I wanted to share my latest project with everyone on the Planet and VX.info! Story goes...

Bart/IsuzuGeek, owned this RS for a while and decided to sell it after he found another RS in much better shape. That story can be found at IsuzuGeek. The short of it... the RS had a few issues.



Bart ended selling the RS to a friend of mine and fellow VXer, Jerry/Arcobarco. Jerry wanted the 4.77s from the RS for his VX and would likely sell/scrap the rest of it off. I caught glimpse of the RS last Spring when my wife and I were on a roadtrip and stopped by Jerry's house. Needless to say, I planted a bug in Jerry's ear about possibly wanting the RS, however it was more of a "possible suggestion" than an actual idea. I live in Denver and was NOT going to drive 8 hrs to SL,UT for an old beat up RS.


Moving on, Jerry pulled the 4.77s from the RS and swapped in 4.30 gearing. We worked out a deal for VX parts and cash to make the poor old bastard RS mine.

Lastly, Jerry drove the RS to Moab for the annual ZUZOO meet and the exchange was official! ...And now I had realized the reality of my decision.

I found out almost immediately that I could barely fit in the RS. Being 6'6" tall, my legs could barley operate the clutch. The clutch was so worn out that the release on the pedal was almost all the way to the top and this created a problem when trying to release the clutch with long legs. So I went for a test drive around Moab and came back to the Stoop with the smell of ruined clutch plate. Additionally, there was so much oil leaking that it had formed a layer on the back window thick enough to write "wash me" on. Other problems included non functioning gas gauge, oil gauge, & temp gauge. The radio worked but wouldn't eject CDs unless you pounded on the bottom of it. The HVAC system constantly blew heat onto you even when the fan was "off". And there was a little problem with rust previously in the gas tank that may have ruined the fuel pump, this was suggested by Jerry after he had some bogging down on the way to Moab. Anyways, I was pretty freaked out for the 6 hr drive home. :shock:

First mod made on the Stoop in Moab! I could now fit in the RS.


Now I was ready for the drive home, well physically but not mentally. After the test drive in Moab and seeing all of the issues, I honestly thought this Isuzu was better fit for the junkyard. I had my wife drive the VX behind me in the RS. We jumped on the interstate and to my surprise we drove 70 MPH all the way to Fruita, Colorado. I filled up the gas tank and was pleasantly surprised to only need 4 gallons of gas (27.2 MPG). I was a little less happy about seeing the amount of oil splattered on the front grill of the VX (from following).

For the next two hrs and was feeling good, confident in my little bastard RS. That all ended when I was driving out of the Glenwood Canyon going about 50 MPH and went to pass a semi truck. I had elected my Wife to drive in front (avoid the oil trail) and she took off up to 75 MPH passing the semi. My turn, speeding up 50-55-60-65-68-67-65 (3 semi trucks now on right, 1 semi behind me to pass), 63-62-60 (downshift to 3rd), 55-52-48 (Semi now tail gating me), 45-41-38-38-38-38, (holding 38 MPH the semi passes me on right and I can now get over). I'm now driving 38 MPH in a 75 MPH limit and my wife is gone. Nothing I do will let the engine go above 2000 RPMs. Takes me forever to catch the VX and we pull off at a gas station. I turn the RS off, now more freaked out than ever! I Considered, it would be cheaper for me to abandon the RS at this gas station than tow it home. I check the engine (seems fine), try to turn over the engine and it sputters out. CRAP. again, Sputter sputter die. COME ON RS! again, sputter sputter, choke, bump, start, running. YES! Its running great and I jump on interstate back up to 65 MPH. Looking back, all I can assume was the fuel pump had a moment or it sucked some rust through the fuel system and bogged it down.

Final challenge, the rocky mountains! Would the RS clutch finally burn up over the passes? Or would the fuel system get clogged up again at 12,000 ft? NOPE! I drove it all the way through the mountains no problem and got to the house by 7PM.

Now the mechanical work began. I'll keep it short but in the end it got 9 new oil seals, new fuel pump, new timing belt , new Exedy clutch, new lower ball joint and all new fluids.

Here's all of the oil that was covering the trans... it took forever to clean up!



Next I moved onto the body work. The RS had been in at least one wreak before and the roof & doors really showed it. Furthermore, the clearcoat was peeling and the paint was faded.

The front grill was pushed in on the driver's side and the front grill was hanging on by zipties. I thought it was pretty clever to use the VX winch to pull out the grill.


Next I sanded down the imperfections and got to work on the dents.