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AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

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AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby NastyAMU » Mon May 10, 2010 5:06 am

Hello everyone, I'm Brian. I'm currently in New Mexico, USA. I've got a 1994 Isuzu Amigo (US spec version of the MU) 2.6L 4wd, known to all of my friends as the "Slow-migo." I picked up in Las Vegas, Nevada back in '97 and had it there for two years, then had to move to Japan for 4 years. I was unable to take the Amigo, so it sat in storage with family for that time. I returned from Japan to get it out of storage and shipped to the UK with me for 6 years. After that, it returned with me to the US where it is now. It's recently hit over 100,000 miles and great to have it back in the desert rock crawling that I like.

Modifications and Accessories:

Suspension: Skyjacker Nitro 8000 shocks, Darlington Off-Road 3" lift spring pack rear, previously Calmini HD rear shackles... now extended ones, Sway-A-Way torsion bar, ball joint flip w/ 1/4" spacer, low profile droop stop front, Energy Suspension front sway bar and rear leaf spring polyurethane bushings.
Tyres/Wheels: 265/75R16 Kumho KL71
Brakes: Powerslot slotted rotors and EBC Green Stuff brake pads, both front and rear.
Bullbar: JDM Isuzu MU front and side nurf bars
Spot lights and Lighting: front fog lights, front spots relayed into high beams, rear fog light and rear spot tied into reverse.
Engine: Calmini Camshaft, removed Smog Pump system
Drivetrain: Centerforce Dual Friction clutch disc/pressure plate, LUK Flywheel
Intake: Rodeo V6 air box w/ Spectre filter and Safari Snorkel
Exhaust: Calmini header, 2.25" full exhaust, Magnaflow cat/muffler
Sound system: Infiniti 10" subwoofer (gotta have good tunes to the ride out)
External: truck bed lining from body molding down, SLOW-MIGO badging, "0773H" plate, Isuzu MU hatchback style hardtop and Vauxhall Frontera Sport hardtop

The Amigo as it had looked when I first got a hold of it. This was the day it was shipped from the US to the UK.
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When it got to the UK, it was joined by the Skyline I had in Japan and brought to the UK as well.
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After arriving, I started putting on the Japanese MU parts I collected, starting with the front and side nurf bars.
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Next was the MU hatchback style hardtop.
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After a few years with that top, I wanted to have the rear seats and more cargo space available. So I got the hard top from the Isuzu licensed GM Vauxhall Frontera Sport. It's the most functional hardtop I've found. The top panel, side and rear windows can be removed.
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After returning to the US, it was time to fix rust spots on the lower parts of the door that it got from the UK weather. Once fixed I put truck bed lining from the body bolding down, something that helps anyways going through the brush on the trails.
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Now it's back at home out on the trails.
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I still have some work and mods to do. Some that will happen and some that are pipe dreams. First I have to get a different ride to be able to tow it out to and from the trails, since the 2.6 petrol engine is slow on the highways. Also that way if I break it on the trail, I can get it back. The last reason is so I can start doing some hard work on the Amigo. I'd love to do the front SAS and replace the engine. My most recent idea is the possibility of having an SR20DET power it, just for something different.
Last edited by NastyAMU on Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:28 pm, edited 7 times in total.
1994 Isuzu Amigo 4wd 2.6 5spd with MU nurf bars/hatchback hardtop, UK Vauxhall Frontera Sport hardtop and safari snorkel
1990 Nissan Skyline... :( now sold since I'm in the states.
2008 Toyota RAV4 slightly modded
1970 Nissan Laurel a new project
NastyAMU
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Vehicle: 1994 Isuzu Amigo with MU/ Frontera hardtops, Safari Snorkel

Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby dasnoboarder » Mon May 10, 2010 6:09 am

That's one well travelled truck!

Looks good,
I like the lines of the Japanese hard-top I have, but to have removable sides and top like yours would be awesome.
I find visibility for rear passengers to be a bit lacking :)

Most of the MU's in NZ are either 2.8 or 3.1 diesels, I've never seen a petrol one up close.
Be sure to let us know if you put the SR20DET in it!

