86 Suburban daily driver

[Corts60]

The rack and light turned out great! You're giving me ideas....

[bowtieguy79]

Nice progress! Keep up the good work will be looking forward to following along.

[BlueJeep]

Ever since I bought this suburban, I've been planning to LS swap it. The reman 350 with all it's upgrades runs good, better than any SBC I've had, but it still doesn't run like I want it to. I compare it to my truck, and that's what I wanted. So, I've finally procured the last large piece to the puzzle. I found a lower mileage L33 aluminum block 5.3, and that will be the foundation for the new powertrain!

[BlueJeep]

The motor needed to be cleaned up, and learning from the last LS swap I did I'm changing some gaskets now while it is easy, vs later when it is in the vehicle and difficult! True to form, I had 7 of the exhaust manifold bolts either broken off already or broke when I removed them. No big deal, my tried and true method worked well.

I bought a lower profile oil pan, which saves me about 3" of depth vs. the truck oil pan. This one had good reviews on eBay, and the casting and machining looks to be of good quality. It came with a gasket, but I'll use a FelPro because I don't want to do it twice.

After one round of power washing and degreaser, it looks much better! I'll still do some additional work on it with carb cleaner and a small wire brush, but I'm getting close there. I'll need to get some other things checked off the to-do list before I begin the swap, but I'm looking forward to diving into it!

[SCOTI]

L33's aren't exactly a dime a dozen. Nice score.
Any internal mods planned?

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

L33's aren't exactly a dime a dozen. Nice score.
Any internal mods planned?

Thanks! Yeah it's a mystery to me why GM would have put them in such a narrow band of trucks. This one was a bare-bones one... manual shift transfer case and vinyl floor mat....and 5.3 HO!

No internal mods planned, resisting any urges to call Brian Tooley Racing! Going for MPG with this one, so all stock. That's also why I didn't go 6.0 and 4L80 too, thought that was also hard to do!

[SCOTI]

Nothing wrong w/stock for better efficiency.

[LT7A]

Good find, that would be a nice motor to have! Looks like you went "nuts" on the broken exhaust bolts.

[BlueJeep]

Some more updates. From the beginning I knew I wanted a low mount AC compressor. I wanted as much "standard" stuff on this as possible, because I plan to drive it a lot. For that reason I didn't want a super long, difficult to find serpentine belt. I had to carve up the original compressor bracket to clear the Hooker motor mounts, but I got that done.

[BlueJeep]

I did deviate from the original plan slightly and ditched the TBSS manifolds for some Speed Engineering headers after reading countless positive reviews on them. The littlest approves of them!

[BlueJeep]

Then it was time to round up some helpers and get started! Before I tore it apart I knew the AC had a leak, so I wanted to locate that so I would know if that part that leaked was getting replaced or not. Found it, crack in the condenser, that was getting pitched anyway!

Once we had the engine out the evidence of the oil leaks it had would need to be dealt with. Degreaser and a power wash only made it laugh, so out came the cheap paint thinner and old t-shirts, and after much scrubbing the crossmember, frame, and bottom of the floor were presentable.

[BlueJeep]

And in with the new(er)! Fits really well, as I'd expect from a motor that is physically smaller than the one that came out... What I didn't expect is how well the 2005 stuff meshes with the 1986. The fan is nearly centered in the shroud with just a little of the blades sticking out, the hoses work, the intake ducting will work, but may need a little shaving on the bottom side and plastic welding it back up to clear the shroud. If I could lower the shroud a little it may work, but that doesn't look so easy to do.

[BlueJeep]

Fuel system is next. I know a lot of people drop in an 87 tank and a Walbro pump, but that doesn't address my returnless fuel rail and I have never wanted to run an expensive fuel filter....those parts should not be expensive anyway... I went a similar route to what I did when I put the 6.0 in my Jeep and used a 2005 express van fuel module, it was the correct height for the tank and is internally regulated. Phillipm filled in the missing details for me and there you go, new fuel setup! Pump is a delphi FG0402, should be reliable.

[kwmech]

Looks like your lower control arm took a good hit on the drivers side

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by kwmech

Looks like your lower control arm took a good hit on the drivers side

Yes it did, the perils of being low! I have a replacement that will go in it as I finish things up.

[aggie91]

Nice work. Where did you get the ring you welded to the tank to make the module a drop in, and the lock ring for it too?

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Nice work. Where did you get the ring you welded to the tank to make the module a drop in, and the lock ring for it too?

Thanks! The ring I got on eBay, but now Holley makes and sells them too in plain steel, stainless steel, or aluminum. The lock ring is just standard GM part TR26.

I like this method (like I mentioned I did similar with my Jeep 6.0 swap) because it matches what GM did in 2005 and all the "wear" parts are stock replacement stuff.

Fuel filter I then run is a WIX 33484 with a cheap little bracket to hold it. Push lock fittings on both ends make for easy replacement.

[BlueJeep]

More progress. Since I had the passenger fender off, it was an opportune time to work on a significant dent that impacted both the inner and outer layer of the fender. I started off in the press to get some of it out, then I cut out inner structure so I could get access to the outer skin. I was careful to not cause **too** much damage to the paint as I worked the dent out. It isn't perfect by any stretch, but it is so much better than it was and I can put my trim back on, so I'll run it! Welded the inner skin back in and bolted it up.

[BlueJeep]

I also noticed that inside the cowl the seam sealer was all dried up and cracked, and would surely let water in if left unattended. I chiseled it all out with a gasket scraper and a screwdriver, and put new in.

[BlueJeep]

Most of the rest of what I've been working on has been exhaust. This is my first time using stainless, so first time having to shield the back side. It is also my first time doing dual 2.5", all my other builds have single 3". It is also my first suburban, which makes for a VERY long exhaust system, x2! I still have to do the hump over the axle and make the hangars, but it's getting there.

[BlueJeep]

Other little side projects when I didn't feel like working on exhaust have been modifying the gas pedal, mounting the TAC, ECM, and carving up the stock battery tray to mount the airbox on it. All turned out pretty well.

[87DuallyLaChila]

Nice truck

[SCOTI]

Some good progress!

[aggie91]

progress is looking good. What headers did you end up getting?

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by 87DuallyLaChila

Nice truck

Thanks!

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Some good progress!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by aggie91

progress is looking good. What headers did you end up getting?

Speed Engineering long tubes, 1 3/4". Just too many positive reviews on them to not try it...