LUVTruck.com

Hi all:

My nephew is 17 and hasn't ever been into cars/trucks. In fact he doesn't even have is license yet and isn't really all that anxious to get it. This has always baffled me because I was driving long before I was licensed .

Anyhow, I'd pretty much given up hope on him... until recently. I had my '75 non-running truck sitting in the back yard at my parents place and I was teasing him that he would look good in one of these. To my surprise, instead of ignoring me he started to check out the truck and after a bit said it was cool and he could see himself in it. Needless to say, I was shocked. I wasn't sure if he was kidding me or what.

Then about a month ago my sister called me and said that my nephew needs to get a vehicle cuz she's tired of driving him around and wanted me to try to find an older, economical vehicle for him. Well that was my opening to propose a luv. And to my surprise he quickly jumped on the idea. I sent him to the photo gallery on this site to see which years/styles he liked so we'd know what to look for. He didn't get back to me so after a few days I called to see what he liked. Unfortunately he didn't have an opinion, he said they all looked the same and it didn't matter. Hopefully that's just his lack of prior auto related experience showing through because all of us here know that's totally not true. For example, '72 lighted rings around the instrument panel switches, 4 headlights vs. 2 headlights, etc.

Anyhow, that leaves the styling decision up to me; which I'm happy with.

So from my experience and the advice I received from other members when I was purchasing my first luv I've got a pretty good idea of what I'm going to purchase.

My nephew has never been really good in school but he's recently been attending an alternative high school that emphasizes vocational studies and he's done very well in that setting. Anyhow, I told him that purchasing a 30 year old truck means that it's going to require some regular maintenance. He took that to heart and signed up for an auto-mechanic class for the first term of his Senior year. That's encouraging. Either way, I've got a backup for his automotive repairs. He lives just outside of Tumwater, WA and I recall that TumwaterTaz enjoys doing LUV truck work for free.

Anyhow, back to my pending purchase. This time around I'm looking for a '76 or '77 2 wheel drive shortbox truck. Ideally the truck needs to be in nice shape bodywise with a bad motor. That way my nephew and I can rebuild the motor and he can gain that experience/knowledge.

Now that I'm looking, however, I don't see too many for sale. Isn't it always that way? Oh yeah, I'm in WA and would like to find something in WA or northern OR.

I know others have mentioned getting a '78-80 and swapping in the 4 headlight setup. That's still an option but for my nephew's truck I'd really like it to be completely stock so finding parts isn't confusing. As time goes on I'm sure my criteria will loosen. I've already gotten an offer from nukeday and it's enticing but I'm going to hold out a bit longer before going the 4x4 route.

So that's my story. I'll probably be posting a Want Ad in the classifieds if this doesn't generate some leads.

Have a good day,
Eric Q.

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'75 body with '82 diesel running gear
My build thread.

i found 2 step sides this week for sale one i will get to replace my sons truck and the other is a 78 i think with a 75 231 v6 that was rebuilt a year or so ago but was not finished like carb dizy ect. she wants $700 let me know if your interested and ill send the phone number, its here in salem...

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My old but now gone Luv...

Your boy got to give up his truck?

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Looking for that special LUV.

LOL...not too much anymore.

But seriously, I would be willing to help you guys out a bit. I've got a ton of manuals and info here, and a few spare parts.

Get a hold of me when you find one and I'll see what I can do to help you guys round up any parts you may need.

So are you thinking about keeping it completely stock, or are you going to customize it?

A stepside running an Impulse engine with a weber and a 5 speed tranny would be a good 4-banger truck that still gets good gas milage.

I can probably help hook you guys up with the bed and the carb pretty cheap.

I figured as much but I was razzing you more than actually asking for help. I do appreciate the offer though.



Yes, I was thinking of sticking with a stock ride. I need something that's not pieced together from a bunch of different things. Like I said, he's new to autos in general so it would be nice if he could follow a shop manual and get the expected results when things need repaired.

How fast will a stock 2wd go? Since the freeways are 70 MPH in his neck of the woods it would be good if we could make 70. Otherwise I guess he could take old 99 exclusively. Going slow in your first vehicle isn't a bad thing. My first car was a stock '47 chevy and it would top out (safely) about 60. That pretty much limited me to in town driving though once they changed the speed limit. On the other hand, I never got a speeding ticket in that car.

If he decides that he really likes the luv and wants to modify it then would be the time to make changes.

Or do you think it's a waste of money for me to rebuild a stock 1.8 motor?

Eric Q.

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'75 body with '82 diesel running gear
My build thread.

Thanks for the lead. That's currently a bit out of my criteria but that might change over time.

Any idea what mileage that V6 would get? My sister would kill me if I bought a 'hot rod' for her son.

Thanks again,
Eric Q.

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'75 body with '82 diesel running gear
My build thread.

not sure, tilted would know

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My old but now gone Luv...

The difference between a stock 1.8 and a stock Impulse 1.9 is about 20-25 hp, plus the Impulse 1.9 engine is a little simpler to work on, since you don't have any air injector nozzles in the head. Your stock 1.8 intake and exhaust will bolt right up though, and the Impulse has taller pistons, a little bigger cam, and slightly bigger valves. Also the gas milage for both engines is nearly identical.

And before I would rebuild either one, I'd look around in http://www.car-part.com for a decent used engine. Used Impulse 1.9 engines are actually cheaper than most 1.8's for some odd reason.
(I suspect it's because there are a lot of them and most people don't realize that they bolt right in.)

Top speed in a bone stock Luv is about 55 mph (downhill with a strong tailwind...lol), so a 5 speed tranny would be a good idea too. If you decide to get a 5 speed, make sure you get the driveline too, because the output shaft splines on a 4 speed and a 5 speed are different (but the drivelines and u-joints are identical, and you need to determine if the clutch linkage is identical.

That would bring the top speed up a bit, and reduce the rpm's and wear-n-tear on the engine.

As for a weber, getting a cheap used one and rebuilding it would be the best way to go, because the stock hitachi carbs are pure junk and very unreliable.

Like I said before, I have a few spare parts laying around that I can part with cheap and I have a few local resources for more, so once you track down a shortbed truck for him, we'll see what we can do for it.

Pm sent