- Water pump
- Front seals (camshaft, crankshaft, oil pump)
- Power steering belt
- Fan/accessory belt of some sort
- Valve cover gasket
- Valve cover half-moon seal at the rear (this was a last minute thing that I was able to get from Rock Auto, surprisingly, after cross-reffing Isuzu P'up parts)
- Coolant hoses (whatever I had basically)
- Tensioner pulley
- Idler pulley
- Thermostat gasket (I think? I should check...)
- Power steering pump
Maybe some other stuff, too? It's been too long.
I can't forget the huge difference made in getting power steering back, of course. I remember being super thrilled that the used pump I bought from some guy in Greece actually worked! It was 95% identical but one of the hose flanges needed to be modified a bit. Interesting that even though it really seemed identical, there was a small difference. I'm glad it worked out!
I really should have had him do the fuel filter. That thing is hard to get to without removing the driver-side seat. Ugh.
Speaking of removing seats, I managed to swing by at once point and get a shot of the engine bay while it was disassembled for access. Both the center console "hood", driver and passenger seats were removed for better access. It's really quite impossible to do anything beyond an oil change with that stuff still installed.
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| The lighting was really bad...you get the idea |
At this point it became a kind of back and forth waiting game. Admittedly I wish I pushed harder to get the work completed so I could start messing with other aspects of it. Weeks went by with intermittent progress. And then Covid-19 hit!
At that point, I didn't really want to push my mechanic to work faster on something I could genuinely wait for. He was dealing with his own issues relating to the pandemic. So I tried to take it easy and let him work at the pace he needed. I think it was for the better. We seem to be on pretty good terms and I think he was able to do the work on the engine in a methodical manner.
During the waiting period, I spent a lot of time researching this and that about the camper. I probably bought a few too many things in anticipation.
When the week of finally getting the camper back arrived, I made a beeline to the Interstate Battery store in town to get two brand new deep-cycle RV batteries. I needed a pair of batteries which didn't cost an arm and a leg, and would offer a good middle ground between starter battery and house battery. I didn't want to (nor have the patience for) finding some ultimate battery pairing that was meant for boondocking for a zillion years. I just needed a new battery to start the vehicle, and a battery which could handle a day or two of camping without charging. Thus, the Interstate SRM-24 was my pick.
Oh, and I also needed to fit two of them into a tiny storage space! If you'll recall from other photos (or the ones below), there was minimal space for big fancy American batteries. I took some measurement and while I haven't actually tried to get both in there yet, I think it will fit into the space.
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| The two batteries are stored at the base of this cabinet. |
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| The old batteries, very snug |
One drawback to these batteries which I do wish I could have gotten around is that they require some amount of venting. The storage space does have some little vent holes that lead outside the van. And the cabinet itself can be pretty airtight otherwise. Maybe I'll add a dinky fan to the vent hole and run it off DC power?
Okay, van acquired and battery swapped in! The only remaining thing was to affix the super awesome collector license plates! I don't want to revisit that whole thing but basically just know that if you're importing a car from Japan, just go for the collector plates! I tried to do the whole motorhome plate thing, but it got rejected for "reasons" and the nice person at the DMV said to give the collector plate option a go. So I did, and to my utter relief the plates showed up not that long after! It's hard to convey how happy I was to have them!
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| Super cool blue and red color scheme! |
One of the nicest things about these plates is that they don't need to be renewed. One and done! The unfortunate thing is that you're not supposed to drive a "Collector" vehicle in January. So...I won't be doing that I guess!
Having brought the plates, I knew beforehand that just affixing an American license plate to a foreign vehicle was probably not straightforward. Fortunately, I was able to get the rear plate on with a single screw that would last for the 5 mile drive. Good enough!
I said goodbye to the mechanic, hopped in and starting driving home. Not 5 minutes after leaving did a middle-aged guy yell out his window at a stop light that the camper was indeed "fucking awesome". Yes, a trend would soon be established in which middle-aged men would do a double take and stare, thumbs up, or yell in excitement upon seeing this small camper. The attention is kind of fun, I'll admit.
