Gather 'round boys and girls, it's story time.
Once upon a time, I acquired a '72 K10 Suburban that no longer posessed an engine or transmission. It did have rear a/c though.
It was fairly straight and quite complete. I started tearing into it and modding and replacing a bunch of stuff (my wallet thought I replaced everything).
I modified the evaporator housing to accept a later model evap core that uses an accumulator and orifice tube instead of the mechanical POA valve and expansion valve.
I cleaned up the dash replacing most of the a/c ductwork, the a/c controls, the vacuum pods, rebuilt the steering column, and insulated the floor and firewall. I never liked the manual transmission brake pedal, so I modified it. I also added the wider gas pedal from a '73 up truck.
The electrical system in these trucks was inadequate in stock form (and a fire hazard) so I made my own wiring harness using a fuseblock from a mid 80's Suburban and HD Bosch relays for the high amp draw circuits.
A 20 gallon fuel tank seemed laughable, so I added a 31 gal from K5Nutt/azblazer's '79 K5 when he switched to TBI. I also threw a set of 3/4T axles at it.
Then, I added a Gen V 454. I disliked how GM mounted the a/c condenser in front of the core support making it 5" too short, so I put it behind the core support. Actually, I put a '82-'83 Suburban condenser behind the core support. I got one of the last ones available for a rear a/c application (rear a/c units got 13 fins per inch instead of the normal truck/K5 units 10 FPI).
I wanted to use the tall radiator from a '73 up in it, but I had someone tell me that it won't fit and can't be put in. So I put one in. I got the Delco service replacement which is an aluminum core instead of the original copper/brass. I also installed a BRAND NEW BOOSTER. Having seen several friends go through reman after reman, I wanted to subtend that arc so I found a unit that was fairly easy to adapt and installed it with a new master and prop valve.
I was also told that I had to use the short water pump on the big block because a long water pump would not fit. So, once again, heeding their advice, I installed the long water pump and used a factory BBC fan shroud from a '73 up truck with a few minor mods. I ended up with the fan half in and half out of the shroud just like it should be. I'm glad I heeded that warning.....
I added a 4" lift and ended up with something that looked like this:
