1988 R10

[joshuak]

Thanks! Thinking of doing this with my 90 3/4 ton suburban.

If you do, hope you post up. It would be fun to see your take on it!

One thing I didn't mention and I think its worth reminding ourselves is making sure the vehicle is fully supported. Floor jack for up and down, but not for holding while we're underneath.

 

[joshuak]

Some more progress...

Had to buy a new DS inner fender, thought I would be one step ahead if I made a similar clearance cut to the one required for the PS inner fender.



PS inner fender



Well, turns out the DS didn't need it lol. So, find the piece, butt weld it in, seam sealer and paint. Plenty of room.



Spent some time cleaning up the engine bay. Replaced split plastic loom with split braided loom, ran a new fuel supply line, removing some unused vacuum lines and used to many zip ties. I keep telling myself those are only temporary...



Also played with the two tranny hump options I have available.

Removable from '84 K30



Cut out from a 4wd Suburban.



New longer speedometer cable, reused brackets and grommet at firewall.



And started putting the gauge cluster back together.

 

[Capt Ron]

You might think about total disassembly of the inst cluster, spray paint the inside "chrome" silver and installing led bulbs. A lot of us here have done it and it makes a huge difference when it comes to being able to see the gauges at night. The factory lighting was not real good.

 

[joshuak]

Good suggestion. Now would be a good time to do it too, I think the term is MAW... .

Have you had better luck with one brand/type of LEDs over another? I think, I'd like to stick with white.

 

[joshuak]

Following up on Capt. Ron's suggestion, I disassembled the cluster.



Scuffed, painted glossy white and added some 3m aluminum foil tape to the back of the gauges and a couple spots in the housing.



Waiting for bulbs. I ordered dimmable for the back lighting and non dimmable for turn signals, CEL, brake, etc.




I received my transfer case shifter, went with JB fab flush mounted kit. Thought I would be able to slide it in the hole of the stock 208, found out quick that wouldn't work. So, cut and bend until it works.



Built a cardboard template for the support it needs. In the picture you can also see my fastening method for the tranny hump, u nuts, keeping it removable. Overkill on fasteners, but holes were already there from the self tappers...



Transferred CAD to scrap sheet metal, cut, bent and making it work.





Along the lines of the Captains suggestion, if y'all see an area of opportunity please post up. I may not be in position to follow up on it immediately, but definitely wanting to learn.

 

[Big Ray]

Why is the t.c. on the drivers side now...?

 

[joshuak]

Why is the t.c. on the drivers side now...?

It's not, only the shifter is. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.

I don't have an OEM shifter, so I chose a flush mount cable shifter manufactured by JB Fab, link. The length of the shift lever bracket and the cable bracket that attaches to the transmission tail housing would have put the whole assembly under the fire wall if I had chosen to keep it on the PS.

Please note full disclaimer: there are many ways to skin a cat whether it likes it or not. I don't consider my way of doing things the right one, I'm sure there were other ways to accomplish the same thing, it's just what made sense at the time.

Crappy pic. I took on my way out this morning of bracket, we are looking from the PS towards the TC, cable attaches to end of bracket closest to viewer.



Shift lever bracket, picture taken to remind me of hardware placement, had to order a longer cable 48" vs 36".



So, current thought is run cable towards the firewall then, loop back around and bolt into the bracket on the tranny. Picture bellow also shows the little progress I've had this week Using a 465 shifter boot for the tranny shifter, so I placed the trim ring down marked and hoping to cut/add metal as needed.




Dimmable leds came in, I hope they work well because they have a lot of weird factor to make up for.

 

[Big Ray]

I see...that is too damn cool.
I drove a K 100 cabover for a while. It had a short handled cable shifter.

Always thought that was too damn cool too!

Loving your work.

 

[joshuak]

I see...that is too damn cool.

Agreed, definitely a nice piece of gear.

I drove a K 100 cabover for a while. It had a short handled cable shifter.

Always thought that was too damn cool too!

Interested in pics if you have them and feel like posting. Gotta love COE action.

Loving your work.

Thank you, both humbled and motivated by your kind words. Knowing how hard I have to work to get the results I get, it really puts in perspective how good fellow members are at what they do and how much time they’ve put in themselves.

 

[joshuak]

She got the gold mine I got the shafts...




Rear shaft was made locally, front is from a K30 I think...

 

[joshuak]

Finished up the tranny hump, fasteners for transfer case shifter and transmission boot got nuts welded to the bottom of the hump, primed, seam sealer to butt welds, then painted. I added rubber weather stripping, made two passes because it was only 0.5”.



