88 silverado suburban

[jott_06]

Just got home from picking up my new-to-me 1988 Suburban. I found it on craigslist about 20 miles from home. Offered the guy my Honda 400ex and he was very interested so i loaded it up and took it for him to see in person. The plans are to use my 78 4x4 as a doner. The suburban will get converted to half ton 4x4 with parts from the doner truck. Im not sure if i will keep the 454 in the burb or put my 350 in it. It will also get the 4 speed and 205 transfer case from the donor truck.

[jott_06]

Started driving the suburban to work this week. I wanted to enjoy it as is for a while untill i get time to tear into it. I still cant believe i found a solid suburban in ohio. I'm an automotive painter so i am used to seeing what ohio winters can do to a vehicle.

[jott_06]

Im getting ready to start the 4x4 conversion soon. I have found a ton of info on swapping over the spring hangers but unfortunatly very few pictures. Has anyone here done the swap and documented it with pictures?

[jott_06]

It doesnt seem like anyone has been following this so hopefully some progress will help.

While i wait for some garage space to clear up i decided to do some little things to add some personal style to the suburban

I tinted the Taillight lenses and marker lights. This was right after they were done. i put the trim back on them before reinstalling in the burb.

[jott_06]

I paint for a living so i just took some leftover clearcoat from another project and tinted it with black basecoat. Ive been using this method of tinting lenses for about 10 years

[jott_06]

i also swapped the cowl hood from my rcsb onto the suburban.

[jott_06]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=338556
Here is a link to my other truck that I'm stealing parts from for my suburban.

[jott_06]

here is the suburban and the 4x4 donor.

[COS399]

Originally Posted by jott_06

Im getting ready to start the 4x4 conversion soon. I have found a ton of info on swapping over the spring hangers but unfortunatly very few pictures. Has anyone here done the swap and documented it with pictures?

Just read both build threads. Bad things happen some times but it looks like it didn't keep you down. Congratulations on the new family. Suburban looks like a good canvas to start with. I would probably keep it as a 3/4 ton but my opinion and a few bucks would get you a cup of coffee, as long as you didn't go to Starbucks or some place like that. As for the lack of pictures for the swap maybe you can be the one to break this cycle. Good Luck with it.

[jott_06]

i will keep the 14 bolt out of the suburban so if i ever come across some 8 lug wheels and tires that i like i can swap it back in and change the front 10 bolt over to 8 lug. But for now it will become half ton so i can use the wheels and tires i already have.

[y5mgisi]

Subscribed.

[jott_06]

Trim back on the taillights

[MTCK]

Cool burb. Are you going to keep the mechanical clutch linkage or go hydraulic? What gears do you have in both sets of axles?

[91V3500]

Originally Posted by jott_06

Im getting ready to start the 4x4 conversion soon. I have found a ton of info on swapping over the spring hangers but unfortunatly very few pictures. Has anyone here done the swap and documented it with pictures?

I have never done a 2wd to 4wd conversion, but years ago we went the other way and turned a 4wd K5 into a 2wd (the K5 was missing ALL of it's drivetrain anyway, nothing but a body left). The 2wd front crossmember bolt holes were already in the 4wd frame. The main things that I found were different are: the transmission hump is higher and has the access door on the 4wd, the rear leaf spring hangers are different to provide more lift on the 4wd, and of course the front leaf spring hanger hardware will be missing on your 2wd. You could always pull measurements off of your donor truck. It doesn't get any easier than these old Chevy trucks, the 4wd location holes are probably already there in the 2wd frame.

[jott_06]

Going to stick with the Mechanical clutch. I'm trying to use as many parts from the donor as I can for the swap. I'm not sure what gears are in the either axle but i have taken the 78 on a few long trips and it cruises about 25-2700 rpms on the highway staying with traffic(speedo only works when slowing down)

[jott_06]

played around with paint this morning and came up with a picture of how the suburban will look.

Sorry for the poor quality. They were cell phone pictures from my ancient phone.

[jott_06]

Took the Suburban and Truck to my moms today to start the teardowns. I couldnt resist grabbing a gear in the truck one last time before i tore into it.


With in 2 hours of this video i had the entire nose and front bumper off the truck.

[jott_06]

Took a couple pictures of last nights progress



I got the front bumper off of the burb. and started unhooking AC lines, Tranny lines and wiring in preparation to pull the nose off tomorrow night.

[jott_06]

Its hard to believe i'm actually going to strip this truck.
Here is the truck I started with in 2007 one year after graduating high school

the cab, bed, and engine were changed after the tree fell on it but something about this truck has always made me keep it around.

[jott_06]

Its hard to believe i'm actually going to strip this truck.
Here is the truck I started with in 2007 one year after graduating high school

the cab, bed, and engine were changed after the tree fell on it but something about this truck has always made me keep it around.

[C@rnut001]

I like your Suburban and your plans for it. Keep us updated as you work on it. I grew up with these Suburbans and really enjoyed them. Thanks for sharing your build.

[jott_06]

double post. oops

[jott_06]

More progress!

[jott_06]

this suburban is so clean i can still read the chalk markings on the body panels and frame.

[silverbear]

I just saw this thread so I will offer my two cents worth. Back in 1995 I converted an 86 C20 to K10 using parts from K5 Blazer. The easy part to start with is the front core support brackets. The 4wd brackets use most of the same rivet holes as the 2wd ones. I lined up what holes I could and then drilled out the frame for the remaining holes necessary. I used grade 8 bolts in place of the rivets. That gives you a square starting point. I would measure the donor truck's frame for the location of the rear hanger brackets.

Since you are converting to 4x4 and using a manual trans, there will be some work required for the hump to accommodate those parts. On my current 86 k10, while doing a cab swap, I cut the hump out of the old cab and made a bolt in cover for the new cab.

Just another point to consider, the exhaust on the passenger side will need to be reworked to accommodate the transfer case.

Good luck and I look forward to your progress.