LUVTruck.com

I'm so happy Its finally done after a year. This was my first paintjob and it came out sweet Its a Electric blue with metallic flake. 7 coats Thats it for it, I've fixed what needed to be fixed and now in finally roadworthy. Now thats it's finally done. I'm planning on working on my LUV for now on. I'm going to finish up the bodywork and paint it sometime next month I kinda wished I painted my LUV this color

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1980 luv sport 4x4 Just a memory now
Frame rusted from the inside. Truck stripped and now looking for a new donor in southern ohio

When those cars first came out I hated them! They were everywhere . IMO just too many of them, and I was sick of them. But now days, I look at yours and very few others that are still around and I can really appreciate them once again.

Beautiful paint job there. My 2002 Peterbilt was about that same blue.

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

Why not just paint your LUV that color too?

Thanks Ron
I was actually thinking about painting my luv the color but I think it wouldn't look right sitting next to my z. I don't want to looked at like "Ohh look, look at the cars in that garage! There the same color, He must've had some paint left over from the other job." Lol

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1980 luv sport 4x4 Just a memory now
Frame rusted from the inside. Truck stripped and now looking for a new donor in southern ohio

That would be ALOT of left over paint if you painted them both with SEVEN coats! If/when I get my truck running, and ready for paint, i'm going to paint it baby blue.

Yeah, I was actually surprised when i looked in the can the first time. I used less than a quarter of the gallon to get a even coat on it. I got some left to probably cover the truck but it wouldn't look that clean compared to the z

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1980 luv sport 4x4 Just a memory now
Frame rusted from the inside. Truck stripped and now looking for a new donor in southern ohio

How hard is it to paint a car? I've read up on it a little, but haven't ever talked to anyone who has done it first hand. If I knew how to do body work, my LUV would already be dent free and primered.

I used to have a V8 Datsun 510 back in the day and it had those same wheels on it. I love those wheels!!!.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

Looks nice, GOOD JOB!!!!!

Thanks everyone
Luvsadrag do you have any pictures of the 510 ? I love the 510's. If i could find one of those this z would be gone in a heartbeat I LOVE the wheels too. I've never had a second thought about swapping them, I just wish they were alittle wider!

hey gijoe, if your really interested in learning to paint. Do ALOT of research. I read so many different how too's i got tired of reading. Take your time, Prepping is Everything when it comes to painting. If the surface isn't perfectly clean you WILL see every flaw. The Spray gun is the second most important. I learned that the hard way. The gun I used first was crap and i had to wetsand and respray the rear end. I'm glad I was only a quarter of the way into spraying when it dried and I saw it looked like shit. I'm far from being a expert! Just take your time and do your research before hand. I've had this paint a month before i finally sprayed. I was excited to spray the car but i held myself back until I knew more.
It was a very good choice

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1980 luv sport 4x4 Just a memory now
Frame rusted from the inside. Truck stripped and now looking for a new donor in southern ohio

Looks good Brandon, nice and clean. Good job on the first time paint job too...

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Resident lurker

absolutely beautiful colour

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2002 Lexus RX300
1998 Honda Accord
1977 Chevy Crew Cab Dually
1954 Ford F100
http://www.yvtruckclub.com/forum

Not sure if i have pics. this was 20 years ago that I had this car and in between there a bad break up with an ex gf and she tossed a bunch of my pics and car stuff (biotch). It was kind of a hack job conversion with a 327/TH350 and utilized a stock radiatior which made it overheat during the summer months. as i recall the shock towers were cut and pieces of channel were welded in. it had ram horn exhaust too. Lemme dig around and see if i can find a pic.

also had a V8 240. I have pics of that for sure. it was a stocker tired 350 mass blowby but it would still clean house at the street races against turbo civics. I'll dig them up, scan them and post.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

heres my Z. I was bummed I sold it for $1200 cuz i didnt have a smog tech in my pocket at the time. The very next year after I sold it, it became smog exempt!!!!!



when i owned this thing i was looking around for wheels like yours for it because i liked them so much from when I had my 510

If you get a chance, get a back order of the February(?) or March(?) 1974 Popular Hot Rodding magazine where they did a 327 conversion in a 510. it was kind of interesting.... they mounted the radiator in the trunk.

