Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

That's a 454 that used to be in Larry's blue truck. It's going to reside in a 95 2wd stepside really soon. Larry's got a thread going on that in the 88-99 area.

Larry is big block nut through an through. There is an LS hiding out in his shop though. Sitting back in the corner waiting for yours truly to collect some more parts before he and I can swap it into my K5.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Don,

Yeah, those 8.1L’s have huge runners. Zoo hit the nail on the head with the engines in the back ground. The engine in the bag is a Gen V 7.4L headed into my FIL’s ’93 C1500 Sportside. Hopefully, we can get the LS engine stuffed into Zoo’s K5 soon as well. His LS is sitting in a crate to the left of the 8.1L that you can actually see it in one of the other pictures above (it is burried under boxes and ice chests). Plus Zoo has an 8.1L in his garage in a big wooden box that needs to come home to me! :lol:

The Suburban would probably do just fine where we go but it has a long way to go before it is ready for anything like that. The stock height, open diffs and 3:42 gears aren’t going to cut it. We don’t do major crazy rock crawling stuff. That is not what we are into (Anybody with a credit card can build a beater rock crawler to haul around to each trail on a trailer). That is not for us, we just like to go wayyyy out in the remote areas for several days at a time to see the true natural beauty this planet has to offer that most people will never see. The places where you can hear the silence ringing your ears, coyotes, wild horses, wild donkeys, etc. keeping you nervous at night and easily spot satellites and the space station flyover head. For this you need to have a vehicle with above average off-roadability but more importantly reliability. Most of the places we go a person just can’t walk out of without spending a night or two before you see the next human. Forget about calling a tow truck. You know how desolate Arizona and Utah are. Colorado isn’t as bad as long as it is hunting season. Just keep walking down a mountain long enough and you will surely find some Texan riding a $15,000 ATV to give you a ride to the nearest highway :lol:

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

A truer statement hasen't been said. The amount of Texans rolling through Canon City with uber-atv's this fall was staggering. You can't swing a dead cat up on a trail without hitting one.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

After a slight delay acquiring a new/used RH exhaust manifold I was back in action Wednesday night (I gave up on trying to dig the broken studs out of the old manifold). Last night I got the routing and clipping done and engine fired up. Aside from the dizzy being a tooth off the first time, all went without a hitch. I took it for a test drive today and she runs great! What a difference a new/used clutch, new sensors, tune up, belts, hoses and fixing the intake vacuum and coolant leaks make! Just cleaning up the wiring adds a lot of reliability back to the old girl.

After the shake down run it feels like the clutch needs to be bleed a bit more and I need to do some more work on the throttle cable as the 1” throttle body spacer puts the cable at an angle where it doesn’t like to return to well. Of course, the only aftermarket equipment on the truck is what is causing issues. Typical. Also waiting on a battery cable.

Tuesday night. Just about ready to go back in.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7002/6...1d4c8bf9_b.jpg

On the hook ready for stabbing. The clutch is a used Centerforce Dual Friction from my K10. When I did the NV4500 swap in the K10 last year it got a fresh clutch. This Suburban is the low buck build so it gets as many hand me downs from the K10 as possible.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/6...89373773_b.jpg

TA-dah………
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6...c9e85d7f_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7143/6...73c6fd4d_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7153/6...cfac67af_b.jpg


One new item the Sub got was a new HD Denso starter motor. These are awesome and will be the last starter motor you will ever buy. I run this same exact part number starter on the 8.1L in the K10. These are the starter motors severe duty applications like UPS trucks use. It spins the engine fast and sounds cool while doing it. Never mind the green stuff on the battery cable. A new cable is on order through Napa.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7014/6...ccd9958a_b.jpg

Now that his portion is out of the way the next step is to get it to the exhaust shop to have the tailpipes redone as the current pipes will interfere with the rear ORD shackle flip coming shortly. 4” lift up next!

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Gear reducted starter motor? It does look awesome.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Larry, is that the part number for the starter there in the pic, or is there a different one for the whole unit?

BTW, where is the '68? Didn't it used to be back in the corner?

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

The Denso part number is 281-8002. Fits the typical 168 tooth Chevrolet flywheels with the staggered mounting bolts. Pretty much everything from a 4.3L to an 8.1L. Basically, everything except an LS engine.

The ’68 got moved to the front garage last summer. :lol: It was getting in the way in the shop and I needed a corner to stash the SnugTop topper once I got the camper for the K10.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Very cool work getting that engine out, worked over and then back in..
So often people start a project and then it fades away, you have really set the standard for folks like me.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

I don't think I've ever seen Larry ever not finish a project. There is a method to his madness though. Collect everything you need before starting the project. That could be a couple of weeks to a few months or more as the budget allows. Then once all the parts are there, tear it down and start working it over until its done. I've been part of many of those builds in one way or another and they all go pretty smoothly. Mainly because he's got all the parts there and you can just stay working. Parts runs are pretty few.

