Another Finnish Bellett

[Tuomas]

Hello!
MrJ gave us all a hint about this nice site at http://www.isuzuownersclub.com/en/?fid=
I went thru some of the topics and decided to join in.
My Bellett is a four door sedan. It is fitted with a 4ZD1 single carb engine and a 5-speed gearbox from a Isuzu pick-up. Front brakes come from a Ford Sierra.
Here's a wiev thru my livingroom window.

Tuomas

[2ldohc]

2.6 litre power in a Bellett would be great fun

Welcome aboard, it's great to have other owners from around the world on here when we are such a new site.

Do you have a pic of the engine? I don't imagine there'd be heaps of spare room in there!

Cheers,
Ross.

[Tuomas]

Thanks!
It is great fun! Though mine is only 2,3 litre without larger modifications, yet
I think Antti has the worlds largest engine in a Bellett with his 2,6 litre powered race car. Here's a pic of it. I'll have to arrange one of mine later.

Tuomas

[antus]

is that a 4zd1 engine? Nice setup. 2ldohc and myself have an efi 4ze1 sitting in his shed that we plan to rebuild and put in something one day Possibly a gemini.

[Tuomas]

That's a 4ZE1 in Anttis race Bellett with webers etc. A pic of mine fitted with 4ZD1 (2,3l) is below. I once had a petrol heater in that engine compartment. It almost burned up the whole car. Luckily the fire department was quick enough to save it from disaster. You can even see the cinder on the firewall .
The most difficult part was to find an intake piping for the updraught carburettor to fit under the standard hood. This one is from a Mazda E2000 van! The oil filter had to be relocated as well.

Cheers, Tuomas

[2ldohc]

Hey Ant, what do you think of putting that engine in a Bellett!

It looks like it fits and I'm guessing it would be a lot of fun in one too!

Good work guys, do you have any advice on doing a conversion from G150 to 4ZD/E engines? Any sump mods to be aware of or engine mount issues??

Thanks for sharing your pics with us, it's great to get such diversity.

[Tuomas]

Fun, oh yes. You can do this, for example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlucbuFJEfc

[Tuomas]

This is how I did the conversion:
I took the 4ZD1 engine and gearbox out of a '90 Isuzu pick-up. Along came the drive shaft and engine wire harnesses.
I Mounted the gearbox to a '68 Bellett gearbox frame by usin steel plates as an adaptor. There are two one inch tall rubber bushings between them. The Bellett speedo cable fits and is quite accurate. The clutch cylinder is original Bellett mounted with a steel plate extension piece.
The motor mounts are two steel plates welded together on each side. The right hand side mount has the oil passages, as the original oil filter post is on the same spot. Oil lines go thru the mount and via rubber hoses to the original 4Z oil filter. The motor mounts have the original Bellett rubber bushings.
I used the 4ZD1 exhaust manifold and downpipe from the pick-up which fits nicely on Bellett. The 4Z clutch fan had to go. I have a Datsun 120Y electric fan instead. I got rid of all that smog equipment as well.
That's about it. I think this can be applied to 4ZE1 conversion as well. You'd want to use the 4ZD1 oil pan and oil pickup pipe instead of that high volume cast aluminium pan of the 4ZE1. I doubt if the efi throttle body fits under the Bellett hood. There may be some interference with that steering axle there on the other side of the globe .

Tuomas

[Antti Pellonpää]

My 2,6 4ZE1 engine came from Belgium to finnish junkyard and I bought it from there. We had only diesel Troopers that time. I took the fuel injection parts away and put australian ( ! ) Lynx intake manifold and two twin Mikuni Solex carburettors to it. The cam is from Calmini USA. Distributor is from pick-up with electronic ignition. 5-speed gearbox is from Isuzu Van with Piazza short change lever assy. The oil pan is big and I had to cut a little of the crossmember. I cut off the right engine mount from the crossmember to allow the oil filter to be in the original place. Then I made the engine mount backward there where the engine mount is on the engine side. On the left side the engine mount is there where it originally is in Bellett. The clutch is hydraulic with Bellett slave cylinder. This engine swap was not so difficult. Maybe next the Isuzu V6... My racer also has disc brakes in front and rear. In front GT hubs, Mazda 818 discs and Mitsubishi Galant calibers. The rear calibers are from Alfa Romeo GTV with Saab 900 discs.

[2ldohc]

Doesn't sound like a massively difficult swap...

What problems did you run into while doing the change over?

I'm weighing up the pro's and con's of putting this engine into a Bellett or a Gemini.

[Antti Pellonpää]

I didn´t have any big problems. I had to make space for the start motor, because it is on the right side. Also the distributor needed more space and I cut a hole to the firewall. The oil pan from the 2,3-liter engine would be more suitable, because you can place the engine a couple of centimeters lower with the 4ZD1 pan. There the shape is right for the steering rack which is on the crossmember and you have not to cut the crossmember to get space for the pan. I have the original pan. Maybe it´s not so bad to have more oil in the oil pan.

You can use Gemini gearboxes to have better gear ratios than is in my van gearbox. When I won our club dragrace I started with 3th gear... Then it leaves the start line like a rabbit .

[antus]

Did you guys get the 4zc1 (turbo) engine there? We had it in the piazza here, and the instructions for fitting a 4zd1 or 4ze1 in a gemini (probably not that dis-similar) include using a 4zc1 oil pan.

[Tuomas]

Doesn't sound like a massively difficult swap...

What problems did you run into while doing the change over?

I'm weighing up the pro's and con's of putting this engine into a Bellett or a Gemini.

I had the side engine mounts custom made for me. Especially the one with the oil passages needed some accuracy. Thanks to my father-in-law! I believe that AriNojd has the same kind of design in the engine mounts of his GT with the 2 litre twin cam.
The main drive shaft had to be welded to the Bellett one and balanced in a workshop.
The carburettor has some solenoids and the automatic choke on it and they needed to have voltage while the engine is running. It took some time to figure them out. Of course you'll have the efi or double carbs on the 4ZE1!
I moved the alternator over slightly and so I had to find a new drive belt to fit. There's only little room to adjust the tightness of the belt. I used the shorter Belletts adjusting bar on the alternator.
Those are the main problems I remember now. Not that bad. Four weeks of work after daywork and it was moving with the 4Z engine. The trouble of getting it legal is another story...