LUVTruck.com

ok going to buy a 82 chevy luv on friday - getting it for very cheap! - its an awesome looking truck!

now im also getting a 351 for cheap (complete crown vic cept the front end suspension is blow) so thats an auto 351 with trans....

is there anything special I am goin to have to go to get the 351 bolted up?
(i know im going to have to make custom motor mounts and possibly bolt in the crossmember from the crown vic for the trans)

anything else I am going to have to watch out for?

thanks guys! I can't wait to start working on my LUV!

may need a radiator.
im not sure on the 81-82 luvs but the pre 81s radiator is WAY to small for a v8, small area and single core. i had a 81 luv 9 years ago. but be damned if i can recall how big the radiator was

welcome to the site btw
pull up a bucket and grab a beer

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I like my steak like I like my women, young, tender and bloody.

All I need is my weed, women, and wine. -Edge City Outlaws

Also you will most likely have to punch out the tranny tunnel to get it to fit. You'll have to decide what to do about the charging system. Either build brackets to use the stock Luv alternator or wire in the Ford unit. Larphead is right about the cooling system. Get it set up to handle the heat!! You should look into getting a better axle setup. It will get to 60 MPH in a hurry with the 4.56 ratio but it will kill you on the Hwy. The rest is just getting everything to adapt(ignition, fan, exhaust system, shifter and such). Good luck with the project, it will be worth the effort.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

well the good thing is the tranny is auto

what about the rear end? is it ok to stick with the stock one or should I look at getting one from an S10 or sonoma

If you get a early S-10 axle, it should be able to handle a stock 351 for now but you can't bolt a camaro driveshaft in place. You will need to adapt the Ford yoke to it if it's long enough. If you stick with the stock axle, you'll have to get a driveshaft built. The better way is to narrow a 9" Ford axle and pick the ratio you want. It's not cheap but it will take care of a lot of problems.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

what if i kept the same rear end out of the crown vic as well as the drive shaft and just have them both shortened to fit the luv?

That should work out just fine! Look at the housing to be sure it can be done cleanly. Odds are that the Vic axle is coil spring. You'll have to put leaf spring pads on it to match the truck. OR you could go with a 4 link set up but that will run into some modifing and money. Do a little homework on the axle. It sounds like the way to go!!!

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

about how much am i looking at for shorting the rear end (i hear a drive shaft is about 50-80 or so)?

The stock rearends are pretty tough. there are a lot of guys that race their trucks with stock rears and close to stock v8's, but if you build the motor stronger you will probably chunk it. If you can throw in a stronger rearend while you do the swap, it will save you time and give you a little more confidence.

Blue meanie, Do you have to shorten the mustang rearend if you use it??
Or do you need to just add the spring pads??? DO I make sense???? I read your email, unforunately adam is the smart one....I'm roger...the slow one. incase your confused, there are three guys with this same identity. read below...

I was able to get a narrowed Ford 9" axle that was set up to fit a S-10. The previous owner decided to go a different way with his truck and i was in a good position to buy it. It was already narrowed to fit a S-10 so the axle pads were 1/2" farther apart than the stock Luv and the pinion angle was off by 8 degrees. I ran it on the truck for a little while before i took it apart to get the ring and pinion assy rebuilt and to get correct width axle pads installed with the correct pinion angle. Yes, the axle shafts and axle tubes had to be shortened. The drawing i sent you is what is in my truck right now. The Crown Vic axle is most likely a 31 spline axle which can be shortened without any new parts. All you will need to buy is axle pads, fittings to adapt the brake lines, Get the driveshaft shortened and rig up the e-brake cable. Send me the info on your axle and i can get you some details of it.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

ok if i stick with the rear end off the crown vic how much farther is it going to sit out than on the luv? is there any real reason to shorting it cept that it will look really goofy?

that way i could use the engine trans and rear end and just shorten the drive shaft and custom make shock mounts and motor mounts

im trying to make this as easy and cheap (but good) as possible

By spending the little extra money now you will save yourself many headaches down the road. Doing the right thing the first time will pay off in the end. Don't not do something just to save money. Remember every dollar you spend now will save you at least $5-10 later. Narrow the rearend to PROPERLY fit the Luv, install the 351(is it a Cleveland or Windsor?), measure for a good fit for the drive shaft. Half-assing a v8 swap will only come back to haunt you!

You will need to fabricate 2 motor mounts and build a better trans mount. The axle was most likely a coil spring setup. You'll have to weld a set of axle pads to be able to bolt them on to the leaf springs. Once you get the axle pads installed, you can use the u-bolts and the shock mount plate from the stock axle setup(thats what i did) As for the width of the Vic axle, I dont know if there is a law that states how far the wheels can stick out from the vehicle but i have to think that every cop will want to give you crap about it. It will be too wide. The possibility of tearing up your tires and the sidepanels of the truck is too great. And besides, when you eventually narrow the axle, you will most likely have to have the axle pads repositioned so you will need to get new ones. The cheap way to get on the road is get the motor and tranny in, build a driveshaft for the stock axle and drive it like that for now. Then get started on modifing the axle to fit the truck. This way you have some time to find a good axle guy that works cheap and you can decide on how you want it built. You will still need to work out the bugs of the conversion so the stock axle will work. Plus it will be really fun to drive for a while.You never stated what year Ford you got the running gear from? Im not that familiar with Crown Victoria's so you need to give out the info. Did you find the I.D. tag on the axle? Is it a 9" axle? Is it a coil spring setup? How wide is the axle from the outsides of the brake drums?

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

well how much abuse can the luv rear end take from the 351?

It will take enough abuse to the point that you'll be pumped to install that reworked Ford axle. It's suprising how much the stock axle will take. It will work while you get the Ford axle built to the truck.

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

sweet well it looks like that is what I will be doing till I can anyother rear end to swap in its place - thanks blue - ill let you know how it goes!

Just stay off of I-35 with the stock axle, The engine RPM's will be 4000 or better to keep pace with traffic. Keep the truck in town for now. Unless you know of some back roads to Austin or San Antonio where you can keep the speed really low to keep the engine temp from building up.

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

Well, the 351 is a close second to the 350 , and ive known guys run them with stock set ups for a while. I build mine up with a little hotter cam and intake, and chunked the spider gears. If I had to guess, they would be the weak link. there is a lot of iron still in the luv gears, but those spider gears are tiny. the guy who sponsored the monroe races ran a luv for more than 2 years (stock 350) and didnt have a problem he raced every weekend.

my 2 cents

hey another option for the rear is an 8" out of a maverick you have to run rims with alot of back spacing to get it to fit. my centerlines have 6" of back spacing.al i had to do was relocate the spring pads.i`m running a mini spool in it. my truck runs high 11s i haven`t had any problems with it yet and i still run the stock 2.80 gears it came with. total investment in the rear so far is $200 hte rims i got used at a swap meet. one day when money allows i will go to a 9" though. good luck.

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don`t have the luv no more but I still like em.72 el camino,
00 & 06 silverado one 4x4, turboed vw sandrail,99 banshee, 06 raptor 700, 02 polaris trailblazer.