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

[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.

[ManNamedJed]

Scary part - cutting into your dash for new vents. I think they wanted to be sure you didn't cut this hole too big as the template was undersized, so there was lots of filing to make it fit. Note, I am not the one who cut the radio hole...



New side vents - required a 2 1/4" hole saw which apparently is not a common size. Was not in either of my hole saw kits, and wasn't available at Home Depot. Apex Saw - a local place - had it though, and it was priced the same as the ones at HD.



Center vent installed.


All the hoses run and ready to have the glovebox reinstalled (which is now about 3" deep unfortunately)



New AC compressor. Looks like they sent me the wrong length hoses, so I'm getting that straightened out.I think this might be due to the different engine mounting positions. CAA was really nice though and sent me new hose components, so I figured out how long I wanted them and a local AC place crimped them for me.


I didn't bother to take a pic of the stuff that goes in front of the radiator - which I had in and out about a dozen times before it was all done.

[ManNamedJed]

Got the radiator filled and did a test drive. I still need a belt for the AC pump, and maybe swap those hoses, so can't test that part. However it blew hot air really well and with much more velocity that the OE system.

I took three days off this week hoping to tackle some of the work on this project. After the AC kit I'm pretty burned out, so the HEI, headers, and intake will have to wait. I was bummed to realize I will have to unbolt a bunch of this same stuff again to do these - especially the cam.

[ManNamedJed]

October 2018:
The previous owner regeared it to 3.08 to try to get better mileage. That combined with the ~200hp engine makes it rather underpowered. The TC's low range of 2:1 doesn't help, so I haven't really taken it offroad yet.

However I'm hoping to do some camping trips next year and maybe a trip to moab, so the pressure is on to sort out the suspension and drivetrain.

It doesn't make sense to regear the 1/2 ton drivetrain, so I've been looking for a deal on 3/4 ton or 1 ton axles and haven't been having much luck. I hope to find a set with at least a 14b full floater and 4:10 or 4:56 gears. However that will mean moving to 8 lug wheels, so I'll also have to buy wheels and tires, which means I'll have to do the suspension at the same time, as I'd want to get the planned 35" tires at the same time.

[ManNamedJed]

Jan 2019:
Winter, lack of garage space, young kids and a travelling wife have all conspired to kill forward progress on this.

However, I just picked up some 3/4 8 lug axles I'll be putting on (4.10 gears). I have some cool wheels, and some 33" BFG ATs too. I also have an intake, cam, headers and HEI ignition for the engine. Between the better gearing and the engine mods, I hope it will really pep this up.

Hopefully I have time to dive into it shortly!

[ManNamedJed]

The cam I got is pretty mild, but a bump up from the stocker. For headers, I'm just going with corvette style ram's horns. All the other full length tube style headers hung down past the frame rails and I'd rather not give up ground clearance.

The engine is the inexpensive GM 'Truck' replacement 190hp unit. Based on the paperwork, it has about 19,000 miles on it now. I'm basing my mods on this article where they build one up:
http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/463...-engine-build/

Mild cam, intake and headers should put it at 250-275hp. I'm debating having the heads worked just a bit when I have it apart like they do in the early stage of the magazine article.

This is the cam I got. Pretty mild and should work well with stock heads/springs, etc. It is supposed to work well in the 90s TBI engines, and I may add GM TBI at some point. It currently has an Edelbrock 1406.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-K1102

My dad offered me a brownie box with under, direct, and overdrive the other day. That would be super cool, and I certainly have the length to accomodate it, but not sure I want to monkey around with trying to make it work.

[ManNamedJed]

Feb 2019:
14 bolt Full Floater ready to go in. Replaced seals and added RuffStuff diff cover and disc brake conversion. The ruff stuff parts have all been great BTW.

I did get the Eldorado brake calipers with the parking brake provision. Later I learned this is problematic as the stock cables won't reach the new position, esp when I added the lift.

Front is also getting a Ruffstuff diff cover. One hub doesn't seem to lock, so I've got to figure that out. Then just wait for a decent weather weekend to swap them in. This thing doesn't fit in my garage!


Got the 8 lug Dana 44 ready to go in. I fixed the warn hub on one side that wouldn't engage. Put on new calipers and ruffstuff diff cover.
I later learned one of the inner seals was leaking. I was going to replace everything at this point, but my old man talked me into just putting them in and seeing how they work...