91 Suburban Resurrection

[Taylormade]

Starting a build thread to hopefully keep me motivated through my list of things to finish by mid summer 2025, that will give me time for shakedown runs.


Specs:
1991 V2500 GMC Suburban SLE
Stock power train; TBI 350, 4L80E, NP241, 10 Bolt front/14 Bolt Semi float in the rear. Both are open diffs unfortunately.

It only has 113000 miles on it, so everything is in pretty decent condition ie. the doors shut with ease! Never had a square that retained that feature! The truck was originally used as a hunting rig at a ranch in south Texas, so I was told.
The front bumper and interior design back up that claim.

With the addition of 2 kids since 2022, my plan is to build this to serve as a reliable family rig and take the whole family to blazer bash this year. The build will be stock so I will hit the easy trails. It has been sitting since 2018 with a bad transmission, so I anticipate some additional problems along the way with getting it safely back on the road.

To do list:

1. Full engine tune up
2. 4L80E rebuild
3. 285/70R17E Falken Wildpeak AT4
4. Fix A/C!
5. Front bumper build
6. U joints
7. Fluids

Interior is decent.

113,151 miles! Oil pressure and temps look great…but the engine was off

Current situation

 

[Taylormade]

Just realized I put this in the garage, not the driveway I don’t ever post on here, so it makes sense that I screw it up!

 

[warrpath4x4]

Ya I would believe its from Texas with that bumper lol

 

[Taylormade]

Ya I would believe its from Texas with that bumper lol

It’s excessive, but functional. The front drops down to haul dead deer. Not needed for my purposes though. I’ll replace it with a tube bumper.

 

[1985 K5 Blazer]

Get a new trans cooler and clean the transmission lines really good. That way you don't trash the rebuild.

 

[Taylormade]

Get a new trans cooler and clean the transmission lines really good. That way you don't trash the rebuild.

Oh yeah! Didn’t add that into to the build price. May add a fan to the cooler and a temp gauge too.

 

[‘89Jimmy]

Looks great! Looking forward to seeing this one on the road!

 

[Taylormade]

I picked up everything that I “think” I need to get the engine running again. Battery, plugs, wires, cap&rotor, fuel pump and filter. I am suspecting valve seals are shot, but I’ll ignore that for now.
Dragging my feet to get started since my first task is to drop the tank . I’ve done it several times on Colonel Mustard, but it has a 1” body lift and that makes all the difference! And I can’t bring myself to cut a hatch….yet. I have an idea for a hatch, but I need to grab a few pieces to make it work. (Zeus fittings and the original cut piece with additional backing around the edges)

 

[obijuank5]

Sounds like you need a 1” body lift

 

[Taylormade]

Sounds like you need a 1” body lift

Now that you mention it, I can’t think of a good reason not to.

 

[‘89Jimmy]

Sounds like you need a 1” body lift

Hahaha, gold!

 

[Taylormade]

Finally pulled the suburban to my house so I could work on it. That was an important step! I started on the fuel pump replacement today. I will say, the extra capacity in the suburban makes the fuel tank significantly more difficult than a blazer to drop IMO. Not to any surprise, the fuel line from the pump to the feed line was gone completely lol.




I also found out that my frame is bent at the t-case crossmember. May be hard to see in the pictures. Not sure how I’m going to handle that yet. Maybe a new crossmember that’s not bent for starters.

 

[‘89Jimmy]

It looks really good underneath! No real rust anywhere!

Time to go junkyarding!

 

[cheavyk10]

That's impressive. Got parked on a rock?

 

[Taylormade]

That's impressive. Got parked on a rock?

Looks like it found a rock for sure! I don’t remember hitting anything when I was driving it, but I had it “off road” almost daily when I was land surveying.

 

[Chickntrk]

I bet you could bolt a thick piece of metal to those crossmember bolts and use the leverage to bend the frame back down

 

[Taylormade]

I bet you could bolt a think piece of metal to those crossmember bolts and use the leverage to bend the frame back down

That’s a good idea! I’ll be dropping the t-case and trans after I get the fuel/engine figured out. I’m wondering if I can get the crossmember straight with the same method.

 

[Taylormade]

After 7 years of sitting and a locked up engine, it runs!! It doesn’t drive…but it runs! Some critters made a home out of one of the cylinders. Marvel mystery oil did the trick, with help from the starter lol. There isn’t a good place to put any amount of good torque to turn the engine, so I let the starter do the work. Not ideal, but it’s what I had to do.

Next on the list is to drop the 4l80 to tear it down. It doesn’t go into any gear, but the fluid seems fine. I suspect electronics may have a played a part in the failure since there appears to be fluid coming from the main connector. I am going to give Jake’s transmission a call once it’s all torn down and inspected.

I was hoping it would catch reverse so I could get it off the trailer and into my driveway without blocking the street for 30 minutes, but working on the trailer isn’t bad.

 

[‘89Jimmy]

She lives!

 

[Taylormade]

I got the transmission to work enough to get it off the trailer. 6 quarts of ATF did the trick lol. Still no reverse, but hey, after 7 years of sitting it drove like a dream. I forgot how nice of a ride it was compared to the blazer.

I drove it around the block a few times to get some oil on everything. Did fine, even on 7 year old gasthe brakes need some attention. I bled 3/4 of the brakes before I ran out of fluid. The old fluid was nasty!

Plan is to drop the transmission by next weekend. Then tear down next week.

Here it is, back on its feet! Sitting next to its future donor.