08/25/2026
"Lil Red Truck" as it Became Known on the Central Coast of California for Never Losing a Race.
In 1978, I stuffed a 331 cu-in Small Block Chevy into a red '72 Chevy LUV truck after its 4-cyl motor blew going up the Cuesta Grade after a Thursday Cruise Night in San Luis Obispo.
Chassis Engineering & Speed in Paso Robles, CA had motor/tr**ny mounts and headers in a kit, so it was almost a direct bolt-in.
Mini trucks had full frames and beefy suspensions since they were trucks...torsion bars up front made the extra nose-weight a breeze to handle.
The '72 was a unique year since it had 4.56 gears...later years had 4.11s.
So, with 22" tires, it was like having 5.64 gears with a 26" tire.
Art Carr's 3000-stall needle bearing torque converter fed a kitted Turbo 350 tr**ny, and by quickly bouncing off the gas pedal once (to transfer weight to the rear) before matting it, it'd do 6" wheelies with 90:10 front shocks.
When my foot hit the floor mat, I'd hit the Hurst Autostick 2, and disappear from EVERYBODY who raced me to 120 mph out of town...we never raced in town back then.
That 0.030"-over 327 would twist 7700 rpm with a General Kinetics solid-lifter cam...I ported the heads myself before I built that 2-bolt main motor with 11.5:1 compression.
I ran a Holley 660 Center-Shooter for a while before the gas mileage made me switch over to a 625 CFM Carter.
..after mild jet-drilling and playing with the float levels a bit, that carb was absolutely fantastic and dead reliable.
Brakes were an afterthought, and one day I bumped into someone after they stopped short...folded the hood and wasted the plastic grille/radiator.
When that 331 died, I went with a mild 350 small block, and sold it.
..wish I still had it today.
They're worth a ton of money now.
The adoption of mini trucks from Japan in the US changed everything – for a time.
