Great work. I like those electrical distribution terminals. also my brothers 6.5 suffers from the same has to be plugged in to start. Glad he finally upgraded to a dmax. If you find the culprit let me know and I’ll see if I can fix his old truck.
CK5
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Rusty sat in my driveway for over 6 months after that, with exception for when I took it to my buddy's shop to get the new tranny installed. It took all that time to get the transmission cooling system worked out to the way it is now. Shortly after finishing the transmission cooling system, I replaced the wheels and tires. Kept the hacked up 8'' lift for a little while until I could get that nonsense rectified. Here it is in front of my parents' place again on June 25, 2017, wit the new transmission and cooling system, new wheels and tires, and new LED headlights with HD wiring harness. I took it over there loaded with my wood working tools to help them with some house repairs:
And here it is back at my place. Some 400 miles round trip without any issues.
Andy
And here it is back at my place. Some 400 miles round trip without any issues.
Andy
Next trip was a few months later in September of 2017. My wife had been asking me ever since we dated to take he to Walt Disney World, so we finally went and stayed at the Fort Wilderness Campgrounds. DW is only about 170 miles one way from my house, but we made the trip and back without any issues. We started out camping in the tent but had to spend the last couple nights in the back of the truck because the tent got rained out and flooded. Apparently my rain guard is not much of a guard. We are planning another camping trip to DW in mid January, this time taking out sons with us. Working on a game plan to set the truck up as a sort of "RV" type thing for sleeping in and the tent will store our supplies. I can't remember everything I had done between the June 17 trip and this one, but I do at least know that the lift was lowered to 4". The shocks came later. And I had done some more 'body work'.
Andy
Andy
The next trip was in November 2017, back to my parents place to haul back a riding lawn mower and some other stuff. I don't think very much work was done on the Suburban between this trip and the DW17 trip, with exception for more 'body work', but what's significant about this trip is that I was towing something with the truck. Though not a heavy load, was still an interesting experiment to put the truck to the test. I am happy to report that Rusty had no issues on this trip.
From my parents' place:
To my place:
Andy
From my parents' place:
To my place:
Andy
From about January to the end of July of this year, (2018), is when the most work has been done on Rusty, at least in such a condensed period of time. This is because I was prepping the truck to make a road trip from Jacksonville to Hiawassee GA for a family reunion, with plans to meet my brother-in-law halfway up there to hookup to his boat and really put my truck to the test with towing through the mountains. So from January to July, I installed the Bilstein shocks, relocated the batteries, reworked the the brake system, finished painting the truck, made some repairs to the trans-tcase adapter, installed the swing arm for the jerry can, built the hitch-mount tire carrier, got the driveshaft rebuilt, and got the AC system repaired (had not had AC until this point), and I'm sure some other things. I don't have a ton of photos from this trip, but here it is at the halfway mark with the boat hooked up, then on the road towing, then at the final destination in Hiawassee.
I think overall I can say the truck did well considering what it is, what it was pulling, and where it was pulling. Once we got into the foothills the truck started over heating. So we shut the AC off and rolled down the windows. That worked for a while until we got to some really long grades without significant downhills to coast and cool, so we had to pull over and pop the hood for about 5 minutes to let the truck cool down. Only had to do that twice on the trip up. We made it, and I did not pull the boat again because I didn't want to over work the truck. However, still being loaded with tools, supplies, and people throughout the trip, the truck continued to have over heating issues throughout the trip and we continued to have to keep the AC off to manage it. Once we got out of the mountains and steep grades, we were able to keep the AC on the rest of the way home. Nonetheless, we made it back home without any major issues; which I would say is a huge success.
Andy
I think overall I can say the truck did well considering what it is, what it was pulling, and where it was pulling. Once we got into the foothills the truck started over heating. So we shut the AC off and rolled down the windows. That worked for a while until we got to some really long grades without significant downhills to coast and cool, so we had to pull over and pop the hood for about 5 minutes to let the truck cool down. Only had to do that twice on the trip up. We made it, and I did not pull the boat again because I didn't want to over work the truck. However, still being loaded with tools, supplies, and people throughout the trip, the truck continued to have over heating issues throughout the trip and we continued to have to keep the AC off to manage it. Once we got out of the mountains and steep grades, we were able to keep the AC on the rest of the way home. Nonetheless, we made it back home without any major issues; which I would say is a huge success.
