70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Well it has been awhile since I posted around here mainly cuz my granddad's 72 Chevy C-10 longbed has been sitting waiting on my 13yr old son to get closer to driving age.
So since we as a family love to go out and play in the dirt I thought I would be fun to get something we can work on that will build his skills for owning/driving the pickup.
Here is my Black Friday Special, a 1970 C-20 4x4 Suburban with a 350 and a few interesting options.
http://oneleglance.smugmug.com/Proje...uburban-11.jpg

The original owner was a gentleman who enjoyed desert prospecting and the rig reflects his needs/likes...and personally while I will of course make changes it is still pretty cool see how he set it up.
Part of his setup included being able to handle some heavy equipment. This must have made it alot easier.
http://oneleglance.smugmug.com/Proje...uburban-42.jpg

Another cool bit of kit was this front bumper setup that he could attach something serious to.
http://oneleglance.smugmug.com/Proje...uburban-10.jpg

The brake controler will be cool if it still works, I will be trying it out this week.
http://oneleglance.smugmug.com/Proje...urban-44-S.jpg

And for my audio enjoyment I get a functioning 8 track and a working Radio Shack CB, along with an old school antenna setup.
http://oneleglance.smugmug.com/Proje...urban-45-S.jpg
http://oneleglance.smugmug.com/Proje...urban-48-M.jpg

I won't know if they roof mount AC works until I convert it to R134 but it seems all there, plus I got an extra compressor setup out of the deal!
http://oneleglance.smugmug.com/Proje...urban-46-S.jpg

The shag carpet will go but at least it looks to have protected the orginal vinyl flooring which should look after I clean it up. And the seats will be one of the first things that gets changed out. I will be searching for 4 matching bucket seats this week....Anyone want an original back seat & third row seat?
http://oneleglance.smugmug.com/Proje...urban-47-M.jpg
http://oneleglance.smugmug.com/Proje...urban-50-M.jpg

I am not sure why the original owner installed 2 hitch setups but the lower one is getting cut off in the next day or two.
http://oneleglance.smugmug.com/Proje...urban-49-M.jpg

Also I gotta say installing Ford mirrors on a Chevy will get you strung up in some parts of the country but even I gotta say that 2 sets of mirrors is too much. I will more than likely take off both of these and install something factory.
http://oneleglance.smugmug.com/Proje...urban-51-M.jpg

I will post up more pics tomorrow as I clean up the underside, engine and such.
All thoughts welcome...and if anyone knows where I can source a factory rear view mirror and side mirrors I am listening.

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Welcome back, and congratulations on a cool 4x4 burb!

I personally love the 4x4 burbs!

Looks like a lot of superficial stuff that can be easily clean up or removed, but that rear hoist rigging may be a bit of a challenge to remove. Since the wood floor has most likely been chopped up to facilitate that hoist, and it looks like a welded piece of metal the hook attaches to on the fender well.

Ditch the Ford mirrors, and keep the old style ones for a while at least and the outside appearance will clean up dramatically I'm sure.

Looking forward to more pics of your archeological digs and discoveries!

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Here are some fun numbers I found from decoding the VIN
Cost new $4190 base price
Curb Wgt 4343lb
GVW 7000
Wheelbase 127in
Only 541 3/4t 4x4 Suburbans built that year
Build date March 1970
Built in Fremont California which became the NUUMI Toyota plant which became the Telsa Motors....see it has direct connections to the eco rides :)

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Yep, pretty much the same numbers and build location as my burb but cut the production number in half or more for my burb. :chevy:

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Your burb owner must have been related to mine because the old guy put the same Ford mirrors on my '68 Burb so hence extra holes on the door. Nice looking burb though.

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Nice burb!
More likely the original owner of your suburban was related to the original owner of this one.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=495438

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Well with the help of my brother in law it was time to do a little deconstruction and return to original on the old burb.

