CK5
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Project Polar Bear: '89 V2500 Suburban

Meh, not me. Never was a fan of the old Gladiator front ends. I know it can easily be done though. They even did an episode on TRUCKS! where they did the Gladiator front end treatment to a 2 door FSJ Cherokee Chief.


This would be the grill I would prefer if I could ever find one
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Anyone here old enough to remember having these? they were my fav toys for a long time...

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:haha: I still have a few of those! In fact, I have a Stomper II Jeep truck with a camper and a real working winch on the front. Those were my favorite toys as a kid. Burnt through lots of Stompers :haha:
 
Meh, not me. Never was a fan of the old Gladiator front ends. I know it can easily be done though. They even did an episode on TRUCKS! where they did the Gladiator front end treatment to a 2 door FSJ Cherokee Chief.


This would be the grill I would prefer if I could ever find one
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The Jeep I pulled my Dana 44 from had that grill, if you want I'll go see if it's still there.
 
Keep posting those engine swap pictures your going to end up with a red 90 jimmy in your garage...lol.


Hehe, sorry dude the summer is already booked :haha:. Got a 5.3L into a K5 lined up and hoping to get the 8.1L in the Burb before too long and I just bought that damm Heep J20. Between work and the baby I haven’t had much time to get stuff done. The weekends are spent crawling around on the living room carpet chasing a baby girl instead of crawling around under trucks these days :waytogo:

Check out my latest project. Been working out the bugs of a 4.3L to TBI 7.4L swap that I did last year in a C1500 Sportside for my FIL then swapped out a Getrag 5 speed to an automatic using the TCI EZ TCU kit over the past month. Between moving to an auto trans and finding a tuner that can actually make it run right it turned out real nice! I’m very impressed with the TCI kit. The old man was tired of rowing gears plus he already roasted the clutch I just put in there last winter.

Before
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During
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The poor K10 is filthy from just sitting for several months
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Just a 4L60E behind a 7.4L but it was cheap. $450 for a 45,000 mile GM SERTA. 4L80E’s were stupid expensive. If this one shots craps then we’ll move to a 4L80E. The TCI kit will run both, 60s and 80s.
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You would never know it was born a manual. I even added a PRNDL into the IP
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It does one hell of a one tire fire burn out too! I need to take another GoPro video as I found the TPS voltage was only 3.9 volts after the test drive. I discovered the throttle cable wasn’t pulling the throttle plate open all the way. Installed a new cable and started getting a full 5 volts at WOT. She runs better now, will roast the tire into 3rd without even power braking :haha:

Its a sleeper all the way down to the OEM wheels and little 235 tires :haha:
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Rest of the truck story HERE
 
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You sure have a knack for doing stuff clean.


He sure does! Your work is inspirational man, all about going that one extra step.

So you liked the TCI kit? I've got one for Daisy I just haven't had a chance to mess with it.
 
He sure does! Your work is inspirational man, all about going that one extra step.

So you liked the TCI kit? I've got one for Daisy I just haven't had a chance to mess with it.


Thanks!

I really like the TCI kit and I am usually not one to care much for aftermarket electronics. I must say, TCI really did a great job with their programming that allows the end user to custom tune it to their specifications with ease. The overall performance of the shift sequence, schedule, firmness, etc. is damn near perfect. Hell, it shifts better than the 2002 and 2004 Tahoe Z71’s we owned with 4L60E’s. If this TCI TCU provides long term problem free service I think they have a real winner on their hands. I got lucky and scored this TCI kit from a board member on the 67-72 page for $425. It was brand new in the box still.

Although, I think TCI could do a little better with the fit and finish of their harness though. I ended up unlooming the entire harness to clean it up and unpin a few BS circuits I didn’t want to use like paddle shifter, manual torque converter lockup, and speedo motor ( that one is for running a speedo motor to run old cable operated speedos). I did retain their Performance circuit though and ran a switch below the dash. It basically works like the Tow/Haul mode on newer trucks. I had hoped to mount the TCU behind the glovebox but there just simply was not enough room so it ended up under the seat. The TPS, Tach signals to the TCU come right off the engine ECM rather than tapping in to wires under the hood. So, all the connections are inside the cab (other than the power and ground which TCI wants direct mounted to the battery) with the TCU mounted under the seat.

The biggest hassle of the entire job was locating an auto/tilt steering column. There were absolutely zero 88-94 GMT400 columns to be found anywhere near me and if you do find one it was busted open from an auto theft recovery. Eventually I found a derelict GMT400 sitting in a lot of a construction company and stopped to see if they would sell parts off of it. $50 later and I had a crusty column in hand. It was pretty rough as the truck had sat for a few years with the window down so I ended up rebuilding the whole thing. It got a new turn signal switch, multifunction switch, key cylinder, ignition switch, new shift lever pivot bushing and back up light switch as well as a coat of paint. Oh, and of course the typical 4 bolts that come loose on tilt columns was lock-tited and retorqued. The pedals and wiring were a piece of cake. The rear shaft had to be cut 3” along with adding a different yoke. It was a long process but not difficult. Got a lot of GMT400 manual trans stuff if someone needs any of it for swapping a manual into one.


After painting the column
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This is the TCI harness after I clean it up and pruned off a few things
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This sucked though. The exhaust was right in the way for the shifter linkage. I added a piece of flexpipe just to get it to the exhaust shop without shooting flames from under the truck. They only charged $50 to rebuild the complete LH pipe from where I cut it all the way to the back of the crossmember.
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The temp pipe in order to drive it to the exhaust shop. Hey, it worked :haha:
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When you do yours let me know if you have any questions. I found TCI Tech assistance not much help when I called about wiring up the speedo. I spoke with 3 different guys and only one halfway knew what day it was. They are way off by telling people to connect their single speedo wire to the GM truck speedo buffer. That doesn’t work! You must piggy back the OEM VSS circuit onto the TCI harness at the actual VSS sensor in order to make the speedo and cruise control both work. You could make the speedo work by tapping into the wire near the buffer but then cruise control would not receive a speed signal. That was the only thing that took time to figure out. Outside of that I really dig this slushbox in this truck. First time I'd ever done a manny to an auto swap before. I'm usually going the other way :haha:
 
Lol...busy indeed. Trying to plot and plan to get the jimmy in shape so at some point i can join uncle nick and you on an adventure....

We finally got the rear bumper from Hefty Fab in the springs and its a work of art i swear! Gorgeous. A few minor issues but aren't there always an issue or 2.
 
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Next order of business is the Tcase (241c) got a SYE kit....but we failed to just do a complete rebuild....and of course in Lo it sounds like the tcase is trying to jump in your lap :doah:....so a chain and full rebuild is in order....one step forward...2 steps back :haha:. After or around that time i think since the TCC is out to lunch a trans upgrade is in order so the jimmy is driveable...and the ls swap can be done at a later date. So now i have to research all the stuff to do that right....grrrr. :confused:
 
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