LUVTruck.com

The other day I was looking through the ads and found this 231 V6 for the perfect price. Free!!! Im considering dropping this in my '78 but before I do what kind of fuel milage are you guys getting with these in your luvs?

Heres some pic's...

_________________
1975 V8 Luv
1980 Bagged Luv

Get the 200R4 to go behind that motor and you will get better milage than you will with the stock 4 banger.And if you bwant a little more out of it then get the 2.5 converter off a S10 and that will give it a little more stall and rev. quicker.

_________________
1978 pro street step/side 455Buick, 4sp,4.11s, 31/18.5s

If you're concerned with fuel mileage, dont bother with the swap. Why upgrade to a bigger motor if you have to nurse it around to conserve fuel?
If you want to build a truck that has enough power to get in and out of trouble, then go ahead and put it in. The performance gain offsets any mileage loss.
Everyone thats done a swap doesn't mind the economy loss. It becomes more of a fuel tank being too small for the engine problem.

That free motor... Does it need a rebuild? Do you have a 2 bbl, non emission carb for it?
You'll need a different distributor for it, one with a vacuum advance.

_________________
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.

I am getting around 6 MPG with mine!!!

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


RIP R.J.B.

Haven't been able to omeasure yet - but it's not great mileage. The speedo and odo are off - speedo says 55 when doing ~35... have to look into fixing that soon too...

I checked the compression and looked at the oil it seems to be a good motor. I turned it over by hand but I'll find out once I get a new intake, carb and a vacum advance distributor.

I guess I'll just keep it for another project then. Fuel was cheap when I built my V8 luv but when I finished the swap gas prices went up. I thought the v6 would get a little better milage but oh well atleast I still got the 5-speed lol.

_________________
1975 V8 Luv
1980 Bagged Luv

My V-8 powered LUV gets great mileage, I have not put fuel in it for 3 months now! The people are right, you will not get better mileage with the 6 but I would assume better reliable power plant.

_________________
Certified pilots, looking down on people since 1903.

What is with the vac adv. You don't need unless you are trying to squeeze the last mpg out of your motor as that is what it was for hell i take the vac adv off of my dists and set the mechanicals to what i want and have no problems.The Buick V6 is a good little motor and will give better milage than a V8 (duh).Suggestion get a 4V manifold a 390 or 450 carb. tune the motor with a overdrive trans (a T-5 would be fun) and you will do better than the stock motor.

_________________
1978 pro street step/side 455Buick, 4sp,4.11s, 31/18.5s

This is my first buick motor and all I can find are T-5's with the Chevy bellhousing pattern none with the B.O.P. pattern. Do I need to look for that special bellhousing or look for an adapter plate?

_________________
1975 V8 Luv
1980 Bagged Luv

The bellhousing in my trk is a BOP engine. Depending on the wrecking yards you should be able to find one you might even find a cable one in a Buick skyhawk(monza clone) don't give up cause that would be a real fun ride.(theres always evil-bay)

_________________
1978 pro street step/side 455Buick, 4sp,4.11s, 31/18.5s

Ok I'll have to look out for one of those next time Im at the junkyard. Thanks for your input everybody.

_________________
1975 V8 Luv
1980 Bagged Luv

look here maybe this will help
http://www.downeyoff-road.com/EngineCom ... /index.htm

_________________
My old but now gone Luv...

The thing about the distributor is that it's computer controlled. There isn't even a mechanical advance. This makes it useless to try to make it work.
Finding an appropriate Buick even fire distributor in a junkyard is iffy at best but you could luck out there. Mallory and MSD make new performance units but that's a few hundred bucks. They come with vacuum advance so you might as well utilize the option since you shelled out all that money on a free motor.
Fro street use, it's always a good idea to run vac advance, you'll only benefit from it. Even if you see track time on a motor and you only rely on mech advance, you're still street drive for the majority of the time.

_________________
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.

Found a couple of Buick bellhousings on E-Bay but i don't know how to get the address to transfer to here .One is on a site called Daves 4sp's i believe. They might be a little pricey but there are more around.

_________________
1978 pro street step/side 455Buick, 4sp,4.11s, 31/18.5s