Cleanest 1st gen Isuzu Impulse Turbo I've seen in a minute, complete non-runner, $850 in CA (NMNA)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/226095160540

This is the kind of thing that makes me wish I had a better place to work on E36 M3 out here. Hell of a basis for a build.

I'm shocked that it's not black. I'm not sure that I've ever seen one in any other color. 

Of course, they're pretty, but they're just fancy Chevettes. 

In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :

Except a Chevette never had their suspension tuned by Lotus. I'm really digging this but shipping and I need another project like I need another hole in my head 

I rented one of these for a two day road rallye MANY years ago. I remember it being super fun to drive.

In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :

To be fair, the British sure proved that there's a lot more goodness in that platform than we ever got exposed to with our crappy interpretation.

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

Of course, they're pretty, but they're just fancy Chevettes. 

And that's hot.

Pure 80s Guigiaro beauty right there. If it was closer, I'd spend $850 just to park it in my yard and look at it.

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

Agreed (boy, do I have a problem,  lol)

I'll have a warehouse of oddball cars like this if I win the lottery. 

Looking at some of the pictures from under the hood one wonders how far under water that's been?

I didn't realize it was related to the Chevette.  How closely related?

11GTCS said:

Looking at some of the pictures from under the hood one wonders how far under water that's been?

Looks like years of dust and shop grunge to me. I don't see anything that resembles water damage. It was last registered in Oklahoma in 2010, and there's nothing between Oklahoma and California that resembles flood country. I once bought a Mk2 Supra that looked very similar after being parked in a shed for 5 years.

SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:

I didn't realize it was related to the Chevette.  How closely related?

Both are the GM T-platform. I couldn't tell you just how many parts interchange but I would imagine everything under the body is pretty similar.

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

Of course, they're pretty, but they're just fancy Chevettes. 

In the front.  The rear was a 4 link and Panhard.

Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:

Pure 80s Guigiaro beauty right there. If it was closer, I'd spend $850 just to park it in my yard and look at it.

I used to have a JR Impulse Turbo, and looking at it non running was 99% of what it was good for

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

I have always wondered how a lot of these 80's turbo sports cars would change with properly sorted modern engine management and maybe a 21st century turbo. Obviously would be a lot of work to actually do (proven by how many half-finished Megasquirt projects you see out there) but I've always felt like it could solve a lot of problems if you went through the trouble to do it right.

In reply to pointofdeparture :

The electrics were sound.  It was just Bosch fuel injection like everyone else used.

The largest issue, to my estimation, was the port layout.  It had two exhaust ports right next to each other in the middle of the head, like a small block Chevy (or other Kettering type V8s for that matter) so there was a lot of thermal stress there.  The Isuzu four cylinder had head cracking problems even before they bolted a tiny RHB5 practically right on to the #2 and 3 exhaust ports.

I cracked several cylinder heads and blew many head gaskets before I gave up. Always at 2 and 3 exhaust ports.  It's a beautiful car, though.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Ah yes, I'm familiar with that questionable design choice from my years cracking heads on Subaru EA82 turbos.

In reply to pointofdeparture :

Which oddly enough, I purchased a rust free RX Turbo during the Impulse fiasco.  The pre purchase road test was only a few blocks. It overheated on the drive home.

The Impulse ended up swearing me off of piston engines for most of a decade, and I didn't own a turbo car for ten years beyond THAT point.

In reply to pointofdeparture :

Megasquirt is the bane of many a DIY tech. If you know what you're doing it's fine but, if you can, you're better off with the better systems. 

Mine was dark blue. Photo from San Diego Pro Solo circa 1987