LUVTruck.com

got the rear diff fluid changed tonight... a little bit of penetrating oil and a pipe wrench got both the plugs out...

things left to service

transmission fluid still needs changed
spark plug wires (but they seem to work fine for now) no cents in dropping $50 on a set of 8mm right now

replace the rear shock bushings/ shocks

probably going to take next Monday off if possible and pull the leaf springs and clean them up and paint them (if possible add a leaf to the stack and get a set of 2" drop shackles) (looking for 3-4" of rise out of the back)

also might have a lead on 3.73 carrier still looking for a set of all seasons (more a less size)

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion

ok todays up date the float is overfilling the bowl... and again causing studdering and missing like it was when i first got it running as well the temprature control valve just started leaking... so it needs to be rebuilt (new oring or seal)


ok so i have hit that 1500 mile mark

since i am doing maintance i might as well get a valve gasket and set valve lash while i am at it as well as inspect the plugs

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion

You might just want upgrade to a weber, When i did on mine it was Night and day difference! and Hey have you seen any luv's around? besides at spaldings. I havent seen any on craigslist in a while. and Im the one with the Wanted luvs. Im up by priest river. Just thought id ask. im lookin for a parts rig. so it doesnt need to be anythin specail but cheap. thanks

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"Project Rangeluv"-Dana 28/7.5 rear, TFI2.9V6 5spd, 86 Ranger frame swap, custom flatbed,Custom luv!
1989 ford bronco II "The Mountain Rig"
My build thread (viewtopic.php?f=33&t=24076)

the trucks got to get me around for another few weeks/months till i can put a weber in it... as far as luvs go um you can buy the vehicles at spaldings they will charge you scrap prices for them i think its $15 per 100/150 pounds

so 300-400

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion

O i didnt know you can buy them, hu, well thats somthing to thing about! thanks! Are the ones there pretty whole? I dont make it down to spokane that much. Might need to make a trip down and take a look, What is it 2 or 3 bucks to get in?

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"Project Rangeluv"-Dana 28/7.5 rear, TFI2.9V6 5spd, 86 Ranger frame swap, custom flatbed,Custom luv!
1989 ford bronco II "The Mountain Rig"
My build thread (viewtopic.php?f=33&t=24076)

the black 79 4x4 on a18 is missing pretty much all the drive train and engine

the blue 76 2wd manual on a17 is whole for the most part last week... i have pulled a few of the electronics off of it... body, motor, drive train, and interior are whole for the most part...

its $2 to get in and if you get a stamp you can get in to both yards (the one off montgomry and they have a new one up in hillard) there's a luv up in Hillard but i haven't gone up to look at it


as far as a carb im thinking about just doing a motor swap and rewiring the entire truck in the process...

so we will see...

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion

spent the morning installing a distributor in my brothers car as well as replacing the timing belt (screw came came out of rotro allowing the rotor to jump ship breaking a few teeth off the magnetic pickup and binding the cam causing the timing belt to jump 6 teeth)

as well reset the float level in my truck amazing how well it runs when the bowl isn't overfilling

**replaced the temperature control valve with a 90* barb fitting.. so at least its not leaking over the exhaust or leaking in general (the heater core valve)

had napa pull out there universal catalog to see what they had for replacements... should be here tomorrow or Wednesday...

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion

just some random thoughts for the night

well i have been itching to do another sr20 swap since 06 when i sold my 96 240sx...

i thought the luv would be a fun project vehicle to swap it in to but at my current income bracket i cant afford the associated tickets that would come with it i think that it is a swap for another time and place...

i have this nut case sitting around so it might be a good candidate but weight and size might be an issue might have to go to an rb series motor idk we shall see



it hasn't ran in almost year since the ignition switch went out.... and i wasnt working so it has just sat rusting away...





as for the luv

i might just pick up a long block from O'Reilly and take the head have it shaved ported and polished and have the cam reground but thats a few months down the road if not longer still have plans
5 speed,
taller rear gears,
weber,
the exhaust is shot and the air pump is dead weight so i plan to remove all the emissions crap,

no clue how to even wire in an electric fan but its an idea guess it involves a secondary temperature sending unit some wiring and a relay....

as well as a higher amp alternator

.... this is a fun truck no doubt and even after almost 1500 miles and having to pretty much tear down and rebuild a good majority of it and having this and that fail unlike newer vehicles i owned in the past to drive till i got bored with them then flip them for a profit i really do think im keeping this one for a wile...