Andy.
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Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby NastyAMU » Mon May 10, 2010 8:54 am

I like the MU's diesel engines, when I was in Japan I was very tempted to buy an MU and strip it's engine/drivetrain when I left. But I couldn't resist getting the Skyline. I'm headed back to Japan for several months and still think about getting a junked MU's engine... But since having the Skyline and friends with Silvias, I want something with a Nissan's RB or SR. I was going to get an old car body to put an RB into, but can't afford a second project car and a new vehicle at the same time. So the SR in the Isuzu sounds like a good compromise, just going to be awhile before I'll be able to get to it.
1994 Isuzu Amigo 4wd 2.6 5spd with MU nurf bars/hatchback hardtop, UK Vauxhall Frontera Sport hardtop and safari snorkel
1990 Nissan Skyline... :( now sold since I'm in the states.
2008 Toyota RAV4 slightly modded
1970 Nissan Laurel a new project
NastyAMU
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Posts: 24
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 11:41 am
Age: 34
Country: USA
City: Somewhere in the desert
Vehicle: 1994 Isuzu Amigo with MU/ Frontera hardtops, Safari Snorkel

Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby geeves » Mon May 10, 2010 10:27 am

Nice truck. Just looked up that engine though and not sure its a good choice. Good power but at high revs. In a heavy vehicle with fairly high gearing like yours it will probably perform worse than the original. How about one of the nissan 4 liter v8s from there bigger cars that we dont get here
Sanding your knuckles before starting work can help. That way you cant skin them
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Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby dasnoboarder » Mon May 10, 2010 10:31 am

Lexus/Toyota quad-cam v8 (1UZ-FE) would be my choice if I did an engine swap.
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Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby NastyAMU » Mon May 10, 2010 12:50 pm

A V8 is tempting and the usual way to go for an Isuzu engine swap here in the US. But just been thinking of something different.
It's all still up in the air though. It all hinges on if I can get a new vehicle when I get back from Japan. Planning on a Toyota Tacoma (aka Hilux) quad cab with short bed and TRD supercharger. Then I can get the Isuzu off the road for some major work.
1994 Isuzu Amigo 4wd 2.6 5spd with MU nurf bars/hatchback hardtop, UK Vauxhall Frontera Sport hardtop and safari snorkel
1990 Nissan Skyline... :( now sold since I'm in the states.
2008 Toyota RAV4 slightly modded
1970 Nissan Laurel a new project
NastyAMU
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Posts: 24
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 11:41 am
Age: 34
Country: USA
City: Somewhere in the desert
Vehicle: 1994 Isuzu Amigo with MU/ Frontera hardtops, Safari Snorkel

Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby Jayarr69BluMU » Mon May 10, 2010 4:37 pm

Tidy truck bro god i love the MU most versitile car ever never see two the same...
unlike ya skyline lol gotta love the rice haha
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Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby muzila » Mon May 10, 2010 5:02 pm

Love the handle for King Kong on the roof. :-)

Or was that mighty Joe young...... :roll:
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Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby slightlydodgy » Mon May 10, 2010 5:19 pm

Good looking truck
Tremble With Fear I've Just Had an Idea
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Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby chrisfnq » Mon May 10, 2010 9:43 pm

very nice ride, like the rims..
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Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby NastyAMU » Wed May 12, 2010 11:08 am

muzila wrote:Love the handle for King Kong on the roof.

Yeah, I actually liked the way the third break light (required on US vehicles 94 and up) looks on it. But the UK hard top removable panel goes over that area. I toyed with the ideal of fitting it on the UK top somehow, but just not worth the work.
Thanks for the compliments, it's been a project that I've slowly worked on a long time. Now it's getting to the point of really dedicating it to off road use.
1994 Isuzu Amigo 4wd 2.6 5spd with MU nurf bars/hatchback hardtop, UK Vauxhall Frontera Sport hardtop and safari snorkel
1990 Nissan Skyline... :( now sold since I'm in the states.
2008 Toyota RAV4 slightly modded
1970 Nissan Laurel a new project
NastyAMU
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Posts: 24
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 11:41 am
Age: 34
Country: USA
City: Somewhere in the desert
Vehicle: 1994 Isuzu Amigo with MU/ Frontera hardtops, Safari Snorkel

Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby NastyAMU » Sun Oct 24, 2010 1:06 pm

ATTENTIONGETTER wrote:YOUR SMALL TOP THAT YOU REMOVED FOR ADDED STORAGE - PASSANGER SPACE IS WHAT I BEEN THINKING ABOUT WHAT IS THE NAME OR BRAND AND DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE I CAN GET 1?

The hatchback top is one of the Japanese Isuzu tops that was available over there. I'm sorry to say that only places I know to get it are in Japan and ones imported to Australia.

I've been in Japan and just got home the beginning of this month. Try to get caught up on the Amigo after being gone. I got the torsion bar upgrade done, what a difference in ride. Though I had odd parts from the factory to sort through, for some reason my Amigo had '86 Trooper torsion bars. Also, I've had a K&N open air cone filter, which was great in the UK. But I found out this last weekend that it gets caked with sand here in the desert trails, and when you go through a nice puddle, it turns into mud on the filter and clogs it. So I've ordered the Safari Snorkel and should be getting it installed this next weekend.
I'll get pictures up when it's done!