I've done all of the work on my K5 over at his place and follow his plan the truck usually drives in on Saturday and is driven back home by Sunday afternoon. Plan it in advance and get the parts together and a lot can be accomplished. The first engine swap, lift and clutch jobs all got done over a weekend. Bigger jobs might span a little more time, but he's got a method that works.

Side note to Larry: A little bird told me your helper to bleed the clutch on the bear got fired. Let me know if you need any help with it!

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Ah, geeze guys. Don’t forget about the Corvair van sitting next to the shop that I yanked the engine out of last year and just can’t muster up the enthusiasm to get back to work on it. Won’t be long and I’ll forget how that odd ball vehicle goes back together. :lol:



Yeah, she was doing a crappy job pumping the pedal while talking on her cell phone. I tell her to pump, pump, pump, pump, hold…..and she does the opposite. Had to send her back in the house! If you have time to swing by on your way by Saturday I could use some help bleeding this thing. The clutch works, it could just be better. Kind of spungy.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

nice Burb larry,
thats a screaming deal on that thing. and witha 465 seems rare.

you over on CK5 also?

Im building my burban too for the CO awesome maontains and deep camping

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Thanks 63chevyII!

Nah, I’ve never been much of a fan of CK5 or even Pirate 4x4. I don’t like the idea you have to pay to play on CK5. Here, you contribute funds if you want which makes it more worthwhile. I don’t mind donating to this site. This is a nice well moderated forum that doesn’t tolerate immature BS like CK5 or Pirate 4x4. I just hang out here and Expedition Portal for those reasons.

The west is definitely a nice big place for Suburban’s to roam. This one actually came from your town. Found it on COS Craigslist. Do you have a thread going on yours?

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

When I bled my hydraulic clutch, I used a syringe to push the fluid from the bleeder to the reservoir. Was able to do it by myself.

Just remember to leave the cap on the reservoir...

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Wow for that price I think I would have bought it even though I have absolutely NO need for a burban. Looking forward to see what it becomes now that you have it. Possible square body Avalanche? With 8.1 & NV4500 of course. :lol:

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

You can have a pass on that one. It's more of a long term project anyway. Besides, you'd have to build a shed to put the air compressor in once you get started on the Corvair.

I can say without a doubt Larry's not taking a sawzall to the burb to make an avalanche out of it. An 8.1/nv4500 is highly likely but this truck is way to nice to chop it up.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

[QUOTE=DirtyLarry;5106808]Thanks 63chevyII!

Nah, I’ve never been much of a fan of CK5 or even Pirate 4x4. I don’t like the idea you have to pay to play on CK5. Here, you contribute funds if you want which makes it more worthwhile. I don’t mind donating to this site. This is a nice well moderated forum that doesn’t tolerate immature BS like CK5 or Pirate 4x4. I just hang out here and Expedition Portal for those reasons.

The west is definitely a nice big place for Suburban’s to roam. This one actually came from your town. Found it on COS Craigslist. Do you have a thread going on yours?[/QUOTE
Yah I have a build thread going for my burb over there, but slow going currently.

I cant post pictures here and I had a few picture albums over here but got delteted because of some technicality. Oh well.

And I agree pirate is a silly, but CK5 has alot of cool colorado guys on it.

A while ago I read your build about your 8.1. Very nice, I love the 8.1 and hope it will be my next engine in my burban.
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Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Yeah I prob seen it on CL. Was looking everyday for a while, but since i found mine i quit looking
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Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Updates?

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Ya, some minor stuff. Got some big updates coming within the next month or so.

Hmm, let see. What have I done to it since the last update. Oh, yeah…..added some of those neat Cabela’s seat covers a while back as well as bolted on some bicycle drink holders to the front of the console. Stole this idea from Zoomad75. Got this same set up in my K10 as well.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7171/6...af4f0965_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7024/6...6950f865_b.jpg

Also had some exhaust work done a while back. The stupid cat was banging on the frame and the idiots that built the last tail pipes had them routed under the rear leaf springs so every time the suspension was articulated it would break the tail pipe hangers. I had the exhaust shop hack off the cat, install a “Test” pipe and bend up some to new tail pipes. They needed to be reworked to make room for the ORD shackle flip anyway. Turned out pretty nice and sounds better without the cat too.

