Hello!
I am rebuilding an Isuzu kbz21 1988. The engine is an 1973 Chev engine 2.5 (the 5 liter chevy v8 cut in half) that was also used in the chevy nomad, with a four speed 4x4 gearbox and a weber carburetor, the exhaust has custom build banana branches. The purpose of the pick up it to tow and to go on 4x4 trips, so basically not for speed but a lot of power.
The question is how to keep the vehicle as reliable as possible and as fuel efficient as possible.
With the weber carburetor I have a carburetor that can enable the engine to completely run on LP gas(problem is, only one at a time) or will it be better to leave it with the weber carburetor or to put a performance carburetor on with a turbo.
thanks in advance
Roelof Venter of South Africa
Man that is some old school hardware you are working with. Making a 1988 anything reliable and fuel efficient is a TALL order.
If it were me, I would avoid the turbo setup and keep things simple. You won't have much punch out of the naturally aspirated 2.5, but it will definitely get you better MPG than a turbo setup. And beside that, you don't want to put turbo money into a project like that.
About all I can say is maintain it extremely well and go easy on the throttle whenever possible. I would not do any crazy offroading in it.
What are you planning to tow with it is another question. It isn't going to pull anything of significant weight without some significant improvements.
That sounds like a really fun build. I agree with Mod Man, avoid the turbo. Keep everything as simple as possible. I'm not sure about how you are going to get good fuel economy on that, I'm hoping Scotty sees this one and chimes in.
