Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

After I had the basic notch in, I worked on boxing the inside of the frame rail. Not fun working out of position with obstacles in the way, but I did make it happen.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

I then worked on the doubler plate for the outside. If I didn't have aspirations of pulling my trailer, I would have skipped this step. The back I did wrap into the shock mount "depression" in the frame.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Last on the list for this weekend was to section the appropriate amount out of the body mount so that everything still lined up. This was a pretty basic operation with mock up at the end. Now after I get the other side done, I'll jack the body up off the frame and cap both notches. Again, they extend up above the existing frame rails to just below the floor.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Looks good.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Nice work and that notch looks to be absolutely solid.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

My '86 half ton burb has the trailering package and has the cooler.

How come you didn't just replace the hoses? Never gonna tow anything?

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Great work on that notch!

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Thanks guys!

As to the cooler, they aren't that effective vs. the leaking problems they have so the benefits don't outweigh the costs (risks). That, and this will only have a SBC for a little while, I'm gathering parts for a 5.3 swap. I will still pull a trailer.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

More progress with the notch. The passenger side is now done!!! I had to jack up the body off the frame to weld the top of it, so yes at this point I really envy the pickup guys who can just take the bed off to do this! I opted to not cap the notch in the interest of getting it done, and I don't feel like I'm leaving that much strength on the table.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

I wouldn't worry about not capping it. The strength is in the height & each side is still 'connected' within 1-2 inches below of the top.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Nice work so far. I like the way you did the C-Notch, looks like it should hold up well.

Did you ever get a replacement factory tint glass?

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Thanks guys! There isn't any reason it shouldn't be stronger than any commercially available bolt in notch for pickups, in my head. I can't wait to finish it up and drive it to see how much better it is!

Yep, got a window off Ebay.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

great work. and pics.
you still working on it?

will a notch from a pick up work?

i dont have the talent skill or tools to build my own.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Trucks/Burb & Blazer frames are different.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Finally, the notch is done!! Not without a fight though. In order to weld the top of the notch I had to jack up the body off the frame. All the bolts came out, except one. I had to drill a hole in the floor to get at the captured nut and stop it from spinning...one more hole to weld up now.

Please ignore the shock mount "repair". I did not do that, it was like that when I got the truck and I didn't make time this go around to fix it right.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

SCOTI, I took your suggestion and bought stock length Bilstein shocks. I liked this option so that it would not limit the suspension travel, which is kinda important because to get the rear tires off they have to drop a decent amount before they'll come out.

Here's mockup photos of that and setting the pinion angle.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

So then it was time to pull it out and weld everything up for good, and paint it. That's what I did.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

And mounted for good in the Suburban! Trying to get it driveable for a cruise next Sunday, should be do-able.

And since the grille was out I put in my LED headlights.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Looking good!

I would jave just used a sealed plug on the floor. Never hurts to have future access.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Tidy work man. Structural.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Thanks guys!

Got the suburban all put back together yesterday, wow, that list was longer than it should have been. I developed a leak while it was in the garage and needed to replace seals in the steering box too, that wasn't too bad.

Today we were able to get it out for our first (and probably only) cruise for the year. Was a fantastic day, leaves were changing, and lots of neat cars to look at! The suburban worked great, hauled the whole family and our stuff, and was great fun.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Feel a difference w/the rear notches & shock tweaks?

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Oh yeah! No more banging coming from back there and the shocks make it feel stable. I did, however, figure out today that the driver's side sits noticeably lower than the passenger side. I think it's due for some new replacement leaf springs.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Good to hear/read. Glad it was that notable of a difference.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Awesome suburban. It makes a great family cruiser. Real nice work on the notch. Are you going to add a bump stop in there somewhere?

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Thanks! For the bump stops, I'm planning on playing that one by ear and see if it hits before I decide. On my truck, I haven't had any bump stops on it for 5 years and 25k miles and have never had it make contact. On this suburban, if I do anything I'm looking at adding Sumo springs outboard of the frame, which would help when loaded and/or towing.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

In one of my last posts, I alluded to the fact that I needed new leaf springs. I did, so I ordered them up. 5 leaf packs would have been almost double the cost of 8 leaf packs, and I always have the ability to remove leaves so you can guess which route I went! These are replacements for a 3/4 ton burb, but the load difference was only 125lbs per spring. Swapped them out last Friday and took it for a test drive to the ice cream shop, they worked well!

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Installed 'as-is' or did you remove any leafs?
Where did you get them?

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

So the next project started of seemingly simple, replacing some weatherstripping. To do so in a squarebody, I needed to remove the plastic trim adjacent to the door openings. As I was doing that, mouse poop was continually falling down from above the headliner. I couldn't ignore that fact, so out came the headliners. One thing leads to another, and all the trim was removed from the suburban so it could be scrubbed.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

No, not yet.

General Spring of KC

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Next up was getting rid of the plastic caps that plugged the holes of an old roof rack. I TIG'ed them up, not intending to do any metal finishing...they will just patina like the rest of the roof.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

With all the holes welded up in the roof, time to make some new ones!!! I want to do what I can to not be rear-ended in traffic. To compliment the bright-ass LED taillights, I added a 3rd brake light off a 2004 Tahoe. Looks pretty much like it belongs there.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

And now I'm ready to make some more new holes in the roof. This one I've had in mind for months now, but have been wrestling with the clean lines of no rack vs. the utility of having one. Utility is going to win out here, as this is my 3 season daily driver. Having the ability to haul the canoe or kayaks will be very important in the summer months.

The rack is off a 2005 suburban. I will be able to use all the Yakima accessories off my 2007 Suburban on it too. I had to narrow the cross bars 1.75", and it looks like it'll work really well. I bought M6 nutserts from McMaster Carr and the install tool, maybe this weekend after a boy scout campout I'll find time to begin the install.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

:cool:

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

I just read thru your whole thread , love what you have done so far . I just recently bought a 74 Burb that was stored in my pasture the last 16 months due to an accident the former owner had with it . He was moving from Arizona to North Carolina towing his show truck with the Burb when the Driverside axle broke in Alabama . It was rescued and brought here to the Truck Farm for safe keeping . He decided to sell it and I just got it on the road again . Its the most fun toy I own , especially since it was already LS swapped . Wish mine had the Barn Doors like yours .

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

The rack and light turned out great! You're giving me ideas....

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Nice progress! Keep up the good work will be looking forward to following along.

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

Ever since I bought this suburban, I've been planning to LS swap it. The reman 350 with all it's upgrades runs good, better than any SBC I've had, but it still doesn't run like I want it to. I compare it to my truck, and that's what I wanted. So, I've finally procured the last large piece to the puzzle. I found a lower mileage L33 aluminum block 5.3, and that will be the foundation for the new powertrain!

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

The motor needed to be cleaned up, and learning from the last LS swap I did I'm changing some gaskets now while it is easy, vs later when it is in the vehicle and difficult! True to form, I had 7 of the exhaust manifold bolts either broken off already or broke when I removed them. No big deal, my tried and true method worked well.

I bought a lower profile oil pan, which saves me about 3" of depth vs. the truck oil pan. This one had good reviews on eBay, and the casting and machining looks to be of good quality. It came with a gasket, but I'll use a FelPro because I don't want to do it twice.

After one round of power washing and degreaser, it looks much better! I'll still do some additional work on it with carb cleaner and a small wire brush, but I'm getting close there. I'll need to get some other things checked off the to-do list before I begin the swap, but I'm looking forward to diving into it!

Re: 86 Suburban daily driver
 

L33's aren't exactly a dime a dozen. Nice score.
Any internal mods planned?