Added a flat 1” wide foam weatherstrip to the body side, right over the u nuts cut x in them with a utility knife. You can also see a hose clamp I added to the tranny case for the fuel lines.



Added dynamat.



And placed in position...



Different views





Axle donor was same trim package as this one, so I added the fender badges. Have to brag about pull straps, carpet and aluminum trim, .



Getting closer to being able to fire her up and go somewhere. Working on being able to stop next.

 

[Big Ray]

Should have mentioned I was a truck driver in the late 80's...my bad!

 

[joshuak]

Sunday morning at work, thankfully things are flowing well and I've finished my duties. But I still have to fulfill the time requirement. So, I'll share why I'm building a Suburban. Long story short, I wanted to clean up my yard and have fun using the pieces I have.

Back in 2019, member Eouducto posted a CL link to a crew cab being sold a couple hrs away from me. Went to check it out and 1800$ later this beaut. was delivered and parked in the backyard I was renting at the time.



Former plow truck that had a salt spreader in back so every panel needed replacing, but figured the d60/d70hd and the 6.2/sm465/205 were worth the price. I put the word out that I was looking for a cab and a coworker said he knew of a guy that was ready to sell a project he got tired of looking at. Only difficulty was buying it, meant taking the whole project. So 2k later I was the proud owner of this!



And this!



And these!



Blue 'burb was a basket case, but had all the interior trim pieces. Grey/red is rust free, big deal for us rust belt dwellers.


Unfortunately rust was really bad on the blue crew, too bad because someone had obviously put in work. Cab and most of the panels are on a slow boat to the orient now, along with the blue burban.



That left a suburban body on the ground and rolling crew cab frame. Mated them together using some non osha approved techniques. Sketchy AF, but worked.



Getting there...



Happy wife, happy life!

 

[joshuak]

Continuing previous post, Suburban body on crew cab frame. With the front body mount holes lined up, the back looks like this:



Moved hangers forward to center axle in wheel well.



Back looks like this...



After all this, a former work supervisor stopped by my house unannounced one day and stated that he was ready to sell. I wasn't sure what he was taking about, but turns out that a few years ago I had asked him to let me know when he was ready to sell his Suburban and that's what he was doing! I had said I would, so I did and I got a heck of a deal IMO.



It has obvious rust issues. First thought was body swap, but the more I got into it, the more I realized that the body is in really decent shape at least for these parts and lets face it Barn door lives matter. So, party on! Building this and saving the body for something else I guess.

And yeah, I know...

 

[joshuak]

Some more progress...

Had to switch DS valve covers because I broke the positive pressure (?) hose from the TB to valve cover on the original. After seeing the sticker on the pilfered cover, made me wonder if the truck it came from got a fresh motor at some point?



Finished applying sound deadening, did not take it all the way to the kick plate on PS side because after hard rain I get some humidity, also have some surface rust starting to appear. I will not tackle that this go around, I will just leave easy access to that area and make sure it stays dry. Keeping OEM jute under rear seat and back area.



Had to (chose to) hack the carpet to make it fit, as sticker says its for low tunnel hump.



Wife said she'd help me come up with some sort cover tunnel hump cover.



Seats, center console, floor mats. Not putting chrome trim back, hoping to leave easy access under rug for now.



Followed a recommendation by Zoomad and got these seat covers, really I happy I did. Under 30$ and they fit great.



Cleaned up the 2nd row



...cleaned out the back too! No shop yet, so it had been converted into a material and tool storage area.





Last but not least, installed sections of 1/2" PEX at the door striker posts. Doors don't rattle and are aligned perfectly now! and I am aware that Dorman sells purpose built bushings in the help section at an autoparts store.

 

[joshuak]

Does someone have recommendation on a cat, muffler, setup they've had luck with?

The State I currently live in has emissions testings.

 

[ZooMad75]

Good work! Barn door burbs rock too. Nice score.

 

[joshuak]

Decided on 3” exhaust, bought a cat. online and scavenged a dynomax muffler, pipe, clamps etc. from another project that’s going a different direction.



Initial mock up.



Current thought is flex pipe from Y to cat, then solid pipe to muffler and dump out the DS in front of the rear tire.

Please post if something similar hasn’t worked for you or if there is a better way with what I have.

 

[fordmas]

This build was great to read through. Doing an awesome job and it’s really coming together nicely!

 

[USSkoval]

I love this build!

That is all for now, lol