LUVTruck.com

yes thats what i was talking about when i was there
oh by the way on the choke there should be a scratch mark on it i put there with a screwdriver that mark was top dead senter on the old carb

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My old but now gone Luv...

Well lookie there what do I see, but my old door hinge yellow and looking back at me. Still haven't installed it eh?

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No, I haven't installed the "new" hinge because where the truck is parked the passenger door doesn't quite open all the way, and when I do it I want to be able to try it by opening the door all the way. I figure there's no hurry to get it in, since I'm not going anywhere with it, and when I do get the engine back together and running right, I'll just do it in front of the house or back up a foot. The LUV's on jack stands in the front. I'm going to be pulling out the engine pretty soon, and I will be waiting for the new parts to arrive, so I want to have it all ready to put together when it's here.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

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

I got the failed engine all apart and about ready to come out of the truck. I can't figure out what caused the oil starvation, and I want to ask:

Is it possible that since I replaced the timing cover that the oil never got into the oil pump? That the only oil that the crank got was from splash? The oil pump was full of air; it doesn't have to be primed or filled with oil does it? I am going to be spending a lot more money that I don't have on another engine rebuild. It better work this time.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

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

Yes the oil pump should be primed and the oil filter filled with oil before screwing it on the engine. I have had great success over the years by filling the oil pump with vaseline before installation. Just pack all the cavities of the pump full before installing. You can use motor oil but i have found that vaseline stays in the pump better than motor oil. If you have any fears of the vaseline plugging the oil filter it can be changed after you get the engine running. I have built a few engines and have never changed a filter after starting a engine and never had any trouble. I also use vaseline on all main and rod bearings when installing. It stays there. There are lubricants made for engine assembly but i have never used them and i have never had a problem.

hth

Are you kidding me? Vaseline? I never heard of such a thing, but I know vaseline is petrolum jelly, although I can't say I have any on hand, I did grow up with the stuff. Now don't be kidding me, I will look into this. I wonder why I wasn't told by anyone to fill the oil pump? I seem to remember hearing a little something about it, only now I can't remember what it was. Vaseline! We will see...

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

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

No i'm not kidding. Works very well. Oil pumps should always be primed and never installed dry. I would never bs you about something like that. I'm not that kind of a person.


I was kidding in the earlier post about the duck tape on the main bearing caps though.

I've heard of the vaseline and oil pump, though I use regular oil myself. I use cam lube or 90 weight in a pinch on the bearings though. Changing the oil a couple of times the first few minutes like tj suggested is good. I would then run the rotella t diesel oil for at least 500 miles. The epa has had the dino oil reformulated to comply with new environmental regs and the additives aren't nearly as good as what's in the diesel oil. A lot of cam companies are recommending it due to lobe failures. Then you can run the synthetic oil.

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If you think no one cares, try missing a couple of payments...



FIAA!

SFPP!

Well nobody told me and i didn't know.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

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

I usually run Dello 400 and after break in I like Torco Syn. In my diesel I always run Dello. I also choose not to run Fram oil filters, I have cut many of them to look at the filter and 9 out of 10 times I find rust in them (I always cut my filters open). My vehicles run filters from the dealer and race cars run Napa Racing series High Pressure filters. Since our stock LUV filters might be hard to find in Delco I would run a Wixx.

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Certified pilots, looking down on people since 1903.

Another tip, buy yourself some plastaguage and check the clearances on both main and rod bearings when bolt the lower end back together. Yes i know the parts will be new but humans make mistakes. If you don't know how to use the plastaguage get someone to show you how. It's not hard to use and may save you a lot of grief. I once bought a set of standard rod bearings for a small block and one half of one of the bearings was 10 thousants oversize. Of course it locked the engine when i bolted it together so i immediately knew. But if i had been using 10 thousants bearings and that half had of been standard i would not have known without plastaguage and it would have been failure for certain.

I know about plastigage. I still have a piece of it I saved from SSCC. I didn't use it.

I also heard that the Fram oil filters are junk, and the best ones are Purolator. I plan to buy the Purolator from Fred Meyer.

Larry called me yesterday on my videophone and said he would be here today to go to the machine shop, so I'm going today. I will take the block, head, rods & pistons, crank, and the oil pumps & pickup tubes.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

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

I can't comment about the Fram filters except to say that i use them and have never had a problem. I have never opened one up to see what it looks like inside but i will now. Cutting them open would be a good way to monitor what is happening in the engine.

