Here goes....66 LV Restore Thread

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

On the other hand Jeff, my LV is stock except for the 2F (out of a '77 FJ55) that Marv Specter put in it years ago. It's my daily driver and I drive it about 100 miles per day and love it just the way it is. Stock steering, brakes, and still shifting the 3 speed (although I do have a 4spd that's going in early next year). I did throw a early thermostat housing and F valve cover on the 2F just to get the look right. I'd definately do the 2F. Mine kicks ass. On and off road.
 
Or.... you can put a 6bt or 4bt in it and get power, speed and better mileage.

Any updates?
 
I think I'll go with the 2F motor. Any idea as to using the stock distributor? I've used the D.U.I. HEI dist on an F motor before, and really liked the performance, even though it was mated up with a 38/38 weber carb. This LV has an odd carb. don't know much about it, but man is it rusted on the butterflys! SHEESH! :) I'm going to see about the same setup on this rig. The Weber and DUI just makes it a really user-friendly rig!

STILL HAVEN"T GOTTEN MY FRAME BACK FROM THE DA*N SANDBLASTER!!!!! ARUGH! That is so frustrating!!!

Anyways :) If you have any ideas as to the carb / dizzy, let me know!

Thanks guys!
 
Last edited:
Heck I was thinking about motor stuff....Keeping it all TOYOTA, lets say I take the TRD Supercharged 3.4L and drivetrain out of my 02' Tacoma and throw it in the LV!! That would definately provide better gas mpg, and at 270hp, just think of the rear wheel smoking performance! I could cut the TRD exhaust and make it work on the LV too! :) Whatcha think??
 
I know it's been forever, but I've finally made some real progress on the LV. I took on a part time job, so the LV has had some "alone" time. As you may know, if you read the thread, the frame and axles were sandblasted 2 weeks ago. After a lot of waiting, I got them back from the blaster. It looked fantastic! I finished the prep-work on both the axles and frame, then off to the paint booth! I painted them with a PPG heavy industrial paint. It shot quite well out of my HVLP gun, much to my suprise. Here are a few photos:

Next up, I got the chassis back together, I just need to get the axles torqued down. Hopefully this week I can get some more things to the sand-blaster. I'm finding that it takes WAY too long to do even the small things inside my lil' blast cabinet, and I should just send out everything, that way its a done deal!.

I'm also working on my rotisserie. I've got the sides all welded up, and should be putting the body on it this week. By the way, does anyone know the dimensions from the back door of the LV to the very front of the body? (where the aprons butt-end to the body? ie.. the longest part of the body itself, past the firewall? The reason I'm asking is, that mine is BURIED in about 2' of snow, and I can't get to it to take the measurement.
100_2162.webp
 
Last edited:
Looks great. Are you keeping the original springs and shackles etc? You can look on Matt's thread for the measurements on the rotisserie he designed. I built it exactly as he show, just changed the wheels that I went with. But it will have the dimensions you need. If you can't find it let me know and I can measure mine.
 
Few more photos for the heck of it!
100_2165.webp
100_2167.webp
 
Thanks for the + comments you guys!! Need the ata-boy's to keep up my momentum on this one!! There is a lot more to do on an LV than the other 40's that I've done. Any idea what the stock tire size was on the 66 LV? Need to find some inexpensive tires for this one....not CHEAP, just kinda inexpensive. I'm saving my $$ for the metal work on the body. Any ideas??
 
Well, tonite I made some serious progress on the LV. Today, as I was on my way to the sand blaster, I decided to stop and do a compression test on the F motor. GLAD I DID!! Only 25 psi on 2 of the cyls. Well, that pretty much sealed the deal on the F motor being swapped out with the 76' 2F thats been sitting in my garage. I took the trans/x-fer case off the F and got them ready to paint. I'm thinking I'll hot-tank the bell housing since the inside is SO greasy. My 2F motor is pretty rusty on the outside, and will need to be wire-wheeled or sandblasted prior to doing anything else with it. Hopefully I'll get that done this weekend, or early on this upcomming week. Sorry I don't have any photos yet, but soon I'll get them on here! -Jeff
 
Jeff, i remember reading one of Matts posts when he blasted his motor. he used sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) just in case anything were to get in his motor. all the other medias would really mess up your engine. just a thought. good look and it is nice to see another guy working so hard to restore his LV. :)
 
Last night, I couldn't sleep, so I worked on the LV! Got done around 3 this morning with wire-wheeling the motor. It sure is hard to get even the surface rust off of the block due to all of the nooks and crannys. To say the least, the motor is scrubbed pretty much all the way down, and myself and the garage are full of rust-dust!

I've heard that motors 'sweat', and that makes it difficult to paint them...I was going to use the same PPG industrial paint on it that I used on the frame....any suggestions?? Motors only get to around 180-210 deg F, so a high-temp paint isn't crucial.....any thoughts??
 
I sealed up my '83 2F and power washed it with some soap, and then painted it with Krylon high temp engine paint (satin black) and it worked well. My block was not rusty, however - it just had the factory paint, wearing thin. I was careful to seal it well before power washing, and washing a greasy engine makes a big fat mess. I had to roll the engine on a stand out past my driveway into the dirt and make the mess on a big plastic tarp - but grease went everywhere. I used some soap with the pressure washer to help cut the grease, and assisted with a putty knife as needed.

Steve
 
Well, after a busy Turkey-day, I finally got to work on the LV! YEAH! Last night I finally finished painting the u-bolts and what not for the axles. Hopefully tonite I can get them bolted up. This morning I dropped the engine, trans, x-fer case and bell housing off at the sand blaster. He said it would take 1-2 days, so...plan is to get them painted and installed this weekend.

Anyone know the thickness of the clutch disc? Its not super-close to the rivets, and I'm thinking it will last a good while. Reason is, I'm wondering if I can re-install the present clutch, given that the 3spd clutches are getting hard to find. I have a new 4spd clutch plate, if anyone has a new 3spd plate and are interested in a trade : )

Pressure plate looks good, no scarring, or defects. The clutch springs are solid, and looks like it just needs a good clean-up. I'll be replacing the throwout bearing and pilot bearing prior to closing it all up.

Also, I'll be needing to re-build the reservoir for the master cylinder. My particular one has the metal can type reservoir, with a brass washer on the bottom. The P.O. had crushed the reservoir on the MC so hard that the washer elongated the bottom of the can. So, with some crafty welding, I should be able to get 'er back to good. I'll post some pics late tonite after church.

-Jeff

"Soon Ralphie, soon!"
 
Last edited:
I'm looking for a front driveshaft piece. I've got the driveshaft, I'm missing the 4-bolt piece that contains 1/2 of the universal joint. I don't have piece 3 or 4 on this photo from SOR.com Thanks for any help guys!!
-Jeff
Driveshaft pics.webp
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom