Officially a 66 Suburban owner! Check it out.

[sk8er32283]

Here it is. It has been sitting in one spot for about 17 years. I found out that the engine was either over heated or was getting hot on a regular basis and that is why it was parked. The drive shaft was removed and put in the back of the Sub. That scares me a bit thinking that something seized up or they were just extra precautious moving it into its resting place until repairs could be made. Up front most everything is there. I have noticed thus far that the generator is missing(I have an alternator as a replacement), battery and the distributor had cut up spark plug wires and of course the drive shaft it in the back?????? My question for you guys is where should I start to get this in running and driving condition. Is there a write up some where to resurrect a beast like this. My first thing is to remove the carb, intake and heads to check the condition of the cylinders and see if the engine is still decent to work with. One specific question I have is, what is the cable that is bolted to the passenger exhaust manifold and runs under the engine mount(I think thats what it is). Any and every suggestion is welcome. Thanks

[sk8er32283]

I will post more pictures later as I have time.

[Captainfab]

That looks like a pretty decent Suburban

What I would suggest, before you start tearing things apart is try and diagnose the engine. Have you checked the oil? Is there any signs of water in it? Is there coolant in the radiator? If not add some water and see if it stays full. Pull the spark plugs and inspect. Connect a battery and see if the engine will bump over, don't crank it, just see if it will move a little. If it does and the coolant stays up then I would squirt some Marvel Mystery Oil in each cylinder and let sit for a day or so. Meanwhile, drain the oil, change the oil filter and add some inexpensive oil. Also disconnect the fuel line either from the frame to the fuel pump, or from the fuel pump to the carb. Then with the plugs out and the coil wire disconnected crank the engine over a few revolutions. If all seems good, continue cranking until you either shoe oil pressure on the gauge or the oil light goes out.

I'll shorten this up a little. Once you have oil pressure, do a compression check. If that checks okay, then I would change the points, condenser, rotor cap, wires and plugs. Squirt a little gas down the carb and see if it will fire. If so then you will need to go thru the entire fuel system from the tank to the carb. If you need some more detail on those things just ask.

Or you could bypass all of that and just swap the engine for a known good running engine. It might be fairly easy to find a decent running 350 or even a 305.

That cable is a limit strap incase the engine mount separates, which this style of mount are prone to separating.

[sk8er32283]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

That looks like a pretty decent Suburban

What I would suggest, before you start tearing things apart is try and diagnose the engine. Have you checked the oil? Is there any signs of water in it? Is there coolant in the radiator? If not add some water and see if it stays full. Pull the spark plugs and inspect. Connect a battery and see if the engine will bump over, don't crank it, just see if it will move a little. If it does and the coolant stays up then I would squirt some Marvel Mystery Oil in each cylinder and let sit for a day or so. Meanwhile, drain the oil, change the oil filter and add some inexpensive oil. Also disconnect the fuel line either from the frame to the fuel pump, or from the fuel pump to the carb. Then with the plugs out and the coil wire disconnected crank the engine over a few revolutions. If all seems good, continue cranking until you either shoe oil pressure on the gauge or the oil light goes out.

I'll shorten this up a little. Once you have oil pressure, do a compression check. If that checks okay, then I would change the points, condenser, rotor cap, wires and plugs. Squirt a little gas down the carb and see if it will fire. If so then you will need to go thru the entire fuel system from the tank to the carb. If you need some more detail on those things just ask.

Or you could bypass all of that and just swap the engine for a known good running engine. It might be fairly easy to find a decent running 350 or even a 305.

That cable is a limit strap incase the engine mount separates, which this style of mount are prone to separating.

Thanks for the great suggestions. It is a small block. From what I have read it could be a 283 or 327. Is there a way to tell easily?
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[sk8er32283]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

That looks like a pretty decent Suburban

What I would suggest, before you start tearing things apart is try and diagnose the engine. Have you checked the oil? Is there any signs of water in it? Is there coolant in the radiator? If not add some water and see if it stays full. Pull the spark plugs and inspect. Connect a battery and see if the engine will bump over, don't crank it, just see if it will move a little. If it does and the coolant stays up then I would squirt some Marvel Mystery Oil in each cylinder and let sit for a day or so. Meanwhile, drain the oil, change the oil filter and add some inexpensive oil. Also disconnect the fuel line either from the frame to the fuel pump, or from the fuel pump to the carb. Then with the plugs out and the coil wire disconnected crank the engine over a few revolutions. If all seems good, continue cranking until you either shoe oil pressure on the gauge or the oil light goes out.

