Project Polar Bear: '89 V2500 Suburban

[82355]

I am in love with this Suburban. A (clean) 8.1 swap and an NV4500/NP241, what more could you want?

Martin

 

[campfire]

4) Because of the radiator debacle above I threw the little 5.7L radiator in it just to be able to run it on the car trailer to get over to the exhaust shop but it will not run more than 10 minutes or so and gets hotter than hell. I am fairly certain that issue is a rag I stuck in the old radiator when I pulled it out to keep it from leaking on the floor. I guess I forgot to pull it out when I decided to reuse it.

This is hilarious.
I once was wrapping up a head job and dropped a small nut down the intake. Past the throttle body. Past the plenum. Past the manifold. Past an open intake valve. Into the cylinder. And suddenly I found myself un-wrapping up a head job.

Glad to know your story doesn't involve the final product (unless that rag gets loose ).



And I showed wifey the time-lapse video. She is now singing along with the music.

 

[Big Ray]

Larry, you are truly an artist.

 

[1leg]

I am in love with this Suburban. A (clean) 8.1 swap and an NV4500/NP241, what more could you want?

Martin

That it was in mine with a 4L80!

I'm going to start looking for a 8.1- 4L80 combo. Hell I would settle for a 454 vortec at this point.

 

[natemc]

Larry, you are truly an artist. [emoji144]

I second that!

 

[Larry]

Thanks guys! Not sure about being an artist but more of anal

 

[82355]

An anal artist?

Martin

 

[Burbdood 74]

Thanks guys! Not sure about being an artist but more of anal

This has got to be the first time I've ever witnessed someone call themselves an arsehole in such an elaborate way.....lol

 

[Larry]

Little update on the Polar Bear. I got the trans reinstalled after replacing the rear main seal (okay, maybe we forgot to install the rear main seal when we put the engine together ), did a IAC relearn and reset the fuel trims to accommodate the new injectors she runs a lot better…..and that hot rod lope went away which I am so glad . It still has some little fine ECM tuning to do as runs a bit fuzzy in cold start open loop but other than that, she runs like a scalded dog at wide open throttle. The RayLar cam definitely gave it a lot more top end although at the expense of a little low end grunt loss but I’ll know for sure once the tuning is all dialed in. So far, I’m really happy the way it turned out and it will only get better once the ECM tuning is finalized. It’s pretty funny how such a big truck can flat out scream when you poke it in the neck burnout

Outside of the fine ECM tuning the only other thing left is to have A/C lines built but I probably won’t have time to tackle that until May or June sometime.

Here is how it looks as of right now

And a family photo

Little update on the K10 too. Since the Polar Bear stole its tires and wheel last summer it was time to repay the K10 with a new set before upcoming annual Desert Trip. I bought the same exact wheels again but went with Goodyear Duratracs this time instead of another set of Fierce Attitude tires. Nothing wrong with the Fierce Attitude tires, it’s just the Duratracs turned out to be cheaper this go around. 315/75R16 Load Range E. At least one truck is ready for the summer!

Fierce Attitude on the Burb and Duratracs on the K10

I was getting fed up with the interior paint peeling off of the center console so I had an upholstery guy cover the entire console in the closest matching vinyl he could find that matches the seat arm rests. Turns out nice! Having it covered in vinyl also stopped the lid from squeaking and itching.

 

[y5mgisi]

Glad to hear it's coming together!

 

[Babaganoosh]

Looks fantastic, bet it rips!

This is kind of off topic but your laptop mount made me wonder this. What map and tracking software do you use on the road?

 

[Larry]

Glad to hear it's coming together!

Finaphuckenly! But still got a ways to go.

Looks fantastic, bet it rips!

This is kind of off topic but your laptop mount made me wonder this. What map and tracking software do you use on the road?

