The 'Burban Chronicles.....

[pwdcougar]

Nice working rig!

[Average Joe]

Originally Posted by pwdcougar

Nice working rig!

Thanks! Sheeza workin’ girl.

[pontiacvince]

Yours is a great looking (and working!) 'Burb as well! Good to see another one Barn Doors!

[Average Joe]

Originally Posted by pontiacvince

Yours is a great looking (and working!) 'Burb as well! Good to see another one Barn Doors!

Thanks Vince!

I love me some barn doors.

[CG]

I see you've been on the board in this new year, any updates on the burb?

[Average Joe]

Originally Posted by CG

I see you've been on the board in this new year, any updates on the burb?

Thanks for the bump Mr CG.

Ooooof! It’s been a year. Lots of life changes and other projects have held up progress on the Burb. I have been collecting parts and pieces for a drivetrain upgrade though. No, I’m not doing an LS swap! I’ve got another 454 which will be rebuilt with a lil more squeeze, tiny Comp Cams roller, some reworked peanut ports, and a set of small tube headers. I’m still on the hunt for a noisy gear drive. Yeah, I’m that guy. lol. I’m currently running an AFB style carb but have a few qjets I’d like to try.

Backing that will be a new to me 4L80e I recently picked up. I’m researching controllers now. Looks like US Shift offers the best bang for the buck.

I’m determined to up my mpg. It’s not horrible now at just under 14mpg Hwy but I’d like to see that up around 17. I think I’ll have enough off idle torque to make it a reality. Cruise RPM should come in around 1500. I may have to go to a 3.42 gear but I’m hoping to retain the 3.07’s.

Here’s a few pics from the last year.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by Average Joe

Thanks for the bump Mr CG.

Ooooof! It’s been a year. Lots of life changes and other projects have held up progress on the Burb. I have been collecting parts and pieces for a drivetrain upgrade though. No, I’m not doing an LS swap! I’ve got another 454 which will be rebuilt with a lil more squeeze, tiny Comp Cams roller, some reworked peanut ports, and a set of small tube headers. I’m still on the hunt for a noisy gear drive. Yeah, I’m that guy. lol. I’m currently running an AFB style carb but have a few qjets I’d like to try.

Backing that will be a new to me 4L80e I recently picked up. I’m researching controllers now. Looks like US Shift offers the best bang for the buck.

I’m determined to up my mpg. It’s not horrible now at just under 14mpg Hwy but I’d like to see that up around 17. I think I’ll have enough off idle torque to make it a reality. Cruise RPM should come in around 1500. I may have to go to a 3.42 gear but I’m hoping to retain the 3.07’s.

Here’s a few pics from the last year.

I can just about bet the 3.07's will be to high. It may be fine until it shifts into OD and the lockup kicks in. My experience was that when that happened the transmission would overheat and blow fluid out of the front seal. If I drove it locked in 3rd it was fine. Mine was a 4l60e but I'm pretty sure the results would be the same. Maybe the 4l80 would take more heat. I installed a 3.73 (because I had one) and it worked great and gets right around 20mpg. Engine is LS1 5.7. The 3.42 may work fine though.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

[Average Joe]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

I can just about bet the 3.07's will be to high. It may be fine until it shifts into OD and the lockup kicks in. My experience was that when that happened the transmission would overheat and blow fluid out of the front seal. If I drove it locked in 3rd it was fine. Mine was a 4l60e but I'm pretty sure the results would be the same. Maybe the 4l80 would take more heat. I installed a 3.73 (because I had one) and it worked great and gets right around 20mpg. Engine is LS1 5.7. The 3.42 may work fine though.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Thanks for the input Leon. Any idea on why it was getting hot? Was it not returning fluid fast enough through the cooler? Slipping? Were you able to adjust when it shifted into OD or when the converter locked up? I may have to research controllers a bit more. Some of them have more adjustability than others.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by Average Joe

Thanks for the input Leon. Any idea on why it was getting hot? Was it not returning fluid fast enough through the cooler? Slipping? Were you able to adjust when it shifted into OD or when the converter locked up? I may have to research controllers a bit more. Some of them have more adjustability than others.

It may have slowed down the fluid flow some but I think the overall high ratio was just putting too much stress on the transmission. It was not slipping. The leak coated the whole underside and back of the truck with transmission fluid. It was a mess..... The first indication that I had a problem was that I couldn't see out of the back windows in the rear view mirror because they were coated with transmission fluid.

The engine/transmission/computer/wiring were a unit as removed from the Camaro so no adjustment. I don't think that would make any difference in this situation anyway. I don't think you could adjust that problem out of it.
.

[LT7A]

I enjoyed reading your thread. Do you guys still have the Holiday Rambler? I snagged a presidential 3000 a while back - yours is much nicer. Your Suburban sits just right. I like the little bit of rake that you have with those tall rear tires. I'm sure it doesn't lift the front tires off the line with the 3.07s, but I'm not sure I would want to mess with 14 MPG with a 454. Gives me hope though for my rig. What will it cost for those extra three MPGs improvement? I think a big consideration for me in what you're pondering is whether or not the turbo 400 is hunting for gears. If it's not... But, whatever the case though, cool rig and I appreciated your perspective as you talked about family priorities etc.

[Average Joe]

Originally Posted by LT7A

I enjoyed reading your thread. Do you guys still have the Holiday Rambler? I snagged a presidential 3000 a while back - yours is much nicer. Your Suburban sits just right. I like the little bit of rake that you have with those tall rear tires. I'm sure it doesn't lift the front tires off the line with the 3.07s, but I'm not sure I would want to mess with 14 MPG with a 454. Gives me hope though for my rig. What will it cost for those extra three MPGs improvement? I think a big consideration for me in what you're pondering is whether or not the turbo 400 is hunting for gears. If it's not... But, whatever the case though, cool rig and I appreciated your perspective as you talked about family priorities etc.

Hey thanks for the reply and kind words! The Holiday Rambler has rambled on. We sold it around 2017 iirc. Unfortunately at 26’ long it was a lil too big to fit easily into a lot of the boondock campgrounds we liked. Additionally it was expensive to tow anywhere of distance. Yes I can achieve high 13 mpg empty but as soon as a 6500lb parachute gets added mileage plummets. I saw 6-8 mpg with Rambler in tow. As a family we went back to a tent and a lil gear trailer I built for our camping needs. The fuel bill for some of our 3-4000 mile trips we later took would have been astronomical dragging the HR. They are incredible well built trailers! Good luck with yours.

The Burb does run really well for what it is. It is hard to justify changing a proven combo. The current 454 is getting tired though. I’ve owned that motor longer than my Burb in different vehicles and have never even pulled a cylinder head on it. She’s earned a rebuild. In fact it will live on in yet a 3rd vehicle I own eventually. The Burb will be getting a different 454 that’s already .060 over. Its short shaft TH400 will move with the OG big block to my Nova. It’s long overdue for a drivetrain upgrade as well. In short I’m playing musical motors thanks to GM interchangeability. :

The fact the TH400 was needed elsewhere helped sway the 4l80 upgrade. Plus I , like so many other enthusiasts here, can’t stop improving these mousetraps. Errrr rat traps…lol. I realize how much extra fuel I could buy versus the cost of the swap. I’m hoping to be in it for less than $1400 though. Motor rebuild aside.

[LT7A]

That all sounds good. With trips of that length, you do stand a chance of getting your money back with savings at the pump. Sorry to hear that the HR is gone, but I understand, especially if everybody's cool being in a tent. Lot less upkeep and less than 1% of the weight.