Unfortunately the Amigo now has a rival for my affections. While in Japan and found a second project. Here's the day they meet:
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It's a 1970 Nissan Laurel that I came across and couldn't pass it up.
Currently the link I have below for it is no good (working on fixing that soon). In the meantime there's pics of it, the Amigo torsion bar swap (will post my other Amigo pics) and so far junkyard pics here:
Photo sets
That's it for an update right now, hopefully I'll have the snorkel update soon!
1994 Isuzu Amigo 4wd 2.6 5spd with MU nurf bars/hatchback hardtop, UK Vauxhall Frontera Sport hardtop and safari snorkel
1990 Nissan Skyline... :( now sold since I'm in the states.
2008 Toyota RAV4 slightly modded
1970 Nissan Laurel a new project
NastyAMU
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Posts: 24
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 11:41 am
Age: 34
Country: USA
City: Somewhere in the desert
Vehicle: 1994 Isuzu Amigo with MU/ Frontera hardtops, Safari Snorkel

Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby NastyAMU » Sun Oct 31, 2010 3:08 pm

So the snorkel arrived and it was time to install it.
Here's the open air K&N filter setup I had. It was great in England, but not here in the desert getting caked with sand.
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I attempted to fit the old Amigo filter box, but the intake opening is too small and a bad setup for the snorkel's air duct. So I fit a V6 air filter box from a Rodeo:
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Here's the snorkel on:
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1994 Isuzu Amigo 4wd 2.6 5spd with MU nurf bars/hatchback hardtop, UK Vauxhall Frontera Sport hardtop and safari snorkel
1990 Nissan Skyline... :( now sold since I'm in the states.
2008 Toyota RAV4 slightly modded
1970 Nissan Laurel a new project
NastyAMU
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Posts: 24
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 11:41 am
Age: 34
Country: USA
City: Somewhere in the desert
Vehicle: 1994 Isuzu Amigo with MU/ Frontera hardtops, Safari Snorkel

Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby NastyAMU » Mon Nov 08, 2010 8:45 am

Well, it's been a week with the new Snorkel and V6 airbox. It ran well except it would hesitate occasionally under WOT. When I installed the airbox, I used the existing filter, knowing it was a bit dirty. With the price of a new filter, I paid a little extra for the Spectre washable filter:
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Having had issues with sand on the filter, it's kind of counter-intuitive. But I know that there was much more sand kicked up into the engine bay than there is at the snorkel intake point. Also, the real clogging occurred when the open air filter got wet, something that won't happen with the airbox filter.
Now, with the new filter/v6 box, it doesn't hesitate anymore and runs pretty much like it did with the open air filter.

Also, here's a better picture of the current state of the engine bay. With the Calmini header, smog pump removed (previous mods), v6 airbox and the sand and mud (guess I need to clean it).
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Here are some better pictures of the Amigo with the snorkel as well:
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And a rear shot with the new badge inspired by friends:
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Hopefully the next rear pic with have the new license plate I ordered.
1994 Isuzu Amigo 4wd 2.6 5spd with MU nurf bars/hatchback hardtop, UK Vauxhall Frontera Sport hardtop and safari snorkel
1990 Nissan Skyline... :( now sold since I'm in the states.
2008 Toyota RAV4 slightly modded
1970 Nissan Laurel a new project
NastyAMU
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Posts: 24
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 11:41 am
Age: 34
Country: USA
City: Somewhere in the desert
Vehicle: 1994 Isuzu Amigo with MU/ Frontera hardtops, Safari Snorkel

Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby NastyAMU » Fri Nov 12, 2010 10:18 am

So I've gotten around to installing new shocks and steering stabilizer. I had replaced the stock steering stabilizer (with an Eibach) back in '97. And the shocks (with Pro Comp ES3000) back in '03.
So for the new parts I was torn between hydro vs nitro and if I wanted to stick with Pro Comps. Part of the reason for new shocks was because the rubber bushings were completely worn out. So looking between Skyjackers and Pro Comps I noticed Skyjackers came with polyurethane which I prefer and with the boot (the Pro comps don't). Since the price between the two are about the same, I decided to go with Skyjackers. As far as the hydro vs nitro, I've liked the hydro's previously, but figured I'd give the nitro's a shot.
So here's the change in the fronts... Out with the old, in with the new:
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And for the rear, I went with a slightly linger shock:
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And I got the new steering stabilizer in:
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And while getting these done, I found something else I need to take care of:
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My front left sway bar link broke sometime. The funny thing is, I haven't noticed any difference in the ride at any point, so I still have no idea when it happened. Oh well, guess it'll be another run to the junkyard soon.
1994 Isuzu Amigo 4wd 2.6 5spd with MU nurf bars/hatchback hardtop, UK Vauxhall Frontera Sport hardtop and safari snorkel
1990 Nissan Skyline... :( now sold since I'm in the states.
2008 Toyota RAV4 slightly modded
1970 Nissan Laurel a new project
NastyAMU
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Posts: 24
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 11:41 am
Age: 34
Country: USA
City: Somewhere in the desert
Vehicle: 1994 Isuzu Amigo with MU/ Frontera hardtops, Safari Snorkel

Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby jellis » Fri Nov 12, 2010 12:56 pm

MAY ASWELL JUST TAKE THE SWAY BAR OFF IT IMPROVES FRONT FLEX HEAPS.
AND I DIDNT NOTICE IT AT ALL FOR ON ROAD USE :)
cheers, Josh
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Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby NastyAMU » Fri Nov 12, 2010 2:29 pm

Yeah, I've thought of getting rid of it before. I actually had it disconnected when I live in Vegas a long time ago. I did notice the difference then, but I've had a lot of other suspension upgrades since then. I would like to have a quick disconnect type, which I've seen for Jeeps mainly, never one for the MU/Amigo.

Since I was speaking of suspension upgrades, I forgot to add the new torsion bar install from last month. I've had the ball-joint flip and spacer with cranked stock torsion bars since '03, but the front's been a little to bouncy with the stock torsion bars. I ordered new upgraded torsion bars at the beginning of the year, only to find they didn't fit. After researching I found that for some unknown reason my Amigo ('94 so end of that model in US, so may be a cause) had '86-'89 Trooper torsion bars (the spline ends are different size). So this last month I finally got the mounts for the proper upgraded torsion bars:
Here was the original bar and mount:
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Under that mount, the aft lower control arm mount bolt has a splined head and fits into it, so that had to be replaced (the old wrong one is on the left):
Image
Also a little interesting, the Trooper torsion bar that was in the Amigo is a thinner bar, but has larger splined ends, you can see in the bolt head size difference here (the one wrong on is on the right):
Image
Now here's where you can see the bar differences. These are the forward mounts. You can see the larger splined end, and though it's hard to see, the new red bar is slightly thicker:
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Here with the rear mount, you can see that the new red bar is slightly thicker:
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The new bars are great and made the ride SO much better. And now with the new shocks it's felt better as well... on the street at least. Still have to wait and see how the off-road ride is.
1994 Isuzu Amigo 4wd 2.6 5spd with MU nurf bars/hatchback hardtop, UK Vauxhall Frontera Sport hardtop and safari snorkel
1990 Nissan Skyline... :( now sold since I'm in the states.
2008 Toyota RAV4 slightly modded
1970 Nissan Laurel a new project
NastyAMU
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Posts: 24
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 11:41 am
Age: 34
Country: USA
City: Somewhere in the desert
Vehicle: 1994 Isuzu Amigo with MU/ Frontera hardtops, Safari Snorkel

Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby NastyAMU » Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:24 pm

Well, the new plate showed up today:
Image
Just getting prepared for when I roll on the trail someday.
1994 Isuzu Amigo 4wd 2.6 5spd with MU nurf bars/hatchback hardtop, UK Vauxhall Frontera Sport hardtop and safari snorkel
1990 Nissan Skyline... :( now sold since I'm in the states.
2008 Toyota RAV4 slightly modded
1970 Nissan Laurel a new project
NastyAMU
Isuzu Baby
 
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 11:41 am
Age: 34
Country: USA
City: Somewhere in the desert
Vehicle: 1994 Isuzu Amigo with MU/ Frontera hardtops, Safari Snorkel

Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby muzila » Wed Nov 17, 2010 3:50 pm

He He He I like it. Very cleaver!!!!!
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Re: AMU's Amigo (aka MU)

Postby NastyAMU » Sun Nov 21, 2010 11:48 am

Here's a pic of the new rear badging and plate:
Image
The sticker on the left is the Japanese learner sticker (Shoshinsha or Wakaba mark). It's something you get used to seeing in Japan, and I figured the way I drive it would be suited for me, so I picked one up this last trip. Just so happens the new plate matches it pretty well.
1994 Isuzu Amigo 4wd 2.6 5spd with MU nurf bars/hatchback hardtop, UK Vauxhall Frontera Sport hardtop and safari snorkel
1990 Nissan Skyline... :( now sold since I'm in the states.
2008 Toyota RAV4 slightly modded
1970 Nissan Laurel a new project
NastyAMU
Isuzu Baby
 
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 11:41 am
Age: 34
Country: USA
City: Somewhere in the desert
Vehicle: 1994 Isuzu Amigo with MU/ Frontera hardtops, Safari Snorkel

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