1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'

[ManNamedJed]

I started posting this on a local 4x4 forum, but wanted to share with you guys as well. This started Sept 2018:


I have a Jeep Cherokee I really love. It has taken my wife and I on some cool trips. We went to moab and biked and jeeped the awesome trails there. We did a trip across Nevada all on dirt where we saw petroglyphs, ghost towns, hot springs, and some amazing wildlife and scenery.

But we have kids now and when I take the wife, two kids, and dog camping, it just isn't big enough. Here is how the poor thing looked on one of last year's camping trip.



So I wanted something bigger. I consider a Land Cruiser, or a full size Wagoneer, but they really are only about a foot longer and a few inches wider. Hardly worth starting over.

So I settled on a suburban. I've also had the itch for a classic car, so I decided a older burb would maybe scratch that too. I ran across this article and love how this guy's suburban looks:

http://www.fourwheeler.com/features/...an-sir-burban/

Turns out its hard to find the cherry 'barn find' 4x4 suburbans like this guy did. They all have rust issues. Many are just trashed. Not many of them are 4x4. After about 8 months of looking I found this one in Chico. You might remember seeing it in the 'finds' thread.



It has had all the body work done and a repaint in the 90s. The interior was tuned up. It got a Goodwrench 350 installed then. Lots of the little things were done and I got to start with a decent running/driving rig. Since I have two little kids, I couldn't take on a major project, but can do some things here and there when a weekend frees up.

The goal is for it to be a family offroad exploration rig. Not a crazy rockcrawler, just reliable, simple and fun.

Here is the plans for this thing:
1. Install aftermarket AC/Heat (Classic Air system already bought)
2. Get some more oomph from the 190hp 350
a) upgrade to HEI (already purchased)
b) Install mild cam and intake (already purchased)
c) Headers or performance rams horn exhaust manifold
d) down the road do a Holley sniper or similar fuel injection upgrade
3. Upgrade to 3/4 ton or 1 ton axles, some kind of locker in rear
4. Mild lift and 35" tires
5. Upgrade bumpers and winch - hopefully find a nice vintage Warn 8274
6. Mild cage to add some protection for the family in case I manage to flop it somewhere.
7. Roof rack

[ManNamedJed]

Oh, and I'd like to keep it looking fairly period correct. Like it was all built in the 70s or 80s. Hence the desire for an older winch. A challenge will be finding bumpers that look right.

I got a roof rack/basket ordered and happen to have a set of these vintage cast aluminum rack mounts that will look appropriate.

[ManNamedJed]

Before I could even get into the cool projects, I had an issue with it not starting. The battery cables were pretty corroded and nasty. It also had a dual battery setup where one was isolated but you could connect it to the other via a soleniod. However it was only connected with a 12 gauge wire. And I couldn't figure out how the second battery was even getting charged.

A long time ago my CJ was needing a new battery and I realized a dual battery tray and two group 24 marine starting batteries cost less than one new Optima, so that is what I did and it worked great. They lasted 10 yrs and didn't mind when I didn't start the jeep for months at a time. So that is what I decided to do here.

I dropped the solenoid and got two new batteries and wired them in parallel. I built my own cables with copper lugs , solder pellets and heavy duty heat shrink. Its super easy to do and you can make your cables for less than crappy pre built ones.

I used this method:
https://www.wiringdepot.com/jt-t-tec...-Battery-Cable

I also used 'military' battery lugs which allows you to stack other wires on the bolts.





Since I plan an upgraded alternator at some point, I also dropped the fusible link wire and went with this cool resettable breaker. I'm using an 80A now (63A alt), but will change when I upgrade.



Yes I still need to clean up some of the other wiring.

[ManNamedJed]

Here is the winch that is currently on it. It has a great retro look, but they don't have a great reputation. Tenson TX2.

I'm hoping to find a decent warn 8274 that I can refurb.

[ManNamedJed]

I posted these in the 'Accessory you didn't know you needed' thread that spawned some discussion of the cool rack mounts.

Last weekend I had meant to install the HEI dist and start the AC project, but brakes went out on the wifes car, and had a tire blow out on the highway (in my XJ). So never really got around to Suburban projects.

This weekend my wife is working so I have our two small boys, so its not good to tear into major projects, so I decided to install my roof rack. This is the Smittybilt Defender and its pretty decent for the price. I used these vintage rack feet I had and I think they look very appropriate. The rack starts to change the look of the rig from 'classic show car' to 'vintage off road vehicle'.

I also just scored a canoe that just happens to have the same color scheme. The blues are almost exactly the same. I think they look like they were made for each other.

[ManNamedJed]

Installed my aftermarket air conditioning kit (Classic Auto Air). It is a complete unit that replaces your heater core, blower, controls, as well as adding AC and new ducts.

It was a major pain in the ass. I probably have 15 hours into it. Its one of those projects that snowballs as you discover other things to fix/update once you start digging in.

All the old stuff comes out:




New unit gets wedged behind the dash:


New heater control valve:


This is the new heat/AC controls. I don't really like them. They totally clash with the look of the vehicle. I hope I grow to like them.