Well, after hearing so many wonderful things about it I bought DeLorme Topo North America. The damn thing won’t run on my laptop for more than 10 minutes before it brings up the blue screen of death and locks everything up. I gave up trying to get it to work and just use Microsoft Streets and Trips with GPS. Believe it or not, it works great on the highway & off-road. I was quite surprised how well it works 90% of the time. Even in the middle of nowhere Canyonlands it knows the roads but yet 2 blocks from my house it gets lost and freaks out

This is what it looks like when you’re on the trail…and if it recognizes the road number, name or whatever. Sometimes it has no idea where we are but it shows we are on an unimproved road.

When it is lost it says… OFF ROUTE! So annoying when it shows that

But it has a nice speedo too that is pretty damn accurate. With map views you can zoom in/out, change map type, etc. Pretty cool. The GPS puck has a magnet that sticks perfectly to the rearview mirror.

Also has a cool altimeter. This was in Death Valley

or 13,000 ft here in CO

 

[63chevyll]

Great read. Love how this turned out.

 

[Smokinthehippies]

So other than some tuning left to do. Impressions of the raylar cam?
Worth the coin?

 

[Larry]

So other than some tuning left to do. Impressions of the raylar cam?
Worth the coin?

I tell you what, the Burb pulls hard from about 2000 to 4500 (haven’t spun it any higher yet). Keep in mind, BB don't need to spin high RPM's like an little LS engine. It is a very noticeable difference between the 8.1Ls in my Silverado and the K10. I wouldn’t be scared to line up with a diesel truck and run’em for an 1/8 mile or so. To answer your question, yeah….I think it is worth it but I kind of wish I would have gone with their 201 torquer cam instead but you know how it is…Doesn’t matter which you go with, you always wonder what the other cam would have been like. I definitely would not put this cam in the K10 as that truck needs the low end grunt for what it gets used for but in the Burb I think it will be fun with the 202 cam. Money well spent and the fine tuning that needs to be done is pretty small. Initially I thought tuning was going to be a major ordeal but it turned out several injectors were phuckered up from sitting for 7 or 8 years. Odd thing was there were no cylinder misfires but the side to side fuel trims were 20+% off from each other. Fresh injectors, IAC relearn, and fuel trim reset fixed it right up. No more street rod lope! It’s just a bit choppy idling where it hunts up and down at open loop cold start up where the o2s’ are pegged at 890mv….way fat! Once it goes into closed loop it runs 95% the way I want it.

 

[max 02]

Beautiful job!

 

[eclipse85k10]

I may have missed it but what are those wheels you are running? I really like the black and brushed rim look with the black fender flares.

 

[Larry]

Beautiful job!

Thanks! Got a ways to go yet. Got a date with Rocky Mountain Competitive Research for a live dyno tune in late May.

I may have missed it but what are those wheels you are running? I really like the black and brushed rim look with the black fender flares.

They’re just cheap Level 8 brand "Strike 8" wheels from Discount Tire….also known as “Desert Rattler Moab STR” wheels through Desert Rat Off-Road centers. The ones on the Burb came from Desert Rat's Tucson store which has the best price on them but Discount Tire matched Desert Rat’s price on the second set which actually saved more money as I didn’t have to pay the freight to get wheels from AZ shipped to CO. Nice wheels for the money. $115 a piece They sure beat the hell out of the egg shaped black steelies that made the truck wobble and shake down the road

 

[WJACKSON11X]

These two trucks are probably my favorite square bodies that I have ever seen, except my own of course Great builds on both of these trucks! I stole some of your ideas to do my 1 ton Burb build. Im seriously thinking about putting some fender flares on mine.

 

[Larry]

Finally got the Suburban dyno tuned today. What a difference getting a nice tune done makes. The rig runs sooooo much better now. No lope now either… The dyno results came in at 301HP/386 torque at the wheels. Not too shabby considering the original TBI 5.7L probably laid down around 130 HP to the ground and this shop claims most Jeeps that come through their shop rolling on 35” tires with LS engines are putting 220 to 250 HP and barely 280 lb ft of torque to the ground. He also claims the 4x4 drivetrain and tire loss is around 25 to 30% so with that, I was pretty happy with 301/386. My only regret is going with the Raylar 202 cam....I should have gone with the 201 for low end grunt.