speed
It has just about everything except the Recaro Interior. I sure wish that I had that Recaro Interior.
www.isuzone.org
A site run by a man soely known as "John" and fully dedicated to the Isuzu car owners. These rare breeds of people are rarely found in sunlight and are known in the state of Flordia to cause testicular cancer, somewhat similar to the effects of asbestos.
www.StormOwners.com
StormOwners, commonly known as Isuzone 1/2, is a newb based website which seperated, along with Frank after the downfall of KipAnderson.net. It is mostly a board about newb stuff; intakes, exhaust, wheels, etc. They do have some good things going for them though; like the Storm bodykit from Extreme Dimensions and the, erm... uh... well, I'll get back to you when I find something else they have done.:)
www.robietherobot.com
Robie IS the man, simply put. He is the sole provider of most of the performance parts found on StormOwners and The Isuzone. He sells everything from spark plugs and ignition wires to coilovers and strut tower bars. He will hook you up with most preformance products for Impulses, Stylus', Storms, and Imarks. Just send him a PM on the Isuzone and he will reply to you as soon as he can. He is a real good man to work with and he might bargan with you if you show respect.
•••••UPDATE 10-19-2008 •••••
To more closely follow my ongoing project, and for more detailed pictures, visit my Isuzone project thread at The Neverending Story, My Imark .
Page 1: Home
Page 2: Body
Page 3: New Engine Pictures
Page 4: Old Engine Pictures
Page 5: Interior
Page 6: Stereo
Page 7: Center Console Removal Walkthrough
