Glock's new project: "Fred" w/ 5.3L LS swap info
 

We got the 85 picked up from HuggerCST and made it home Monday night with no problems. 12 hours on the road each way, 2 days..... I'm pooped! The kids decided to name this truck Fred. Not sure exactly where that came from, but it has stuck. So Fred it is!

I thought I would go ahead and start a project thread for this truck. Not much will be happening at first, but I will be doing little things here and there.

First thing this morning, I pulled off the bed rails and the push pads. Sorry you purists, I'm not a fan of those! :lol:

I went over the top of the cab and the hood with some polishing compound and the buffer too before I left for work. I think everything will buff out real nice and be nice and shiny for now.

Short term plans are:

* Finish waxing it. **DONE**

* Lower the front and rear a little, maybe two inches all around. The front sits a little higher than the rear right now, by about 3/4". So I'll try to get the front down just a touch lower than the rear. **DONE**

* O2 sensor. I need to add a heated O2 sensor. **DONE**

* Stereo! I must have my tunes! I have my trusty Alpine deck, Rockford Fosgate amp, RF component speakers, and RF 12" sub. I have the faceplate for the deck, now I just need to get a different box for the sub. **DONE**

* Windshield. This one has some chips and a good munch on the lower left side.

* Power steering gear. Wynne said this one leaks, so I pulled the one off the 91 Suburban to swap out. **DONE, NEW ONE**

* Rebuild the door hinges. The drivers door shuts hard, the passenger is a little easier. Wynne included rebuild kits for those. :metal: **DONE**

* Sport bumper for the rear. **DONE**

* Rear tires. Drivers side is about gone, and the passenger will be great as a spare. **DONE**

* Replace the seat cover. **DONE, "NEW" SEAT**

* Exhaust. The exhaust dumps on the back side of the rear end right now. I'm going to run it from there straight out the back with a pair of 3.5" x 18" tips. It sounds good as-is, but I really like those big tips! :metal: **DONE**

That's mostly all for now. Later on I'll do the Suburban grill swap (**DONE**), fix the rust, swap in a TH700R4/3.42 combo (**DONE**), redo the interior, then paint it and replace all the moulding and trim with new stuff. **MAJOR REVISION TO THIS, KEEP READING!**

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

I like your plans Bob. I had planned to repaint it after I finished the 70, and do away with the rails. I was planning to keep it pretty stock, and always liked the push bumpers, but since you are going a little more custom with it, I agree that taking them off and adding a sport bumper to the rear is the way to go. It's gonna look pretty sweet. What color do you have planned for it?
It definately could use a good sound system too, but I don't think that I'd be able to cut that NOS dash bezel.:no:;) I think the suburban bezel is a little different though, and has a square opening. When you take off the bezel in the truck you will find that the dash has already been cut for a later model stereo, it just has a patch panel screwed in place to accept the stock radio.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Looks good Bob

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Nice ride! Any long term plans or just going for driveability right now? Here's a tip if your seat foam is soft, find a crew cab rear seat they're usually as good as new.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Wynne - I don't have the heart to cut the NOS bezel right now either, so I am going to use the original bezel. Maybe by the time I paint and redo the interior I will have the courage to do it. But not right now, in fact I have already put the NOS one in a trash bag and put it up in the shop attic. I did notice that the dash had already been cut. The cuts go beyond the bezel just a little so it was noticeable from the passenger side. I'll leave it alone for now, but I'll weld in some new metal when time comes to redo the interior. As for color I'm going to keep it red. Too much work and $$$ to change colors and do it the right way. I've always been a blue person, but the red is growing on me. My wife said if I ever did change the color, the name Fred would then mean "Formerly Red". :haha:

Adam - Thanks! Is Sunday still good for you?

Leevon - This will be nothing at all like my 68 was. The final truck will be lowered (springs/spindles, flip axle) painted, newer GMC Suburban grill swap, sport bumper, etc. It will eventually have a 5.3L/4L60E combo. Stock interior. Just a really nice clean driver, that has good power with reliability and great mileage. Thanks for the tip on the crew cab seat! In fact, I know where one is right now and is the right color! :metal: Are the mounting brackets the same, or what needs done to make it work? This seat is very comfy, the cover is just worn through in a couple places.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Good looking truck Bob.. Keep us posted on it..

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Looks like an awesome truck. Hey if you want a blue truck I'll swap ya! :lol: Sounds like you have about the same idea that I do. Just a nice clean, not heavily modified truck just to enjoy cruising around in. Can't wait to see updates on it. Subscribed!

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Altitude adjustment!!!

Took one coil off each side, and I think for now it sits perfect! This tells me that when I am ready, I think I will go with 2" coils, 2.5" drop spindles, and flip the rear by cutting and re-welding the spring perches.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Nice!:metal:

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

looking good bob! real clean truck... and he (fred) doesnt look like a 4 x now!

