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Well.... it's been a couple months so, time for another hairbrained vehicle idea!

blowedupmotor87

blowedupmotor87

1/2 ton status
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Yup, too much idle time and too many dumb ideas so, here goes my usual mess of the month idea:

Been thinking again (dangerous!):
Even if I do get the Jimmy back in running order again, my fiancee is still gonna be mad since she can't drive a stick. So, the exhausted gerbil is spinning the wheel again...

What about selling the Jimmy and buying a newer auto rig?
(No, I will NOT even consider putting an auto into the Jimmy, it was a 4 speed truck and changing it to an auto just feels like automotive sacrilege to me!!!)

Thought about maybe a 95 Bronco, looked for less than 5 minutes and found exactly the one I would want in mint condition (and only 78K miles!) for sale, close to the house. 95, 5.8, auto, white, tan inside (base model, rubber floors, cloth bench), absolutely what I would want. BUT, then got thinking... too expensive to modify the way I'd want. (Plus, though I do love some Fords, I'm still not totally sold on owning another one (used to have a '69 Bronco).

Thought about another Jimmy or Blazer but maybe a loaded 91 (make the fiancee happy with A/C and power stuff!), was kinda saddened to find that my buddies totally perfect (drool worthy built one) had sold, looked for maybe a nice stock one... eh... nothing too great to be found.

Then had another thought (kinda a recurrent one)- what about a Burb??? Plenty of room, plenty of seats, comfy, more storage than a K5, not THAT much bigger :rolleyes:...

Well, than the hamster about had a coronary, why not transfer some stuff from the Jimmy to another project and sell the nice shell, 465/doubler, etc and other stuff... thereby saving tons of cash that I spent on the built axles by putting them on the next rig. Hmm...

Well, the hamster now needs CPR...
what about a super clean Suburban 2wd, than swap to 4x4 with my current axles??? Seems like they can be found cheap, and it fantastic condition for a good price (cheaper than 4x4, and in better shape). Found 2 very nice candidates already (one is a 2wd half ton (ridiculously clean, SOOO nice!!!), the other is a fairly clean 2wd three quarter ton)! Which leads to more questions...

Is a 454/4L80E the combo found in a stock 2wd 1989 3/4ton suburban? If so, I think I may have found one! Or would it be a th400 (in which case I'll pass)?

If I got a 1/2 ton (350 powered), could my tuff country EZ ride front 3" springs be used for it, or are they too soft?

How hard is a 4wd conversion if you have all the parts handy? Seems pretty easy from what I have read, should bolt right up?

I'm really digging the idea of a sub for the good four door access and the extra seating (and cargo space).

Or... are these just more of my typical terrible ideas? :thinking::screwy::poo::dunno::confused:
 
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Sorry about the book of a post!

Seems like I could sell some stuff from the Jimmy for almost what a clean 2wd 'burb would run so... I'd have a clean whole truck for not much more $ than I have spent so far.

I have a major mental block when it comes to the idea of converting the Jimmy to a slush box, IDK why but, it just straight up seems wrong!!! So, that idea is right out. I think I can sell it's engine/trans/doubler and shell and some misc parts for the same exact $$$ I would buy a clean 'burb for so, no biggie! (I hope!) Really would want to sell alltogether to somebody as pretty much a wheeler sans the axles, all they would need to do is sling some CUCV axles under it, fab a tranny tunnel, fix a few things and viola! Instant crawler!

Thanks in advance for any ideas, info, input!!!


EDIT: also another thought- not only is my fiancee upset she can't drive the wheelin rig, it also strikes me as kinda a safety thing, what if we are out somewhere and I get injured and she has to drive out? It would be impossible for her to do with the wheelin rig being a stick shift as it is now! Or is that just a paranoid thought?
 
I don't think they had the overdrive in 90 and back except the 700r4.

Wouldn't it just be easier to teach her to drive a stick :dunno:??????????
 
bailey9r said:
I don't think they had the overdrive in 90 and back except the 700r4.

Wouldn't it just be easier to teach her to drive a stick :dunno:??????????
Click to expand...

I think it wasn't any but the 1991 subs but, I'm hoping I'm wrong!

I wish I could teach her, she says many people have tried and failed at teaching her in the past. I tried and failed at it as well.
 
yea that was the porblem with the 90 SS454. They didn't yet have a strong enough overdrive so they ran a "old" 400.
 
First of all, why do you consider the auto swap a sacriledge? That would be much easier and probably more cost effective than starting over with a new rig. Either that or take her out somewhere in the wide open spaces, put the truck in low range, show her the basics so she doesn't hurt herself and leave her alone for an hour to figure the stick thing out for herself. Most people don't learn anything very well with someone in their face trying to correct them the whole time. (Not saying that's the case, but you get the idea)
 
My wife sat in the passenger seat while I explained how things worked. Then I would drive it and let her shift it, so she kind of got a feeling as when to shift and she watched what I did. Thats how she learned. Course she never drives one and we don't own a manual anymore so she probably forgot.

I vote to let her learn her own way, or just be really easy with her so she can get her own feel for it. It would be tons cheaper than starting over with a different truck
 
If this were my wife we were talking about, the Suburban would be way too big to even consider driving, let alone parking anywhere. And do you really need that much space? The K5 is plenty big for everything we could do ... I mean we can get both dogs in the back and everything we need for a weekend, but it's small enough to get around town and so forth.

If you keep your eye on Craigslist you can find a clean one. There is a nice black one for sale here for $3500, why not pick something like that up?