I put Alex to work unbolting stuff while I started in on a weird starting issue I had....don't we all hate electrical gremlins?
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-q...0/DSC_1735.JPG

He did a great job of pulling out one of those mile wide, multi-pane rear view mirrors and installing this pretty puppy...and I figured out it was my neutral safety switch that was bad...at least dropping the column on these things isn't tooo bad. Oh and I gotta say having Vintage Ford & Chevy/Socal so close to my house is nice for me and bad for my bank account :)
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5...0/DSC_1737.JPG

Alex got back to the front end and just kept pulling pounds and pounds of steel off of it. My younger son is learning blacksmithing and really wants all this metal. I am thinking of buying a welder so he & I can learn to make all the bits we will want on this rig.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-u...0/DSC_1738.JPG

I am telling you the front of the rig was 1in taller after Alex was done shedding this stuff off the rig...I was not having fun under the dash.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F...2/DSC_1739.JPG

Buy the time I had the switch on the column replaced he had already gotten rid of both side mirrors and put these originals one...much better.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X...0/DSC_1743.JPG

This is what we left on for frontal protection for now...I like it.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g...0/DSC_1744.JPG

The windshield dude were finishing up as Alex & I started in on the nasty shag removal and figuring out how to get the big bad boom arm out.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6...0/DSC_1747.JPG

The original vinyl flooring isn't too bad and will work till I gut the inside for sound deadening & insulation.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-z...2/DSC_1748.JPG
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-q...2/DSC_1749.JPG

Now this is more like it and should give me a solid platform to start planning the inside buildout.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-L...0/DSC_1750.JPG

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

cool project, I just read your wheeling thread.

It reminds me of the DED (dirt every day) adventures that Rick Pewe writes about in 4wheel & offroad mag. They usually buy an old derelict jeep, get it running, and drive it halfway across the country or something of that nature. I'd love to do something like that!

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Keep the orange shag man!! It's not retro, it's original!! Yeah, you definitely got some strange stuff on that rig. Nice looking rig though!! Looks straight and complete which is a big bonus as Sub parts can be fun to find at times. Does it have disc brakes in front?? What do you think that apparatus on the front was used for??

I am interested in the rear-most (3rd row) seat. Let me know what you want for it and where you are at. Also, let me know if you need anything for your Sub as I have developed an inventory of some Sub-only parts here and if I can help you out, just let me know.

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

I have a brown 3rd row seat that is all yours...matter of fact you can have the second row setup also as I am going to 4 bucket seats.
And I would very much like to pick over your pile and see what you want for some bits.
I will take some pics of the 2nd & 3rd row seats tomorrow and post them for you.
Oh and I am running drum brakes all around.
Did the back way to Crown King Sat and even in the rain/snow the drums did fine so while I want to switch over to 4 wheel disc (hate working on drum brakes) I am not in a hurry.

I will take some underside pics tomorrow after I power wash the mud off so I can start picking brains on what I should work on.

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Got some more work done over the weekend and it was very educational for my son...dirty but educational :)

First of all let me say that one of my favorite thing about older vehicles is that not only can you reach everything but you can also take things part & put them back together.
As an example my turn signal switch was sticking and felt "gummy", so we got in there and gave it all a good cleaning, some dielectric grease and all is better now. Great time showing how contacts works and how you track electrical problems.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-j...uburban-72.jpg

Then is was time to talk about how heat kills (just like it does a good cigar....something he & I have talked about before :)....
So we added a water temp gauge with real numbers, an oil temp gauge & trans temp. The desert southwest getting stupid hot and I like to know when things are starting to cook. Now I have to be honest and say that we didn't install the temp senders for the oil & trans yet as that requires dropping the pans. But don't worry that will happen soon.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-C...uburban-73.jpg

Since we had the steering apart I went ahead and stole the pretty new steering wheel off the 72 Chevy Truck that will be his in a few years....needless to say he wasn't happy about that but my rig runs and he can't drive yet...and I am paying for both so I win :)
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-P...uburban-74.jpg

Plenty more to come...right now I am shopping for a used MIG setup as there is enough welding projects to do to make it worth it. Unless anyone wants to loan me a setup for a while.
Gotta make an aux battery tray, bucket seat frames for the front & back, rear bumper and some other goodies :)

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Had a good time working with my son while we changed out the Edelbrock carb that was on the rig
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-V...uburban-81.jpg

Over to this craigslist Holley Off Road Avenger
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-3...uburban-82.jpg

The change over gave me a change to hook up a vacuum gauge and teach about how an engine makes vacuum & boost through the 4 stroke cycle and then to use the timing light to talk more about the 4 stroke cycle.