Andy
I don't think we have made many other road trips beyond the Hiawassee trip in July 2018 except for a trip to Seaworld in Orlando and a trip to Jekyll Island in Georgia. The truck has performed nearly flawlessly for me with exception for some continued cooling issues. Seems like ever since my AC was fixed, the tstat just doesn't seem to work like it used to. Before fixing the AC, I seem to remember the truck getting up to 180* pretty quickly (thats the temp setting for the stat), and staying there pretty reliably. Now, it seems like I would have to drive the truck for a significant length of time for it to get anywhere near temp. For perhaps the first 30 minutes of driving or so, AC on or off, the water temp stays around 150* or lower. Then, depending on how much strain is on the truck (highway speed, outside temp, etc), the water temp can get up to 220*+, which is way too high. Of course, shutting the AC off will get it back down to 200*, but if the tstat is a 180*, then that's what the operating temp should be at right? All of this leads me to think that my tstat may be bad. I have a 195* ACDelco tstat sitting on the shelf, along with a 'new' crossover pipe from an 82 6.2. I plan on getting that installed and seeing how it does after that. Either way, if I want reliable cooling in the mountains, towing, and off road, I know some cooling upgrades are in my future.
Besides all of that and my crapped out steering column, the truck has been doing great. I had plans this weekend to go to the local pick a part and snag a good column, but my dad has been having some health issues, just got out of the hospital for 4 days, so I'll be heading to their place this weekend to be with him and help them with some stuff. I'm sure there will be some work to do after this hurricane blows through too. I need turn signals again though, so I'm going to go ahead throw in the new switch and harness I have sitting on the shelf today. Hopefully I'll be able to get to the yard for a column next week.
Andy.
Besides all of that and my crapped out steering column, the truck has been doing great. I had plans this weekend to go to the local pick a part and snag a good column, but my dad has been having some health issues, just got out of the hospital for 4 days, so I'll be heading to their place this weekend to be with him and help them with some stuff. I'm sure there will be some work to do after this hurricane blows through too. I need turn signals again though, so I'm going to go ahead throw in the new switch and harness I have sitting on the shelf today. Hopefully I'll be able to get to the yard for a column next week.
Andy.
Thanks for the encouragement. I'll test it out this winter and see how it goes. Plugging the heater in has always been a matter of habit. Not sure about necessity. Campfire's comments are making me think I could probably start fine without plugging in. But will see. Here in Florida, probably won't be cold enough for a solid test until late January or February.
Andy.
Awesome build. Don't sell yourself short, you do great work. I really like the battery setup and those plugs you have setup for the battery tender and block heater (I might have to steal that idea). The rust sucks but we all have those moments where we buy a vehicle we really shouldn't have but you have turned this into a pretty nice one dealing with all the PO garbage. How's the na 6.5? I have a '92 turbo 6.5 that needs a rebuild but for ease of install I was thinking of maybe going na at first. There's a pretty good build of one in a book I got from The Diesel Place.
Thanks for the kudos! Yes, those plugs are pretty awesome. Nothing like drilling a big hole in the fender and door but it works really well. The rubber cover for it does excellent at keeping water and dust out. The one for the heater has been installed for almost a year and does not show any signs of wear. It really makes a difference in operational ease. Most of these parts I have gotten off of Amazon, and can provide a link if anyone is interested.
One thing that has been nice about this build is that because nothing is original I can pretty much do projects however I want in a way that works best for me. Also, There is something particularly satisfying about yanking out PO junk (like wiring rats nets) and redoing it the right way.