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion

ok so as i have an issue with the truck off i am reading 12.3v at the battery and bfr i changed the voltage regulator i had 14.4v coming to the battery well its been 3 weeks and well with very cold weather the battery has been all but dead.. went out this morning turned the key and the battery had just enough power to crank the engine a few times and died (10.8v).. throw a trickle charger on it for like a minute hit the ignition switch and it fired over immediately drove down to the gas station (3 miles) grabbed a soda hit the ignition switch and it fired right up drove home parked it and pulled out the voltage meter i have 12.2v at the battery while idling (1100rpm since its cold)... ~ voltage does not exceed 13.2v when revving so i guess taking the alternator in for testing this week... battery as well (should be an easy fix) (if its bad ill replace it with an 80 amp and a hotter battery since i might actually put in a system)

since my plans are to keep the stock engine... (the g180z)

plans as i sit now

new carb (im not resetting the float every ~1000 miles 3.5-4 weeks)

need to replace the header and down pipe (some one rounded off the bolts to the rear section when they installed the partually new exhaust everything from the firewall back is new) and remove the air pump

5 speed swap out of a turbo impulse (i found a source)


ok so over the last couple of days i have been seriously contemplating doing a a wide body kit on the truck.. you say why do a wide body kit instead of boxing in the frame 2" because i plan to use this as a truck with a bed and if i push the fenders out 2-3" i can fit 245's under it with out a problem (if not wider)...

as i said in the beginning im a tuner at heart with a hot rodder plan for this truck


i would also like a lower gearing (so im not flooring it @ 3800 to hit 70mph) so as i was thinking earlier on in the thread of 3.73 might still be to tall... i might be headed towards a 3.42 or a 3.08 (3.08 with turbo impulse trans in 5th with get me 2050rpm @ ~60mph)

as well i might go up to at least a 26.6" tire 17 or 18 i haven't decided


steering wheel

i might just pull those damn buckets out and put a bench seat back in (and lower the height if possible)


refer to signature if you don't get modifying vehicles... that and any changes i do either need to be accomplished after work or on my split days off as this is my only running vehicle at the time wooo

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion

todays report thermostat isnt working, head gasket is shot (coolent test says exhaust gas in fluid turned from blue to brown), secondary diaphram is shot im only getting performance from the front barrel (saves gas i guess but then theres a vacuum leak from the hole in the diaphram), float keeps sinking and causing yet again stuttering.... verdict is i need to come up with $300 for a weber since i cant find any parts for this carb other then a basic carb kit.... no one can find a float....

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion

ok so over the past 4 days i have been having problems with the truck running properly read previous post... so i found out today why.... lets just say this goes back to the other issues of previous owner/ backyard mechanics working on this thing....

so as i said when i wired in the tach to the negative side of the coil i wasnt getting signal so i rotated the wires on the coil so that they were reversed (never checked book).... silly me you would think when some one removes something they mark it and reinstall it the same way it came out.... which i did when i installed the new coil....

hahahahaha...... so heres how it was wired.... black/red goes to points (normal)... black/blue is 12v from starter (normal)... black/yellow (i think its yellow or orange from ignition switch normal) then your ballist resistor goes to the positive side.... and points to negative.... some one hooked the 12v from the starter to the negative side of the coil and the points on the positive side.... hence the weird spike i was getting.... since i was shooting power through the points (and would explain the noise through the electrical and what caused the alternator to go out)

so i drove to work this morning truck fired up after 2 cranks of the engine parked the truck up on a small snow berm in the parking lot worked my shift turned the key on let off the break and popped the clutch in reverse and it started up (no point using the starter if you can just clutch kick it)

drove the 2 miles to the gf's roll up in front of her house step on the break and clutch and the truck dies.... start it back up it runs mabye 3-4 seconds and dies... so i re adjust the float again like i have before to no assistance.... so i checked the gap and it was like 0.16 reset to .22 truck fired up and ran for a few minutes walked around front touched the coil and it shocked the hell out of me so figuring hum well visual inspection of wires shows good... must be bad so bought new wires....and its still not firing..

