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 Post subject: '75 Diesel Conversion
PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 10:44 pm 
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da LUV masta

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Location: Auburn, WA
Hi fellow Luv owners. I'm going to be detailing my conversion of my '75 from the gas engine to the 2.2l diesel from an '82 Luv.

Things I've learned. Start with a '77 instead of the '75. Because of the '75 I had to cut and remount the motor mounts from the frame. I've since learned that from '76 and later, the mounts are in the same spot for gas or diesel. My '75 also has the hydraulic clutch but in '77 it is a cable like my donor '82 truck.

It took me a long time to get myself comfortable enough with the position of the engine in the engine compartment before welding in the new motor mounts. There's currently about an inch of room between the firewall and I think I'll still have room in the front for the clutch fan without hitting the radiator.
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Once the engine was in I started hooking up accessories such as the fuel filter. I was able to mount it to the inner fender for one of the brackets but I had to fabricate a small one that is welded to the battery box.
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The next modification was the throttle cable. On the '75 the cable is threaded into the firewall but the '82 has a rectangular plastic housing that snaps into the firewall.
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After a little filing and the die, now they both have threads.
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Next is the wiring harness. On the '82 it enters the cab in a different location and the hole is larger. Here is the original firewall with the hole for the hood release cable.
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Now with a 2.5" hole.
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Now with the wiring harness shoved through and the grommet in place.
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Since the mount for the fuse block is completely different, the old mounts were cut out and new studs welded to the inner fender.
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And the fuse block bolted in place.
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And lastly the rest of the drivers side wiring harness in place.
Image

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PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 11:05 pm 
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Another modification I made was to the instrument cluster. The '82 diesel has two indicator lights; one for the glow plugs and one for water in the fuel filter.
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The '75 cluster of course didn't have these. What it did have, however, is an unused circuit on the PCB board
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and the "frivilous" parking brake indicator.
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After drilling a new hole for an indicator lamp in the PCB board for the unused circuit, repurposing the parking brake indicator lamp and moving the transparencies from the '82 dash I have what I think is a pretty 'stock' looking first generation diesel dash. I've since found out from the Aussies where the glow plug lamp was placed but by that time I was already done with my conversion.
Image

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'75 body with '82 diesel running gear
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:49 am 
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That's some impressive work! Are you using the 5-speed, or 4-speed? What's your rear diff ratio?

Jack

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 9:59 am 
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da LUV masta

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Thanks.

I'm using the entire running gear from the '82 2wd. The stock rearend swapped in nicely but the brake line and emergency brake cables are in a different location. Relocating them is also on my list.

I have the stock 5 speed currently but I'm considering doing the swap to the later version. Currently the drive line is about 1 inch too long so regardless, I'll have to do some shortening. I'm not particularly happy with spending another ~$300 for an updated transmission but it might be cheaper in the long run. When I pulled the running gear from the donor truck, there weren't any of the tale tell signs but at 110k, I'm sure it's only a matter of time...

Eric Q.

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:13 pm 
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Location: Tomball, Texas
Very clever re-vamping of the instrument panel!

Question:

Just simply a question of curiosity... Why did you want to convert your gas truck to diesel?

Was it for gas mileage? Or for the uniqueness?, or some other reason?

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 5:55 pm 
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I think it was for a number of reasons... some of which no longer apply.

1. I really like the 1st gen style.
2. The engine in the '75 was dead.
3. The mileage and longevity of the 2.2l excited me.
4. Diesels were new to me
5. I was enamored with the idea of running my truck on vegetable oil for free/cheap. My original plans included a second tank, heat exchangers, etc. Still a cool idea but I'm not sure if it's worth the time/effort/money any more. Who knows.

I think those are the highlights.

Eric Q.

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 11:29 pm 
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O.K. I accidentilly overwrote my photos on skydrive so the first two pictures in this thread aren't correct and it looks like I'm past the time limit on editing so I'll repost the two here.

