The Story Of A Cummins Suburban (Lots Of Pics)

[justcuz]

The picture at the end of the block with the metal railing and poured concrete. Looks like a vehicle spring and other metal pieces thrown in the cement to use a "filler". Is that a poured concrete "door" to prevent access to something? Great pics by the way. I just ordered a book from Arizona Highways about some great drives around the state. Hoping to incorporate some off road stuff into these trips as well!

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by justcuz

The picture at the end of the block with the metal railing and poured concrete. Looks like a vehicle spring and other metal pieces thrown in the cement to use a "filler".

It is.

Originally Posted by justcuz

Is that a poured concrete "door" to prevent access to something?

I don't think so, but to be honest, I don't know as I ever really looked at the surrounding structure in great detail.

Originally Posted by justcuz

Great pics by the way. I just ordered a book from Arizona Highways about some great drives around the state. Hoping to incorporate some off road stuff into these trips as well!

Thanks!! If you make it over here and are going to wander around the state, let me know where you want to go and I'll let you know of the "must see" things in the area you are going. If you are heading out on dirt and want a guide or travel suggestions I can provide those as well.

[justcuz]

Sounds good! I will be in Prescott in July. I am picking up 2 other couples and we are taking our Suburban to Durango. I keep you updated on my dates. After our return from Durango maybe we can do a weekend trip soemwhere local in the higher country since it will be hot down your way.

[El Campo]

Absolutely love this thread! Just found it this morning and read it the entire way through. My brother lives in Suprise and I come there about twice a year. I have taken a bunch of those drives that you have went on and are awesome!! Took that one above Lake Pleasant by Hells Canyon in my 2000 F350 last August and its intense but fabulously beautiful. 89A up through Sedona and onto Flag through Oak Creek Canyon is one of my favorites, rode the Harley up there.

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by El Campo

Absolutely love this thread! Just found it this morning and read it the entire way through. My brother lives in Suprise and I come there about twice a year. I have taken a bunch of those drives that you have went on and are awesome!! Took that one above Lake Pleasant by Hells Canyon in my 2000 F350 last August and its intense but fabulously beautiful. 89A up through Sedona and onto Flag through Oak Creek Canyon is one of my favorites, rode the Harley up there.

I'm glad you like it. I have had some pretty amazing rides through Oak Creek Canyon myself. All in vehicles though and the best one was at night believe it or not (in my Nova, but I was not driving).

[mosesburb]

So during our exit from Fossil Creek, the last remaining piece of foam insulation between the hood and inner hood structure fell out and landed on the turbocharger. This was not an ideal place for flammable material to ride. I removed it and threw it in the back and tossed it when we got home. This created a problem. A loud, obnoxious problem. To say the hood would oil can would be a tremendous understatement. Holy cow. It is a Suburban with a straight piped Cummins in it and the hood could be heard oil-canning for a long way before the motor could be heard. Man, it was terrible.

So, what to do?? I thought about a replacement foam kit. I wasn't to keen on that one as it seems everything sold as replacement foam or rubber for these trucks is junk. No longevity whatsoever. Once again, if this falls out, it lands on the turbo and can start on fire. Underhood fire is bad, m'kay?? I figured out a way I could glue it, but I still wasn't sold on the idea that this is the best option. I kept pondering the subject and remembered back in my body shop days that a foam was used on new cars for this purpose. I did some research and found that SEM 39357 Flexible Urethane Foam was the product to use now. I did some more research and found that the stuff is not cheap. I also found that you need a special caulking-gun-type tool to apply the stuff. That thing is way expensive. More than double the price of the goo-in-a-tube. I started calling around and I found a place that would sell me the urethane foam and let me "borrow" the applicator device with a securing deposit. This was the best option for me as I don't need that gold-plated tool hanging on a hook gathering dust.

Product and dispenser:



So here we go. I tried applying the foam to the hood while it was on the truck. This did not end well and I don't recommend this method. I pulled the hood off and laid it upside down for the next attempt. This worked much better. This stuff has a very limited working time. If you stop to think while you are using it, it will go off in the mixing nozzle and no more material will pass at that point. Continuous movement is required. Get everything clean. Have some rags nearby.