Plenty of room now for the ORD shackle flip
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7044/6...e9deeb30_b.jpg

Same exhaust exit configuration as the ’78 K10.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7036/6...69b722bb_b.jpg


As I mentioned, there are bigger updates coming shortly. As some of you may have read I decided to scrap my dad’s ’78 K20 wrecker, which a few buddies and I did last weekend. The front D44 and rear 14 bolt full-floater picked from the wrecker are going into the Suburban in a few weeks along with the full ORD treatment (rear shackle flip, front HD shackles, 4” front Alcan springs, sway bar disconnect, blah, blah, blah). This week I’ve been busy going through the rear axle to get it ready for the swap. The rear axle from the wrecker had 13” rear brakes. My K10 only has 11” rear brakes so I am swapping the rear drums and backing plates from the K10 over to the Suburban’s new axle as the much heavier K10 could use the 13” brakes much more than the Suburban will ever need them. The front D44 also needs some major TLC. Plan on replacing the ball joints, all steering joints and axle shaft U-joints before the swap as well.

The Suburban also had a date to visit a body shop any day now to deal with the bondo crack in the lower right quarter panel as well as to remove the surface rust from the rockers then get a coating of bed liner. Like my K10, the Suburban will have bed liner from the moldings on down. I haven’t decided on the bed liner color yet but it will probably be black. Got kind of lucky on this portion as I am trading the 4.3L V6 from the truck I did the big block swap in for my FIL a few months ago for the body work. I just hope this dude doesn’t skate on me before much longer as he already has put me off 2 more weeks. He wants this 4.3L for his boat…it he doesn’t hurry summer will be over where he may not be so anxious to get his boat going.

If everything else goes as planned I am hoping to start on the NV4500 swap in December. Should be an easy swaperoo in this rig as I am planning to use the 32 spline NP241 that is already in it.

As I’ve been driving the Sub back and forth from the airport I’ve discovered it has a drinking habit. It seems to like to drink a quart of oil every 500- 600 miles! Odd as it doesn’t smoke and the plugs do not show signs of oil fouling. It doesn't even drop a single speck of oil on the ground. I still need to try a PCV valve but figure it will probably be getting an 8.1L swap next summer regardless. Until then I guess I am just going to move the Suburban over to running on used oil instead of new stuff. The TBI 5.7L can barely pull a greasy string out of a Coke bottle anyway. The new 4:10 axles should help squeeze more usable power out of it though. The 3:42 gears in it now suck! :lol:

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Nice build going on Larry. Exhaust pipes are looking. Waiting for your new updates. Keep it up. :)

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Looking good larry! Nice exhaust work. Our 83 had the same exhaust problem. I'd love to make my 88 a 4 speed. If only you were closer. :(

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Funny, I have no need for another truck or project but every time I open this thread I then go to Craigslist to see whats on there...

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

:lol: You never know...once in a while even a blind Squirrel finds a nut! Dumb luck is how I stumbled upon this Suburban. Didn't know I needed one until I saw it. :lol:

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Nice upgrades, and your new upgrades will make this a killer rig! I know the TBI in my 90 burb is really starting to piss me off. If I had the time it would lose 2 cylinders. :lol:

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

My wife won't let me have one.:waah:
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Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Just awesome.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

I feel sorry for you.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Did you use Rust-Oleum spray paint on the frame in the engine bay area?
How did you degrease it?

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Chevak20,

I used Simple Green to degrease it (it wasn’t very greasy to begin with) then used Van Sickle spray paint. Van Sickle is an oil based farm and implement paint and more durable than paints like Rust-Oleum. It tough as nails and doesn’t fade or get eaten off by fluids like brake fluid, etc. Not sure if you get either of these products in Sweden.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Thank you for the links Dirty Larry, and yes we don't get these products in Sweden. Even looked on Amazon UK and nooooo! Though, I do have Hammarite oil-based paint available.

I also can get Rust-Oleum nowadays but have never tried it.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Actually, I'm not sure how easy it is to find that brand here in AZ...

:lol:

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Well, I’ve been busy the last few weekends getting the body on the Suburban squared away before the cold weather sets in. I actually had a deal going to trade a left over 4.3L from another project to a body guy who was going to do this work. As usual when doing trade work with body guys, this guy keeps stalling and stringing me along for months so I gave up and just did the work myself. I am by no means a body man but I did have some auto body training in High School…..here she goes…:lol:

This was the ugliest spot on the truck that was really bothering me. The lower portion of the right rear quarter panel had a good size body filler crack as well as some surface rust growing.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8454/7...d4a3ffb9_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8430/7...57ba0e18_c.jpg

Yep, found the cause of the body filler crack. Looks like some lazy SOB did not weld the dent puller holes last time it has work done on it. Body filler absorbs moisture where holes should be filled before adding body filer or things like this happen….cracks and rust.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8308/7...97ce4121_c.jpg