It is great how on these older engines you can actually see & understand how things work..
Of course since he is part of the youtube gen set I included some cool old movies
1935 movie on gasoline
http://www.archive.org/details/DowntheG1935

1937 Free Air (how air & fuel mix)
http://www.archive.org/details/FreeAir1937

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Nice project dude. Cant wait to see more progress.

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Plenty more little stuff to come plus an epic story of breakdown & repair that consumed 24 long hours in Yuma :)
But for now I thought you guys would get a kick out of my new plate that honors my son who is almost completed his Eagle Scout rank and Chevy's safety mindset in 1970
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-s...uburban-83.jpg

And I added some tall, skinny BFG Muds 255/85/16's...I like'em
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-q...uburban-85.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P...uburban-84.jpg

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Great project. Love the new shoes!

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Nice project. I enjoyed the video's you posted. This will be a great father and son project.

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

I am a bit behind on updates due to family, work and all that getting in the way but I will now catch up on the latest happenings...

And this part is called "Father gets to hang out in Yuma", or "I love old rigs because I can actually fix them" :)

So a fellow on the 67-72chevytrucks.com forum from San Diego posted up that he was tearing down a old burb to make a crew cab truck, and since Tom is such a cool guy he agreed to let me drive from Phoenix and raid a bunch of parts from him.
Roof Rack
Aux tanks
Original GM grill guard
bumper to go with it
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v...uburban-91.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-P...uburban-92.jpg

And a bunch of little things I didn't get a pic of like 2 Spot lights for the A pillars, hand throttle, manual choke, hand e-brake (remember I am an amputee so the foot one sucks) and other little bits.

Well on the way back from San Diego to Phoenix I notched that the rig was slower to crank over at each gas stop and at Yuma the battery acted too low to crank her over.
Now my first thought as I am looking around the gas station for someone to give me a jump start is that I have been running alot of aux stuff over the last 24hrs like a laptop, ham radio, cell phone and such and maybe I just over did what the original 61amp alt could keep up with.

Well I get a jump start from a very nice older guy and get about 2 miles down the highway (unplugged all the aux power draws) when it dies on the road.
When I pop the hood the battery is hot and hissing...not good.
I remember an O'reilys autoparts just back a bit (ended up being a 2 mile walk) and head back to get a battery so I can get off the highway and figure things out.
A great older guy at the parts place takes a break to give me a ride and I slap the battery in but no go.

Now one thing I really like about older rigs is how simple they are. Air, Fuel, Spark....that is it. I have air, I can see fuel through the clear filter and when I pull a plug and do the "hold it near metal test" using my remote starter switch I see I got no spark.

Now you can see at the back of this pic that I have a Mallory distributor and what you can't see is the big red Mallory box on the inner fender well.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-3...uburban-82.jpg

Ok so now I call a new buddy Nick from the chevy forum (and now he is here on expo) on a Sunday afternoon to pick his brain. We agree it must be that the external voltage reg went out which let the alt fry the electronic ign parts.

So now it is getting dark and I have 45min to get back 2 miles to O'rielys...as I (remember I am the 1 legged guy) start jogging down the frontage road I see a couple in a nice CJ5 jeep and wave them down, quick explanation to them and we are zooming off to get parts.

I buy a stock HEI setup, wires and figure I will drop in the distrib, get off the highway and grab a hotel for the night in order to replace the alt the next day.
The jeep owner Randy was cool enough to grab his Chevy 4x4 and strap tow me through the median and back to his house (less than 2 miles) AND give me access to his garage to do the repairs that night. Super cool Yuma Jeep owner!

After dropping in the distrib, changing the wires and a bit of tuning by ear I was running! And managed to get 2 miles back down the highway to the Micro-tel Hotel next to O'riely's.
Pizza, shower and checking the chevy forum for info on the alt change out rounded out my evening.

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

The next morning I hit the O'riely's and once again was happy to own a Chevy 350 as they are pretty much the most common motor out there.

