Polar Bear Suburban

[DirtyLarry]

I have the week off from work and the wife is out of town visiting her parents so I’ve been busy playing with shop projects.

Today it was the Suburban’s turn for attention. It has needed a clutch from the day I brought it home and I decided to pull the engine instead of pulling the tcase and trans as I wanted to give the engine a good cleaning, reseal, clean up wiring, etc. Also installing an ORD steering box brace while the engine is out as it is so much easier to install with the engine out of the way.



How cute that little 5.7L is! I got so used to playing with big blocks these small blocks are like Mini Me's. A whole lot easier to man handle around by yourself too!


The engine and engine bay all steam cleaned up by late afternoon. I was pleasantly surprised to find how clean the inside of the engine was once I popped the intake off. Since the engine was coming out I figured I’d might as well throw on fresh intake gaskets. Glad I did, as I found an external coolant leak by cyl #8


I should have the flywheel back from the machine shop tomorrow and can start going back together once the paint dries.

[mud.man.rj]

Polar bear is cool, I didn't even know they still had manuals in the Subs, nice score and great project. Waiting to see the difference lifted.

[67HEAVEN]

Beautiful vehicle. Congratulations on a great find.

[70-Shorty]

Like others said, you flat out STOLE that truck! I had a very nice 91 2WD/350/700R4 Sub that was a peach....problem was someone wanted it more than me, Some A$$HOLE stole it one night. It was the ONLY vehicle i'd never lowered or lifted, custom painted or anything. It was BONE stock with a PERFECT interior similar to yours ('cept blue). Your truck made me want another one bad. Again whatta nice find!
Tim

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by 70-Shorty

Like others said, you flat out STOLE that truck! I had a very nice 91 2WD/350/700R4 Sub that was a peach....problem was someone wanted it more than me, Some A$$HOLE stole it one night. It was the ONLY vehicle i'd never lowered or lifted, custom painted or anything. It was BONE stock with a PERFECT interior similar to yours ('cept blue). Your truck made me want another one bad. Again whatta nice find!
Tim

Now that just sucks that someone stole your ride! Sorry to hear that. I would have to kill someone if I ever caught them stealing any of my rigs. Glad most of my rides have manual transmissions. Thieves aren't smart enought to drive them according to Autoblog. The best antitheft device is a manual trans as nothing else seems to detur them. Stupid thieves!

[Oilbrnr]

So you gave the guy a nice down payment, when are you paying him the rest Larry? Or were you wearing a mask during the crime?



What do you think your going to use it for?

[Dieselwrencher]

Awesome burb, and yes you did steal that beast!

[DirtyLarry]

I know I still can’t believe the purchase price either. That is why I couldn’t pass up this rig regardless if I needed or not. I feel like I lost all chances of ever winning the lottery now being my lifetime lucky score was this rig. The seller was pretty desperate for cash and the tire kickers that looked at it before me were put off by the loose steering column (it was really bad! Worse loose GM Saginaw tilt column I’d ever seen!) and the fact it badly needed a clutch. Unless you spin wrenches yourself, fixing the steering column probably would have cost at least $300-$500 then the clutch could have cost another $700-$1000 at most shops with today’s door rates and ridiculous parts markups dealers and independent shops are asking. Most people (unlike us crazies!) aren’t up for an undertaking a needy vehicle like that which was good or me in this case. By the time someone would have paid someone else to fix everything, this thing would have been your typical $3000-4000 used 22 year old Suburban. Like the ole saying….”Mechanic’s Special” is what this Sub is all about. Nothing difficult or crazy expensive to fix just a bunch of little stuff and a lot of sweat equity.

Oilbrnr, I am not really sure what we will use it for but it will sure make a neat shop ornament. My wife’s current car lease is up in 10 month so she may take back her old Tahoe Z71 (my current daily driver) to be her daily driver being she only works 5 miles from home and I’ll use the Sub to go back and forth to the airport when I have to leave the home office (I don’t like to leave the powder puff low mileage 2001 Silverado HD at the airport). Our annual week long desert trips to UT and AZ are getting pretty popular with friends and family too and the K10 with the camper is only a 2 seater. The Sub will make a great chase vehicle for those that would like to follow along and make for a great second bedroom (Hmm, maybe an Outfitter opportunity someday?? ). I have much more faith in the off-roadablity and reliability in this 22 year old straight axle Sub than I do our 2004 Tahoe Z71 that we bought new. The newer GM SUV’s aren’t great for off road driving (IFS, push button 4wd, meh….) but they are just decent all weather comfy vehicles for daily chores…..Not worth the crap if you leave civilization IMHO

[special-K]

I see them as all weather vehicles more than all terrain,just like the tires they put on "ALL"* factory 4wds.