I welded the holes shut, ironed out the dents a bit more then added fresh body filler
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8303/7...4144c7bf_c.jpg

In primer
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8437/7...ce1031b1_c.jpg

Then the rear door area had some surface rust growing as well
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8182/7...0ba35884_c.jpg

If you ever do any surface rust repair work one of these spot sand blasters are a must have tool. I went through 250 lbs of sand throughout this project.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8450/7...afdd2f78_c.jpg

After sand blasting, sealing and glazing putty
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8441/7...6c134450_c.jpg

In primer
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8305/7...655f83d7_c.jpg

Various spots
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8320/7...d980e874_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8311/7...5388044c_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8456/7...a2defaa6_c.jpg

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

This was actually the worst of the rust on the entire truck. The typical spot on left rear quarter panel just behind the wheel.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8298/7...0d7424f0_c.jpg

Cut out the cancer
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8315/7...541a53c3_c.jpg

Then started welding in ½” strips. Welding in small strips makes it easier to follow the body lines.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8313/7...83a7f408_c.jpg

After the strips were welded in I spot blasted the area before adding body filler
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8436/7...e4cf2040_c.jpg

Couldn’t get a good picture of the back side where I cut that portion of rust out but here is the patch I formed and welded in.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8436/7...fdfee352_c.jpg

Tah, da!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8171/7...cbde8b18_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8451/7...dc60dd15_c.jpg

Funny as there wasn’t any major rust spots on the back side of the rockers at all. The couple little spots blasted off easily and will be undercoated.

The other night getting ready for primer
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8302/7...6f241d4a_c.jpg

Last night as I was block sanding
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8312/7...0997b967_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8448/7...015d03e3_c.jpg

This morning after paint and removing the paper
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8296/7...365c71a5_c.jpg

Fresh paint! I goofed and didn’t paint the top edge by the molding. For some reason I thought the molding went over that little section. Oh, well
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8179/7...86b251e9_c.jpg

Left rear quarter panel with fresh paint and a bug in it too.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8313/7...e03d90fe_c.jpg

Driver’s door. There was a good size rust bubble here too but I didn’t get any before shots of it.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8449/7...7181dc44_c.jpg

Now for the bad news. I got a huge run in the right rear quarter panel to deal with. I’ll let it dry a few days then sand it down and respray.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8319/7...121fc8d1_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8031/7...7315002c_c.jpg

Nice to see it sans the rust spots!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8037/7...0886075a_c.jpg

Next up, axle swap and lift……:ito:

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Looks good to me, looks like highschool shop paid off..
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Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Thanks 69GWC! Yes, I guess it did. LOL

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

That is the only formal automotive training I ever had in school--autobody. I hate doing it with a passion. It usually turns out well, but I hate doing it. Yours looks great!! I bet if you use a flexible block, you could knock those runs down without repainting it.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Thanks man, a compliment from you is huge. :lol:

Yeah, that is the plan but this is single stage paint so it will probably lose its luster if I rub it down flat and try to buff it. I went cheap and easy on this project with single stage instead of basecoat/clear coat. I'll have to mix up more paint for the rear bumper anyway as it looks even worse. Notice I didn't post any pictures of the bumper? Hehe, it looks like a chimpanzee painted it with a dirty mop! :lol:

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Nice work! The more I see it the more I like that Burb!

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

That came out good!

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Well, half of the lift is done! Started thrashing the rear tonight getting ready for the ORD shackle flip and 14 bolt FF swap. To do the rear shackle flip the tank must come down and of course, the tank was ¾ full so that took a while to syphon the gas out. Still need more parts and I have some work travel coming up so probably won’t get the lift all wrapped up for a couple weeks. To my surprise, the old springs I removed from the K10 many years ago that I cleaned up to use on the Polar Bear are 6” springs, not 4”. Ah, well…..it will come down an inch or so once it gets an 8.1L.

I am also in a quandary what I want to do with the front drive shaft. It is now too short but I don’t feel like spending money on lengthening it as I plan on swapping in a NV4500 sometime this winter and don’t want to pay to have the shaft reworked twice. Problem is I don't know exactly when my boss (wife) will let me throw down the coin to fix up the NV4500 I have laying under the work bench. Might have to do the same for the rear shaft too. Dang! I need someone to start buying some of the stuff I have on Craigslist so I can finish my projects :lol:

These Q78 Super Swampers will not be on here full time. They will just be used for certain trips.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8042/8...4bc33d78_c.jpg

Out with the turd 9.5” semi floater with 3:42 gears!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8182/8...9d42a93d_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8460/8...233ac135_c.jpg