Examined a '70 suburban with '98 drivetrain...

[mt Al]

Examined a '70 suburban with engine/tranny out of a '98 pickup on Sunday. The guy is a friend of a friend. Met him at church and got a smack or two from my wife as I was asking him questions during the service. Fortunately our mutual friend (who's got a sweet mid '60s stock cream puff Impala) planned for lunch so I could ask questions.

The suburban was originally purchased by his father in Cody, Wyoming and it has over 400,000 miles on it, with 2 or 3 engines before the big swap. He's been messing with it for about 6 years and has totally re-wired it (painless, I think), new guages, new headliner (1/4 plywood covered w/fabric), new carpet and buckets out of a chevy astro van. For some reason he switched to axles out of a '78 (I think). His engine conversion was completed about two weeks ago.

Here is what I learned in brief:
He bought a totaled '98 4x4 pickup and took out the gas tank, wiring harness, etc. along with the whole engine through transfer case. He hooked up a 241 transfer case out of a '90 suburban that has the front shaft exiting out the proper side (no advanced adapter!!). He was able to swap cases, so no more money spent.

He got a wiring harness from speartech, who also re-programmed the computer, and was amazed at how quickly it all plugged in. He said it took about 20 minutes when it came back from the factory. They programmed out the key thing, several of the oxygen sensors and a few other goodies.

He installed a newer plastic fuel tank and had to put in two fuel sending units for some reason. Perhaps one was for the new guages in the dash and the other is for the fuel injection (??). He used something from lokar to hook up his shift column to the new tranny.

He hasn't figured out the transfer case shifter yet, along with the AC. He's going to go with vintage air apparently. He also explained that the gas pedal connection wasn't real smooth and that he was going to buy something from lokar to fix it.

I didn't ride in it, but it started like a dream and he thinks he's getting around 16 to the gallon. Sounds sweet too. He says there is no comparison between the old and new regarding drivability, cold starts, mileage, etc.

This guy did a ton of the work by himself, the install looks fantastic. It wasn't cheap, but it starts and drives like a dream. Of course, this discussion and demo will most likely cost me a ton of money in the future, but far less than buying a newer suburban.

I told him about this board and hope that he joins up and posts more accurate information. He recommends the swap to anyone.

[Hooter]

drives new looks old, Best of both worlds!