The product comes out and takes a moment or two to go off. In this time the thought of not having put enough in the gap comes to mind. This can be a bad thought as too much stuff looks terrible. It is best to keep going and see what happens after it expands. I put too much in a couple areas and had to trim it off. It doesn't look as nice as the areas where it is just "as caulked". This stuff expands more that I thought it would.

Here is what I ended up with:



Not too bad--here. Some thoughts one the product. Easy to work with?? Not too bad, I have dealt with worse. Wear gloves!! Wear some gloves!! Put some gloves on!! Seriously. You don't want this stuff on you. Other than what is mentioned, it is not too bad.

Now, with all of that said, does it work?? Holy cow!! If someone would have told me the difference I would experience after installing this magic-goo, I would not have believed it. No way. Unbeliveable difference. I wish I would have done it sooner. On the trail the hood is silent. Around town the noise level in the vehicle is reduced dramatically. I never knew how much noise came from the hood itself. In the end it was worth every penny and the week after of picking that foam crap off of my hands. Wear gloves. Seriously.

[hgs_notes]

I didn't go back to that crappy hood pad stuff either. The body shop I went to uses a similar but different material to do this. It is less like foam and more like silicone. I had added a cross brace in my hood to push up the middle which had sagged over the years. What we did was use strips of cardboard to get the gap between the brace and sheetmetal. The cardboard went on one side of the brace, then used the silicone on te other. Once it was set, pulled out the cardboard and did the other side. You can see the middle brace was done like a stitch weld. and the shop also did across the back f the hood. And this stuff was also paintable so it blends in real nice.

I have the SEM gun, btw. Got it off ebay cheap, but those SEM and similar 3m products are not cheap. Worth it in my opinion, but no bargain.

Heres my hood...
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=495

[ERASER5]

So Mooseburb, do you think I should wear gloves before I mess with this type of foam?

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

I didn't go back to that crappy hood pad stuff either. The body shop I went to uses a similar but different material to do this. It is less like foam and more like silicone. I had added a cross brace in my hood to push up the middle which had sagged over the years. What we did was use strips of cardboard to get the gap between the brace and sheetmetal. The cardboard went on one side of the brace, then used the silicone on te other. Once it was set, pulled out the cardboard and did the other side. You can see the middle brace was done like a stitch weld. and the shop also did across the back f the hood. And this stuff was also paintable so it blends in real nice.

I have the SEM gun, btw. Got it off ebay cheap, but those SEM and similar 3m products are not cheap. Worth it in my opinion, but no bargain.

Heres my hood...
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=495

looks nice I like the color.

[mosesburb]

So back in January, yeah, I know I'm slow, I teamed up with another old Suburban ('70 K20 pure stock) and went wandering (mine was the one that was not magnetically attracted to gas stations). We headed out from town up to Wickenburg where he stopped for gas upon entering town. We checked out a really cool museum up there and then proceeded down to Vulture Mine. We promptly found out that it was closed. We left there seeking a scenic lunch spot. We found one nearby and had our lunch.



After we left here we headed down old US60. This section has been bypassed by I-10 so not much traffic flows through here. While cruising low through small towns, stores can be found that make you wonder why stores like this aren't available in the metropolis where you live. Seriously, Ace hardware meets Macy's. Get your hardware and fashion in one easy stop.



Anyways, our destination was not Adolfo's believe it or not, but an old mining town called Swansea. There is some information on it out there, this is a link to a little bit of it. Once we were close to Swansea, I was absolutely amazed at the scenery in the surrounding area. I have run Highway 72 from Vicksburg through Utting and Bouse into Parker many times. Always at high speed as there is really nothing to look at. That was the scenery I was expecting to see just a few miles north in Swansea, but I was very pleasantly surprised at the unbelievable variations in colors. Every hill, mountain, valley, escarpment was a different color than the one in front of it and the one behind it. Absolutely amazing. I took many pictures of it, but it is evidently difficult to capture on electronic film. This pic give an idea of what I am trying to describe:



So we got into Swansea and did some wandering around. There aren't any complete buildings, but there are some pretty good remnants and physical evidence of buildings that were there. This was a neat pile of machine filings:



Random studs:



This is an example of the signs that were at some of the more "important" locations:



This is what the building looks like today:



On our way back we found the pit that held a train scale:



Back at camp we had a very tasty steak dinner complete with shrimp for my boy all courtesy of Lance & Co. After dinner, we sacrificed Frosty The Snowman Peep to the Fire Gods to bless us with safe trail passage tomorrow.