Speaking of oil filters i can tell you that i have a 84 s10 with a 2.8 v6 with a lot of miles and is loose. Specs call for a pf52 ac filter which is a long filter and with it i get engine knock with each start. I use a ac pf42 filter which is a short filter and never get a knock. I have also experienced similar problems with older mopar engines with any filter other that a mopar filter.

Hope you get your ride today. Wish i were closer to you so maybe i could be of more assistance. Good luck!

You always prime a oil pump before startup. Thats why they make a tool for small blocks to put i the distributor hole and prime it with a drill. I alway prime until i see oil coming out the pushrods around the rockers.

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Too much to do and not enough time or money!
Courage is the other side of fear!
Pain is the weakness leaving the body!

Ok, As I promised I was gonna hunt down the answer for you John. Due to the way the oil pump works in this particular set up. (Due to the gear around the neck of the pump below where the oil pump shaft hooks up) I found my answer from my brother who has used this method when he work with the Chevrolet dealership here in town. He said the method is mostly used with Jeep owners.

They would use white lithium grease and fill the oil pump up through the pick up tube and then turn the pump, also refilling the pick up tube until the grease is coming out of the top side. Then of course when it's break in time, Since I already know your buying a oil pressure gauge. Remove the coil wire and turn over the engine until you have oil pressure. (I am sure you already know this but just in case) Also just for a added FYI when you assemble the engine you need to use assemble lube on all the bearing and cylinder walls (or as we do here use a small bottle of STP oil additive and mix it with a quart of oil) That way the engine and bearings wont be dry when you 1st turn it over.

Only down fall with using would be that the engine will have to get hot enough to melt before it will ever blend with the oil.

As far as filters I like Wix and K&N but I however do use ACDelco from time to time, and I too must say I never would use a Frame filter on anything of mine.

Cutting the filters is a good idea for everyone, but they also have filter mags that would to help capture metal particles before they get back into your engine. I also believe in the magnetic drain plugs as well.

Hope you found your way to the machine shop today. Good luck!

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I don't have experience with the luv engine but on the chev 350 I rebuilt the bottom of the distributor shaft drove the oil pump so I took a very long screw driver, cut off the handle and put it in an electric drill. Then putting the flat end of the screw driver down the distributor hole slowly turned until the slot on the screw driver matched the slot on the oil pump. Then powered up the drill until oil pressure was up. Would this not work on the luv engines?

Eric Q.

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

I thought this could be done last night, and Yes you could do this with most v8's, I have a tool that works in place of the oil pump shaft to do just what you've said but there is a gear and a saft on the pump in a luv and the gear would bind long before you would ever be able to turn the pump....John sent me a pic last night

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There is some good advise here so i thought i would through in my 2cents. I use Luberplate 105 on the bearings and in the pump if i can't prime it and i use the cam lube that the cam manufacture sends or recommends.AS for filters i don't use fram but mostly AC or NAPA/Wix

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

I did some things today. I got the block, crank, piston rods, oil pan, engine head, front cover, and oil pump to the machine shop today. I didn't take my camera. After checking the line bore, it has been determined that the caps are usable on the block. It will be line bored. The cylinders are tapered, and they will be bored out to .030 oversize. The crank needs grinding, and that's all I know so far and that isn't even official yet really, until I hear it from the big guy. That will be sometime tomorrow. This is costing me more than it ever would have cost to repair my minivan, and that's been sitting for two years. You guys think about that now. Do you think I LUV my LUV?

Hey I really wonder why none of the books mention a word about priming the oil pump. I bought a new oil pressure gauge today. I kind of wanted to have it to look at and think about. I'm going to put a tee there where the sending unit goes onto the block and have both the oil light working, and the pressure gauge. That should be nice. I just have to decide where to put it.

I got my engine, or what's left of it, ready to pull out of the block. I have taken all the bolts off that I can find around the bell housing, and I think I just need the hoist now to pull it out. I hope to borrow one. If I have to rent one, I suppose I could, then just do all the work in a day. No pics today sorry. I got the hood detached from the hinges, so it's locked in and I don't want to go out there right now. Tomorrow I'll probably take some photos.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

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

Lets think about this. John asks if it is possible for his oil pump not to prime causing this problem. The answer is no. You can not tell me he ran this engine down the interstate and the engine never had oil pressure. The cam would have seized into the head if this was true.

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Certified pilots, looking down on people since 1903.