I have been pretty happy with the na 6.5. It has given me the least issues out of everything save the 14b. My one mantra through all of this is that if nothing else, I at least have a good engine and a good rear axle to do something else with of this doesn’t work out. A lot of people are quick to knock the 6.2 and 6.5. But I have been around 6.2s and 6.5s my whole life and for what they are they are just fine. I will probably add a turbo somewhere down the line but not anytime soon. Power output is probably a bit better than a stock 6.2 especially since I apparently have a unique intake that has high flow. My fuel pump may even already be turned up but I’m not sure how to tell. The Diesel Page is a great resource. I have all their books for the 6.2. The Diesel Place has also been fantastic and has helped me through those frantic “how do I do this??” moments.
Andy
Pictures of special intake?
Also, if your timing is set correctly you should have very minor smoking at WOT. If you have a bunch of black smoke streaming out the back your fuel has been turned up.
I’ll get some pictures of the intake manifold after work. There is an emblem on it that according to another forum was a higher flow manifold as well as non egr valve.
My guess then is that my fuel has not been turned up. There is some smoke at WOT but not like you describe. Can barely see in rear view mirror.
Andy
I was able to get to work on getting the new turn signal switch installed during lunch. It’s in and everything is working again. Just got to put the column back together. Will get some pictures up shortly.
Probably a "J" code intake from a Hummer or whatever they were on I think.
I can think of seven different GM production intakes that would fit that block. Half of which are hanging on David's wall.
I can think of seven different GM production intakes that would fit that block. Half of which are hanging on David's wall.
Maybe more, I can't remember how many flavors of van intake exist.
My guess is a 6.5 N/A van intake, as that configuration was popular with crate motors.
I was able to find some photos from the thread over on Diesel Place. The highlighted DD spinning arrows and M emblems apparently identify a rare manifold which the folks over at Diesel Place consider to be “the best flowing of all the OEM manifolds, comparable to military single plane”.
I am not educated about such things but I will take it.
Andy
I am not educated about such things but I will take it.
Andy
Here’s the new turn signal switch waiting to go back in.
This beast is just begging me to put her under the truck
I’m getting pretty good at tearing this column down
YouTube taught me this trick using scrap wire tied to the old harness to get the new harness pulled through.
Old switch is out and compared against the new switch
New switch ready to be pulled back through
Harness is through just have to plug it all in
Here in Florida you just gotta keep working through the rain
Got the switch plugged in and buttoned down and tested. Everything works like it is suppose to. Was pleased at how relatively easy this was to do. Usually with this truck the difficulty level is raised about 1000x.
Will finish putting the column back together after work.
Andy
This beast is just begging me to put her under the truck
I’m getting pretty good at tearing this column down
YouTube taught me this trick using scrap wire tied to the old harness to get the new harness pulled through.
Old switch is out and compared against the new switch
New switch ready to be pulled back through
Harness is through just have to plug it all in
Here in Florida you just gotta keep working through the rain
Got the switch plugged in and buttoned down and tested. Everything works like it is suppose to. Was pleased at how relatively easy this was to do. Usually with this truck the difficulty level is raised about 1000x.
Will finish putting the column back together after work.
Andy
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Got the column put back together.
Here you can see why I need a new column. This is actually kind of scary that there has been this much play in it. But it has been that way for over a year and keeps steering the truck. Still, it’s time to deal with it. Going to the yard next week to look for one.
Extra parts. While pushing the new harness through, a chunk of something fell out. That’s always a good sign. I also chose not to reinstall the harness cover or the lock plate dust cover because the dust cover has been grinding against something and making a bigger mess.
Looking forward to getting this column replaced next week.
Andy
Here you can see why I need a new column. This is actually kind of scary that there has been this much play in it. But it has been that way for over a year and keeps steering the truck. Still, it’s time to deal with it. Going to the yard next week to look for one.
Extra parts. While pushing the new harness through, a chunk of something fell out. That’s always a good sign. I also chose not to reinstall the harness cover or the lock plate dust cover because the dust cover has been grinding against something and making a bigger mess.
Looking forward to getting this column replaced next week.
Andy