there was also a 1988 edition of PHR that had a blue 510 that was tubbed with a crower injected big block chevy.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

nice 240 What kind of setup did it have before the 350? 2 carbs or 3? I'd LOVE to have a triple setup but i guess i'm ok with my fuel injection. They would be a pain to get right at 6200 feet. Man that sucks you sold it. I've seen people pay 2g's for a straight out rusted 240. They've really became a collecter car, unlike mine with it being a 2+2 (i only paid 400 for it) Its still cool with me though, since i do have a little girl to tag along with me. How does it actually feel to drive one with a 350? Big difference to power to weight ratio right? I can only imagine how it feels, Even with this straight 6 it still moves faster than most cars these days
I'm not the one to street race but the other night i pulled it out of the garage to drive it to work since it was painted. Didn't even get 600 yards from the house and some dumbass in a 04 f-150 wanted to race. No one was around so i said fuck it! As soon as i shifted into 3rd I was gone That was the first time I'd really gotten on it and these cars surely can move!!
I'll more than likely drive it for acouple months and try to sell it. The previous owner lost the title and all i have is a bill of sale I REALLY hope i can get a title for it, if not i'm screwed I have no contact with the guy anymore. From what i was told at the dmv is all i need to do is fill out a power of attorney.

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1980 luv sport 4x4 Just a memory now
Frame rusted from the inside. Truck stripped and now looking for a new donor in southern ohio

Long story.
the car originally belonged to a friend of mine. years ago we swapped the stock 2.4 motor for a 2.8 motor with triple webers, offenhauser intake, hooker header, scheneider cam with about 1K worth of port work (mind you this is 1K back in 1986). the car was nuts... I would take it up to 6K and dump the clutch and the rear end of course would squat while the front end would rip the tires about 1" off the ground. Impressive for a 6cyl car back in the 80's. we went through about 5-6 rear diffs and about the same number of clutches with that setup whackin gears in a factory Datsun 4spd. eventually the motor got the jug. it lasted about another year of severe street race duty with a 150 shot and I'm ashamed to say it beat up on a LOT of fast domestic V8's on that setup. Another friend stuffed his late 70's camaro into a tree and his parents didnt want the eyesore sitting out in front of their house. He offered the whole car to me for free. i took the drivetrain out and parked the rest of the car on the street for the city to tow away. we begged borrowed etc channel and angle iron to fab up some motor and trans mounts cuz we were too cheap to pay Hooker $150 for their conversion kit. we put the motor in and the rest is history. the motor was tired from day 1 but years later it was good enough to hold some pretty fast imports at bay at the street races..... and thats with cast iron exhaust and a quadrajet carb. Eventually all good things must come to an end. my friend lost interest in it and wanted to unload it to persue other interests. It was such a great piece of history (for me) that I couldnt let it go. I bought it for dirt cheap, fixed it back up, put it on the street, and continued the sleeper motif against all the young "hot shoes" driving their fast hondas out at the street races. I had way too many things going on at the time. Tubbed and caged 10.5 tire 66 Nova, 10.5" 63 Nova, 2 LUV trucks etc. being so spread out and having no car that i could call "done" i had to sacrifice the Z to get my 66 Nova more competitive in Super Street classs. I was having problems keeping it on the street due to smog so I Sold the Z for $1200 and regret it every day.... especially since it became smog exempt shortly after.

I contacted the guy that I sold it to a few years back and he told me that he ended up getting frustrated with it and parting it out. I wanted to call him an asshole and hang up on him.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

Great story Atleast you had some good times with it before you got rid of it. i'm kind of in the same spot as you having to many projects. I was just starting to tear into the luv when i got the z. If i didn't have the z i would be done with the truck by now. I was also starting to lack room when i picked it up. I had the luv, a 96 blazer, a 02 blazer and a escort(gas prices). I actually got rid of the 2 blazers to save up on some room and extra $.
I wouldn't be sad your z is gone though. I think you made a good choice dropping the z for the luvs and nova's. I can also only imagine how hard it was trying to get it smogged, I've had hell the past year trying to get it in my name alone.Trucks always come in handy and hell, their Nova's why would you ditch them. z's defintley aren't a practical car, They don't have room for anything and thier more likely a sunny day car for cruising (atleast mine is ). You could always get another one down the road sometime. Whatever anybody says, As soon as they see one there like "I remember those from my days!" There so uniquely shaped you can't miss them I've never been a sports car kind of guy but it is cool to cruise and work on them. I'll probably hold onto mine for acouple months then probably sell to get some extra cash to finish my luv
I've been driving it everyday since it's been painted and it really gets some really good looks. I'll enjoy it for now but i know some day it will be gone. I'm trying to move back to ohio and i know there's no way to get all my cars there
It's kinda funny but if you look close i have acouple things on the z that came from the luv.The shift knob, the mirrors, and if you look closely the front grill in the z is from the luv, just flipped upside down It fit Perfect!! No cutting or anything

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1980 luv sport 4x4 Just a memory now
Frame rusted from the inside. Truck stripped and now looking for a new donor in southern ohio