LUVTruck.com

So, I'm thinking about building a sketchup model of a Chevy LUV. Any and all measurements of the sheetmetal that anyone knows are very much appreciated, especially the radius of any curve. I'd do it myself, but I'm not exactly sure how to measure that sort of thing.

Oh, so that you know what I'm doing, sketchup is a 3-D Modeling program.

Here's something somebody else has done of an S-10: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/ ... revstart=0

I'm thinking that a model like this one might be useful to anyone on the site trying to explain something. I'm going to start with the sheet metal and work my way down to the wiring. lol, it's gonna take quite a while, prolly years with the progress that I'm making (I think I've got the curve of the front fender drawn, and it's been 3 hours), but I'm sure it'll be worth it. lol, if nothing else, everybody could try out a colour on the model before they actually painted their truck.

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1980 4X4 LUV daily driver, as stock as can be.

that would be cool to have.

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My old but now gone Luv...

Hey ctmandu, you might know what the specs of the fenders might be, and what the slope is from front to back?

I thought so also... I'll start with the sheetmetal because that's going to be the most difficult, and I figure that as soon as I have that mastered, I can blast through the rest of the truck. With any luck at all, it'll be the correct size. I just need help with the measurements of the curves because the only way I can see to do that is to pull the sheet metal off, and my LUV is my only running vehicle at the moment.

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1980 4X4 LUV daily driver, as stock as can be.

Here's my current progress... it's not to scale as this is my first attempt. I'm going to draw the left half of the truck now, and just mirror it to get the whole truck. lol, it's going to take one heckuva long time.

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1980 4X4 LUV daily driver, as stock as can be.

sorry don't have the dimensions for you..not sure how to get the slop and radius of the curve... there are some engineers on here so maybe one of them can help...

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My old but now gone Luv...

Dang... lol, I've been working on the axles/wheels for the last hour... there're quite a few pre-fabs for those.

Well, I think I'm going to rig up a plumbob and a protractor on a stick to measure the slope of the hood/fenders. I'm trying to get a hold of somebody that's drawn a vehicle before and ask for help.

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1980 4X4 LUV daily driver, as stock as can be.

HAHA! I figured out how to rough out the main body! This ought to make it one heckuva lot easier to do.

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1980 4X4 LUV daily driver, as stock as can be.

You have more talent than I do. Looking good.

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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.

looks good so far way better than i can do so keep up the good work it ia kool

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http://www.facebook.com/ez.cracker
dangerous-toys4life
73 3-door avalanche bdydropped on 18s
86 1-ton 4x crewcab short bd 15"lift
75 k-5 2x
94 king cab

Alright, so the last model doesn't have the proper measurements, making it entirely useless... the whole putting the picture over it and then cutting it out didn't work the way I had hoped.
lol, back to the drawing board, no shortcuts this time. I'm just gonna have to plug along one piece at a time. Crap.

Has anyone done any measurements of their truck recently? Like frame width and crossmember placement? Rear window dimensions? Headlight diameter? Or does anyone have the factory specs? I'm going to measure my LUV, but I can't take it apart, so all I can really get is outside dimensions.

Maybe I'll keep with the inaccurate model for the practice and for anyone that wants to try on a colour before they paint. lol, plus it's a '75, and mine is an '80, so I don't have the measurements for it...

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1980 4X4 LUV daily driver, as stock as can be.

This may be of some help

http://www.luvtruck.com/PDF/LUV_Demension.pdf

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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.

That page has been unbelieveably helpful. I used the profile pictures of the truck to cut out the basic outline of the model. Also, the brochures have a few pics, but not to scale. I wish there was a dimension page for the 1980... or at least the series 9 or 10... they're pretty similar to the post-'75 trucks. I really wish that I could get some decent working drawings of the trucks! Eh, if people are trying on paint it doesn't need to be to scale does it?
the curves are really a PITA. I've been working on the part above the door.
Progress:

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1980 4X4 LUV daily driver, as stock as can be.

Never knew about this until this thread. AWESOME stuff! Don't forget the stepside version too. To view these do I need to have special software and/or at what price? Thanks......

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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)

You will need special software to use the model, but the freakin' awesome thing about it is that it's free.
http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/product/newin7.html is the link to get it.
PM me with your email address if you want a copy of the model. I'll definitely put a stepside one one for ya! Actually, I'll try to get to that tonight... shouldn't be too difficult being that there're stepside bed models already out there.

By the way things look at this point, I'm going to make a few different models, starting with the sheet metal and wheels for the people that want to do paint/wheels and other cosmetic stuff (like maybe even lowering/bagging), and then building a model of the engine bay/frame for the engine swap people to use when they get ready to plan it all out. If you guys took a look around the 3-D warehouse (http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/), try typing in something like '350 Chevrolet' in the search box. There are some pretty accurate models of engines out there, and I'm thinking that people could install the engine in the model to figure out what had to be done before they even touched their truck.

lol, so now I'm going to need the engine bay measurements along with the frame measurements from a 2X4 (my LUV is a 4X4)... those would really be much appreciated if somebody out there has the engine out of their LUV, or if anyone has the body off the frame. It's going to take awhile to get to the second model (maybe months) so no real rush on those measurements.

Thanks for all the interest!

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1980 4X4 LUV daily driver, as stock as can be.

lol, here ya go chevyluv1980...
Hopefully this looks right... the stepside guys might get on my case if it looks bad;)

My apologies for the 4X4 wheels... they're just for lining things up and keeping it from looking strange.

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1980 4X4 LUV daily driver, as stock as can be.

Looks good. Their were at least 2 makers of the bed.

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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.

That looks really cool Cant wait to see it finished

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2006 GMC Sierra 2500 HD

that bed looks like a 1950 stepside bed i think it look kinda kool on there this program is going to be so kool

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http://www.facebook.com/ez.cracker
dangerous-toys4life
73 3-door avalanche bdydropped on 18s
86 1-ton 4x crewcab short bd 15"lift
75 k-5 2x
94 king cab

Wow... that's exactly the model I pulled it off of. A 1950's truck... you're pretty good at that! Sadly enough, it's not a LUV stepside, it's from a model of a Chevy like the one in the background of my avatar. Can somebody post a few good close-up pics of a LUV stepside bed so that I can match it up?
Here's some progress:
That roof was a pain... close to a thousand separate lines. lol, so about an hour and a half. The roof should be finished now though (I'm only talking about the part on top that looks smooth... the other curves are kinda a work in progress).
Sorry I reverted it to a fleetside, but that's the one that I'm going to have to do from scratch, so it's gonna be in the model for now.

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1980 4X4 LUV daily driver, as stock as can be.

go here for step side pics, i have over 400 for you to look at
http://ctmandu.smugmug.com/Trucks/Other ... 4049_GsdoF

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My old but now gone Luv...