[mrtoni]

Nice. Good news. I would like to compare notes. I think my bolts are ok mine was mostly restored in 1999 but sat in Palm Springs garage since then. Never started needs dash re-wired.

[mrtoni]

I picked up 95% of a gear vender overdrive. If I can find a Holley sniper and change out the upholstery to something other than white, I’m done with parts accumulation phase.

[FLYNAVY30]

Love the build! I'm jealous of the 4wd....probably going to put a locker in my C20 and see where that gets me.

If you ever decide to go with the Sniper EFI, you won't regret it, especially if you go on a lot trips that take you from sea level up into the mountains. We did a trip a few years ago that started at sea level and topped out over 7K feet. My buddy's carb'd small block was struggling up top. The Sniper on my 6.0L LS never sputtered.

Looking forward to more updates!!

[ManNamedJed]

Thanks, glad you like it.

Yes Sniper EFI is on my want list. The Edelbrock runs pretty good right now, so I can put that off for a bit. Need some time for my wallet to recover!

[FLYNAVY30]

I really like your roof basket set up too....I'm an idiot and gave away a set of 6 of those old Quick-N-Easy brackets a few years back. Now they're "Unobtanium".

[ManNamedJed]

Took it to the drive in last night. I think I read that there were only about 30 drive ins still in the US and we are fortunate to have one in Reno.

The suburban is a great drive in rig. We put the air mattress in the back and enjoyed Toy Story 4 and the Lion King with the kids.

[FLYNAVY30]

very cool!!

[mrtoni]

Got back Sunday night. Mod phone number for pick ip

[nate_g_2003]

This is awesome! I almost went with those same wheels, but the wife didn't like them as much as I did, so I ended up with some classic Alcoa-style Pro Comps. I'm not sure what wheel size you're running, but when I got rid of my 16.5s, I went with 17" wheels, so I could run LT315/70/17s (same size as factory Hummer H2 tires). My thought was it would probably be easier to find H2 tires than a 35x12.50x17 if I was ever on the road and had a blowout.


Good to see another 3/4T 4x4 Burb on the board!

[CG]

I can only see the drive in pic. I have been following this thread and had been able to see the other pics, no idea what happened.

[LockDoc]

-
I can see all of the pictures on the first page and the drive in picture on the second page.

LockDoc

[ManNamedJed]

I think the only people that can see the pics are ones who viewed it in the past and its cached. I had all these pics in one of my albums, and now that album is gone.

I sent a message to admin about it and have not gotten a response. You can't edit posts that old to reattach. Sorry everyone. I'll make a whole new thread when I have time.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by ManNamedJed

I think the only people that can see the pics are ones who viewed it in the past and its cached. I had all these pics in one of my albums, and now that album is gone.

I sent a message to admin about it and have not gotten a response. You can't edit posts that old to reattach. Sorry everyone. I'll make a whole new thread when I have time.

I went into my Browser tools and deleted my cache. I can still see all of the pictures in the thread and all three of your albums in your profile, one album for the thread and two albums for the for sale stuff. I can also download your pictures from this thread. I don't think I could do that if they weren't on the site.

LockDoc

[CG]

I can seem em all now, weird. My computer clears the cache twice a day.

[ManNamedJed]

Still unclear why pics show up for some and not others. I'll stop linking pics from my album and just add them to the bottom of my posts...

Did some more work on the suburban. My used axles turned out to not be such a deal as the front leaked. On a Dana 44 there is only an inner seal, nothing on the outer part of the axle tube so you have to pull the cover and remove the axle shaft to replace the seal.

Of course NAPA sold me the wrong seals the first time so there was the requisite mid-project trip to the parts store.

Sorry for the dark pic.

[ManNamedJed]

As long as I had it apart, I did new rotors and calipers. I added HAWK HPS pads as they did a great job improving the stopping of my Cherokee.

[ManNamedJed]

Got smart and invested in a popup tent for shade. Also scored a deal on a Portacool standalone evaporative cooler (grey thing in the background). Makes a big difference when working outside on hot days!

[ManNamedJed]

My old man is a retired 'gear man' who worked on semi truck axles and transmissions. He helped me do the seals. Its great to have knowledgeable help. He even had the big weird socket for the hub lockrings.

When he had the axle apart, I thought I'd get the brakes bled. In addition to the new calipers, I'd installed new longer flex lines in the front and back.

I got this slick Motiv power bleeder. Its really nice, but you've got to get it sealed well. The supplied chains are useless. First try with a clamp I didn't get it sealed well and started squirting brake fluid everywhere - right above where my dad was working on the axle.

Well got it sealed well and pumped it up again. Big mistake - the front calipers weren't mounted and the power bleeder adds enough pressure that I pushed the piston out of the caliper. Yep brake fluid everywhere again.

But managed to get it all sorted eventually and I'm pretty happy with the braking now. I only put the Hawk pads in the front and now it will lock the fronts before the rears, so I will probably add them in back too.

[allchevy58]

Nice looking Suburban, like what you've done to it. Maybe we'll see you around town.