LUVTruck.com

Hello: I'm new as of 17 May 2013. I'm the origional of a 76 Luv Mikado. In my opinion it is in pretty bad condition, really bad. I recently put it in Craigslist to part out. I had a couple of interested parties but no agreement yet. I think I'm having a tough time letting it go for it was my 1st new vehicle. I'm kind of ashamed to have let it get in such bad a shape. Like to get some of your opinion to part it out or to restore it. If to part it out where besides ebay is a good place to place add and what could one reasonable expect to get($) if one is not in a hurry. If to restore it, is this forum the right place. I'll attach what picture I have. What I do know is that at one time I had a cracked head and when I replaced it with a used head it started but vibrated vary badly. I think I got the timing off. I meant to fix it but life went on and the fix never happened. The bed is mostly rotted out, the seat is shot, there are two big cracks in the dash, Over the years I took a few screws, nuts and bolts for my other Japanese imports. Needs a complete paint job. The body is really straight with the exceptoin of the rear step bumper each end got slightly tweeked, and the bed sides have a lot of dents and rust. The last it was licensed was in 1995, then it sat out in the rain for 15 years then under cover for that last 3 years. I'll stop here and wait for your thoughts.

i think you should restore it. it doesnt look too bad in the pictures and with a little work you got a nice little truck to cruise around in

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I'm workin' on it
78 chassis with 75 cab
SBC

I'd say restore her.

Unless the entire bottom of the cab/floors are beyond repair,or the frame...then I say Build or Restore.

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

I agree with Ripper. It won't be worth what the restore costs, but if you want to enjoy it again you have to be your own judge on it's worth. What I'm trying to say is, as old and rare as LUVs are getting, they are not a 57 Chevy yet. If you choose not to restore it please consider selling it complete instead of parting it out. Somebody somewhere would love to have it, I'm sure. If you do choose to restore it, this is the right place for info and maybe some parts also.
By the way....where are you located?
Oh, and welcome to the site. We don't have very many original owners. That's very cool. Wish I still had my first used and/or new vehicle.

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

Yes, I kind of always wanted to restore it but it just seemed to be a big project. In 2010 I purchased an 89 Yamaha Venture 1300 and later discover an online club. The club has been so helpful with tips and information. It looks like I found the right LUV online forum. The restore project will be a long one, like years...kind of like a new journey. Stating that I'm the origional owner of a 76 Luv kinda of ages me. Well I think when I do retire I'll have plenty of projects to my dying days. Restoring a 69 Kawasaki 90 G3TR (Origional owner); a 74 Yamaha YZ125 (Origional Owner); a 76 AMC Pacer with 45K (My Mother as the Original owner); I have my parents complete collection, tons of uncut all sorts of rocks, agate, wood, thunder eggs, Montana agate, plum, jasper many other I can't even recall. I bought a 20 inch Lapidary saw yesterday and bought a flat rock polisher a few years ago and have my father's rock tumbler.

I'm going to reorganize my garage and move the Luv into an enclosed garage, and put the LUV on blocks. I'm think about giving the LUV a good wash first. Get the grime off so it can look its best. Looking its best will help me to better see its potential. I'll check the Cab bed and the frame but I'm pretty sure they are in good condition. The bed of the LUV rusted away for I had stuff stored in it that kept moisture on the bed.

I think my stragedy is to work on the simple and small things 1st. Like any project the key is to just get started and to tackle one item at a time accumulating success, and see the LUV come alive slowly.

I'll give it a good wash. Then mount the set of good winter tires on the wheel. But as I have each wheel off, I should clean get the rust off each wheel then give each wheel a good coat of paint.

Once the wheels are on with the good set of tires then push it into an open garage. From the picture you can see the wheel caps I have. I should have the entire set somewhere. Any recommendations as to a good color to paint the wheels.

Any Suggestions to this start? And Thank You for your encouragements. Oh and I'm from Buckley Wa.

You're in a good area to find parts. The northwest is full of these trucks.

I've seen much worse. Definitely restorable from what I see.

Yeah, you're in the best place for a slow restoration. Like drummerforhire said, it seems like every junkyard in the area has got a few LUV's to spare. Get that thing back on the road! I've been able to find pretty much every part I've ever needed for my '75, and on a student's budget at that.

Good luck! Post more pictures. I would enjoy seeing the progress.

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75 Mikado G180/4sp Desert Tortoise

Ok, just so all of you know that I'm serious about restoring her, this weekend I took the rear tail lights, all 4 side running lights, the front trun signals, the head light benzel rims and lamps with the grill off. I'm going to clean them all up.

What I need to know is where do I get new rubber gaskets for the rear lens unit and the gasket for the front turn signals. When I pulled them off the gasket kinda of tore and crumbled.

Next , I would like to spray new flat paint on the head light benzel, the grill and on the chrome wheel covers. The wheel covers has some places where flat black is used. Any one knows the after market matching paint as in the brand and the can item number. The reason I ask is that on my Yamaha Venture group the forum has the matching spray can brand and item number for flat black.

Now the headlamp benzel has a chrome strip around each head lamp. Whats your recommendations as to how to get that part chrome?