So ends our first day of travel.

[mosesburb]

We got up in the morning packed up our hoopties and rolled back up to the main site to do a little more aimless wandering. Off in the distance there were a couple cool old Suburbans (one is probably low on gas):



This is the pipeline road heading out of Swansea. Lots and lots of uphill and downhill: (That first little "dip" in the road is actually hiding a Suburban)



If you wheel an old full-size truck, this is a sight that becomes very familiar very quickly: Hood and sky--lots of both, but no trail in sight.



This is just another pic showing how everything is a different color from everything else: (The white things are the supports for the cable spans on the pipeline bridge)



Cool looking rock:



Here is an underside shot of the pipeline bridge. Pretty massive structure out in the middle of nowhere:



This is an engine-in-a-shack that I was checking out near the bridge. It is an Arrow engine which are designed for 100% duty cycle, 24/7/365. It looks very similar to an old hit and miss agricultural engine:



Rolling hills, all different colors: grey, red, tan.



After we left the anti-scenic Alamo Lake, we rolled through a cool patch of Joshua Tree:

[mosesburb]

So a little further down the road we come into Signal. This car looks like the Bluesmobile when Jake and Elwood finally reached the Honorable Richard J Daley Plaza:



This rock looked like it had some kind of web over it, but it didn't--it was all rock:



These dry-stacked walls were super-cool. Nothing holding the rocks together except gravity. All of the rocks were cut to fit or just stacked accordingly, but with no mortar.



Cool fence surrounding the cemetary.



Here is something we saw alot of. Can dumps. There was one spot coming out of Swansea that had, I bet, 10,000+ cans on the ground. This area was not so populated with cans, but it is the one I got a picture of. I am theorizing that these areas probably had more than just steel cans. There was probably organic material (food wastes, etc) and maybe even paper products, but all of that stuff has decomposed or blown away leaving rusty can dumps as the sole survivor:



So we headed out of Signal and did another small water crossing and we were off to the highway and our eventual return to modern times and civilization as we know it. I grabbed one last pic after the inevitable gas stop and before the scenic place Lance's Sub decided to take a breather and rest for a few minutes.



It was a fun trip. Very cool doing some trail running with a similar vehicle to mine--especially when it is so rare to see one on the road, much less on the trail.

[Palf70Step]

Mose, were you able to do your hood with one container/tube or you need more?

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

I didn't go back to that crappy hood pad stuff either. The body shop I went to uses a similar but different material to do this. It is less like foam and more like silicone. I had added a cross brace in my hood to push up the middle which had sagged over the years. What we did was use strips of cardboard to get the gap between the brace and sheetmetal. The cardboard went on one side of the brace, then used the silicone on te other. Once it was set, pulled out the cardboard and did the other side. You can see the middle brace was done like a stitch weld. and the shop also did across the back f the hood. And this stuff was also paintable so it blends in real nice.

I have the SEM gun, btw. Got it off ebay cheap, but those SEM and similar 3m products are not cheap. Worth it in my opinion, but no bargain.

Heres my hood...
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=495

Nice. I bet that is a urethane sealer as opposed to a urethane foam. Looks great. No noise at all right?? Just a super-dull thud?? That is all I get out of mine now.

Originally Posted by ERASER5

So Mooseburb, do you think I should wear gloves before I mess with this type of foam?

You?? Nah, you have the skill to do it without gloves......

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Mose, were you able to do your hood with one container/tube or you need more?

One tube is more than enough. If you have ideas of ther areas that can use this product, be ready to do everything at once. If you stop for any amount of time the goo goes off in the mixing nozzle effectively ruining it for all time. Another nozzle can be put on, but only two come with the product, so you have to make them count or buy more (if your supplier will sell them individually--many only sell them in bags of 25 or 50??)

[Dieselwrencher]

This was another reason why I got a cowl hood. Hopefully it won't vibrate like a violin.

