A Chevrolet LUV isn’t a big truck. They are small, light, and aren’t meant to have any sporting pretenses about them whatsoever. They were tools. Small, frugal tools. The end. Nobody looked at the Isuzu-sourced truck from the corporate level and thought to themselves, “You know what? This thing needs some grunt!” The Isuzu Faster got slapped with Chevrolet badges because of the fuel crisis. A tiny little four-popper truck was the perfect alternative to a full-size truck for someone who was genuinely bothered by fuel prices. But small, light and nimble appeal to gearheads because you get the benefits of a small, light platform…all you have to do is add in the power and you’re good to go. In the case of the LUV that Broke Bastard Garage is building for the Zip-Tie Drags and the $3,000 Hooptie Challenge, that’s going to be the most difficult part of the job. A small-block LUV isn’t the most radical or technical swap, but it’s no cakewalk, either. There isn’t a common shoehorn that is going to fit an SBC and a five-speed into one of these rigs. It’s not simple, but the end result will be worth the hassle. Right?
Right up front: I didn’t watch the video. But I did by a Don Hardy BOLT-IN v-8 conversion kit for a LUV I owned back in teh early ’80’s. Having a hard time thinking this presents the problems the headlines would suggest…
I did a 350/350 V8 conversion in 1981 and Worked Great, other than my Dumb-as s doing dumb stuff…
Yes those V8 conversion were available for the Luv & other mini trucks. But this guy is reworking the whole truck: engine lowered & set back in the chassis, a big 5 speed manual trans & not a little, easy swap automatic. He’s getting the correct drive line angle for best performance. Those generic ‘plop-in-a-V8’ kits were prehistoric compared to what this guy is doing!