LUVTruck.com

I have two Luvs I'm trying to decide for. There's a 72' in very good condition inside and out with a stock engine. It turns but it needs a fuel pump. It comes with a camper and an extra set of old alum rims. It's for $800 bucks.
There's also a 79' with a ruff body and interior. The engine runs but a lil ruff too. He's asking $600.
My problems is that I've been reading throught the forums and I don't see a lot of good reviews on the 72' model. Is it that bad of an engine?? My plans are to overhaul the engine and my budget is around $1200(that's what the boss lady said) I'm planning for a new cam, Weber carb, performance pistons, shave head, electric distributor, valves and springs, rods, and whatever my budget gets me on new parts. There's also a few u-pull-it in the area where I can find (hopefully) compatible parts. I also have a couple of good mechanic friends, that means cheap labor (one works in a machine shop) It seems like a no brainer for me to go with the 72' because of the overall condition, but it seems the 79' engine is a better one to overhaul with the amount of money I have.
Any help on this is greatly apreciated.

Ill be honest with you man... your talking about doing a lot of performance stuff to that little 1.8.... by the time you have spent all that money with the cam, header, forged what nots, dizzy, etc... you will have just rather have saved the money and smallblocked it. The cab forward on these trucks are pretty easy to do body work etc to... its the bed thats the bitch because it is single paneled... I will drop you a link to the fix up of my 78... none of it is in order but you will see what I mean. Best of luck to ya man... they are all fun but like the saying goes if its got tits or tires its going to give you trouble

LONG lost of compatible parts. from a lot of isuzu vehicles. most useful would be the early model trooper which is almost completely compatible with the luv. up to 86 and the EARLY model 87 not the later.

i would say the 79 would be better the engine had a decent amount of improvements including the cross flow head. IF its a simple problem to fix since you would be tearing into the engine anyway.
but im sure there are some who will argue both sides. depends whats wrong with the engine in the 79?
the 72 with the quad headlight setup looks sweet

weber carb = probably best bolt on you can find for the LUV as the stock carb wasn't anything to brag about.
Stock carb.
i would also look into a set of pacesetter headers to go with that weber. makes a big difference.
electronic ignition =
the performance pistons will be a stumbling block for you as there really weren't any made for the LUV. but the stock pistons are suprisingly sturdy and can stand up to turbo boost.
you can get the cam reground for more power.

or hell you could say screw the 1.8L find a donor trooper in u-pull-it and pull out the fuel injected 2.6 and 5 speed and drop it in with a little modification to the driveline it will drop right in for way more power for even less $$$ than it would take you to rebuild the 1.8 and call yourself set with either truck

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Luvless
1980 Mikado-Sold.

1993 Lexus SC400 my Daily
2004 Yamaha WR250F my new love in life
2016 Toyota Camry my girls ride

I think your decision depends on what you want out of the truck. If you want something to go fast in, buy the earlier truck and prepare to throw in a small-block V8 or 4.3 V6. If you want to trick out the 4-banger, then get the later one. Doing either will guarantee that you will go over your $1,200 budget in no time. Also keep in mind that a 1800cc engine is an 1800cc engine no matter how you slice it and if either one is rust-free it will save you a lot of money and headaches. Trust me on this one.

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-Micah
05 GTO 6.0
85 Yamaha RZ350

It is easier to find a good engine for these trucks, than it is a good body...

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If you think no one cares, try missing a couple of payments...



FIAA!

SFPP!

FWIW: I would get the one with the least amount of rust. You do realise you will spend a lot more money building the 4 banger than you would just building a mild small block? If you want to do a turbo G200, JE/Ross can machine up a set of "custom" forged slugs for around $500. Darrel of Gemracing over in Oz can hand fab a turbo exhaust header for you, not sure what they cost these days with the dollar tanking, but I paid $650 back in 2006. I was going to build a G200 to hopefully make around 450HP but the cost was too prohibiting, just in flow bench time alone I was in the project two grand and I still needed a bottom end, and a trans to put it to the ground so I shelved it. A 350/406 will make about the same power for half the cost, and would live all day on pump gas. I still have all the wild G200 top end parts (turbo, header, wild camshaft, ported head) hoping for a day that I can afford to build it lol

D

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LUV Truck Desserter!
76 Daily driver (SOLD)
73 LUV (rusting away at the moment)
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63 Nova
74 Camaro

long list of agreement. if the 72 has the better body i would buy it, its going to cost alot more to get the 79 streetable.

building the 1.8. is expensive and not worth the money.
if you want to keep it fairly good on gas but still have some get up and go get the EFI 2.6 from a trooper.
if its just planned to be a badass fast truck i would agree with the others.. anything from the buick 3.8L v6 to 4.3L v6. or a small block 283-350 would get it tearing the road up

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Luvless
1980 Mikado-Sold.

1993 Lexus SC400 my Daily
2004 Yamaha WR250F my new love in life
2016 Toyota Camry my girls ride

I love my 72, I would buy the 72. So far I put a Weber carburetor, Offenhauser intake manifold, Pertronix ignition, and I am working on upgrading some electrical and putting in air con. If you want a better engine, swap in a V6 or V8. Power by Ace has all the bolt in brackets and headers nowadays. Or, be different and put some other powerplant in. The choices are endless. But you can have plenty of fun even with the stock engine, I am. Incidentally, if you get the 72 and scrap the engine, try to sell the parts on here because some items are 72 year only. For the fuel pump you can usually find them on Ebay.

if rust was not a factor, id go for the one that was emissions exempt.
a 72 would be exempt right?

but if rust is a issue, yea go for the better one....

0.01C

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86trooperT/D 2.2
84 L\B 4x4Diesel LS 2.2
84 S\B 4X4 gas rust bucket 1.9
86 L\B 4X4 gas 5 speed 2.3
the twins, 81 pup and 81 LUV both are diesel 2.2



The Energizer Bunny is trying to keep up, and is starting to gasp for air!!

Easy choice - the '72.

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1978 LUV Mikado - all stock with automatic/AC