I ditched the original burnt up 61amp alt for a replacement which they actually had in stock.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-L...uburban-86.jpg

Put in another external voltage reg....I had read about the alternator upgrade but since they had the original parts in stock I wanted to just get back on the road.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-E...uburban-87.jpg

Then since had drained the battery tuning/starting the rig I ask them to give it a top off charge. Of course this meant I had more time to kill so I replaced the belts...hey I was in there anyway doing the alt.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n...uburban-88.jpg

And then figured why not replace the spark plugs. I took out the AC 44TS and went with the 45TS I had read about on the forum...I think I am still a bit off on plugs. The nice thing was no plug looked oil fouled which makes me think the story about this being a recent crate motor is true. I also had the pleasure of remembering an old trick for reaching the back plugs which can be a pain. Just pull the PVC hose and use that.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n...uburban-88.jpg

Now my rig has no lift but I am running 33in tires and I ain't that tall. So I grabbed my Pelican tool case and put it to use. And this is why as much as I love the look of the Alum expedition cases I will more than likely stick to my Pelicans.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-d...uburban-89.jpg

The truck ran great coming home, has run great since. I returned the alt & extern volt reg and upgraded to a 94amp alt from a trans am and all seems well in the world.
Well I still need to jet down the Holley and change plug temps as I think I am too rich.

I am looking forward to getting more work done soon...big thanks to Tom for the parts which my son was super jazzed to see. Of the big stuff what we don't use will become welding practice and go into other parts. The spot lights are going to be great!

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Awesome Lance....glad you got the help to get you going again and were able to get some parts from Tom!!!

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

The donor is home...6.2L diesel donor that is...and with an aftermarket turbo already installed!

Huge thanks to one of the Copper State Cruiser guys Brian for the use of his truck & trailer to safely get this rig to my house.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i...uburban-93.jpg

I need to go through it and make sure what year it is, what is missing and what is there, get it running and then get the engine/turbo out and to the diesel shop my wife is the office manager for so they can go through it all (including injector pump & injectors)
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-r...uburban-94.jpg

But because no story would be as fun with out a bit of drama...the previous owner had pulled the good back axle for his other rig. However he was cool enough to put something together to make this one a roller...and the back tires tried to roll right out of the axle like a cartoon as we loaded it up.
That meant to get it off the trailer we needed to push things a bit more toward center. However things didn't want to fit together and we quickly learned why
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Q...uburban-95.jpg

And since this is a Father/Son project my son got to get the dirty, greasy one and get all the old junk out of the way so we could shove the axle shafts back in. However crafty kid that he is, it only took 2 seconds for him to ask me if he could have all the broken bits to forge/weld/scuplt something cool. How do you say no to that? Watch for a yard creature soon :)
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-9...uburban-96.jpg

Tomorrow I will get up and look it over more closely by the light of day, hit is with degreaser & the power washer. Then start working on figuring out what I can use and not on the 70 burb...of course we will part out what we can to get some money back and scrap the rest.

Also I need to make some phone calls and do some reading about keeping the 700r4 that is behind this engine in place for the sake of the overdrive. As much as I love playing in the dirt I am not a hard core wheeler but there are alot of highway miles to get to the cool places.

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

that truck was a score! funny story, my buddy just texted me a picture of the 6.2L diesel burb he drug home today with the same blue and white scheme! His isn't turbo though

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

too funny jb..
I was pretty happy to find the aftermarket turbo already on this rig.
Now to get it going and make sure all is well before I go yanking everything apart

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Very cool .... :ito: ... now has me thinking a 4x4 or car ?? :metal:

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Hey flyer...
we are a big time outdoors family, any excuse to get out into the dirt and explore/camp/recreate. Also boy scouts has been a big part of our life so having a 4x4 is a no brainer.
And these older rigs are so much fun to work on with my son as he can actually see & understand how things go together and function.

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Well today was a day to clean up and get an idea of what I am facing with this diesel swap.

