LUVTruck.com

I planned to put a Chevy 283 in my LUV, so I went and modified the rear of the chassis and mounted a 1986 Datsun 300ZX Turbo rear end assembly (pics can be seen in the project section). Now a good friend of mine came up to me and offered his LS-1 engine (just rebuilt the lower end from spinning a bearing, (new crank, rods, bearings, and oil pump)) to me, complete with computer and wiring harness for $1500. I need to know if anyone out there knows if the rear end I now have will put up with that kind of power. I don't plan to run it hard, maybe romp it once in a while, but that's it. For that price I really want it, heck who wouldn't!!!! The reason he is selling it so cheap is he is hard up for money right now and he already sold the Camaro he planned to drop it in. Please let me know any ideas about this.. Oh yea, NO YOU CAN'T HAVE IT. IT'S MINE ALL MINE!!!!
Rick

LS1 is a good motor. first off its all aluminum second... they have a lot of potential.

I know somebody that has a '00 camaro with simple bolt ons and a "hot cam" with 4.11 gears and the thing goes 11.69 on motor and 10.75 on the jug (on slicks of course) this is with stock intake and exhaust manifolds.

and then the aftermarket for these motors is getting pretty decent.... can you say 426 all alum stroker small block???

Great, I probably will get the engine, but I am still wondering about the Datsun rear end holding up to it.
Rick

surely there are Z forums out there that have a wealth of knowlage. im sure it would. i mean i know those Z cars was damn fast and had some hella HP

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Not sure of the horsepower they will hold up to but there is one with a sbc that runs around on the street around here and it will run in the 9's. It leaves soft but when he lays in to it she screams. The best part about that swap is no distributor, so you can move it back a lil more. I have been wanting to that swap forever.

Now that you mention it, I remember my friends 280Z which would pin you to the seat when he stomped it. Dang nice car. I pretty much made up my mind and will be picking the engine up this weekend. Just wish my wifes new sofa set wasn't in the garage so I could be working on my truck again. Guess I will have to get the wood flooring down in the living room ASAP.
Rick

Z cars have the real "press you in the seat" type of feel to them due to the way the rear end squats when they launch on the IRS. Vettes have a similar feel too.

I am not super hot on nissan rear ends. I have blown up many of them... I never had a turbo 300Z rear tho.

BTW, cars that squat when they launch are more for handling then for drag racing so I'm not sure what your goals are with this truck but keep that in mind. If you really want IRS for your LUV then check into a Jag rear end. It should be narrow enough to get you some meats under the truck. just my .02

I already have the 300ZX Turbo rear end assembly mounted to the chassis as I had originally planned to go with a stock 283 small block. As far as abuse, I plan to use it as a daily driver, tow a trailer once in a while and of course the OCCASIONAL romping. Nothing more. After all I am COUGH, COUGH, years old and very married!!!!!! Just want a good looking truck, which I feel the old LUV's are the best at, good sounding engine and the power to pull my 18' boat. This LS-1 engine is too good of a deal to pass up since I would have to completely rebuild the 283 anyway. The few extra dollars to get the LS-1 and not have to do anything but drop it in the chassis is well worth the $1500 for it. (I may have to modify my modifications, but that is nothing but fun.)
Rick

that sounds like a good set up.... especially if its already mounted to the frame. I would however go mild on the shift kit if you install one in an auto trans behind the 283. my Datsuns all worked fine until i installed stage III Trans Go kits (kiss of death to a Nissan rear end) in the tranny and then they gave up after only 2 short months of easy driving. One datsun truck I had blew up so hard that the gears came out of the pumkin and left a trail of metal and oil all the way down the street. put some dents in the underside of the bed and fuel tank too.

