LUVTruck.com

Hello again gentlemen.

Once again I am wrenching on a 1980 Luv with 2WD, automatic trans., and the stock 1.8L.

I plan on dropping a diesel engine in during the next few weeks and already am capable of refining my own fuel. Are there any specific LUV engines that WILL NOT fit in my truck besides those from a 4X4.

Will everything bolt up smoothly or will modifications need to be made?

Thanks,
-AJ

going from gas to diesel youll need to mod alot of stuff. Also im not 100% shure if the C223 will have enough hood clearance. Im moving this to the Deisel section to hopefully get you more help

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

AJ, the diesel engine will bolt right up to your frame mounts in the 80 2WD. If you can get a C223 Isuzu diesel out of a 2WD truck that would make it easier for you when you install it in for the reason the oil pan will accomodate the front suspension better. If you're planning on installing a diesel engine from a 4WD truck the pan won't work in your 80 2WD. You'll either have to get a custom pan made or use a pan from a C223 that came out of a 2WD truck. These diesel engines were available not only in 4WD, but 2WD in case you didn't know that. 81-82 in Chevy LUVs, 81-87 in Isuzu PUPs, 83-85 in Chevy/GMC S10s/S15s, and 86-87 in Isuzu Troopers. My uncle converted a 79 LUV 2WD to the diesel engine and most all of it bolts right up. The only thing that will present you an issue is deciding how to wire up your glow plug system. It may be considered the hardest or tidiest part of the job, but otherwise it's a pretty straight forward conversion over to diesel. Oh and you should have hood clearance for sure. Also, since the 80 2WD has an automatic transmission that may force you to do modifications in that area if you decide to go with a manual 5-speed transmission. Keep us updated and take pictures if you can as it will allow me to help you out better if you have any other questions. Good luck and hope I was of good help.

Salvy

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1982 Chevy LUV diesel
2.25" stainless exhaust
w/ MagnaFlow performance muffler

Quite the comprehensive response there Salvy. That is alot more info than I planned on receiving in such a short time period.

As far as the glow plug system in concerned, do you have any suggestions on how to go about wiring all this craziness? I suppose I will do some googeling and such but any insight would help.

I just purchased a 3-chip Sony VX-1000 and plan to document the entire thing step by step. Should provide some good time-elapse clips..ha.

Thanks,
-AJ

AJ, glad I could help you out. When it comes to diesel oriented talk here on LUVtruck I like to be there to help anyone I can with my experience on these trucks and diesels in general. When it comes to the glow plug system I've always had the idea that trying to mimick the factory 81-82 LUV diesel wiring setup would be the ideal thing to do when dropping the diesel engine in an older LUV. But unfortunately most people just mount a push button somewhere on the dash to engage the glow plugs before starting. If you plan to go this route it wouldn't be a bad way to "glow" the truck, but I've always liked the idea of having an indicator light come on as soon as you turn the key to the "ON" position and then going out when the glow plugs have cycled. This is how the system is on any factory diesel LUV or PUP. If you happen to need any glow plug wiring diagrams for the diesel I have a 1982 factory shop manual for the Chevrolet LUV that covers the diesel engines. I'm currently looking into buying a digital camera pretty soon but don't want to pay that much. How much did yours cost and how many megapixels is it? I only want to pay $50-75 for one and basically have the ability to take large, clear pictures I can post on the internet. I'll be looking forward to following your project and let me know if you need any more help.

Salvy

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1982 Chevy LUV diesel
2.25" stainless exhaust
w/ MagnaFlow performance muffler

Rust Bucket:
Hey Rust, what is the status of your swap? I'm just about to start one as well except I plan on moving the body over vs. moving the drive train. Thereby keeping all of the wiring for the engine stock. I think this is the better route since all of the eletrical things on the diesel truck are present on the older gas truck but not vice versa. I figure I'll have to spend some time converting the ends of pigtails to hook up to the diesel wiring harness for almost everything but hopefully that'll just be cutting and reconnecting wires. Let me know if I'm missing something.

Salvy:
Regarding your comment about the glow plugs, check out my proposed implementation. Check out http://www.luvswap.com and look at the very last picture. It shows a stock '75 dash except on the speedometer cluster there will be two new idiot lights set up to match the design of the C and O idiot lights on the fuel/temp cluster. The new idiot lights will be G and F for Glow plugs and fuel Filter. What do you think?

Did you ever get a camera? My advice is to spend a bit more money for one that supports zoom. Otherwise you will find that taking close ups and distance shots will not be optimal.

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'75 body with '82 diesel running gear
My build thread.

Eric, first off great website and the name is great (LUV Swap is a great choice). It's an organized website and I enjoyed visiting it. As for the glow plugs and the two idiot lights in the dash they seem to be the best idea one could come up with for an older, non-factory diesel LUV (what you have in the 75). I don't think I could have came up with a better system or way to accomodate the glow plugs/wiring closely like what the 81 and 82 diesels used from the factory. Great start to the swap and let us know if you need anymore help with it.

Salvy

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1982 Chevy LUV diesel
2.25" stainless exhaust
w/ MagnaFlow performance muffler