LUVTruck.com

I had it sandblasted.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

looks awsome! i like the finish it left.

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"but its that gut feeling of you're drawn to what feels right for yourself and what you're passionate about..."

Thanks Farmer. I'm reading your thread too...

Looks like you got some work going on!!! Better watch those things running rampant!!! They're liable to go over a cliff!!! Good luck to ya, man.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

lol

thanks a bunch man!

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"but its that gut feeling of you're drawn to what feels right for yourself and what you're passionate about..."

"MAN", I don't know about the rest of you but I am extremely impressed with John's efforts! I have talked to John several times in the couple of weeks and find him to be an honest, fun loving and caring individual. Kind of rare to find someone like him these days. Of course he is a Luv owner and like the rest of us here at LuvTruck.com he really cares for his Luv and "Luv's" helping the rest of us the best he can. Point of proof, His detailed descriptions of what he's doing and how he's doing it. Pictures, man that is that greatest. No one has been so devoted to taking as many pictures as John has, not only to show what's what, but to illustrate the problems and fixes no matter what they may be.

I personally feel that Ben should make a separate room for John and all his efforts. This thread has been very useful and helpful, no offense to all you other guy, But John has taken the ultimate leap in showing useful information to us. And yet he still has time to actually get the work done in a timely manner. I'll be most of us wish we had his tenacity to work our own trucks!

Well, enough praise to you John, Keep up the great job your doing and I hope Ben takes my suggestion seriously.

Your friend, Dan, "The Ole Man From Spokane"

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1980 Chevy Luv 4x4 Mikado
the "Ole Man from Spokane"

I am very thankful for the good things Dan said, and I think it's obvious the praise should be redirected to Mr. Cordasco himself, as without this forum, none of this would be possible. I am very grateful to have this opportunity, both working on the LUV, and writing in this Forum. The photography has always been a passion of mine, and to share has always been second nature to me. This web site and it's participants have undoubtedly enriched my life, and will do so in the future as well.

I have to finish the LUV today. Inspection is tomorrow. It's raining like buckets outside, but myself and my wonderful tarp overhead will be cozy and contented. I'll let y'all know how it goes later.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

Wow John, Great job!!

I hadn't really been keeping up on your thread, and did so last night and today.

1. Using weed eater line..... Excellent idea! It's stiff , but non metallic, so no gouging.

2 I noticed you have a clutch fan on a non- A/C truck. Can I get a close up of the clutch? I am in need of a new one and the stores I've checked keep giving me a different style clutch that says it's for my application and it won't work. I am wondering if yours is like my bad one or like the new ones that I can't use.
The difference in the two is the flange at the back side, where it attaches to the pulleys. Thanks, Ron.

I'm glad you were able to get it back together and hope your inspection goes well.

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

Wow, Sweet success!!! I got it all together and the LUV runs!!!! Yes!!! Not only does it run, it runs really good!!! It sounds real smooth and has good power!!! Much better, wow, I am really jumping up and down!!!!



I spent most of the day on my back under the LUV attaching the exhaust pipe to the manifold, then putting the oil pickup tube on to the oil punp, and the oil pan. Then I installed the mid-link to the tie rod ends, the cross member, and finally the splash plate. I added the oil and water. I installed the battery which I left on the charger overnight, hooked up the air cleaner and all those hoses. Added the spark plug wires, and called my wife to hit the key. I must say she has been a real help to me through this overhaul, and I owe her my appreciation. Well the engine started right up, and I checked the timing to adjust it, then ran it at about 2000RPM for 15 minutes. Then I changed the oil and filter again. I added synthetic oil and a "Tough Guard" Fram® oil filter. I am going to go to inspection tomorrow!!! I still have to put the fuel filler hose on that I got from BlackLuv80, and I'll get it in the morning.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

OUTSTANDING

I am impressed at your diligence at not giving up!
Congratualtions on some hard work that paid off!

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72 L.U.V.
427 SBC-700R4
SE 9-3/8 4P TracLoc, 6-lug rear discs,
custom rear leafs, custom made aluminum radiator,
Mustang II front suspension
LUV perf parts manufacturing
My Devotion to Karl :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmXc4F78 ... re=related

Congrats!!!!! Glad to hear everything came out well John! I am waiting on the video of you in your luv peeling out from after just being inspected.

You still haven't used my parts eh? Whats wrong don't trust them? I see how it is..lol

But anyway It's great to hear all your hard work and intensive studying has paid off, and good luck with inspection.


oh yeah I got my ticket throw out Yay!!!

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Well today is not a good day. The wife and I headed south on I-5 to go have our inspection, and we didn't make it. The LUV threw a rod or something. I lost oil pressure and thought we were totally stranded on the freeway but we managed to get off. I paid a tow truck driver $137 to bring us home. I'm pretty bummed out about now, and I'm going to give it all a rest for awhile.

