1972 C20 build and adventure thread

[HO455]

Originally Posted by FLYNAVY30

Thanks! Retire at the end of the month...."flew" as desk at the reserve center on Camp Mabry for the last 2 years because we bought a house here in 2017 and knew we were coming here after retirement.

Congratulations! And now I'm really jealous.

[FLYNAVY30]

Originally Posted by HO455

Congratulations! And now I'm really jealous.

Only problem is, I need to figure out what I'm going to do with my life now that I've "grown up"...

[HO455]

If you're even remotely like me your wife will solve that dilemma for you.

[Louisvillekytruck]

Thank you for your service beautiful truck

[FLYNAVY30]

Originally Posted by HO455

If you're even remotely like me your wife will solve that dilemma for you.

Oh it's coming....just hoping to finish the Corvette before she kicks me out and tells me not to come back until I have a job!

[FLYNAVY30]

Finally got around to building a paddle board rack for the Suburban using the "Quick N Easy" clamps I bought years ago from another forum member. I used the thickest walled 1" aluminum tube I could get from McMaster Carr for the cross bars, and while it flexes slightly when I cinch down the ratchet straps, it's plenty sturdy. I've been daily driving the truck all week with the board on the roof, making regular excursions down the river after dropping the kids at school in the morning. No issues at all, even up to 70 mph. Photos were taken right after I had to race a line of thunderstorms back up river....not ideal, but I made it and the line passed quickly.

[Beach-Burban]

Originally Posted by FLYNAVY30

Finally got around to building a paddle board rack for the Suburban using the "Quick N Easy" clamps I bought years ago from another forum member. I used the thickest walled 1" aluminum tube I could get from McMaster Carr for the cross bars, and while it flexes slightly when I cinch down the ratchet straps, it's plenty sturdy. I've been daily driving the truck all week with the board on the roof, making regular excursions down the river after dropping the kids at school in the morning. No issues at all, even up to 70 mph. Photos were taken right after I had to race a line of thunderstorms back up river....not ideal, but I made it and the line passed quickly.

Looks great, Greg…your burb would fit right in with the So Cal beach vibe where I live (but I don’t recommend moving to CA!!!). Your tailgate looks like mine…that’s where I started bodywork as well, and we even picked the same color of primer!

Woody

[FLYNAVY30]

Thanks Woody...my sister lives in Burbank so I'm familiar...love the beach, but not my scene at all, especially these days!

[FLYNAVY30]

Thought I'd throw this out there for anyone still following along that might be experiencing similar issues....

Since moving to Texas two years ago, I've been having intermittent hot start issues in the Suburban in the summer. It would always start when cold, albeit with a little excessive cranking, but in the summer, when warm, it wouldn't start. I'd have to wait for it to cool down....sometimes to the tune of over an hour in the grocery store parking lot (fortunately, the HEB by us has a bar with draught beer).

I read wires, replaced a solenoid on my Power Master starter, and nothing solved the problem. As I've been researching, and recently purchased, an 80 series Land Cruiser (actually a Lexus LX450....dont tell anyone), I had been surfing the LC80 forums and came across a local guy who was having the same issue with his '93 Cruiser. Turns out that when wires get hot, the resistance of the wire goes up, sometimes significantly....thus affecting the amperage going to the starter. His solution was to use the power wire from his ignition switch to trigger a relay, sending power to the starter solenoid.

I just completed the same mod to my ignition system using a Kaizen Speed solid state relay and 10 AWG TXL wire for the leads coming from the battery to the relay and the relay to the solenoid. All I can say is WOW! The truck cranks and fires like a new truck, hot or cold. No delay, no continued cranking. I dont know what the amperage drop in the old wiring was, but it's definitely getting all the sauce now. Hopefully this helps someone else out.

[Trixxterr]

Originally Posted by FLYNAVY30

Thought I'd throw this out there for anyone still following along that might be experiencing similar issues....

