1983 Mitsubishi Turbo Diesel restoration by Mike Warme

[4D55 Performance]

1983 Mitsubishi Pickup SP, 2.5L Turbo Diesel, 4x4, 5 speed

This restoration was completed by Mike Warme




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKuxmuhjBo8

[Diesel mightymax]

Great video! It's good to see high quality images! How many 4d55s had you rebuilt before picking up the 4d56?

[mikewarme]

We used a new engine simply because by the time you do everything on a 4d55 correct it will be over 3,000.00 This made an ultra clean engine bay and not bits of old parts here and there. I do not believe in Hill billy rebuilds where you hold the impeller on the turbo with duct tape. I did not do anything special with the wheels and tires because I wanted him to choose his own. I even used NOS wire loom straps in the engine bay to keep things looking original other than the motor.

[royster]

A delightful tour of this beautiful truck. Awesome detail, good photography and narration, and eye-candy for days. That body style is everything i loved about '70's and 80's vehicles, and you did it a great service.

BTW, who IS that narrating the video?

As one who works with cam-corder equipment, it still amazes me what people are able to do with cell phones (I'm assuming by the reflections that this was taped using a cell phone). I'm die-hard analog equipment guy. Soon enough, I'll have to join the digital age. (It's bad enough Bill Gates is taking away my beloved XP support).


That body style is everything i loved about '70's and 80's vehicles

I.E. they don't look like suppositories

[4D55 Performance]

Mike is correct, there in no point in rebuilding a 4d55. I have a rebuilt 4d55 in my silver 1985 Mitsubishi Pickup. That rebuild cost $7800, a lot of labor and a ton of tracking down part numbers. It is a very comparable setup to this new 4d56 motor. They both have water cooled turbos, a 4d56 roller rocker head and a new 4d56 water pump. That is where the similarities end. My 4d55 has a rebuilt bottom end which is definitely not as good as a new bottom end seeing how cranks get old and wear out. My 4d55 has a rebuilt injection pump and injectors. This is a huge disadvantage as well. My 4d55 also has a smaller 50 amp alternator instead of a 75 amp found on my new 4d56.

At the end of the day it is just not worth it to rebuild a 4d55 engine. My new 4d56 makes much better power and it has new parts instead of rebuilt parts mixed with new parts. Save yourself $3500 and just buy a new 4D56 crate motor from an importer.

[4D55 Performance]

A delightful tour of this beautiful truck. Awesome detail, good photography and narration, and eye-candy for days. That body style is everything i loved about '70's and 80's vehicles, and you did it a great service.

BTW, who IS that narrating the video?

As one who works with cam-corder equipment, it still amazes me what people are able to do with cell phones (I'm assuming by the reflections that this was taped using a cell phone). I'm die-hard analog equipment guy. Soon enough, I'll have to join the digital age. (It's bad enough Bill Gates is taking away my beloved XP support).



I.E. they don't look like suppositories


Mike's wife asked me to make a video and post it to youtube. I have never really made videos for youtube before so this was a first for me. This video was shot with my Sony Cyber-Shot tx-9 camera. It is mainly a camera but as you can see it also shoots HD video. To my knowledge there is not a cell phone on the market that has the video abilities of this camera. It has a Carl-Zeiss lens, video stabilizing and 1080p filming capabilities. It's a good little camera.

[Malaking_TT]

Nice job with the restoration. Where did you buy your 4d56 and how much do they cost? Do they come with the turbo, and injection pump?

[4D55 Performance]

Nice job with the restoration. Where did you buy your 4d56 and how much do they cost? Do they come with the turbo, and injection pump?

This engine was imported from Canada through www.maxoverdrive.ca

They are about $4200 to have shipped to your front door. The engine comes complete injection pump, alternator, turbo, flywheel and clutch. The engine does not come with a power steering pump, starter or fan.

[EL.95MAX]

niccccccc

[coyotefiveoh]

beautiful truck..... great work!

[mikewarme]

I still rebuild plenty of 4d55's. But this truck wanted the clean look of a new motor although the original one I rebuilt 6 years ago looked as good if not better as I built it with all new factory parts. There are some things I like about Mitsubishi better which is the quality of their hardware. Hyundai wanting to save money plated almost zero of their hardware so It does rust much faster. You have to admit there is nothing like buying a new mitsubishi in 1983 and starring at all the gold colored zinc hardware :thumbup:. Hyundai painted everything with black paint LOL. And Spencer the motors are built almost the same. The differences are:

2.5 vs 2.3 It's basically a stroked out 2.3 the bores are the same

Water and oil cooled turbo vs oil only cooled = much cooler temps in the turbo = Much longer turbo life!

Improved combustion chamber design and water jackets in head

Roller rockers Vs Non roller (The 4d55's wore out cams after 80,000 miles so a 4d56 head upgrade solves that )

75 amp vs 50 amp alternator

The thing I did not like was the absence of any sort of cold throttle device on the pump. Nothing to hook up my NOS throttle cables to)

Had to install a factory mitsubishi Oil pan as the hyundai pan would not clear the differential (BTW the new oil pans mitsubishi makes as spare parts is night and day to old piece of crap as it does not have the pressed raised edge for a gasket but instead a pressed down crease to use Silicone . The original pans were a PITA to seal as the gaskets always came out on the edges so totally worth the $120 .

Also had to use the original oil filter bracket as I could not find anything to adapt to their different threads for the oil cooler line connections. Some kind of Korean threads LOL. Spencer has a million of the big oil filters so know he can use them.

Also had to use the original power steering pump bracket as the Hyundai version is for a hyundai power steering pump and we used the original mitsubishi pump.

[2brandonb]

I am building a 85 dodge d 50 diesel with the 4d55. Will a 1981 d50 the cab/body/bed 2wd automatic truck fit all the diesel components for the 5 speed 4wd body swap? Thanks Brandon