Bill you'd might help me do something here after all. I might need some major parts though.

Sorry to all you who enjoyed my success, but it has changed into a failure, and I'm just not going to look at it for awhile.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

Sorry to hear John. Walk away from it for a week or 2 and come back fresh. It will help.


What did it do when it broke? You say you might have thrown a rod?


Towing companies are a rip off. They piss me off! I have AAA. It saves you a lot of wallet ache when your already down.

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

Bummer dude, I really hate to hear that John.......Do you thing it slung a rod? or did it just drop oil pressure.......at a lost for words seems like you did everything by the book....shouldn't have been anything that "should" have gone wrong........

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well lets look on the bright side
maybe it's time to get a sbc in there?

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On the search for another Luv Machine

whoa!

That SUXX!


God needs to offer some peace to you!

Keep us posted!

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72 L.U.V.
427 SBC-700R4
SE 9-3/8 4P TracLoc, 6-lug rear discs,
custom rear leafs, custom made aluminum radiator,
Mustang II front suspension
LUV perf parts manufacturing
My Devotion to Karl :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmXc4F78 ... re=related

John:

My sympathies are with you. I hopped on here tonight especially to check out your inspection results with the worst case I could think of being a failure to pass inspection because of some nit-picking thing from the State Patrol. I hate it when reality is worse.

Best wishes,
Eric Q.

I'm sure it won't be long before you're back to figuring out what went wrong and have it corrected.

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'75 body with '82 diesel running gear
My build thread.

I like others am interested in what the hell happened. Did it go clank, bang, boom or just loose oil pressure or what? Maybe just dropping the pan will show what happened without a major engine tear down. Lets hope so.
After watching all the step by step rebuild with pictures, we all feel, like you do, that we just got punched in the stomach.
When you feel like going back at it let us know the results. Good luck.

Wow John... I'm so sorry to hear about this. We are all devestated with what happened. But when you're ready to get back to it, we'll be in your corner. Take your time and get your thoughts in order. Some of us have been there before and we can only be sympathetic to the situation.
But the initial start up results does bring some kind of hope that it may not be all lost.
Hang tough John. You'll get things sorted out.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

Here I am 24 hours later, and I'm starting to get my old self back. I'm not going to quit. I spent all yesterday evening and today watching the boob tube, and am now wondering about what happened myself. I had been going a stretch at 65 mph before this happened. The traffic was fast, and I didn't feel there was any reason to not keep up. Ironically I had been laughing along the way to my wife about how it was so much better to just go with the flow and we were enjoying the ride. It was an uphill grade, near the Tacoma Dome, when I first noticed the truck just slowing down, and being in the fourth lane from the right, I was a little worried, but we managed to weave through to the shoulder, and after losing the engine, got it started again. However the power was very low, and I could not shift until I got to a downhill grade, and then I had to do it like a racer, just to get it in second. I made a couple turns to get on a side street, and ended up going into an industrial dead end, after a stop or two. I got out and listened to the engine, which was knocking, but I'm not a sound expert, so I just kept trying. I was hoping maybe I could weave my way back home on the back roads, but when I turned and started to go up a hill, the power was so lacking I couldn't even go uphill in first gear. At that point I gave up, backed down the hill into what was conveniently a large gravel parking lot in front of a marine repair business. A guy named Yugo was talking to the postman, who then drove away. I got out, introduced myself, and told Yugo I was in a big mess. He said it sounded like a rod was knocking, and kindly let me sit there for the time it took me to buy lunch and summon a tow truck. We then came back home.

There's another storm on the way to the Pacific Northwest, and I did touch the LUV today; just to drain the coolant. This storm is expected to last three days. It's going to be three days of reflection for me, and then I'm going to look under there once again.

All the messages from all you guys! Rondog, BlackLuv80, 79RatLuv, RPOZ11, Eric Q., Egg, and Blue Meanie. You all have my warmest regards, and deep appreciation for stirring me down to the depths of my soul. You all understand how I feel and that makes me inspired. I want you all to know I plan to keep this hope alive, and get this engine back to running my LUV. I won't give up, even if it means changing the engine.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

wow fullaluv i am devastated. I just logged on to ask a question about weatherstripping and I read this. so much disassembly and reassembly..... I hope it turns out to be an easy fix but from the sounds of it it does not sound good. Sometimes I think about having two engines so you can swap one out when one is having issues. good luck with the trouble shooting. i am hoping to get my luv on the road soon so I cam come up for a visit.
take care,
Dan

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Did a v8 conversion in 1981 on my '76 luv
Current Fleet
#1 1980 Black 2wd, #2 1980 Blue 2wd, #3 1980 Black 4x4 #4 1980 black 2wd Long bed #5 1979 black 4x4 #6 1977 red 2WD
pics
http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q223/gs11x/