Diesel engine in (and it's more like 3 inches of clearence to the firewall).
Image

Fuel filter mount.
Image

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 12:04 am 
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma. The United States Of America.-1980 LUV 4X4
This is going to be a good read..I'd love to have my 80 a diesel.


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 1:00 pm 
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Location: Germantown, TN (right next to ElvisTown)
Eric Q. wrote:
I have the stock 5 speed currently but I'm considering doing the swap to the later version. Currently the drive line is about 1 inch too long so regardless, I'll have to do some shortening. I'm not particularly happy with spending another ~$300 for an updated transmission but it might be cheaper in the long run.
That's good, you got the 3.73 rear diff and your speedometer won't require any calibration as long as you're using a tire diameter that's close to what the donor vehicle used.

My local Pull-A-Part has two vehicles with compatible 5-speeds, and they're less than $50 ($39.36 + an $8.12 core charge). If you upgrade, your speedometer/odometer will be off significantly (I think around 9% if memory is correct).

Jack

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PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:41 pm 
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JoeIsuzu wrote:
That's good, you got the 3.73 rear diff and your speedometer won't require any calibration as long as you're using a tire diameter that's close to what the donor vehicle used.

Are you saying that even though I'm using the '75 speedometer, it will be accurate using the '82 running gear? I guess I figured it would be calibrated to the previous tranny. Or is it that all speedometers will report the same speed given the same rpm's of the speedometer cable... hummm... If it worked, what a bonus for me.

JoeIsuzu wrote:
My local Pull-A-Part has two vehicles with compatible 5-speeds, and they're less than $50 ($39.36 + an $8.12 core charge). If you upgrade, your speedometer/odometer will be off significantly (I think around 9% if memory is correct).

Wow! That's amazingly cheap. My local wrecking yard wants $250 plus $50 core charge but they have also already pulled it and it's sitting on the shelf. I think there's a 30 day warranty too but as slow as I move on these projects, 30 days would be up before I got it unloaded. :-)

I will have to try some U-Pull it places and see if I can get out of there for $50 with a tranny. Do they supply cherry pickers? It seems pretty difficult to get an engine or tranny out w/o one.

Eric Q.

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My build thread.


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 7:03 am 
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Eric Q. wrote:
Are you saying that even though I'm using the '75 speedometer, it will be accurate using the '82 running gear?
There's actually a standard for speedometers/odometers. I can't remember, but I think it's 1,000 rpm on the speedo cable = 60 mph. So it should not matter what the transmission came from, as long as the driven gear is right for the rear diff, and you're running equivalent diameter tires.
Eric Q. wrote:
I will have to try some U-Pull it places and see if I can get out of there for $50 with a tranny. Do they supply cherry pickers? It seems pretty difficult to get an engine or tranny out w/o one.
My local Pull-A-Part supplies A-frame engine/transmission winches, but I think I'd pull the transmission from underneath. The Pull-A-Part is quite a bit cheaper than some other do-it-yourself yards. LKQ and U-Pull-It were around $125 for a transmission, maybe slightly more. U-Pull-It wanted about $12 per SECTION for a driveshaft (3 sections!). I got the whole driveshaft at Pull-A-Part for under $12.

Pull-A-Part has their prices on their website, and they might vary according to location.

Jack

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 10:02 am 
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da LUV masta

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JoeIsuzu wrote:
There's actually a standard for speedometers/odometers. I can't remember, but I think it's 1,000 rpm on the speedo cable = 60 mph. So it should not matter what the transmission came from, as long as the driven gear is right for the rear diff, and you're running equivalent diameter tires.

How cool! Thanks for that tidbit of knowledge.

JoeIsuzu wrote:
The Pull-A-Part is quite a bit cheaper than some other do-it-yourself yards. Pull-A-Part has their prices on their website, and they might vary according to location.

Cool place and website. Too bad they're on the other side of the country from me. :cry:

Eric Q.

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PostPosted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:53 pm 
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Did more work on the wiring. The focus this time getting the instrument cluster wiring harness from the '82 to properly connect to the '75 instrument cluster.

