This truck is nearly running again after a major rebuild including a rebuilt engine and 5 speed conversion.

Someone sold me their '81 L200 sports model for what they paid - a carton of beer - after the police took it off the road for too much cab rust. It's perfectly straight, not a ding on either fender so those will eventually be put on my truck.

I pulled the 4g52 and 5 speed, tore the engine apart and found the cam caps too worn.

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Eventually I found another 4g52 and 5spd for $150, and that one had a good head but crank damage on cylinder 3, so I put the head from the second on the block of the first and sent them for machining. I had the machine shop skim the flywheel and balance the rotating assembly while it was there.
New pistons, aggressive cam regrind, balance shafts deleted, heavier valve springs, Pajero extractors and it's as good as a near-stock 4g52 is going to get in 2024

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I cut a hole in the floor for the change from column shift to 5spd. Interior still needs cleaning and seat repairs but that'll have to wait.

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Engine bay cleaned up, wiring adapted for an 80a bosch alternator, steering box rebuilt, all suspension joints replaced, frame rails painted. There's a Cartman electric fuel pump under the tray where everyone mounts them. Engine cleans up alright once the EGR and mechanical fuel pump are blanked off and a Weber is installed! Haven't decided on weber air filter yet, I'll either modify my OEM mikuni unit to fit or run a remote filter off one of those snorkels. The open engine bay filter isn't appropriate for where I drive.

Once it's running it'll need some tuning for the cam grind (waggot stage 3 https://waggottcams.com.au/wp-conten...i-2-2.6LTR.pdf), but for now I'll keep the 4.89:1 +LSD diff and see how that goes. It'll be better than the 4spd was, but if the economy is still unacceptable I'll move the LSD to a 3.9:1 spare diff I have.

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