Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*

[Frizzle Fry]

Anyone who has read this whole novel knows that this is my daily driver. So, I have to do the major work that takes it down for any period (a day or more) on the weekends. I can't wait to get the front bagged but just can't do it during the work week.

But I do find a few hours here and there on weekdays to knock minor stuff out.

So... I decided this had served it's time honorably and deserved a nice retirement:




No, not just the cap...


...and not just the filler neck


but first let's modify that a little bit.

I cut the neck back and drilled a hole in the inner tube so that the vent tube would still function:


here's why


and that cap is pretty "deep" so it will actually seal around that inner tube; thus the drilled hole


The Hagan door assembly I chose puts the cap at a 45* down angle to the side of the vehicle. Since the OG neck is more like 55-60* the tube was cut at the appropriate angle to accommodate:


A little protection and she's ready

[Frizzle Fry]

Next up; prep for the knife:




I wanted to center the door in the stock cap position which meant putting the whole assembly off center. It's this way because the hinge is on one side:


I also wanted to avoid disturbing the stock "tunnel" that houses the filler tube. Here it is after drilling out some spot welds and removing the factory filler section

[Frizzle Fry]

The door assembly had to be modified a bit to get it to fit in that tunnel:




On top of that I still had to take some material off the right and bottom of the door skin to get the box to fit in the tunnel. So I ended up with gaps on the top and left:


The hoses ended up needing to be trimmed back about 1"


Here's how it turned out:

[Frizzle Fry]

I mentioned my driveshaft/floor spacial conflict. Well here's photographic evidence... You can see how close it is to that floor brace/seat support (this is with the rearend sitting where it would with no notch; frame on axle-tube):


...and at the trailing arm crossmember. Both the xmember and floor support just behind it will have to be clearanced:


So here's what the floor looked like:


...and now there's a 5" wide rift...






Looking forward; yep, gonna need more room here...

[Frizzle Fry]

Front bags are in. I see no reason to go into any real detail on this. It's the same set-up most guys are running: Slam Specialties RE7's, ***************** upper plates/cups with lower cups cut down to 1.5" (I don't see how cutting any more would make a difference), and ECE 2.5" spindles.

Here's the pics.



First at full rear lift and about level in front (front will go much higher and rear is limited by shocks):




And aired out; front sets inners on tires (more mods to come...) and rear is as low as I can go without setting the trailing arm crossmember on the drive shaft, so for now...

[Frizzle Fry]

...

[chris@bigjranch.com]

Sweet!!!!

[toomanytoyz]

Great Work as Usual, Do u attract a lot of attention when ever you have it out for a Drive? Just curious how many people realize how much work has gone into this?

Please keep us all Inspired with your Mod's.............
Rick

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by toomanytoyz

Great Work as Usual, Do u attract a lot of attention when ever you have it out for a Drive? Just curious how many people realize how much work has gone into this?

Please keep us all Inspired with your Mod's.............
Rick

I actually don't think that many people have any idea what they are looking at. I still have people saying "nice suburban," and occasionally (one in 25 that actually look) I might get "did you shorten that?"

One guy followed me to the bank and asked a ton of questions. Turned out he was building a 72 crewcab from a burb

Another guy followed me to work the other day. Showed me pics of his beautiful 71-72 on his PDA. That was the day I drove it with no rear shocks

Another time a few guys gathered around it and snapped some pics in the Home Depot parking lot. I didn't actually witness it but was told by another guy who was parked next to it. He said they were checking it out for like 15 minutes and waiting for me to come out, but I took too long

Still, I think it just looks like a junker to most people, with the rusty tailgate, primer stripes, cracked windshield, missing trim, and tweaked front bumper. Until they try to race... Even then I let most people go, but occasionally I'm in the right mood

It'll definitely get attention after it's painted, but most people still won't know anything is unique about it other than the stance and wheels

[LUV2XCLR8]

Got mine loaded up and ready to drop off soon as your done w/ yours

[toomanytoyz]

It'll definitely get attention after it's painted, but most people still won't know anything is unique about it other than the stance and wheels
__________________
-Mike

I think that is one of the Greatest thing's about this Hobby, When you get someone who know's the vehicle & can see all the Detail's that have went into Shaping it, it make's it all the Sweeter.............

Thank Again for all the Inspiration.......

Rick

[rancid]

that thing is *****en, nice work. i will use this for refrence on my 4dr tohoe convertable.

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by LUV2XCLR8

Got mine loaded up and ready to drop off soon as your done w/ yours

Define "done"

Originally Posted by toomanytoyz

I think that is one of the Greatest thing's about this Hobby, When you get someone who know's the vehicle & can see all the Detail's that have went into Shaping it, it make's it all the Sweeter.............

Rick

I totally agree. I got some more props on it today as I was pulling into a parking garage.

Originally Posted by rancid

that thing is *****en, nice work. i will use this for refrence on my 4dr tohoe convertable.

Thanks. Can't wait to see more of that!

[Frizzle Fry]

Well, I've had the bags for a few days and I can tell you it really does ride smoother. Just gotta be careful how low I cruise with those long tubes... Time for some 3/4 length headers, and bigger wheels for more ground clearance

[slimbailess]

hey mike, i used shorty headers from hedman for a chevelle on mine, i'll send you some pics as soon as i can,i think the # is 68618 for the coated ones with a ball flange.....can't find my receipt, but they fit with only a little clearance on the passenger side frame....like i said, i'll get pics for you as soon as i can...slim

[Frizzle Fry]

Those are the ones I've been looking at. Here's the summit link. Pics would be awesome. Thanks slim!

[Frizzle Fry]

So, I had this little issue with the drive-shaft/floor-support/trailing-arm-crossmember all wanting to share the same space. Here's the shot of that issue:


As an extraordinary matter of chance, I happened to have some 5" OD 1/4" wall tube sections 2.5" in length that I had acquired for my hidden liftgate hinge idea (thanks to Britian), which didn't pan out (going to try 60-66 Burb hinges on that thanks to Captainfab and Livewire64 )

Pic from when I was playing with the hinge idea:


Those 5" OD tube sections ended up being PERFECT for making room for the driveshaft. I'll let the pics speak for themselves:

BTW a 5" holesaw in a 1/2" chuck hand-drill can pack a serious kick

[Frizzle Fry]

...and the crossmember:












You can't see it, but the majority of the welding is on the other side of the crossmember in the horizontally "flanged" area.

Next I'll flatten the bottom of the crossmember and make exhaust cutouts for my own version of the "extreme-drop-crossmember" without ever taking it out of the vehicle

[Frizzle Fry]

But, first I have more pressing ground clearance issues:

[Frizzle Fry]

The Rear will tuck rim now that I can actually use the notch. But that's only with the front up in the air to keep the headers from being crushed So for now, here's the aired out stance:

[prairewolf]

You are an Artist.

I am humbled and inspired.

thanks for all the effort to post the pictures and story of it.

life is good,kent

[Hart_Rod]

Nice engineering job, .

R

[1LoC10]

looks awesome

[67_C-30]

Very Very Very cool! Awesome build. I can't believe I just saw this!

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by 67_C-30

Very Very Very cool! Awesome build. I can't believe I just saw this!

It was in the Suburban fourm until recently. There are some nice rides over there that some people never see. Thanks for the compliment

I had to take a little break from the liftgate scene even though I still need to put the lower half (former tailgate) on.

I've been on the fence about using the roof rack that was on my Burb (dealer option). I think they look great on that LONG roof the Burbans have, but wasn't sure about the Tahoe.

Here it is on the Burb: