LUVTruck.com

any advice or pointers i;ll need to know before i do?

i can use all the help i get
being 17 i can use all the advice possible

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79' LUV

talk to old rob he sells the mounts dont go at it any other way. take ur time plan everything out and u wont have to do much to the truck cutting wise. just go look at other v8 projects on the site and get ideas .

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77-luv-stock (Selling or Parting out motor blew up)

75-luv mikado-V8 350 soon

and also where are u from?

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77-luv-stock (Selling or Parting out motor blew up)

75-luv mikado-V8 350 soon

Best advice is don't cut the firewall. If properly done, it will fit with a small cap distributor and a short water pump set up without butchering the truck...

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



FIAA!

SFPP!

There are many ways to go about this installation, you have already recieved some excellent advice, also there is a very good article found elsewhere on this site regarding the use of Hooker motor mounts. Their headers and their complete motor mount kits including the transmission mount are still availabe from Summit.
Old Rob is undoubtedly the expert in these swaps, he makes a complete kit including the radiator, headers and best of all a motor mount that adapts to your present frame mounts. You can learn a lot by browsing through this site, almost any question you have can be found here. I will be glad to send you some pictures showing you how to make your own mounts if you wish. Like Old Rob I've been doing these swaps since the early 70's and I hope have learned from my mistakes!
Good luck, where are you from, perhaps there are other Luv owners nearby?
My e-mail address is pinkertondusty@aol.com, and I live in Riverside, CA

bring it down an I can help you swap it.

A.j.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykgDNjeTa0g

For the most trouble free experiance buy a kit.
Bolt in at www.powerbyace.com also tech info, pictures at www.photobucket.com/v8luv
Hooker weld in from Summit racing.
Biggest advantage of kits are they are proven and a lot of people have used them, so the knowledge base is extensive.

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The light at the end of the tunnel, may just be a train coming!

A.J.- i'm considering moving to cruces so that's a thought to consider

and thanks alot to everyone for the advice!
i'll be sure to contact old rob when i get to NM before i start this project


and im located in DFW, Texas right now
but in cruces, NM from july til august
then back here
unless i move out

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79' LUV

and thanks old rob!
that's exactly what i was looking for

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79' LUV

just go 4 it

i did my v-8 luv swap back in 1999 b 4 i even knew of this site,,,i was worried about doing it,,,,a few others i had talked to that i know who did the swap said that it was alot of work...this was my first swap of any kind and i have done a bunch of them since then on s-10s ,toyota's, luv, etc....i will say that it was really pretty easy,,i did mine in my yard didnt even have a shop to work in...i did every thing but the exhaust but since then do them as well...i didnt cut any thing and didnt dent the fire wall like i have seen others do..im running a regular size hei and a short water pump with a wide all aluminum radiator and every thing clears just fine...i have driven a luv with the motor set way back with a dog house built around the motor and i think it does make one handle better...
you shouldn't have any problem with all the information from the gear heads on this site along with the unlimited amount of knolege these guys have here and many photos...

just do it and good luck with it,,,you will really enjoy it when finished..

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When buying a used car, punch the buttons on the radio. If all the stations are rock and roll, there's a good chance the transmission is shot!!!

If you have everything from the Camaro it will fit. Even a HEI distributor. That's what my truck is built from. The rear end is a little wide with the Late model Factory 16" Camaro Wheels (Late 90's) But different offset wheels could take care of it.

If you don't have the whole setup, try to run a HEI distributor from some V8 engine. They are almost fool proof and a very tough setup.

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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.

i only have the engine
i fond it at a pick n pull
i was browsing around and saw it there

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79' LUV

Do you even know if it runs???

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Click on C.M. logo to go to my webpage


RIP R.J.B.

Just in case you haven't read this before, be sure to install HD relays, like the ones sold at Autozone for driving lights, for both the starter relay and if you are going to use the HEI distributor, install one for it, you will need a true reliable 12 volts at both of these units.
Ask around and you find that the little wires coming from the stock wiring just won't suffice in either of these applications.
However the relays are cheap, you can even get them at pic a part so it is no big deal, just necessary.
Good luck, happy 4 th of July

scjconv

Use a Ford solenoid for the starter circuit. Look at the later flat one.
Run the stock wire from the neutral safety switch to the S terminal.
Run a #12 red wire to oneside and the purple start wire to the chevy solenoid, to the other side of the ford solenoid.
Or
You can put a jumper between the starter batt wire and S terminal on the chev starter.
Run a large wire from the starter batt terminal to one side of the Ford soleniod and a large wire from the battery to the other side.

The Ford solenoid usuallly has a ballast bypass terminal marked ( I )

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The light at the end of the tunnel, may just be a train coming!

I ran the stock waring harness to the starter and the coil, no problems what so ever. Why re-invent the wheel??

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Certified pilots, looking down on people since 1903.

The voltage demand for the Chevy V8 starter solenoid is greater than the LUV's. The Chevy swap increases the temp, expecially with smog legal engines. Due to this increase in heat the stock LUV wire, which is a smaller gauge than the stock Chevy will not be able to pass the required current. If you extend the wire for a neutral safety switch this aggravates the problem. I'm a believer in neutral safty switches! This is not a problem on all conversions, just some and this is one fix for a no start when hot condition. This is the same fix that GM used on it's trucks and cars, when they had a hot, no start problem.

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The light at the end of the tunnel, may just be a train coming!

Thanks again Rob, I didn't even think about the Ford starter solenoid, I am so used to using the HD relays. Personally I like to have everything as clean looking as possible and I usually make a mounting bracket for the two or even three relays to be inline and located somewhere out of the way. Besides the relays are a lot cheaper than the Ford solenoids.
I had to use the starter and the HEI distributor relays on the first 231 V6 swaps too. The little 20 guage wiring just wouldn't pass enough current, all I got was a clicking sound from the starter.
And I know the HEI won't work correctly without a constant 12 high voltage source, which it won't get from the stock Luv distributor wiring! These distributors have a 14-12 guage wire going to the built in coil/cap on factory installations. On my 78 I have a third relay that engages from the starter relay to provide a 12V current to the HEI during the key's "turn to start" position. Don't know about all of them, but my 78 ignition switch does not provide ign current in this position, although my 81 doesn't seem to have this problem.
My 78's battery is located in a compartment under the step-bed so all of the HD cables have to be longer, maybe that contributes to the voltage drop also? As always good to hear from you Rob.
scjconv

My battery is in the bed, I have no idea why some have power issues, many have seen my truck and I never have any issues, not even hot.

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Certified pilots, looking down on people since 1903.

I also used the stock harness to the starter and NEVER had any problems .

I had a HEI distributor and short waterpump in mine and didn't cut the firewall . I built my mounts from scratch and used block huggers . Just take your time and think things out .