VehiCROSS V8 Conversion Kit

[vt_maverick]

^ Now that's what I call "going all in." Kudos and good luck!

[WRBSTI]

Well as I stated in the beginning it is time for someone to try to take this kit seriously and make it work for the average person. Also good news about the transmission, especially for anyone living above sea level. Our transmission isn't rated for the 320 HP or 310 Torque that the NorthStar makes. However at this altitude (5280) we lose about 20% on naturally aspirated motors. Therefore the NorthStar will be making 256HP and 248HP which is right at our transmission limit. So time will tell. I will keep all updated and I am looking forward to Moab.

[VXorado]

I will keep all updated and I am looking forward to Moab.

Sounds good. Moab will be a great way to share the project... test drives will do more than a million words...

[Chopper]

Chopper ... Friend-0-mine...there IS one...

I see four coil packs on each valve cover...

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=21688

OP, welcome to the Fam, & good luck with your venture, I hope it's a stunning success!..

Who knows, I may be look'n someday.

THEN IT'S ON!!!
I'd love to see it....I don't get around here enough any more
I saw the 5sp conversion.....just what the Dr. ordered.
Wonderful to finally see something happen with these cars besides light bulb and tire swaps

[vt_maverick]

Wonderful to finally see something happen with these cars besides light bulb and tire swaps

Was just thinking the same thing the other day. I guess it's probably because these trucks have become cheap enough that folks have the $$$ required for major mods. Hard to justify swapping a perfectly functional engine (or transmission for that matter) when you've still got a $300-400 car payment on it.

Think about what we've got going right now... V8 swap, 5-speed swap, body-integrated spare tire carrier, tube bumpers, etc. Pretty cool...

[Robbomaz]

My advice would be option #2. The problem with option 1 is that you risk having to pay everyone back if you can't finish or have some sort of family emergency pop up. Option 3 is risky because folks on this board are infamous for saying their interested and then disappearing when it comes time to put up the cash (e.g. Robbomaz supercharger kit, my spare Borbets, Marlin's skid plates, etc). Option #2 is best, but I would recommend you credit folks' donations against the sales price.

YEAH! Well at least one guy from this forum bought one

[Robbomaz]

Was just thinking the same thing the other day. I guess it's probably because these trucks have become cheap enough that folks have the $$$ required for major mods. Hard to justify swapping a perfectly functional engine (or transmission for that matter) when you've still got a $300-400 car payment on it.

Think about what we've got going right now... V8 swap, 5-speed swap, body-integrated spare tire carrier, tube bumpers, etc. Pretty cool...

Cheap enough there maybe - I tracked down a local RHD VX a while ago - $27500!!!
Cheaper for me to buy one Stateside, ship it here and convert it to RHD!

[WRBSTI]

So as i find a way to make this swap work i stumbled across yet another project (just my luck). I found a 1999 Isuzu Trooper with 108,000 miles and a blown motor. Just so happens that I will have a nice 1999 Trooper with the 3.5. Does anyone know about the trooper market? It is a one owner car from Washington state with a clean title. It will have my VehiCROSS V6 transplanted in it.

[vt_maverick]

You can check out Edmunds for pricing, I was on there last night and I think they were quoting around 3-4K or less for 99 Troopers with 100K miles.

Is it a 5-speed? If so maybe you could check into the feasability of a V8, 5-speed swap?

[WRBSTI]

I wish it was a 5 speed, if so I would be doing the 5 speed with TOD and the NorthStar in the VehiCross. I am buying the trooper for $500 and i am debating whether to swap in my V6 and sell it, or part it out and try to sell the engine out of the VehiCROSS. Any ideas?

[SilverBullet75]

If you part it out, you can be our gauge as to what the market is like for Trooper parts... for those of us that want to go the route of buying a donor Trooper for the 5 speed swap.

[VXorado]

I wish it was a 5 speed, if so I would be doing the 5 speed with TOD and the NorthStar in the VehiCross. I am buying the trooper for $500 and i am debating whether to swap in my V6 and sell it, or part it out and try to sell the engine out of the VehiCROSS. Any ideas?

Kurt with the salvage VX yesterday told me he was able to sell his VX engine for $1300 pretty easily. If you think you can get more than $2000 for the Trooper then the swap may be worth it. All depends on the condition of the Trooper & how much work you want to put into it.

[vt_maverick]

With the huge number of Troopers sold in the US I can't see there being much money in parting it out - people who need parts can probably go to a local yard and save themselves shipping.

I'd let it go...

[rwolf15241]

hows the project going ??

[sleveritt]

For those interested, I just posted a few interior pics of my latest completed projects, as always, work is on-going and slow, but the weather is better so I can spend more time in the garage without freezing my ying-yang off. The pics are on the Nuke VX build thread under the VX Talk section. Just laid down a red polyurethane bed/floor liner, painted interior roll bars, headliner, etc... Anyway, no trying to hijack the thread but I noticed a couple of people asked about it a few posts back. (Anybody know how to move it to the "Major Build Thread" section?)