Since moving to Texas two years ago, I've been having intermittent hot start issues in the Suburban in the summer. It would always start when cold, albeit with a little excessive cranking, but in the summer, when warm, it wouldn't start. I'd have to wait for it to cool down....sometimes to the tune of over an hour in the grocery store parking lot (fortunately, the HEB by us has a bar with draught beer).

I read wires, replaced a solenoid on my Power Master starter, and nothing solved the problem. As I've been researching, and recently purchased, an 80 series Land Cruiser (actually a Lexus LX450....dont tell anyone), I had been surfing the LC80 forums and came across a local guy who was having the same issue with his '93 Cruiser. Turns out that when wires get hot, the resistance of the wire goes up, sometimes significantly....thus affecting the amperage going to the starter. His solution was to use the power wire from his ignition switch to trigger a relay, sending power to the starter solenoid.

I just completed the same mod to my ignition system using a Kaizen Speed solid state relay and 10 AWG TXL wire for the leads coming from the battery to the relay and the relay to the solenoid. All I can say is WOW! The truck cranks and fires like a new truck, hot or cold. No delay, no continued cranking. I dont know what the amperage drop in the old wiring was, but it's definitely getting all the sauce now. Hopefully this helps someone else out.

Interesting, in my experience it the issue was due to a failing starter solenoid. I need to file this away for future reference. Or just go ahead and use your fix to avoid the any future issues.. Much appreciation for the info..

[Beach-Burban]

[QUOTE=FLYNAVY30;9219747]Thought I'd throw this out there for anyone still following along that might be experiencing similar issues....[QUOTE]

Hi Greg…When I was a kid, I put a 402 out of a ‘72 C/10 into my ‘65 GTO and had the same issues even though I lived in the cool So Cal beach area. My “smarter” friend said to put a bigger wire on it, so I wired in 10 gauge wires between a separate H/D toggle switch and the solenoid (cheapest way due to no money)…and never had an issue again. When I bought my ‘72 Suburban from the original owner, I noticed that there was a “Ford” style solenoid installed near the battery…and I believe this also acts as a relay to handle the load going through 4 gauge cables? I have never had a heat-soak issue with the 454, and I attribute that to the solenoid. Nothing to add to your post…just concurring.

Woody

[connorm]

Any updates on this? Maybe some news on the 4x4 swap???

[FLYNAVY30]

Nothing super exciting. Been driving it a bunch. I'll post some pics here shortly, I decided to remove the vintage air a/c as the volume of the suburban is just too much for the system to handle in the Texas heat. Far better to go with the factory 6x60 system. I'm also cleaning up some ugly wiring, updating and rerouting the trans cooler, new head lights, new front grill, and a few other little things.

The 4x4 swap is on somewhat of an indefinite hold. My next big project plan is to pull the motor and trans, clean and paint the motor, switch the fuel injection to port injection as opposed to the current throttle body set up, and swap the 4L65E for a TR4050 manual 5 speed.

[connorm]

Originally Posted by FLYNAVY30

Nothing super exciting. Been driving it a bunch. I'll post some pics here shortly, I decided to remove the vintage air a/c as the volume of the suburban is just too much for the system to handle in the Texas heat. Far better to go with the factory 6x60 system. I'm also cleaning up some ugly wiring, updating and rerouting the trans cooler, new head lights, new front grill, and a few other little things.

The 4x4 swap is on somewhat of an indefinite hold. My next big project plan is to pull the motor and trans, clean and paint the motor, switch the fuel injection to port injection as opposed to the current throttle body set up, and swap the 4L65E for a TR4050 manual 5 speed.

Why the switch to port injection? Have you been having issues? That TR4050 should be awesome!

[FLYNAVY30]

Just a couple of minor issues. The primary being a momentary lean spike if you go from part throttle to WOT instantaneously....you have to roll into the throttle in order to avoid the lean spike. Im not super savvy on the Holley software, but my tuner tells me that issue can be mitigated with the port injection. Additionally, it tends to diesel for a few second on shut down.

We'll see.....I've also considered going back to a carb set up since I wont need to control the trans with a manual swap.