This is my NP205 transfer case in the 1970 burb and it is one of the best transfer cases I could have. I was told when I bought the rig that the 350cu engine/Turbo400 trans/NP205 transfer case were all new or freshly rebuilt just a few years back.
Looking at the barcodes and stickers I think it is true.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1...burban-103.jpg

These two are what is currently behind the donor 6.2 diesel and part of me would like to keep them as overdrive would be nice for all the highway driving we do getting to & from the cool dirt tracks.
NPsomething transfer case & 700r4 overdrive trans
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r...burban-104.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-w...burban-105.jpg

So this is the hacked up mess I power washed and looked over. There are far too many wires unconnected, hoses & ports open and more mouse poop that I want to think about.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-T...burban-106.jpg

Someone took the top off the injection pump, I was able to screw it back on but not sure now if everything is there and hooked up right.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-d...burban-107.jpg

I am not too happy with this hose routing. I will be looking into a better way to do things when I swap the engine over.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-K...burban-108.jpg

Did I mention mouse poop?
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-t...burban-109.jpg

This side of the engine isn't as hacked up. But there are still some things to take care of.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-S...burban-110.jpg

This is the hydroboost setup that will go into my old burb. Diesels don't make vacuum like a gasser so you get powersteering pump created hydraulic pressure for the brakes. Not sure about that rubber hose on the lines though?
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2...burban-111.jpg

I think this bit is called a CDR or CDL or something like that. But I think I am missing something?
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-g...burban-112.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-l...burban-113.jpg

Throttle cable is all busted up. And there is a bracket above the injector pump that is missing something that looks like it would connect down to the injector pump? Anyone know?
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Z...burban-114.jpg

Oh and since it was too cold first thing in the morning to powerwash I fired up the plasma cutter to free this factory grill guard from the massive bits of steel someone welded it too long ago.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Y...burban-115.jpg

And while I didn't get pics of the inside of the donor I did attack it with the shop vac. Other than the front seat belts there isn't much I will be using out of the inside. But there was about a 1/2 bale of hay in there and I wanted to see what was under it all in case I can part the rig out for any $$

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

1LL I just got the name... Well what can u say im slow!!


Mucho mouse poop!!

If u need help breaking ur 350/400/205 combo ..let me know .. I can break those main spline in the 400 kinda fast with some mud around!!

Very cool keep us updated

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

You guys are too funny...


Ok snapped a few pics of my own tonight and more questions..
This my donor tcase out of the 87 burb, looks like a 208 for sure
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-k...burban-116.jpg

I don't really like how close that drivers side exhaust pipe is to the oil filter and oil pan. I will be adding some sort of heat wrap or shield or something.
It looks to me like there are lines coming out of the engine that might go to an oil cooler? I want to do an oil cooler and remote filter no matter what.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-P...burban-118.jpg

Here is a close up of those lines, and I found where the turbo gets it's oil.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-2...burban-119.jpg

So if I keep this 208 or swap to a 241 I assume I will need to get this shifter linkage from my donor at least right?, That means I will have a different shift for the tcase in my floor than my current 205 correct?
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t...burban-123.jpg

Now you can see the bracket that looks like it is missing something in this pic? Thoughts?
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-z...burban-124.jpg

Another odd thing...it seems my CDR has a pipe that just leads to nothing...metal to rubber to the inner fender by the rad. I thought it was supposed to tie in somewhere before or after the turbo to create that positive crankcase ventilation?
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--...burban-127.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-y...burban-126.jpg

Again thanks for all the info guys, it is really helping.
At this point I should mention that my wife is the office manager of a shop that welds/machines diesel engine heads/blocks and can do it all short of complete assembly. I am really leaning towards pulling this engine, tearing it down, get it checked out and at least doing a ring/valve/gasket simple rebuild. Also I would get the injection pump looked over and new injectors. Gear driven timing set and few other goodies.

All thoughts welcome and keep the info coming.

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Let's see if I can help...

the NP208 was used in the military M1008 1.25T CUCV's so It should hold up for a while.

For your oil filter, you can replace your adapter with one out of a later model 6.5L if you want. It will turn your filter 90deg out which might give you more space. Or just relocate it.

You can relocate the shifter assembly to the floor of the 70... They really don't look that bad, several members have done that already (that's what I was going to do)

I believe that mystery bracket is for the cruise control

And yes, that hose that is going to nowhere is supposed to get plummed into the air intake before the turbo inlet.