Here is the single connector from the '75 wiring harness.
Image

Here is the dual connectors from the '82 wiring harness.
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Luckily the large round connector, while being a different color and using slightly different female connectors, still fits the male portion on the '75 instrument cluster. So all I had to do was move wires around in the large connector, move a couple wires from the small connector to the large connector, remove the small connector, and tape off three wires (Parking Brake, Seat Belt buzzer, and 4x4). Now the '82 harness is properly wired for the '75 instrument cluster... and all without cutting a single wire. :D
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 12:15 am 
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Location: Denver CO
looking good
I was going to merge my harness but they are just to different


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PostPosted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 8:27 am 
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da LUV masta

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Location: Auburn, WA
Codym wrote:
I was going to merge my harness but they are just to different

I don't blame you. I will still have a little patching to do to merge two chevy luv harnesses. Yours would be much more complicated. I'm following your thread as well so don't slack off on the progress. Want to race to completion? :lol:

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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:33 am 
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da LUV masta

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Started on the dash pod wiring. Originally I was going to try and connect the '75 headlight switch to the '82 harness but after comparing the two switches and finding they are almost identical (only some wire color differences) I decided to just switch the knob from the '75 to the '82 to maintain the look and use the '82 switch.
Image

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 Post subject: Tail light lens cleanup
PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 12:21 pm 
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da LUV masta

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Location: Auburn, WA
Took a break from electrical and worked on polishing up my plastic lenses. I bought and used the Meguiars Headlight Polishing Kit and I'm totally happy with the results. Check out the before and after pictures.

Image

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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 11:45 am 
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma. The United States Of America.-1980 LUV 4X4
Here is two video's on how to restore the lenses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUblODYC ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sZg9cj2hxI


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 6:55 am 
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BEAUTIFUL! The diesels can sure benefit from this! :lol: The driver's (exhaust) side especially.

Jack

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PostPosted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:33 am 
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da LUV masta

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I've been slowly making progress and finally got around to posting pictures.

This will be the last of my wiring updates (hopefully). In general I've found that I can move wires from one plug type to another to make the transition work. One tool that I stumbled across which has made re-wiring so much easier is a small set of tweezers from a cheap knock off swiss army knife. Really it's just a couple of small strips of stainless that fit perfectly in the slot of each wire connector to release the wire from the connector. Here's a picture of the tool in use.
Image

Because the '82 luv wiring harness ran inside the cab and then back out on the passenger side, another hole needed cut.
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After the grommet is in place, it looks fairly stock.
Image

Worked on the parking brake a bit. As you can see in the picture, the cable was routed in a different manner on the '82 and would run smack into the shock absorber on the '75.
Image

So after cutting the original mount and moving it to the left a couple inches, the cable housing now lines up with the '75 parking brake cable mounts. Alhough it ends about 2 feet short of the bracket. Anyone with ideas on lengthening a cable?
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On the topic of brakes, I found it oddly convenient that the two pieces of flex hose for the service brakes simply connected to each other. Does anyone see a problem with this? I'll tie it up so it isn't hanging down but from a braking perspective?
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Since the '82 had a wheelbase that was two inches longer than the '75 I had to have the drive line shortened. Turns out because of the way the driveline tapered at the rear-end u-joint, the old guy at the driveline shop said it would be better to just retube it. Not sure if he just wanted to make a couple bucks more on me or not but the new drive line fits nice and it even came painted. :D
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And lastly, I had searched locally for a radiator for quite a while and finally found a new remanufactured one out of Portland. In case anyone goes shopping for these, '73-'75 are core number 642 and '76-'80 are core number 643. Those numbers didn't hold significance to me but they are industry standard numbers to radiator folks. '72 wasn't listed so not sure if it is another year specific item or not. Another freshly painted part on the truck. :lol:
Image

Next update should have it running and a functioning hydraulic clutch after I get my learnings from AZDUDE.

Eric Q.

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