[hgs_notes]

Interesting trip as always. My wife told me the other day we will probably go back out to Idaho to visit her family again this summer. Too bad I wont have the Jimmy to take out to the hills. She doesn't like it when I take her Denali off road. Can you believe it cost $1000 just to replace the mirror glass on that thing? (heated, auto dimming) That heavy rig with the low running boards and soft suspension will never be a rock crawler, but the drive there is comfortable anyway.

[jbclassix]

Love the pictures of your trips! What kind of mileage are you pulling down on trips like that?

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

Interesting trip as always. My wife told me the other day we will probably go back out to Idaho to visit her family again this summer. Too bad I wont have the Jimmy to take out to the hills. She doesn't like it when I take her Denali off road. Can you believe it cost $1000 just to replace the mirror glass on that thing? (heated, auto dimming) That heavy rig with the low running boards and soft suspension will never be a rock crawler, but the drive there is comfortable anyway.

Yeah, mine is a bit more of a compromise. Not as supple of a ride as yours, but decent enough to not fatigue in a short distance yet stout enough and enough clearance to be able to get into some neat remote places. I have found several running boards on the sides of trails over the years.

Originally Posted by jbclassix

Love the pictures of your trips! What kind of mileage are you pulling down on trips like that?

Thanks!! I got 17.82 from my house, all the wheeling, to Wickieup where I put about half a tank in it.

[1leglance]

great write up of our little ghost town run around Nick
your pics really tell the story well

Now if I could just get a diesel shoved into my burb so I get your kind of mileage and end my love affair with small town gas stations

[1985-GMC]

Great trail pictures as always! Now lets see some pictures of this new fender..

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by 1leglance

great write up of our little ghost town run around Nick
your pics really tell the story well

Now if I could just get a diesel shoved into my burb so I get your kind of mileage and end my love affair with small town gas stations

Thanks. Yeah, even without the diesel, I bet 40 was a helluva lot nicer than twenty for your little jaunt last week.

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

Great trail pictures as always! Now lets see some pictures of this new fender..

Thanks!! No new fender. Only new parts go under the hood/truck.

[mosesburb]

So I think I am caught up to February now. Somewhere along the way my buddy with the blue Suburban bought a donor Suburban with a Banks equipped 6.2L, 700R4, NP208, 40 gal gas tank and a bunch of other goodies. Before he pitched the carcass, he asked if I wanted anything off of it. I mentioned the front drive shaft and a couple other things for my buddy Russ.

I wanted the front shaft because it was a Saginaw CV shaft. I have a Spicer CV shaft with a Saginaw adapter ring on it. The Saginaw is much stronger than a Spicer joint and figuring that I have it bolted to a flange on a 32 spline front output on the '205, I figured I should have a better double cardan joint on ther too. I had the shaft re-tubed and brought it home and washed it before painting it.



I have a feeling this shaft had been gone through not too long ago as the cv was real tight as were the splines on the slip yoke. This was a good thing as both of those parts on my old shaft were showing signs of wear. I painted it up and threw it in:



Some of you may remember that the smoke got released from one of my auxilliary electric fans awhile back. That left me with one functioning fan which is fine for cool temps, but Summer will come eventually and a second fan will be a good thing.

Before I installed them I installed the same factory fan connectors and terminals that I had onthe old fans so they can be easily disconnected and swapped out if necessary.



I decided that I needed a different mounting configuration than I had so the next time a fan fails, I don't have to tear the front of the truck off to change it. I came up with a hard mount on the top and a couple pieces of aluminum angle on the bottom--one welded to the bottom of the intercooler and one bolted to the bottom of the fan then both bolted together. This allows the fan to be dropped out the bottom without having to diassemble the whole front of the truck.





I also did something else that is visible in the pics, but I am not saying what. I'll see if anyone notices.

[1985-GMC]

Originally Posted by mosesburb

Thanks!! No new fender. Only new parts go under the hood/truck.

Is this not your burb?

[mosesburb]

I think it is.

[1985-GMC]

Well maybe I missed an update of it without the big crunch up front?

Oh and I see it, no more Gr...

And I stole the picture from here: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=608