grabbed the gfs car and drove home grabbed my tool box and drove back out... pulled the plugs checked the gap: good, checked resistance of the plugs to make sure they they were still able to fire:good...

lets finish with the problem and why i didnt check them while setting gap
I have been up since 2am and worked a 10 hour shift... do you even think i checked to see if the points were any good nope... running power through them via the ballist melted the soft nosr of them to a puddle... verdict new points a month before i got truck = less then 5K miles on points... oh yeah hit 2K miles yesterday morning...

if this isnt coherent im sorry im half asleep

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion

got new points and condenser today installed them and noticed the ground wire for the points to the main body was completlt sheethless (a bit was still left but not much) so i replaced it checked all my wiring again... fuel pump wasn't pushing as much fuel as it should have been (the carb bowl was empty) so i tighten the mounting bolts

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion

up date from last night.... points, condenser, plug wires (i grabbed the coil while it was running and it shocked the hell out of me)

some point while trying to fix the issues the charging light came on and the alternator wasn't charging at all (thinking a lot of the issues i was having since i got the truck have been due to the voltage regulator)

so i ended up charged the battery in the truck completely and attempted to drive my way home made it 20 miles in to the 26 mile trip and the truck would no longer hold highway rpm tach was all over the place and the engine was missing hell of bad and head lights were starting to dim badly... got off the highway and didn't have enough juice for the blinker solenoids to trigger... managed to hold the truck at around 2k rpm for the next 8 miles of back roads (26 miles is freeway with a 1/2 mile stretch of highway)... made it half a mile from the house and the truck died wouldn't even fire over with a clutch kick... called my brother and he brought over a spare battery threw it in truck fired up first crank and drove the half mile back to the house... pulled both batteries and threw them on separate chargers... getting them prepared for the 5 mile journey in to the nearest Napa...


OK so here's how today went... called in to work this morning and took the day off... woo 3 day weekend to deal with electrical...

got a new alternator they threw the old one on there machine and with out a load on it pulled 14.8v and there machine said it was good ... the bearings in it were starting to show there age and there was more play then should be about 0.10-0.15" in the pulley in/out with very little side/side so i got a new one ($32.50 after tax and possibly a few discounts )

drove it home with out the charge light coming on but i was only getting 13.08v @ the battery (remember i drove 5 miles with the alternator disconnected i should have been below 13v) so in my infinite wisdom i went and pulled the cover off the voltage regulator with the battery still connected and released the mysterious blue smoke 16.8v at the battery when idling... so i ordered a new voltage regulator...

... had the gf pick me up and take me to get it ($37.68 with a few discounts) got back home and installed it hit the ignition switch and it started right up and apparently this regulator has a chime in it when voltage drops to low (idling at 800 rpm cold the charge light flickers on and off somewhat dimly 13.6v @ battery give it a bit of gas and it goes out) so i turned up the idle speed a tad so it would maintain 13.8v min...

Have the day off tomorrow as well so ill probably take the truck out for a good hard run... also threw on the timing light since i installed new points... you would think i tuned engines for a living i was 1* out by ear last night



so all in all in the past 3 days... new points and condenser $20 and some change, plug wires $35 and some change, starter $33, voltage regulator $40, old school mechanics gauge (rpm, volts, dwell, ohm...) $25, a timing light $25, distributor wrench $3.00... nothing was replaced that shouldn't have already been replaced and things i needed anyways... buts its amazing how quickly cheap parts can drain your wallet hahaha though ~$73 is pretty cheap for an alternator (with voltage regulator) i remember the one in my cavalier was almost $150...