I'll shorten this up a little. Once you have oil pressure, do a compression check. If that checks okay, then I would change the points, condenser, rotor cap, wires and plugs. Squirt a little gas down the carb and see if it will fire. If so then you will need to go thru the entire fuel system from the tank to the carb. If you need some more detail on those things just ask.

Or you could bypass all of that and just swap the engine for a known good running engine. It might be fairly easy to find a decent running 350 or even a 305.

That cable is a limit strap incase the engine mount separates, which this style of mount are prone to separating.

Thanks for the great suggestions. It is a small block. From what I have read it could be a 283 or 327. Is there a way to tell easily?
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[pimpston65]

Originally Posted by sk8er32283

I will post more pictures later as I have time.

nice roof rack...

[sk8er32283]

Originally Posted by pimpston65

nice roof rack...

Thanks for the compliment on the roof rack. Are these rare at all? I was thinking of removing it because it is leaking a bit and some of the bars are bowed up for some reason. 8 think because the rubber separates are so old. I am missing one bar from the roof rack though. Does anyone make replacement parts for the roof rack?
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[sk8er32283]

more pics. I couldn't believe that the ash tray was still there. I think there is even a second one in my box of random stuff. From these pictures you can see that the luggage rack needs some work. Are the arm rest the original or from a different car. I have the two on the doors and a third in the box. I noticed that the steering wheel wires have been cut. Can you tell if this is the original steering wheel????? For the most part it appears that most of the upolstrey is original. The diver side of the front bench has had the bottom portion redone at some point because it is definitely a different material.

[Captainfab]

Those arm rests are not original but the steering wheel does appear to be original.

It looks like your heater controls are missing.

To ID your engine you need to get the engine build code that is stamped on the pad directly in front of the passenger side head. The block casting number behind the drivers side head will get you a generalization, but can be more difficult to see.

[sk8er32283]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

Those arm rests are not original but the steering wheel does appear to be original.

It looks like your heater controls are missing.

To ID your engine you need to get the engine build code that is stamped on the pad directly in front of the passenger side head. The block casting number behind the drivers side head will get you a generalization, but can be more difficult to see.

The heater control boxes are sitting in the front seat right now. Unfortunately both of them are missing parts. I did find another arm rest that is maroon in color and looks more like my 71 chevy pickup arm rest. I am betting that is the correct one. But I only found one of them. I am bring the suburban home today. So I Wil be getting the engine info soon after. And start cleaning things off too. Lots and lots of cleaning.
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[sk8er32283]

Ok. Got her home today. Sprayed the engine down to remove bugs nest and rat poop. Looked for codes stamped as directed and could not find them. I will take a closer look at the mortec website for info on that. I could not get the engine to move with a breaker bar on the crank bolt. I did it clockwise. That is the correct direction right? I pulled the spark plugs. Cylinders 3 and 5 had rust on the tip of the plug. I hope this is not indicative of rust on the cylinder walls and piston. I put marvel oil in the cylinders via the spark plug hole. Well at least I tried to anyways. A lot ran down the out side of the engine. I also squirted some wd40 in because I was definitely able to get the red straw into the bore of the cylinder. The oil looked dark like it need an oil change but it did not appear to have a milky color indicating water in the oil. Is there any other signs of water in the oil. Tomorrow I will fill the radiator and see if it can hold some funds or not. Question comments and suggestion are welcome to help me resurrect this old beast.
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[Captainfab]

If the engine has a bolt in the center of the crank, it is likely a '68 and newer engine. If you can't budge it with a breaker bar, that doesn't sound good. Maybe the MM oil and WD40 in the cylinders will help loosen things up.

