Memorial LUV Project

[childerskustoms]

Hello! this is my first thread on here outside of my initial introduction.

A little background on this project and thread. Its a 1980 Chevy LUV i have both a 4x4 and a 2wd. I tried to save the 4x4 and have come to terms that its history as a road construction truck has destroyed the motor and i wont be able to save it which is what i wanted to do initially. The 2wd was bought as it has almost completely rust free straight panels, what the 4x4 dosent have. no motor but has the trans which im debating on keeping or selling. Now this thread is my ideas and formulating as i come up with new ideas for this truck.

My background is working on cars and trucks with my dad, who is a member on here (sixty8c10) but unfortunately passed away in 2015. this LUV is a project slightly dedicated to him and a way to prove to doubters at my job that i know what im doing lol.

[childerskustoms]

alrighty, first post of ideas and such.

Whats been going trough my head as of late is the suspension, since ill be removing the 4x4 aspect of the truck ill need to move torwards an independent front suspension of sorts. thats where the 2wd comes in. i can take the upper and lower control arms, mounts and put them on the 4x4 frame. eliminating the torsion bar setup as well is something im going to do since id like to modernize it as well. id be welding on a lower coilover mount to the lower control arm of the luv and making an upper mount from scratch. making sure to make it fit with the inner fender without too much problem. id also be switching the manual steering gearbox to a power steering rack to give more control for people that didnt grow up with manual steering like myself. Since i am putting a 350 sbc from a mid 70s suburban ill have to take the old 4 cylinder engine mounts out and install new ones in good locations for the 350 to sit with just enough room for everything else in the engine bay. moving back on the frame, i will be removing the trans mount for the old 4 speed so i can sell it to anyone looking for a decent one for their project along with the front diff, axle shafts, and hubs for anyone needing them. since i will be putting a saginaw 3 speed from a early 70s nova in its place i am going to fab up a removable trans mount to make ease of access to fix of replace the 3 speed easier. moving further back along the frame, ill be relocating the fuel tank to the back of the frame mainly to make room for the 4 link setup ill be fabricating and designing. the frame will need support for the front mounts of the 4 link so i will be makikg a front brace to be able to weld the upper link mounts to. ill move the shock mount brace to behind the rear axle and make mounts for coilovers for the adjustable shocks. and the fule tank will fit just behind that

[CG]

I Luv the styling of these little trucks, I had one ages ago dunno why I never got another.

Good luck on your project

[LT7A]

How it going on this?

I'm sorry to hear about your dad. It's cool that you have him in mind while you build this.

Any chance of using the two trucks to get one up and running? Your plans are pretty ambitious and could probably be accomplished by modifying one area at a time. More fun to have a running and driving truck while you're at it.

[childerskustoms]

Originally Posted by LT7A

How it going on this?

I'm sorry to hear about your dad. It's cool that you have him in mind while you build this.

Any chance of using the two trucks to get one up and running? Your plans are pretty ambitious and could probably be accomplished by modifying one area at a time. More fun to have a running and driving truck while you're at it.

Unfortunatly the motor that was in the yellow luv decided it was done with life before i put them both in storage for my cross country move. Ive been using my connections at my job to discuss my plans in more detail. They have changed quite a bit from my initial plans. Once i have acess to a computer again ill update