[FLYNAVY30]

Ok, long overdue update. As I stated previously, I had to swap another radiator, so while I was at it, I decided to address a few minor things that had been bugging me for a while....

First up, I needed to swap out the plastic grill because over half the mounting tabs were broken and it was kind of flopping around. While I was at it, I decided to strip the black paint from the headlight surrounds and polish everything.

[FLYNAVY30]

Next up was to find a more suitable/robust transmission cooler. This Gear Star 4L65E was swapped in by a shop in VA years ago, and they had run one of those parts store coolers that mounts through the radiator with those plastic straps and had basic rubber hoses with hose clamps. Not a particularly robust, or serviceable set up.

So I found one of Holley's generic oil coolers that fit my space constraints. For routing, I decided to tuck the lines up inside the frame rail for maximum protection and passed them through the front cross member via bulkhead fittings. I used Radian Engineering fuel line between the oil cooler and the bulkhead, along with their push lock AN fittings, then used two 48" sections of Fragola PTFE braided line from the bulkhead back to the transmission. Usually, I make these lines myself, but since the length I needed was available in a prefabricated length, I just ordered it direct from Summit.

[FLYNAVY30]

By removing the a/c, I was able to delete some of the accessory bracketry, close up the firewall, and relocate the catch can. The bracket I fabricated for the catch can isnt glamorous, but its functional...I may redesign it at a later date to be a little more "custom". The rest of the set up worked out pretty well and significantly reduced the clutter in the engine bay.

[FLYNAVY30]

On the interior I removed the Restro Sound head unit that I never liked and installed block off plates for both the head unit and HVAC. TBD if I install one of the small electric heaters at a later date just to have defog capabilities.

I also installed this little USB port in place of the lighter that comes with a plug replicating the factory lighter plug.

The next project is going to be to fabricate a center console to go between the buckets that will incorporate a Marshall bluetooth speaker....similar to what the Land Rover Defender guys do in their resto-mods

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by FLYNAVY30

By removing the a/c, I was able to delete some of the accessory bracketry, close up the firewall, and relocate the catch can. The bracket I fabricated for the catch can isnt glamorous, but its functional...I may redesign it at a later date to be a little more "custom". The rest of the set up worked out pretty well and significantly reduced the clutter in the engine bay.

That and the cooler should work out great! I probably should put a catch can on a couple of my swaps but I'm getting lazy in my old age....

[FLYNAVY30]

Lastly....a bath as the truck was pretty grimy after sitting since May. Apologies for the picture orientation, I still cant figure that out on this particular forum.

[FLYNAVY30]

Ah, one last thing I forgot....those headlights are the Holley Retro Brights. One of my old Dapper Lighting units was going out so I decided to try the Holley units. Big surprise when they arrived, the lights are actually made by Morimoto!...for those unfamiliar, probably the best name in aftermarket lighting. They make all the high end, sealed, drop in LED housings for everything from C6 Corvette to Toyota 4Runners. Ill aim them and try to get some photos tonight.

[FLYNAVY30]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

That and the cooler should work out great! I probably should put a catch can on a couple of my swaps but I'm getting lazy in my old age....

The Radian catch can is neat because it has a tiny dipstick in it, as well as a bottom drain so its very easy to use without having to remove it.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by FLYNAVY30

Ah, one last thing I forgot....those headlights are the Holley Retro Brights. One of my old Dapper Lighting units was going out so I decided to try the Holley units. Big surprise when they arrived, the lights are actually made by Morimoto!...for those unfamiliar, probably the best name in aftermarket lighting. They make all the high end, sealed, drop in LED housings for everything from C6 Corvette to Toyota 4Runners. Ill aim them and try to get some photos tonight.

I have never heard of those headlights. I have been using the Jeep JK lights. They work good but they do tend to cloud up just like a lot of the later units....

[HO455]

All those little things have certainly add up! It's looking better and better ever post.

You mentioned the Dapper lights were failing, can you elaborate on that?

If you do decide to go with an electric heater look at marine units. They are for the most part more robust and plan on running 30 or 40 amp wiring.