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

on the crew cab rear seat, just remove the two mounting brackets and replace with your sliders, the bolt holes are there. Easy as Sunday mornin'

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

I found some ambition after I got the kids to bed! LOL. I finished waxing the rest of the truck by hand, no buffer this time. It's not show ready, but it does shine real nice! :D

On a test drive to settle the springs I noticed the tailgate was rattling a little, so Bryce and I got that adjusted so it's nice and tight now. And quite.

After that, I just washed all the windows and cleaned up the inside. Not that it was dirty, but is has accumulated some dust from the trip and sitting outside for a bit Tuesday with the windows down.

Going to the DMV tomorrow morning to get plates on it. :metal:

Leevon - Thanks for that info!! I got "sidetracked" tonight and forgot to call on that seat I know of. I'll have to remember to do that tomorrow.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Looks great man! That is a sharp looking truck!

I just want to know how early the kids go to bed if you did all that stuff afterwards. :lol: Unless you are a nocturnal person!

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Nocturnal, not! That's my wife LOL! The kids were in the shop "helping" me while I lowered the front. They went to bed about 8 or so, then I went back out and started the wax job. :D

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Bob, it sounds like a great plan, and looks like you are off to a great start. Good luck with the project!

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

My wife is telling me this is my mid-life crisis vehicle! :lol: I told her she should be thankful I brought Fred home instead of a new ZR1 Vette!

Fun pic..... my 81 I had in the late 80's/early 90's, and Fred:

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

^ That 81 is sweet. My mom says my Dads Corvette was his midlife crisis :lol:

But thats a nice lookin' truck you got, can't wait to see more in the future

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Forgot to add.... I got the title and plates this morning with no problems, so I'll be rolling to work in it tomorrow! :metal:

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Looks like the grass got a little greener since then! :lol:

Glad your good to roll on the truck. What's first on the list?

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Well, I lowered the front end last night, then put the kids to bed and went back out and finished waxing it.

Tonight I got the heated 3-wire O2 sensor installed and wired up. Then tweaked the timing a little.

Then, for the dumb-dumb move, I found a fresh bottle of fuel injector cleaner, and it just happen to be the size to treat 16 gallons of gasoline! Bonus! So, out of habit I walked over to the drivers side tank and dumped it in. Then, as the last drop came out of the bottle, it hit me like a ton of bricks. The fuel selector switch was set on the right tank, the one with almost a full tank, NOT the left tank! DOH!!!!! :banghead: :haha: OK, so at least when I fill that tank it will be ready to clean the injectors.

Otherwise, not much more done tonight. Found a loose bolt on one of the front bumper brackets, and tightened up a few on the grill. Found the radiator to be almost 3/4 of a gallon low. Then once I had it filled back up, I filled to overflow tank on the fender to the "COLD" level. At that point I found a leak at the hose running from it to the radiator. Fixed that leak, now the cooling system is good to go. Topped off the rest of the fluids.

I pulled the firewall mounted trouble light off of the Burb and started to clean it up. I'll install that on the truck sometime over the weekend.

I'm trying to get in touch with another board member that has a good maroon rear crew cab seat to see if I can get that from him. If so, I'll swap it out for this seat. This one is really comfy, but is worn in a couple spots.

Oh, I also got all the presets on the AM/FM/CASS radio set to my favs! :lol:

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

good looking truck, its looks like it has heavy duty coil springs

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

I think you are right. The wire is the same diameter as a new set of big block springs I have. Cutting one coil off seems to have put it in just about the right place.

When the time comes, I think getting it down about 4" all around will be just right. So I'll probably do shackles in the rear instead of flipping it.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Sounds like your making pretty good progress. Don't feel bad about the fuel injector cleaner. I've do things like that pretty often. :lol: When are you planning on doing the suspension drop? What are you using to get the front where you want it?

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

No real sure when I'll do it. My son and I have been talking about taking another 1/2 coil out of the front and then 1 leaf out of the rear and run it like that for now, I might do that this weekend. As for doing it "right" :lol:, it will either be this winter or next. Then I'll go with spindles and 2" springs in front and either shackles if I want 4" or flip the rear for 5".

Once I get a few things swapped out and a few more things done to it that I listed in the first post, I just want to drive it for a while! Then I'll start gathering parts here and there.... carpet, door panels, paint and supplies, lowering components, etc. Then most likely next winter I'll strip the interior and redo it, then start on the outside. I don't want this to sit forever like the 68 did! :lol:

I was going to swap the 700R4 out of the parts Burb into it, but reverse is out of it. So in the next month or two I'll just have one built, then swap rear ends too. I don't know what gear ratio the Burb has, but since it has a 700R4 it's got to be better than 2.73.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Sounds like a pretty good plan. I know several people on here have said that the 5" that the flip kit claims, is actually closer to 6" I'm still on the fence about it. I don't want mine slammed, but I do like them low too. I'm thinking about doing the 4" shackle/hanger in the rear, and then 2.5" spindles in the front. I already have 1" springs up front so hopefully that will get me where I want. I have the same thought as you though. I don't want to tear too much down where I can't drive it while I am saving up parts and money.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

MAJOR improvement today!! Went and picked up the crew cab rear seat this morning. Just got back home a little while ago and cleaned it up, swapped brackets and got it put in.