*Ok,a few exceptions.

[Oilbrnr]

Well, it was an excellent find!

Don't know why I'm so fond of the SM465 other than nostalgia, but I do like'em.

Maybe it could become the new Chuck Wagon for Bill? Should be able to haul a few potatoes...

Hope to get going on my K5 and maybe join you guys one of these days!

-don-

ps. get that 95 going again too.

[DirtyLarry]

Bill is pretty content with his well built Ram Charger. Yeah, that would be cool if some of the AZ forum members joined us on our desert trips.

Well, the rattle can rebuild is complete and the engine is almost ready to stab but I am struggling with some major seized exhaust manifold flange studs and the power steering pulley does not want to go back on. I’ve never fought a pulley like this one ever in my life! Errrr! I am going to pull out the hot wrench here in a minute to help with both of those problems.

Now this front axle snubber is just a dumb idea. I yanked it off and tossed it in the iron pile.


ORD steering box brace installed


Engine bay ready for install. New clutch fork, ball and release bearing. I didn’t paint the inner fenders as they will be replaced soon anyway. Same with the brake booster. It is going to be replaced with hydroboost.




You can see those rat bastid exhaust manifold studs in this picture. Errr


I wish I was putting this 8.1L back in instead of the 5.7L during this teardown. Next time!


We’re all going snow wheeling tomorrow so nothing will get done with the Sub until maybe Sunday.

[mjensen]

Okay, I'm in for this one That is a very nice looking rig for 1500, and judging from your other ride, I'm sure it will be top notch...whatever you do to it.

[thirdstreettito]

What TBI unit is that?

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by thirdstreettito

What TBI unit is that?

Just the stock TBI unit with some aftermarket TB spacer that one of friends dropped off yesterday.

[sethv]

Wow! That's one heck of a deal you got Larry! I've always been a fan of your work, so I know this Burb will be pretty awesome when it's done

I can also back up the statement of a 350 with 3.42's feeling gutless

[Oilbrnr]

Quite the intake manifold on that 8.1. Is that an LS to the left Larry?

I know Bill wouldn't want to get rid of that nice Ram Charger, I was just thinking someone else could drive the 'Burb and it could hold the whole kitchen with food and drink and then some!

So, if it was built more or less like the 78, how do you think it would do on the trails you've gone on? Too long, or do-able with rear skid protection?

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by Oilbrnr

Quite the intake manifold on that 8.1. Is that an LS to the left Larry?

I know Bill wouldn't want to get rid of that nice Ram Charger, I was just thinking someone else could drive the 'Burb and it could hold the whole kitchen with food and drink and then some!

So, if it was built more or less like the 78, how do you think it would do on the trails you've gone on? Too long, or do-able with rear skid protection?

Don,

Yeah, those 8.1L’s have huge runners. Zoo hit the nail on the head with the engines in the back ground. The engine in the bag is a Gen V 7.4L headed into my FIL’s ’93 C1500 Sportside. Hopefully, we can get the LS engine stuffed into Zoo’s K5 soon as well. His LS is sitting in a crate to the left of the 8.1L that you can actually see it in one of the other pictures above (it is burried under boxes and ice chests). Plus Zoo has an 8.1L in his garage in a big wooden box that needs to come home to me!

The Suburban would probably do just fine where we go but it has a long way to go before it is ready for anything like that. The stock height, open diffs and 3:42 gears aren’t going to cut it. We don’t do major crazy rock crawling stuff. That is not what we are into (Anybody with a credit card can build a beater rock crawler to haul around to each trail on a trailer). That is not for us, we just like to go wayyyy out in the remote areas for several days at a time to see the true natural beauty this planet has to offer that most people will never see. The places where you can hear the silence ringing your ears, coyotes, wild horses, wild donkeys, etc. keeping you nervous at night and easily spot satellites and the space station flyover head. For this you need to have a vehicle with above average off-roadability but more importantly reliability. Most of the places we go a person just can’t walk out of without spending a night or two before you see the next human. Forget about calling a tow truck. You know how desolate Arizona and Utah are. Colorado isn’t as bad as long as it is hunting season. Just keep walking down a mountain long enough and you will surely find some Texan riding a $15,000 ATV to give you a ride to the nearest highway

[Zoomad75]

Is that an LS to the left Larry?

