LUVTruck.com

Well John I must say I am glad to see your progress and I must say I truly appreciate the thoroughness of all of your work and the dept of information you convey with your photos and documentation of your step by step build of your engine. I wish you luck with your install and break in and I hope you attain the goal you have been struggling to reach for.

Not to dwell on the previous off topic subject. but I must add that John is truly a honest man. He never asked for anything. Everything that he has accomplish has either been from the help of volunteers, friends, and good old fashion hard work.

Again John I hope all of your hard work pays off.

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Thank you Shawn for the vote of confidence. I know there have been quite a few encouraging posts and lots of appreciation expressed and it's all been a lot of fun. I can see light at the end of the tunnel, and I am really enjoying it.

Today I will be working on a list of final preparations before putting the engine in, and soon we will see if Rumblebee lives. (Rumblebee is the new name of my engine!)

I plan to help Hazel again today, but it shouldn't take all day. The afternoons have been sunny here and somewhere around 60°, so I hope to make some progress today.

I should take some more photos of the oil primer before I return it.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

Here's the engine oil primer that Pacific Auto Machine loaned to me. Priming is all done.

This was made some years ago by one of the owner's of the machine shop. It fits the hole where the oil sensor goes. You put the engine oil right in to the tank, then fill the tank with air pressure. Slowly open the valve, and the oil will flow out the tube into the oil galley all the way to the rocker arms!

I haven't even installed the engine yet! I returned the primer today.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

I did a bunch of prep work, but still haven't installed the engine! Notice the oil pressure gauge line waiting to be connected. I put a little blue tape on it to keep dirt out. This photo shows how I hung the tranny with a heavy wire from the hood-lock bracket. I needed to move the LUV back to have room to turn the engine hoist around. I sort of did a practice run today. It won't take very long now. Any time...

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

just keep the pace you're going. at this point it's better to go slow and be a little more precise on your install. It'll a little while you'll be cruising the streets of your town.

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1980 Chevy Luv 4x4 Mikado
the "Ole Man from Spokane"

The pace I'm going is very slow. Actually, I am not in a hurry at all. Today just feels like a day to relax, so I don't want to do anything. Maybe it'll perk up tomorrow.

I know exactly what to do, and I have all the bolts laid out. It's just a question of being in the mood. And for the rain to stop falling.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

It was a sunny day today. kind of caught me off guard, but I noticed the sunshine outside, so I decided it was a good time to put Rumblebee in. I got it in, but there's still all the little things to do, and I haven't got the one we all want to see, the startup. Here though you can see the clutch assembly installed, and the motor mounts in. I don't want to post a photo of the whole engine until I get it all finished.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

Cool!

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1975 V8 Luv
1980 Bagged Luv

Sure looks purty!

Here we go! I am ready to start the engine just as soon as I fill the coolant passages with water. I will be doing the first start at about 6PM. I will be recording it and posting that first start for all of you to enjoy. Here's some photos of RumbleBee and my LUV.

Thanks again for all the good advice and encouraging words, everybody. I am so happy the day is finally here.


Every hose, every part in place/Will it run?


Panorama of two photos/The bed, painted in September


I put a spray can cap on the coolant overflow tank!/Today is the startup.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

I started putting the water in it, and the water began running out!! I seems I got the wrong gasket set given to me. I had already known the head gasket was wrong, but I thought the intake was right. Now I have a postponement to deal with, and I will. I will order a new intake manifold gasket, wipe up any water, and put it back together, checking to be sure no water entered the cylinders.

I have to remove the air cleaner, the carb, and the intake manifold. I will be doing the work in the engine compartment. Oh well, another day.

I never turned the engine over although I did check the GEN light.

At least there's no cleaning to do!!!!

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

So so close John! I wish you the best of luck and can't wait to see your results!

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I changed the gasket on the intake manifold, put RumbleBee back together, filled the coolant system with water, and went to start up for the first time.

There's no spark. Notice the timing light is not flashing in the video? My friend Jeff was helping. Fred had the key, and Lisa had the camera. Me, I just stood around and directed!

Gotta find out where the spark went...


See the water passage without a gasket?/I just didn't notice it


The closeness of the two gaskets-top one is the correct gasket/The start up attempt

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

Is the rotor in the dizzy?

I left mine out once on my ford truck and I forgot to put in.

I was outside for a while trying to start it then I remebered the night before I had taken it out, threw it in and bam! its a simple one but I thought I'd take a swing at it.

Motor looks great btw actually the whole thing looks great too!
Keep up the good work.

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1975 V8 Luv
1980 Bagged Luv

Of course you could, also do what I did, forgot to hook up the wire from the coil. Funny thing, it needs that to get power to the plugs. LOL


BTW, "the dizzy"????? I know what you meant, but never heard it called that before. lol

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1980 Chevy Luv 4x4 Mikado
the "Ole Man from Spokane"

I got the engine started yesterday, but it won't keep running. The lack of spark was the BL (black w/blue stripe) wire was not connected to the positive side of the coil. It was mounted to the ground at the base of the coil. My bad. I found it by starting to diagnose the coil and distributor. The direction to remove the two wires from the positive side of the coil made me find it, since I had only one from the resistor on there. It was a simple matter then of looking at the wiring schematic to find the right wire. It's all my fault, and it happened when I was cleaning up the engine compartment and I had removed the coil to better clean the fender.

The engine must have a carb problem now, as it won't run very long. I think the fuel pump might not be running. There's a wire I need to take a look at above the tranny. There is fuel to the carb though, I can see it in the window. I'm wondering if the fuel would solidify in this short a time. It ran well for me in January. Could the fuel fill from vacuum although be too slow to sustain operation? I will answer these questions when I get to it.

The video was a little jumpy with me holding the camera, and Lisa at the switch. At least you can see and hear RumbleBee run a little.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

Double check all your vac hoses and make sure your fuel shut off solenoid on the carb. has power when the key is on. It sounds to me like it runs well but won't idle. Good Job. Aint it a good feeling?

There were several vacuum hoses plugged. The air cleaner was off. Would it make the system work better to have it all hooked up? That sounds like a no-brainer question, doesn't it?

Yes, it was a relief to have it run, even if for a little bit. Maybe I should put the air cleaner all together and try it again.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

As long as they are plugged it should run fine. Make sure that solenoid on the carb has power when the key is on. The fuel pump is working if you have fuel in the carb. It ran good when reved up but sputtered out when you let out of it. I say it's the solenoid or a clogged up port in the carb from sitting.

Thanks Rondog. I'll check it out later. Happy St. Patrick's Day to you and all the good LUVvers on LUVTruck.com!!!

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.