If you ever get up to the DC area I've taught dozens of "impossible" people to drive a stick, including hill driving, and I can teach your wife too. Just bring your stick truck as we only have auto cars now! :D
 
Jessie James-
I may have to take ya up on that offer, LOL! I tried to teach her, on the 05 Civic that I had (the second easiest to drive stick shift I have ever owned, the easiest was a '90 CRX with a short throw shifter). It didn't go all that well. No damage to us or the car but, still not the best scene! :doah:

She actually loves Suburbans, so do I (for as long or possibly a little longer than I have loved K5's). She drives my truck a good bit, it's a little longer than a 'Burb (07 classic ext cab shortbed, I believe its wheelbase is 10" longer than a 'Burb, the overall length is the tiniest bit longer at 227.4"vs 219.1") she usually does quite a good job maneuvering it, in spite of her initial fear the first time she drove it. It's bigger than she would want for a DD (she prefers the idea of a Tahoe) but, this would not be a DD, she has her little Infiniti, and I have my truck.

I really hate the idea of converting the Jimmy to an auto. I spent a lot of time and effort on it's stick drivetrain-
Rebuilt (from Novak, IIRC) SM465 with ORD 32 spline short shaft, new OEM bellhousing, clutch, and shift fork ($$$).
old style short 465/203 adapter
32 spline input 203 with 2" upclock doubler adapter
32 spline input 205, 32 spline front and rear outputs
triple sticks
front 1410 yoke, rear flange with HAD disc brake e-brake

I don't like the idea of ripping all that out to put in a slushbox. The Jimmy is an original 4 speed hydro clutch truck (one of the main reasons why I bought it). At the time that I bought it (and when I was ordering/installing parts), I gave nary a thought to her driving it and though only of what my dream drivetrain would be.


I really am not even too big of a fan of the idea of having an auto BUT... I acknowledge that there are ways wherein it would be much better:

emergency- she can drive it if she has to

fun- she can drive it if she wants to

bonding- I want her to share in some of my passion for fourwheeling, this can't happen just from the passenger seat, IMHO. She need to get involved in the driving to get into it, not just be an idle passenger. 'Course right now this is a moot point, it's a 600lb paperweight right now! :doah:

She used to love my Jeep ZJ I had since it was an auto, she drove it around town quite a bit and even drove it wheelin once out at URE and had a blast! She has told me quite a few times that she misses it.

I have no interest in owning another ZJ though. She had an XJ (I bought her one, a super clean low mileage 98) and while I was away at school, she had so many problems with it (2 bad water pumps and a busted radiator, leaving her stranded each time) that she now got rid of it and has a bad taste in her mouth toward Jeeps.

So, that leaves me at this point. I don't mind the idea of a K5 though, the 4 doors of the 'Burb sound really appealing since we plan on having kids in the coming years. Also, finding a clean 1989-91 K5 seems to be harder than finding the same in a 'Burb. I want super clean if I am gonna do this idea. I looked at a LOT of K5's before buying the Jimmy and even it was not as clean as I would have liked but it was what I wanted:
87 Jimmy for TBI and (IMO) the best looking base model grille
4 speed
base model with manual everything (less stuff to go wrong, I even took out the A/C)
light blue outside, all vinyl blue interior (favorite color)
ORD 3" lift, steering brace, shackle flip- the goodies I wanted anyway!
great sounding rumbley dual exhaust (though I had to tear it out later anyway to clear the doubler, at purchase time I hadn't planned on all that)

BUT... might just have to balance with what the fiancee prefers:
AUTO, power accessories, cloth seats, A/C (it's hot here in NC)

So, an 89-91 Silverado Blazer or SLE Jimmy (I think that's the trim package) would fit that bill perfectly BUT, 'Burbs seem to be more easily findable in terms of super clean and low price.

Now, if I had thought about this about a month ago, I would have bought my buddy's gorgeous (and flawlessly built) Jimmy SLE that was a good portion of the inspiration for my build (but was not for sale before my build) that he just sold a week ago. That rig is perfect and has every mod done to it that I would want done just the way that I would want it to be done if I had my preference. But, no use crying over spilled milk, might as well come up with a plan, right? :D
 
Dang! I just re-read my most recent post (since this is on a new page for me, I will mention that my previous post is from a couple of minutes ago, new ramblings, LOL!), sorry for the book y'all!!!! :doah::rolleyes:

I can't really figure out much of anything to cut out of it though.

Anyways- thanks for all the input thus far, keep it coming! :waytogo:

EDIT: (since i just noticed this is on a new page for me, I will mention that my previous post I am referring to here is from a couple of minutes ago, new ramblings, LOL! (not the old long-winded stuff, new long-winded stuff))
 
You aren't being patient enough. It is a 4x4 with a low range, anyone can learn to drive a stick in that. You wouldn't believe how many times I got laid by teaching chicks how to drive a stick. They all said the same thing, "I can't do it, people have tried to teach me".


Take them out to a pasture, put it in 4 low (with the hubs unlocked so the bucking when turning doesn't scare them) and teach them. It was sure fire back in the day. I am sure you can teach her if you are patient and don't get mad at her.

Martin
 
I guess I could give it a go...
it's got triple sticks so low 2wd is an option. No real accessible pasture land around me (I live in the suburbs) but, abandoned parking lots are reasonably plentiful!

Just wondering if I should bother to spend all the $$$ to get this thing back on the road, because it would suck if I spent the $$$ and then the stickshift teaching/learning turned out to be a total flop!

Right now, the Jimmy would be wicked scary for her (dunno why but some people don't like seeing the driveshaft spinning next to them through a big gaping hole where the tranny tunnel used to be, LOL!). There's a big long list of things that need a done before it'd be truly driveable once again. :doah:
 
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