LUVTruck.com

I have a 1975 Chevy Luv pickup with a 1.8 L Isuzu engine and I'm pretty sure the block is cracked. I plan on putting a 350 V8 in it this summer with the lowest amount of money I can spend. So far I have a working motor and a turbo 350 transmission. My only concern right now is when I get a little twitchy with my pedal (which I know I will at some point!), I pretty sure the frame of my pickup will twist. My brother says that if I do give it the onion it's sure to twist. Is there any way I can improve my frame so that I reduce this possibility? Any and all suggestions on helping me build this thing are welcome!

You will not twist the frame of the Luv. it is built better than the S10 or full size truck or car frame.

Are you pretty positive about this? It looks like a little pickup but yet I should be underestimating it.

I have ran a stock frame well into the 9's with no twist, and no roll cage either. Don't sweat a stock motor. The weak link will be the rear end if you can make it hook. Street tires, it will probably be fine...

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



FIAA!

SFPP!

The frame is fully boxed with 6 crossmembers. It was overkill in those trucks..

My friends and I built at least six V8 LUV's and NEVER had problems with the frame. U-joints and rear-ends were the weak points and we blew the carbon out of them on a daily basis!!

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I've never been wrong! Once I thought I was, but I was mistaken.
Rick
Loranger, La
1980 Stepside LUV (Again)

Even the stock rear end will survive if you do not run slicks. Many have even done some mild racing on a drag strip. You will most likely have a 4:56 or a 4:11 in it. They are tough little trucks. Remember these were designed as real working truck.

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75 Luv, 350 V8, TH350, Camaro rearend. New 1975 Luv Step side. Stock for now.
Grandmaster of the "Shade Tree" way.. I can't see the yard for all the cars. Come on down and we will sit on the porch and watch the grass grow.

You have recieved some very accurate information already but I felt like adding my own advice. Like it is quoted above these trucks were made to haul heavy loads and therefore have SIX crossmembers, plus the frame is completely indepentent from the body, unlike many other engine swap candidates. Your brother may be comparing the Luvs to the earlier Chevy Vegas, these did have a tendency to twist their unibody platforms. You absolutely do not have this problem with the Luv's full frame. There are guys out there running 454 Chevys, 455 Olds, even 500 CI Cadillac engines with no problems.
You cannot find a sturdier, stronger frame than these little trucks. I've built dozens of them with sbcs and have never had a problem, even the rear ends are pretty tough!
Good luck,
scjconv

Just to beat the living shit out of a dead horse.... You will never in a hundred years twist or bend the frame of a LUV. I had a 75 2WD with a 305 in it that I raced a few times in a "tuff truck" competition. I jumped it at 40 mph off a jump that had to have been 6' high. The truck nosed in because of all the extra weight up front. I had to pull grass out of my front bumper! But there was never any damage to the frame. The frame in my full size chevy would twist or bend before the LUV frame.

Just wanted to add another testimony!

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No LUV anymore, but still in the GM truck family. Running a lifted 2002 Silverado Z-71!

And the stock engine was ..... an afterthought?

If i remember right wasn't the LUV rated for a 1/2 ton payload?

But the look on peoples face is priceless when you tell them you are putting a 350 in a LUV !

Many people are able to pull a tire or two on the track with a stock frame, you will not twist it or hurt it.

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Certified pilots, looking down on people since 1903.

My two cents. I have seen these trucks do wheelies and run in the nines with no frame problems. Like the man said if you don't put slicks on it and get it to bite real good the stock rear end will probably live for a while. I've seen these trucks run 12 second quarter miles spinning the tires all the way down the track and didn't blow the rear end. I have a narrowed nine inch in mine just because. Take the plunge and have some fun, and I hope you have discs on the front.

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I want to be different like everybody else.

I love the the luv's(got two 80 model's both 4x4) I'am about to put a 434sbc with a little over 600hp with a 350turbo hooked to a 208 trans case and go 4x4 in one of them and I feel very good about the frame, We dirt drag and bog and this little truck will be perfect for what I want to do.