That's a 454 that used to be in Larry's blue truck. It's going to reside in a 95 2wd stepside really soon. Larry's got a thread going on that in the 88-99 area.

Larry is big block nut through an through. There is an LS hiding out in his shop though. Sitting back in the corner waiting for yours truly to collect some more parts before he and I can swap it into my K5.

[Zoomad75]

Just keep walking down a mountain long enough and you will surely find some Texan riding a $15,000 ATV to give you a ride to the nearest highway

A truer statement hasen't been said. The amount of Texans rolling through Canon City with uber-atv's this fall was staggering. You can't swing a dead cat up on a trail without hitting one.

[DirtyLarry]

After a slight delay acquiring a new/used RH exhaust manifold I was back in action Wednesday night (I gave up on trying to dig the broken studs out of the old manifold). Last night I got the routing and clipping done and engine fired up. Aside from the dizzy being a tooth off the first time, all went without a hitch. I took it for a test drive today and she runs great! What a difference a new/used clutch, new sensors, tune up, belts, hoses and fixing the intake vacuum and coolant leaks make! Just cleaning up the wiring adds a lot of reliability back to the old girl.

After the shake down run it feels like the clutch needs to be bleed a bit more and I need to do some more work on the throttle cable as the 1” throttle body spacer puts the cable at an angle where it doesn’t like to return to well. Of course, the only aftermarket equipment on the truck is what is causing issues. Typical. Also waiting on a battery cable.

Tuesday night. Just about ready to go back in.


On the hook ready for stabbing. The clutch is a used Centerforce Dual Friction from my K10. When I did the NV4500 swap in the K10 last year it got a fresh clutch. This Suburban is the low buck build so it gets as many hand me downs from the K10 as possible.


TA-dah………







One new item the Sub got was a new HD Denso starter motor. These are awesome and will be the last starter motor you will ever buy. I run this same exact part number starter on the 8.1L in the K10. These are the starter motors severe duty applications like UPS trucks use. It spins the engine fast and sounds cool while doing it. Never mind the green stuff on the battery cable. A new cable is on order through Napa.


Now that his portion is out of the way the next step is to get it to the exhaust shop to have the tailpipes redone as the current pipes will interfere with the rear ORD shackle flip coming shortly. 4” lift up next!

[Stoney]

Gear reducted starter motor? It does look awesome.

[Oilbrnr]

Larry, is that the part number for the starter there in the pic, or is there a different one for the whole unit?

BTW, where is the '68? Didn't it used to be back in the corner?

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by Oilbrnr

Larry, is that the part number for the starter there in the pic, or is there a different one for the whole unit?

BTW, where is the '68? Didn't it used to be back in the corner?

The Denso part number is 281-8002. Fits the typical 168 tooth Chevrolet flywheels with the staggered mounting bolts. Pretty much everything from a 4.3L to an 8.1L. Basically, everything except an LS engine.

The ’68 got moved to the front garage last summer. It was getting in the way in the shop and I needed a corner to stash the SnugTop topper once I got the camper for the K10.

[1leglance]

Very cool work getting that engine out, worked over and then back in..
So often people start a project and then it fades away, you have really set the standard for folks like me.

[Zoomad75]

Originally Posted by 1leglance

Very cool work getting that engine out, worked over and then back in..
So often people start a project and then it fades away, you have really set the standard for folks like me.

I don't think I've ever seen Larry ever not finish a project. There is a method to his madness though. Collect everything you need before starting the project. That could be a couple of weeks to a few months or more as the budget allows. Then once all the parts are there, tear it down and start working it over until its done. I've been part of many of those builds in one way or another and they all go pretty smoothly. Mainly because he's got all the parts there and you can just stay working. Parts runs are pretty few.

I've done all of the work on my K5 over at his place and follow his plan the truck usually drives in on Saturday and is driven back home by Sunday afternoon. Plan it in advance and get the parts together and a lot can be accomplished. The first engine swap, lift and clutch jobs all got done over a weekend. Bigger jobs might span a little more time, but he's got a method that works.

Side note to Larry: A little bird told me your helper to bleed the clutch on the bear got fired. Let me know if you need any help with it!