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alright so im sure you guys get these types of questions all the time. so heres another one. so ive found myself with more time on my hands than i'd like to admit and have read about you guys pulling some pretty impressive swaps in your trucks. my truck is currently my daily driver and would like to keep it so it can be driven on pump gas. but i really want to rebuild an engine and add some much desired horse power to the luv. so my question is what engine would you guys suggest for me? and what sort of rear end should i look for with that engine? thanks for any info and i'll post some pics of my truck soon.

man, your going to get alot of replys on this. alot of new guys here ask the same question.
if you want some real horses go with a sbc 350. alot of guys here go way past the 9's at the strip. from what i hear it's not to hard to do and you could go on forever with upgrades
or, a buick v-6. thats what i plan on doing. it's not a power house or anthing like that but i hear it'll make you move it's pretty common to see one of them in there. thats what most guys did to them when they first came out. and like blue meanie was saying in another post is, that gas prices are getting to high and sbc's will kill you in gas money http://forums.luvtruck.com/viewtopic.php?t=4478
have you thought of just doing a couple mods on the stock engine ? from the stock 85 with a couple things you can push close to 130 out of one. get you a weber carb, a good exhaust with a header and if you want to tear the motor down and could bore the motor ( probably out of the question sincit's a daily driver ). you could also look for a set of electronic points made for a 81,82, luv. they'll work with a little elbow grease

the other guys can tell you the details about the 350


the ford 9 inch rear end is the only one to do. it'll hold up to anything

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1980 luv sport 4x4 Just a memory now
Frame rusted from the inside. Truck stripped and now looking for a new donor in southern ohio

agreed. might look at the 4.3 v6 too. As far as rears go, I had a stock one behind a 283 for a few years, in fact last time I heard it was still in there. I got rid of that truck in 93.
Got a 9" in the current v8 luv, would recommend if you've got the cash to do it.

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Resident lurker

Did you get your 9 out of the junque yard or from a company that specializes in them?

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- 1976 Chevy Longbed - Daily Driver
- 1981 Chevy Shortbed 4X4 - Needs Help!
- 1981 Chevy Luv 4X4 - Newly put together

If you are looking for a bit more power you could also go with a newer Isuzu 4 cyl like a 2.3L or 2.6L from a pickup or Trooper. The fuel economy would be about as good as the stock 4 banger (at least if you grab the 5 spd trans to go with it) and the power would be quite noticable. I'm not talking about tire spinning wheelie action, but a 2.3 or 2.6 would make passing fun again and pulling hills at 65-70 very doable. Its also a bit less extreme of a swap so it would not require as much fabrication. I've worked up a fairly solid plan for a swap like this that would keep things simple if you're interested.

A big part of swaps is knowing what the rules are in your area with regard to emissions. That can really complicate things and leave you with a truck that can't be registered where you live if you don't take it into consideration from the start. I'm one of those lucky ones that lives in an area where smog testing isn't required, so it isn't a factor, but you may have to deal with it.

Such a great thing not having smog testing

I have to have it done, but since she is over 25 years old, it should not be a problem.

I wonder if I can get it tested without inspecting it. Hmmm.

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More LUV than one man could ever need - Spread the LUV!
- 1976 Chevy Longbed - Daily Driver
- 1981 Chevy Shortbed 4X4 - Needs Help!
- 1981 Chevy Luv 4X4 - Newly put together

I used to have a 3.8 buick in mine, and it did damn good. Pulled it out to put a sbc in it, and currently am just waiting on time and funds.

If you do put a 3.8 in it, or any different motor, you'll definaltly want a different rear end. The S10 rears are generally 3.73:1, which will help out with your top end and at the pump too.

It'll cost about the same for either motor swap. You can find a 305 sbc and a TH350 transmission anywhere, plenty of horses and ok gas mileage.

alright so i dont have much background in fabrication. but in a few months im takin' a welding class at my local j.c. i live in northern cali and smog and all that is pretty tight round here. are there any swaps i should stay away from for smog purposes? and of course money is an issue but im going to take my time with the engine build so i figured i'd just buy stuff as the build went along. i cant afford to buy it all at once. and do you guys just pull your engines from local junk yards or have any of you ever purchased a crate engine. im not too big on the thought of having the engine built already. i really want to get in there and build it myself. and arent crate engines pretty expensive? thanks for all the info

If you want a good daily driver that you will notice to have more power, think about a toyota a 20r or 22r. It is a very easy swap, and they are reliable motors. Pretty much you just need the motor, trans (prefer 5 spd, but 4 would work fine), make a set of motor mount adapters, and a drivline cut to size. We just did that swap on a truck in boise and it only took about 4 hours from shut down to start up. You can cut the stock mounts where it bolts to the motor and add a piece of steel to run back to the mount holes on the toyota motor.

Funny you say that. I saw a 22-R motor last weekend and am hot on the trail of one to go into the LUV.

This one had a harness in it, but I did not see where it went to anything major on the motor.

Did your 22R have a harness?

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More LUV than one man could ever need - Spread the LUV!
- 1976 Chevy Longbed - Daily Driver
- 1981 Chevy Shortbed 4X4 - Needs Help!
- 1981 Chevy Luv 4X4 - Newly put together

22R engines had a harness from the factory, mostly smog junk and about 4 wires(i'm pretty sure) for the factory carb for the choke and idle solenoid etc. the 22RE has a harness, since it's multi port fuel injected. not the hardest thing to rig up, but definitely a project

if you put a weber on a 22R, the only wires you'll need are spark, coil ignitor and distributor.

not to mention, 20R and 22R motors are dirt cheap. the 20R was made from '75-80 and the 22R was made from '81-95, very easy to find.

for tranny choices, the best are W or R series trannies. L or G series will get the job done, but aren't nearly as strong. for a 2wd, you'll want to look for a W50 or W55, they came in fuel injected trucks and celicas. as for a 4wd pickup the best one to look for is a R151F or W56. all transmissions from trucks made before 1996, celicas before 1986, and coronas before 1981(i think) will interchange. they don't care if they're behind a 20R or 22R or 22RE or 22RTE(rare turbo from '86-87), either. however, transmissions made before 1984 are usually 4.5" shorter...don't think it's an issue because you'll probably end up getting your driveline reworked anyway

if you put an aftermarket cam, header and weber carb on these little guys, and maybe do a little head work, they'll throw you back in your seat quite nicely. they had around 140lbs of torque stock, only 96hp but it can be easily raised.

and lastly, to put how reliable they are, i have a 20R engine in my truck and it's seen 311,000 miles without a single rebuild

So Joe109... It looks like you got your hands full with so many directions to go. Think it thru and let us know what you decide on and we can give you a ton of info to keep you busy.
My advice... Buick/Chevy V-6 and a Ford 9" axle for a daily driver thats hot to trot.

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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.

i dunno...30-35mpg on a 22R might be a bit tempting

damn sounds like there are so many options. i never even knew half of which existed. well, ive thought about it and im going to do the v6 buick swap. so this means you guys will be hearing plenty of me cuz im goin' to have many more questions once i get this going. thanks for all the info.