What a huge difference!!! :metal: I knew the other seat foam had worn down a little, not too bad, but you definitely sat low in it. This seat sits you up nice and high, and the colors are bright too.

Old seat:

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z...c/P1060396.jpg

"New" seat:

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z...c/P1060397.jpg

End result: :metal:

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z...c/P1070399.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z...c/P1070400.jpg

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

wow huge improvement!! that is one heck of a tip too!! your really cleaning ol fred up. nice job buddy.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Nice work! I'll have to remember that about the seat.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

That is a great addition Bob. The old seat was never very comfortable to me, especially on long trips. I like to kick back a little though.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Looks great man, that did make a huge difference, with little effort! :thumbs:

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Bob, Fred is coming along well. I can't wait to see 'him' in person. That seat looks great. I always liked the red interior. Not sure why I like the red. I have the grey that everyone loves. Its nice but its not gonna stay forever.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Good news! I dropped off some parts at Adams house tonight, and the glove box door from the Burb was there. So I grabbed the SPID off of it. Did some deciphering when we got home tonight, and the Burb rear end has 3.42's! :metal: That's what I wanted to put in Fred all along, so I will be swapping rear ends soon.

Gerald (Driveway Dreams) came over this morning to get some parts off the Burb. I had a tall air dam for him from Adam, but after doing some measuring, he figured it wouldn't last but one trip down Mulberry Street. :lol: So we pulled the short air dam off of Fred for him and we installed the tall one in it's place. Looks good on him!

I also forgot to mention.... the crew cab I got the seat out of also had a good drivers door arm rest, so I snagged that too. Got it cleaned up and installed when I did the seat. I was so excited about the seat that I forgot all about that.

I was going to get a new 700R4 in the next month or two, but I think I 'll just keep saving and looking for the 5.3L/4L60E setup. I figured there was no point in spending the cheddar on the 700R4 only to yank it out in a year or two.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

That seat looks good, it really makes a difference when you're not falling out the door around corners huh? ;)

You can use the 700R4 behind a 5.3, just need a cranshaft spacer ($40), the TV kit from Bowtieoverdrives for vortec intakes ($150), and to program the pcm for a manual trans. The benefit of the 700R4 is keeping the factory speedo cable, otherwise you have to use aftermarket guages or modify a 90-up suburban electronic speedo guage set.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Dang dude, you are full of good info for me! First the seat, now this!

I never even gave a second thought to the speedo situation. OK, I guess I'll still go for a 700R4, which will go well with the 3.42 rear end.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

The 3.42 rearend will be a great ratio. It will give you good torque, but still give you good highway driving.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

OK, so here are my new plans for the engine and transmission.

I decided against the 700R4. Instead, I will do the 5.3L/4L60E swap. How cool is 325HP at 20-22 MPG?! :metal: My old 2003 Chevy 2wd ECSB with a 5.3L/4L60E/3.73 got 19-21 MPG on the highway, that's mostly the kind of driving I do. Even when I had the Whipple supercharger on it, I still got 19 MPG! I imagine Fred is lighter then the 03 ECSB was. :lol:

So, I adjusted my budget for the rest of this year. Next month I will buy an engine. September I will get a transmission, and for the rest of the year I will gather the rest of what I need. I can build my own motor mounts, those are easy, and do any mods that need done to the trans crossmember and frame (if needed). This will then be my winter project for the truck.

I have been talking to the local LKQ rep, they have several 45,000-55,000 mile engines in the $550-$650 range. Still working on them as to what accessories I can wring out of them as part of a deal. I already have shorty headers that were on my 03, and an ECM from an 06 which had drive-by-wire, plus a new MAF.

This winter is gonna be fun! Then I won't have to worry about that pesky surge I have! :lol:

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

That sounds like a good plan glock. I like the truck. The 5.3/4l60e is a great combo that you can get plenty of miles out of. I considered the same setup for my 84. Now I'm condisering the 6.0L like my TBSS.

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Sounds like you're making some nice progress... nice work!

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Oh, Wynne - I am going to keep the NOS bezel in the box. :D I found this for $40 at cheyennepickup.com. It's a stick-on cover to repair your old bezel. I can peel off the old insert, clean it up, and stick this one on. If the bezel is cracked, I can plastic weld it.

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z5

Re: Glock's new project: "Fred"
 

Cool! I didn't realize that anyone sold just the aluminum face, I looked for one before I bought the bezel, but couldn't find one. You're gonna love that 5.3/4L60. I can't wait to see it done & painted.