Hope that helps!

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

excellent info jb thanks!

I am debating going to a floor shifter instead of a column setup so both the trans & tcase are side by side. I will be making a custom center console anyway so I could hide them in style :)

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Finally got the new bucket seats installed thanks to my new buddy Nick. Not enough that I have been hounding him for diesel install knowledge (sweet cummins setup in his 72 burb) but I also wanted some mentoring on welding and fab stuff.

So this last Sunday I took up most all his day and we had a good time.

Let's have the pics tell the story...

First we needed to get an idea of where to put the seat...oh and some of those wood blocks were what the previous owner had holding his seats in place!
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-y...burban-128.jpg

Nick had his mad fabricator hat on and was all about the details. Which was a good lesson for me as I am often all about the "good enough"
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H...burban-129.jpg

Tacking the bits in place was an interesting thing to learn about. At least that is what Nick said he was doing to my seat :)
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-9...burban-131.jpg

Old guy who owned the rig before either needed a few attempts to get the seat in the right spot or a few beers before getting the drill out.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_...burban-132.jpg

Next phase was figuring out where the rear seats needed to be for my relocation of the AC stuff.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Y...burban-133.jpg

Yeah we worked into the dark. And still didn't finish, but that is ok as I learned a ton and got to share a couple of meals with Nicks very cool family.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-X...burban-134.jpg

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Monday was MLK Day and instead of working on the seat frames it was more fun to spend the day with my younger son and my nephew. While my kid is a gun/knife nut (to the point of forging his own knives), my nephew had never shot before. Well that is no longer true (oh and we did clean up all our brass & target debris)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-L...burban-137.jpg

Here is the rear seat frame after I got done with my welds and fab'ing..not as pretty as Nicks work but seems plenty strong. This will get enclosed in metal & wood to blow the cold air up the center console through vents to the driver & passengers.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--...burban-138.jpg


Plenty of room under here to build some enclosed storage space...maybe a drawer, maybe just a locking box.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t...burban-139.jpg

Front and rear done enough to test next weekend on a 2 day camping trip. If all works well then I will pull everything for paint.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-3...burban-140.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-D...burban-141.jpg

Happy wife, happy life. She would not even sit in the nasty old man seats that were in there before.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-i...burban-142.jpg

No grouchy teenager here, plenty of leg room for him.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-e...burban-143.jpg

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Very nice work so far. Glad to see some good progress taking place already.

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Looks good! I like your AC system!

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Hey JB,
we will see if my idea to relocate the AC works or not. Once I have the diesel engine installed I will route the hoses and I hope already have the center console built.
In theory it should work better on the floor than it did on the rear roof...but we will see :)

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

So I had some time over the last few days to start tearing down the donor rig...
And thanks once again to Nick my new diesel guru for tips on extra stuff to get from the donor!

This is what I started with. Lots more rust than I first thought which has made the tear down process harder as things don't want to come apart. We are so spoiled here in the desert to be pretty much rust free. Not sure where this rig spent most of it's life?
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-R...burban-144.jpg

I am so not happy with the way the previous folks did the hose work. All I can think of is to print this pic and tape it to the 70 burb with a note "Don't do this!"
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0...burban-145.jpg

The old radiator tells a real horror story...clearly it was a leaker, and the oil coil or lines or something was also letting a bit go. It does have metal tanks which I like. I plan to take it by my fav rad shop and talk to them about repair vs replacement, I just don't want plastic tanks.
I am also debating getting the trannie & oil coolers out of the rad...thoughts? I don't do much cold weather stuff (hate the cold) so not too worried about that.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-c...burban-146.jpg

I was finally happy to get to this point which is much closer to pulling the engine. Don't worry I was taking plenty more pics of how all the tubing & wiring went.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-j...burban-147.jpg

A better view of the turbo setup. Nick thinks it is a Banks & ATS combo hack job. Maybe put together with craigs & fleabay parts?
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-v...burban-148.jpg