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion

ok so i figured i would update this...

so current short term plans include picking up a used headunit and alternator on friday to at least finish off part of my stereo build and get the amp and sub installed... for as much as i hate doing wiring i end up doing a lot of it..... so the question then

after wondering to my self if he would be willing to cut a deal to a fellow luv owner?

tomorrows plan involves going to the emergency room

and LASTLY some one just had to post a 4x4 luv on the local Craigslist...

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion

Yep,I've run out of room in my yard for all of my projects so the 4x4 has to go.
I've got it listed at $400.00 obo on Craigslist,but like I told Brianloveshorse yesterday,I'll let it go to a member of LUVTruck.com for $300.00,that's what I'm into it for.

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"You can't please everyone,so you've got to please yourself"

you just had to.... $300 isnt a bad price but as i asked my lanlord he said 1 rusty piece of shit sitting behind the house is 1 to many..... so what that means is brianlovehorse when you buy it from ripper86 you need to let me know what parts you need me to come pick up....


now on to other less serious things finally had time to tear down my subwoofer box and get a better look at the subwoofer


will be running a slim mount pioneer premier Ts-sw1041d 1000w max 250w rms 4 ohm single voice coil
box is a pioneer UD-sw10b picked up the pair 2 weeks ago for $30 for the box and sub

any ways heres a couple of pics i took on the fly






pawn shop tested it as bad/blown sub... so i asked if i could pull the sub out and check it my self they had no problem... turned out some jackass used 22awg wire inside the box and it was burned in half... replaced with 18awg and shouldnt have any further problems with that


amp i will be using is a power acoustik 0v2-300 (2006 Gothic series) its rated at 170rms x 1 @ 4ohm its a bit low on power but the only other thing i have is a shitty sony x-plode 1000w mono d so i might have to find another amp might go amp shopping after work tomorrow we shall see...

other then that went to doctor they ran some tests and said that the issue might be from being sick and lack of properly eating and having taken so much Pepito bismal

theres a couple of car audio shops on the way to get the alternator i will stop in and see what they will charge me for some 15' of red 4awg and some black 4awg bfr i just go and order 100' of both
have to be able to supply power to the battery and starter as well need a few anl fuse holders for the power (you can arc weld with 120 amps let alone 136amps so protection is needed)

as well when i actually get around to finishing the electrical upgrades i need to upgrade the battery to something that will produce a minimum of 850 cranking amps (i think the battery i have now it 550)

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion

ok so i picked up an amp that will be able to supply the power i need.... kenwood exceleron KAC-X301T

and i also picked up a 2012 kenwood KDC-152 head unit (the stereo i had in it had no rca's out put or p.con wire) this will suit me till the addition of a flip up head unit... (less then $60 vs a flip up @$300)

i also got a couple of rolls of power wire ordered (25 feet of 4awg and 25 feet of 8awg), a few fuse blocks and fuses, 2 power distribution blocks for the battery and half a dozen ring terminals for the starter and alternator (might not have ordered enough ring terminals) i didn't get any black "grounding" wire as i will be replacing the chassis grounds with 0awg grounding strap (from ox arc)

for the 136 amp alternator i will be running a 150 amp anl fuse block (100 amp wont cut it and i couldnt find 120a anl fuses) (will have to make a gasket for it out of some rtv or liquid electrical tape) and for the amp i will be running a 40 amp sealed agu fuse

(i got all of the parts at whole sale prices or used)

so other then installing the head unit nothing will be done for the next week or so till i get the wiring for the amp and electrical....


as well after ordering the main power wires for the engine bay i had calculated it out with a max amp draw of 120 amps... if i add any thing else to the electrical system (beyond the plans i have right now) 4awg will be a bit small i should have gown to 1awg or 0awg to be on the safe side but only way i could find it were in 100 foot rolls or $8 foot


i am also thinking about picking up a handful of 20 amp relays for the headlight upgrade here in the future....



as it still sits....