[notsolo]

Nice looking burb, what's your ideal plan for it? might help to know if you want to keep it stock or make it a daily driver. 92 to 96 Caprice (Buick roadmaster) wagons are almost exact same wheel base. I had thought of doing a drive train swap with my panel. But a 283 is hard to beat, that's what I have in my panel with a 3 speed out of a 69 Nova....Ed

[sk8er32283]

Well after a few days of diagnosis I determined that I was going to pull then engine and replace it. with a boroscope I found crude and rust in cylinders 3 and 5 and the freeze seals were blown out when I tried to put water in. The dilemma was do I replace everything and add electronics. Well unfortunately I just don't have time for that right now because I will be moving to another state relatively soon(I am in the Navy). So today I pulled the trigger on a small block 400. I have some work to do to it but it should be relatively easy to complete and then it will just drop in. I will have some power to play with until I can get a full donor car for the LT1 swap that I ultimately want to do. Time and patients. That what it will take. Here are some pictures of the block and heads. Still need to get the rest of the stuff from the guys though. Its a bad picture but that is a double timing chain.

[Captainfab]

Are you familiar with the SB400? If so then you know that they are externally balanced and require a SB400 specific balancer and flexplate/flywheel. Just making sure before you have a problem.

[sk8er32283]

No I am not familiar with the engine itself. I know that they can make good power when built correctly but I am no engine builder by any means. This will be the first time I have dived this deep into an engine build. The guy that I bought it from is going to help finish up the motor with me. I would appreciate any guidance tips and tricks. I have a lot of homework to do. I know that for sure. Links to good websites about chevy 400's specifically would be appreciated. I have not had a chance to look around yet, just asking so I can get a kick in the right direction. Thanks for all the feed back you have given Captfab.

[sk8er32283]

So yesterday when the guy that I bought the SB400 from cam over he was pretty interested in my engine especially after I started reading the numbers. From my quick research I have found that it is a 305 CID, 2 bolt main built in Ontario on march 16. The engine suffix is STU which I can't figure out what that stands for.

How do these engines compare to each other. Now I need to find out what tranny is in there.

[sk8er32283]

here are the codes.

Back drivers side is " 14010203 "

front passenger is " K0316STU "

So if you wouldn't mind double checking my research that would be nice.

[65sub]

along with the 400 specific balancer and flex plate that Captianfab mentioned the heads on a 400 need to have steam holes between the cylinders. Just use the head gasket to make yours have been drilled

[sk8er32283]

He did say the heads were specific to a 400SBC. I have not personally laid eyes on the holes. Here are the numbers off the heads

passenger
333882
GM18T
E12 76

Driver
333882
GM17T
E10 76

From my research These heads are for a 350/400 years 70-80, valves 1.94/1.50 and 76cc camber(?).

[Captainfab]

The suffix code on your 305 is just TU not STU. That can be found on this page as well as the TLS on the 400.

http://www.nastyz28.com/gm-chevy-cod...s-suffix-8.php


The 400 is a far more capable engine than a 305. Most guys won't even bother rebuilding a 305. Even in stock form the 400 will have much more torque than the 305. A mildly built 400 will easily produce 2X the power of the 305.

If the trans in your Suburban is the original trans it will be the 2 speed Powerglide. I personally do not like those transmissions. I much prefer a TH350, TH400 or a 700R4 for an automatic.

[sk8er32283]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

The suffix code on your 305 is just TU not STU. That can be found on this page as well as the TLS on the 400.

http://www.nastyz28.com/gm-chevy-cod...s-suffix-8.php


The 400 is a far more capable engine than a 305. Most guys won't even bother rebuilding a 305. Even in stock form the 400 will have much more torque than the 305. A mildly built 400 will easily produce 2X the power of the 305.

If the trans in your Suburban is the original trans it will be the 2 speed Powerglide. I personally do not like those transmissions. I much prefer a TH350, TH400 or a 700R4 for an automatic.

I will look at the code again. Is there a way to easily identify these transmissions?
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[sk8er32283]

Originally Posted by sk8er32283

I will look at the code again. Is there a way to easily identify these transmissions?
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After some research I found out that I have a turbo 350 tranny. It appears to not have the lockup feature of the turbo 350C.
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[Captainfab]

A TH350 is good

Originally Posted by sk8er32283

After some research I found out that I have a turbo 350 tranny. It appears to not have the lockup feature of the turbo 350C.
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[sk8er32283]

Engine and tranny removed. Time to clean up and paint while I have an opportunity. Any recommendations on paint. I have pretty much just been using rustoleum gloss black on all my projects thus far.