I wanted to look at the engine and being that both sides of the truck had stuff around it I figured I'd go thru the sliding glass rear window to unlatch the hood. I open the glass slider and crawled thru. Well I didn't make it all the way in. After several tries I concluded that I'm not that spring chicken as I used to be. A little bit rounder around the waist and not as limber as I used to be. It would have been quite a site if someone had a camera. So I stretch as long as I could towards the steering wheel and reeeeeeeeached with my left hand until I could jusssssst get my finger tips on that hood lever. Got it. I lifted the trunk and, wow she is all there. Haven't looked under the hood where the engine didn't take up all the space in a long time.

Last thing for the day I lowered the spare tire. I have a set of almost new winter tires that I could mount for I do have a tire mount. Well I could not break the tire bead. I even drove my other car tire onto the rubber of that spare and can't seem to break the bead. Any Suggestion?

Thats all for now.

Signal/tail light gaskets: To the best of my knowledge, these aren't available. Your best bet may be to pattern the bits you've got and cut some gaskets out of a sheet of rubber. Perhaps someone else has info on where they can be bought, but I imagine it won't be very tuff to make copies of those shapes.
The parts are listed in the Master Parts Catalog (here, under "Factory Drawings and Part Listings\: http://www.luvtruck.com/Information.htm). You'll find the GM part numbers for the gaskets on page 2-38 and 2-44.

Headlight Bezel/Grille repaint: Maybe you're pickier than I am, but any ol' flat black will clean those guys right up, I'd think. If you want to dig around, there are dozens and dozens of paint codes for different years here:http://www.luvtruck.com/Information/Paint_codes.htm, and you might find some other clues in chapter 17 of the Master Parts Catalog - I seem to rememember seeing lots of graphics specs there but those may be just graphics, and not paint specs. Worth a look.
Another user was asking whether he should go chrome or flat black a while back, and posted this photo for comparison: download/file.php?id=3652&mode=view
(That entire thread is great, by the way: http://forums.luvtruck.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=24227&p=192740&hilit=bezels+chrome+black#p192740)
I would go chrome instead of paint, myself. It's actually quite cheap to have these kinds of parts sandblasted and re-chromed.

Spare tire Try inflating it? Maybe the positive pressure will put enough tension on the seal to help break it free of the wheel? Or maybe your local tire guy would be willing to help you peel it off of there for 5 bucks? I'd safe myself the effort and do it that way.

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75 Mikado G180/4sp Desert Tortoise

I think I will go with the flat black for my goal is to get it back to its origional state.

As for the color Desert Tortoise, what is the paint mixture formula?

That link with all the pictures are really nice. Ya I wouldn't be able to take it down to the frame. Would be nice to do that, but not feasible for me.

I think I'll try to make some gaskets for the lense. Besides trying local auto parts stores, do you know where to get sheets of rubber gaskets material?

When I get to the point of repainting, I would like to sand the entire truck. What do you do about the rust? Get a wire brush attachment to a drill? Or does Rustoleum paint really work?

As for the paint, the paint store will have to mix it, give them the paint part number and they will mix it.

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Certified pilots, looking down on people since 1903.

Does anyone have a side running light metal trim? One of mine is not too bad but maybe I could find one in better shape.

The side-markers were not exclusive to LUV trucks.
The same exact markers(same manufacturer and part number) can be found on other 70s-80s Japanese imports.
Not just trucks either.
I found a set on a 1978 Plymouth Arrow Hatchback.

Just sayin...

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

I have seen them on 70's Toyota Landcruisers also.

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Click on C.M. logo to go to my webpage


RIP R.J.B.

I got a set from a Ford/Mazda Courier. Somebody on eBay usually has a set or two of these at any given time. If you can't find them right now, wait a week or two and more will pop up.

Ya I found a couple listed on ebay. I'm not needing the entire light socket, lens nor the set of 2 or 4. Just the one single metal piece as in the picture. I'll keep an eye on ebay mean while I'll just straighten the one I have.

I'm kinda a hoping that someone in this group may have one in good shape laying around for a reasonable price.

If you are handy with pounding a few dents out of them they can be sanded and polished. I think they are made of aluminum. I restored a couple of mine years back and they still look good.

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95 Isuzu Trooper Daily Driver
86 Isuzu Trooper reliable backup
77 LUV 2wd stock beltway blaster (resting)
79 4x4 LUV project: 2.6L, 5spd, 31s (eventually)

MEPR: Man, my 4x4 makes all other LUVs look good

the local pick and pull will have something.

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'78 2wd LUV, Betsy, THE LUV MACHINE

For the flat black? I've got no idea, sorry.


Most of us on here aren't that thorough either, I gather. That thread I linked is just one of the best overall references I've seen for restoring these trucks, and I thought it might help you out. You mentioned you had taken bits and pieces from the truck over the years, and his great big pictures are wonderful for figuring out "what went here???"


Buy it online to save some money. Just get something similar in thickness, and you should be in great shape. I'd use Silicone Rubber. Try this link http://bit.ly/14P9f7d


Rustoleum might stabilize the existing rust, but the correct way to do it is to get down to clean metal(grind, brush, whatever) and seal that with new paint. I am not a body guy really, but any dummy can use bondo to fix pits, dings, and errors.

I have one tiny little 1" rust spot on the tip of my hood, but it is bubbled up so much in that one spot that I have chosen just to let it be, instead of sanding a hole through the nose of my hood, bondo-ing, and repainting it with something that won't ever quite match the rest. I tell myself I'll get to it one day. I have it a little bit easier than you in L.A.'s dry weather though.

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75 Mikado G180/4sp Desert Tortoise