This crossover pipe will be done differently no matter what it takes. I can't stand the way it runs along the oil pan, way too close to the belts and looks like it must cook the harmonic balancer.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-b...burban-149.jpg

Always fun to find cooked wires that the previous owner just did hack jobs to get around.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-f...burban-150.jpg

But on a note of joy I will say that having a wife who is an office manager of a diesel machine shop is nice when you need a part cleaned. This is the junkyard J code manifold that is ready for install.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O...burban-151.jpg

Oh joy, power door locks will be in my future. I like the looks of the old iron but some modern stuff is nice :)
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-q...burban-152.jpg

The previous owner already hacked past the glow plug controller, which is fine by me as I plan a full manual setup anyway. I would rather a stealthy glow button as a theft prevention measure.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-J...burban-153.jpg

And there are still a few bits I want like the 40gal tank & skid plate. I also got the rear aux heater, rear AC, receiver hitch, a bunch of wire, connectors and I need to try to get out the front shoulder belts since they are blue!
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-e...burban-154.jpg

Monday should be "pull the engine day" and then I can get the donor carcus out of the way and pour some concrete for a new workshop to be ready for the transplant surgery.

My plan with the engine/trans/tcase goes like this:
Take heads & block to my wifes shop, have them look for cracks and tell me if it all is any good.
If all is well then I will ring/bearing/gasket it and reassemble.

Take the turbo to a company we know very well and have them check it out.

Take the IP in for a rebuild with top parts so I can run junk fuel in Baja and maybe some bio. New injectors of course.

Take the trans into a shop for a look over and make sure it is ready to continue life behind a oil burner :)

Combine my tcase with a Dodge one off of craigs to get one that has fixed yokes.
Check into the clocking rig and see if I can make that work.

Any and all thoughts welcome!

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Definitely not a pure Banks kit there. You would be better off running external trans and engine coolers. You will also be better off letting the whole radiator breathe. Did you notice on the donor how the right 3 inches of the fins were behind the core support? pre-combustion chambers make a lot of heat.

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Love it!

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

So I got the engine out & torn down last night and all the bits off to their shops today.
Figured I better post some pics and get some thoughts from everyone...

Some of these lines are pretty bent up...I think I will look into either a new set or a partial to replace the bent ones.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-C...burban-155.jpg

Here is the passenger side head...nothing scary to my naked eye. The gasket looked good and although I am no expert I didn't see anything that jumped out at me.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-k...burban-156.jpg

Drivers side head...also nothing bad to the naked, untrained eye of mine. Also the block deck looked good.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7...burban-157.jpg

This was stamped on the pistons....no idea what it means. But I am sure I will hear from my wifes shop if things are way out of wack.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-m...burban-158.jpg

This turbo oil return will get redone with a welded bung. The leaking must have been a real pain.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-X...burban-159.jpg

No idea what all this means but I didn't see any cracked bits and all looked good.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-S...burban-160.jpg

Well almost all...the timing chain had some slack in it. I plan to run a gear drive setup so I won't have to worry about chains any more.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-d...burban-161.jpg

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

This looked a little strange but the more I looked at the seal the more I figured it might be ok. Of course the machine shop will be happy to tell me if all isn't well.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D...burban-163.jpg

I think this means the crank & rods have not been messed with before. Or at least not ground down.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-M...burban-164.jpg

This was a bit weird...when I went to pull the fuel pump pushrod only 1/2 came out. Who knows if it had been run like this. The cam looked ok and the fuel pump also so I don't think it was run for long, if at all.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-a...burban-165.jpg

A little more turbo info for anyone in the know...I don't know and thus why I post the pics :)
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-2...burban-166.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k...burban-167.jpg

Re: 70 C-20 4x4 Suburban Father/Son project
 

Awesome pictures! The stamp on the piston means the engine has been bored out .050 and you have .050 oversized pistons. The first part of the stamp is the part number.

I believe the roto-master is what Banks used in in its very first turbo kits. If you don't use your mechanical fuel pump, you can plumb your turbo oil return in there. As for your timing chain, I would recommend staying with the factory double roller.

Everything else looks good! Dirty, but good!

One thing not a lot of people know about it that the 6.2L diesel heads have bigger valves than the 6.5L...