The trail of parts sounds like a cartoon. Hope you were close to home or some help when the pumpkin blew. I am looking for a T5 tranny (T-56 would work too) as I really want a manual. This way I can also just roll into the throttle for some acceleration without the head jerking shifting. My last LUV did that (turbo 350 automatic with B&M shift kit) and after a few months of it, it got to be a pain. Like I said, a little romp once in a while and pulling a boat along with daily driving is my plan. Now later, I can change the rear end assembly out if I feel I need to. But that will have to wait until after I build up a LUV truck for my daughter which is going to take place immediately after I finish mine which my wife is now telling me WILL be done by the first quarter of 2004. Heck, she is the one who gave me the money for the LS-1 engine, so I will make her pay even more for speeding up my plans..........
Rick

I was 4 blocks up hill from my house at the time. All i had to do was roll all the way down the hill to get home. My friend had a 1979 Toyota 4x4 with a 600hp roller small block in it. he blew up his rear end doing a burnout close to the same area where mine blew up cept he was spinning about 7grand and when the rear end let go it scattered so bad, pieces of gear came thru the pumpkin, and thru the bed. he said you could hear pieces of gear hitting the houses on the side of the road. LOL.

I have a B&M kit in my 700R4 trans in my daily driver. I like the neck snapping feel, my wife hates it though

Some guy i know is putting a LS1/T56 into his 69 camaro. He got the whole deal for 2K including computer.

Lucky guy getting that for a mere 2k!!! I went to the junkyards yesterday looking for a '98 or newer T-56 and they looked at me like I was crazy. One even said my early TH700R4 will bolt up to the LS-1 as Chevy did not change tranny mount bolt pattern. After that remark, I asked him if he had a four barrel carburetor off of an LS-1 engine as mine (picked the LS-1 up yesterday morning) was missing the carb. When he said they just sold the last one, I simply laughed! Quite loud too, and my wife was really puzzled until we got back to the car and I told her LS-1's do NOT have a carb., instead they have throttle bodies. Well that is one place I won't go again. Well at least I have my engine at home (only 32,000 miles on it) and I will have to let it sit there until I find a tranny to fit it so I can cut the motor mounts I welded on the chassis for the 283 SB and fit this engine with a tranny.
Rick

I would say stick a 9" Ford in it but after I looked at your pictures you have it in already, it is different. I think the rear will hold up and there are posi units and gears available, check out hybridz's web site, I never knew there was so much info on a Datsun.

Spinning tires will not kill it but a set of slicks may.

Your truck looks pretty cool, I would have never thought about a IRS in a Luv.

Thanks for the compliment. Don't plan on puuting slicks on it, it is just for street use only. Do you have a link to Hybrid's web site. I'd like to check it out.
Rick

http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/portal.php

They have some pretty neet stuff there. There are links to suppliers for limited slip diff. and tons of other things.

I have a 80 Luv for drag racing and I am building a 240z with a 383 for riding around.

Thanks for the site. I will be checking it out this weekend.
Rick

I thought everybody ran slicks on the street.

Don't need slicks here. It's gets so hot that ANY tire will will have massive traction. With the Las Vegas Temperatures hitting 115 degrees (we are having a cold spell at the moment, it's only hitting 105), you can see the tire tread where cars leave marks in the asphalt at red lights, and parking lots are even worse. Nice gooy, sticky stuff.
Rick

slicks are a necessity if you street race. The last thing you want to do is pull up next to an AWD eclipse and get embarassed by it cuz he launched on you from a dig while you sat and spun.

If you run any kind of HP, even a 10" radial is going feel like your driving on an icy pond. If you squeeze, then fuhgetaboutit. that surge of HP is going to bust your tires loose in second gear at 65mph.

btw too hot of ashphalt hurts traction. too hot of a radial hurts traction too which is why they say not to do a burnout on radials.

My LUV doenst even have a set of radials for it. only slicks so you could say I never leave home with out them.

Also ont he 700r4...He is right, the ls1 A4's - those are 4L60E 4 speed auto trannys...which is an electronicly controlled 700R4...same thing it just has a brain....I'd beef the 700r4 up and use it if you already have it...

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