2000 Isuzu Hombre - A Grumpy Truckling For the Streets

adding relays to the headlight circuit should only really add an hour or so.
worth it for sure.

Yeah.  Except it is me, who will go quite overboard in the effort to make it look stock.

Only found an hour to work on the harness last night, but got the majority of the interior side taped up.  Waiting on a test fit in the truck before taping the seat and console extensions I added in.

It's actually starting to assemble.  Body harness is in, front suspension is back on, installed the heat shields, and started on the acoustic treatment.  Got a bit carried away and installed the HVAC box before the carpet, but that isn't a huge setback.









Found a solution to mount the interior temperature sensor.



Also cut out the opening for the overhead console.  Mounting solution should be complete tomorrow.

Found a quasi-OEM solution to mount the overhead console.  Grabbed the front frame structure from a sunroof at the junkyard.  Tried all sorts of mounting solutions, but ended up cutting it down and using structural adhesive to attach it to the roof.  I originally tried a much larger chunk and even had the metal structure from the Blazer I pulled the frame from, but not enough room above the headliner to fit any more than I did.





With that done I installed the headliner.



And started on the acoustic treatment for the rest of the truck.







And now starting to get the interior back in.  I'm pretty much ready for the Dash at this point and once that is in all I'll have left is the seats.  Still having to do some trimming and fitting with the extra layer of sound deadener, but it has been going together without too much trouble.

I almost have this truck complete. It will be up for sale soon if anyone is interested.

I swapped the ZQ8 suspension and chassis parts from the original Hombre over the winter and finished putting the interior back together.  Since then I've been chasing down a number of issues and inconveniences: getting the engine to run without codes, replacing burnt out bulbs and bad switches, and making all my updates look factory.

I bought another pair of 17x9 Cragers and put 275/40R17 Potenza RE760 on all 4 corners. Finished those off with my modified and chromed hub caps from a 4WD 1st gen.

I'm honestly impressed with how it all turned out. It both rides and handles great.  The sound treatment works phenomenal. The doors close with a nice solid thud and road imperfections are no longer harsh.

I wasn't a fan of the all white grille once it was on the truck, so I blacked it out with some plasti-dip.





The first Hombre is living the life with the stock height suspension haha



Very little rust on this truck

20151119_170042







Sold the topper and got the hub caps on the truck. You might be able to see the S10 EV bed seal in the picture too.  Truck turned out exactly as I had hoped.

nice! all that effort! a matching soft8 spare too!?

Yeahhhhhh about that spare.... It didn't last the first real test drive. The hub opening is just too large for the spare tire hoist to hold it on. 

Truck looks great! I'm going to do some sound deadening shortly as well. I picked up about a 100 sq ft of Frost King duct insulation which is supposedly a cheap reasonable substitute for the expensive stuff.

Thanks. I'm glad to see one of my visions on the road finally.

For sound deadening I suggest at least reading what this guy has to teach.  I used his ideas (and products) and am very pleased with the outcome.

https://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/

Truck is on craigslist and I'm planning to be gone in a week.

http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/cto/5531840144.html

I'd make someone here a good deal.

shared. 275/45? sure its not 275/40s?

Thanks.

I did mean 275/40R17 and meant to go back and change it after I double checked, but forgot.

Good luck with the sale! You don't say what the engine is in the ad

Good luck with the sale! You don't say what the engine is in the ad

CL now has that broken out, on the right you see it says "4cyl"

Ah! I'm used to Kijiji up here in Canuckland

The Isuzu didn't sell while I was out of state this summer, given I wasn't putting much effort into it.

So i'm back to driving and enjoying the truckling and fixing up more of the little issues. It is still for sale, though, and i should probably get my craigslist ad active again.

Al replaced a faulty blend door motor while I was gone. That made a huge difference in the heating and cooling. 

He also put a charge on the A/C system and found the compressor was leaky. Sweet. Already grabbed a nice looking replacement from the junkyard.

The other day we gutted the cat and spaced out the steering stops. The cat had been rattling and fuel economy has improved without the broken up substrate. The 275/40R17 tires on the 17x9 Cragers crash into the brake line bracket and/or frame at full lock, so it was nice to improve the steering stops. I was surprised how well just a 1/4" spacer worked. Drilled out the rivets and replaced with bolts & loctite for the perfect solution. It's a nice little trick I'll be keeping in my pocket for future projects.

Pictures are obviously at full droop, but representative.

hmm, i dont remember brake line issues, maybe I just never noticed on the s10.
Looks like a good fix though!

Don't forget the S10 & Blazer route brake hoses differently. The S10 doesn't drop the hard line down the side of the frame.

hmmm what to do...










I kid. I only had the engine and transmission out to replace timing chain, oil pan gasket, and the clutch.





I found several issues while it was all apart too, so definitely don't feel it was a waste to tear it so far apart. For one, the rear of the fuel rail wasn't fully bolted down... I'm wondering what issues that was causing as the rear injector was definitely free to move in and out of the port. Yikes. A few vac/evap hoses weren't hooked up right and found a few other loose bolts, etc.

And glad to have a helper to hold the Isuzu hood.



It's impressive how a few worn parts can make a world of difference. Runs so much smoother and quieter now. I'm hoping the longer test drive to get some turkey tomorrow continues to be positive haha my mom will not be happy if I don't show up.