i still need to get a small sheet of 5/8 or 3/4 mdf for the kick panels in the doors and an 1/8" sheet of press board for the door panels and speaker mounts finished (i used some temporary square plates to mount the front speakers for now) and some 6x9's well see i was at the audio shop last night and didn't even look at speakers (foolish me)


need to fix the droop in the rear leaf springs... there not bottomed out but there about 4" from being there (just been to lazy to pull a set leaf packs apart at the junk yard to attain this) while im at it ill replace the u-joints and any and all bushings in the rear end while i am at it (i have weekends off now in addition to not having split days off so its much easier to get these larger projects done now)

still need to get an exhaust header and get the holes in the down pipe taken care of (i say down pipe as in reference to a 1-2' section of pipe left from the original exhaust thats rusted to the manifold...)


other then these few things and getting in to the body work the turch is comming along quicker then i thought

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion

deck and amp... realized last night that when i rewired the subwoofer/box that i used up the last of my speaker wire.... damn it... now i have to go buy a 25' roll of speaker wire just to get 3 feet aarg...





any ways got the v-belt pulley mounted on the dodge alternator took a bit of work with a grinder to bevel it out a bit but i got it to work... left if dodge alternator and right is the one off the 1978 f150 pictured above




and lastly this is what i got to work on tonight.... can you guess what it came out of?
if you thought that the carb on the luv was a pain to remove... we had to pull the head off this vehicle in order to unbolt the intake manifold from the head and then once the head was off will have to disassemble part of the carb to get it off the manifold... car has 190k on it and this is the second motor because of valve issues





right head gasket off the 3 cylinder engine i was working on (has a bad valve on cylinder 1 and the piston rings are shot in cylinder 3) one cause blow by and the other caused 25psi of compression and failed a leak test left head gasket for the luv....

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion

while sitting at work today i realized that i am probably going to end up running short on ring terminals, 1 battery terminal, and a power distribution block (for ground)... so i will have to find a place that has some locally as well i need to pick up a few rolls of electrical tape and some wire straps

Well i am wiring in the alternator i might as well go ahead and rip afart the stock wiring harness and replace the wiring to the headlights and go ahead and wire in the relays and up grade the main power wire to the fuse panel... and replace anything that looks worn while i am at it... i don't want the main power wire to be a possibility of shorting when i replace it for the new alternator and 4 awg main power wire so reguardless the wire harness has to come apart


as much as i hate dealing with electrical this truck is turning in to one of those projects thats all about wiring hahaha


as well i have been looking for a place to permanently mount the amplifier on a sheet of 3/4" mdf... i want the shortest distance from the amp to the battery as well as a location that will be easy to access

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion

got my amp, sub, and second alternator installed ... the sub hits much harder then i was expecting and is drowning out the mid's and low's amazingly there's no rattle can with the volume half way up... hum (i didn't want to test full volume this late at night) as well since the amp is wired separate from the main wiring harness on its own alternator and battery there is no drop in voltage @ all

need to purchase a stand alone voltage regulator for the second alternator... o'rillys should have what i need for less then $20 http://www.thedieselgarage.com/forum...ad.php?t=58251

now on to things i need to clean up

main amp wire needs to be re-routed down the tyranny tunnel because its under the clutch pedal right now its not in the way but its a 4 awg wire its not that comfterable to rest your foot on when pushing in the clutch

amp needs to be moved from under the passenger seat to behind the driver seat (for ease of access to the gains and other such controls) as well the amp rack i installed it on needs to either be wrapped or painted...???

"later down the road i will be wiring in a second amp for mids and tweets (thinking 300w rms 4 channel) thinking pioneer for the speakers and kenwood for deck, and amps"

all of the interior needs to be redone in including having the driver and passenger seats properly mounted and re-foamed and skinned (i need taller bolsters and thinner back and bottom)

interior will be black with perferated silver stripes

_________________
Friends don't let friends drive stock...
76 mikado, emissions delete, dual alternator, rejetted 1.9 carb swap, non factory body lines
soon non points distributor, single (semi sealed beam) head light conversion