OFFICIAL* Dante's Peak Suburban Build *

[MTChevy]

OK, Here goes my best attempt at story telling!

As the story goes, the Dantes Peak Suburban had a knock in the engine so @Russell was going to swap in an 8.1. I wanted to help out with the transfer so @noJeepshere handed it off to me in Idaho and I took it up to the border

Here it is sitting right at the border

Russell went to grab it and they wouldn't let it through due to some paperwork so it stayed at the shipping depot. The decision was instead of dealing with all the hassle and everything to get it over there and time restraints for Russell, I would take it back to my house in Great Falls, MT and perform a swap. So, on to the trailer and back we go!

Once back at my place, the first thing on the list was getting the old engine out. Russell had sent a crate engine to my house to replace the knocker

 

[MTChevy]

The crate engine showed up, That means it was time to get to work!

When I got the old engine pulled, I noticed the clutch was pretty well smoked, hot spots all over the flywheel, so I got with Russell and he asked if I would be willing to do an auto swap to make it easy for @Metrodps . Not a problem. Russell got ahold of @Greg Ducato and next thing I know there is a brand new 700R4 sitting on my doorstep.

Its time to get to work assembling the new engine. I grabbed the best helper I could. Shes always happy so Camber was a great choice. New engine goes in.

Of course with the swap over, the rest of the drivetrain had to come out

New trans had to go in

With the automatic, The input of the transfer case had to be changed.

Everything looked good inside

Reassemble, seal up with some anerobic and away we go

And install in the burb!

At this point I installed drivelines etc etc, wired up the engine and filled all fluids.
It was a somewhat long process since my helper decided instead of lifting she would just roll in floor dry all day. That means it was time for a shower

 

[MTChevy]

Now that all the good stuff was installed it was time to work on the automatic swap. I pulled the manual pedal and column. I had a friend parting an auto so I grabbed the pedal assembly and column. I kind of failed to take pictures here. Once I got the new column and pedal assembly installed I took out the manual ecm and installed an auto Greg had from his suburban. I wired up the transmission and ecm to factory. At this point I test drove the suburban several times trying different things and could not get the ecm to properly control TCC lockup.

Lockup would start in second gear and never came out. I took the pan off and sent greg pictures, and everything seemed right. I didn't have any diag equipment so instead of throwing parts or another ECM at it @Greg Ducato came through and sent a aftermarket lockup controller. Greg has made this whole swap very easy. Thank you Greg!

Lockup was finally dialed in and working good.
Greg had supplied me with an aux trans cooler, but the radiator did not have cooler provisions so Greg also threw in a new radiator and I plumbed in both coolers


The factory gauges on this thing were a little wacky and Lawrence had a thunder road setup sitting in the burb so I went ahead and installed those. I absolutely hated the fitment but the gauges are nice!

Alright. I have got about 60 miles on this thing and I am happy with how everything works. Rechecked for leaks and topped off all fluids, My helper and I took it for one last test drive and buttoned everything up

And of course, to top it off I had to get a final picture of it in my backyard

I just want to say thanks for letting me be a part of the build!

 

[campfire]

Reserved for cool response.

 

[kgblazerfive]

I have truck and trailer if we need to get closer to CO

 

[max 02]

What a good story Cole!

 

[blazinzuk]

I have truck and trailer if we need to get closer to CO

And I have time. Wouldn't mind bombing to Colorado to meet Lawrence finally

 

[MTChevy]

I was thinking the wife and I could get close to or in salt lake over a weekend. If I wasn't so busy at work I'd make a vacation out of it.

 

[Phil513]

Some darn good people on this forum, that's for sure.

 

[campfire]

Awesome, awesome, awesome!


Lawrence said he wants to show it at the Easter Jeep Safari to fulfill one of his many sponsorship requirements. That gives us barely 2 weeks to get it down there, unless he opts to go to some other show instead. I've heard a couple of ideas from him as to how to get the truck back home.

Our offer still stands to ferry it down from MT to CO, as we have folks to visit in both places, and it would make a nice vacation loop. But I'm pretty confident that we can't make the tight time frame. Otherwise it'd be perfect, especially since Cole wants my spare steering column to complete the 17-way parts swap.

And I have time. Wouldn't mind bombing to Colorado to meet Lawrence finally

This is a good idea. Definitely a guy worth meeting. And, living alone on top of a mountain, he does appreciate company.

 

[campfire]

Some darn good people on this forum, that's for sure.

Definitely. My hat is off to several of the folks in this thread.

 

[noJeepshere]

I'm more than happy to drive it part of the way again too.

Those gauges look awesome!

 

[campfire]

I was thinking the wife and I could get close to or in salt lake over a weekend. If I wasn't so busy at work I'd make a vacation out of it.

Looks like Eric's place is closer to you than SLC...might make a good hand-off point for a relay race.

 

[Babaganoosh]

Great job Cole, excellent work and happy to see it running again.

 

[MTChevy]

I could get the burb to erics house this weekend?

 

[campfire]

Hey, @MTChevy, Wifey pointed out something that had slipped my mind...what did you do with the hole in the floor?

 

[GWeakland620]

Very cool. Nice work sir.

 

[ktmoutfront]

Will be cool to see it 7n Moab this year.

 

[MTChevy]

Hey, @MTChevy, Wifey pointed out something that had slipped my mind...what did you do with the hole in the floor?

I cut out a 1/8" plate maybe a bit thinner (scrap from work) and sealed it up for both the shifter hole and clutch master hole

 

[MTChevy]

You can kind of see it in the gauge picture, painted black