WL: 1988 V10 Suburban

[82355]

82355 submitted a new Build:

WL: 1988 V10 Suburban

Dumb feature.

View attachment 230765 I was bored, so I decided to make a build thread for my Suburban. It's nothing special. I've had it for about three years. It's main job is to haul my drunk friends around (I got a DUI about 6 years ago, so now I play DD a lot instead of letting my friends get one as well), it also pulls my room mates IMCA mod, and gets generally beat on. I am just going to pull of some random posts from my build thread on my local board, so it might not be really in order.









Here it is with my K30 (The spray paint was not my doings, it was my drunk friends thinking they were funny).



Martin


Read more about this build here...

 

[82355]

The stock engine.



Pulling the stock engine.



Removing parts.



Ahmad's old short block after I reassembled it, and the heads off of Broughton's "high compression 305".



Painted the correct color.



Ready to install.



Header install. When I swapped the engine, I found the right manifold was broken completely in two. So I temporarily installed a set of headers off of one of my old Camaros and ran open headers until I got this set from a buddy off of his old Suburban.




New "All Terrains".



Mounting the tires.



Nice All Terrain tread huh?


Slightly muddy.



A small load.



Previous owner had broken off the inlet of the A/C condenser, so I replaced it.



Stupid GM high side fitting, I had to install one retrofit fitting. I would of just done the whole job from the low side, but I found a retrofit fitting sitting around at the shop, and it is nice to see your high side pressure.



Much better.



Old steering wheel.



New steering wheel. Now I just need a red bow tie horn button.



Broke one of the primaries free from the collector on the driver's side header. I also somehow smashed the case on the passenger side muffler.



So I took it off and sandblasted it, and welded it back together.



I have nothing good to say about Heddman headers. I guess the original purchaser only paid $100 for them (and gave them to me for free), so you can't expect much.



Martin

 

[82355]

One time I hit a pheasant and it cracked the windshield. So we were coming home from St. Cloud Minnesota last summer and I was taking a nap in the passenger seat while my cousin drove. At 88 mph, instead of traveling through time, the windshield collapsed against the pressure and shattered. I had ride with my foot on the dash holding the glass against the wind from Minnesota to Lincoln Nebraska. How fun . . . . . .





I had smashed the case on one of my cheapo mufflers on it, so I found these used 2.5" Flowmasters from a friend for $20.



I did just dump the exhaust at the rear axle previously, but it was louder inside than I liked, so I installed tail pipes as well. Yeah, it is really rusty on the body. Especially the right side. The underside is really solid though.



Thought I got a good deal on these Vortecs on Craigslist. I was wrong.



$300 for the heads and the intake. The kid that sold them to me, said they had a recent valve job.



Then I took the intake manifold and removed all plugs and brackets, glass beaded it, power washed it, tapped all threaded holes, and blew it off with compressed air. Found that it had been welded on the front corner of the intake on top of the water inlet.



Tapped and plugged the EGR ports in the bottom of the intake plenum. Here is the left hand side (upper half).



Here is the right side (lower half). I had to swedge the plug. I also swedged it from the bottom.



Here is the port for the EGR valve.



Tapped the whole, and installed a plug.



Cut off that crimped EGR inlet pipe that was on it. Freed up the pipe inside of the jamb nut (that was a pain in the ass). Then I cut the pipe even shorter, and tapped the inside of the jamb nut. I want to get an allen head pipe plug, but that was all I had on hand.



Here it is all cleaned up and plugged.



I took the Vortecs in to the machine shop and had them cracked checked. One was cracked. The kid wouldn't answer my phone calls or texts. So I found another bare head for $50, that someone had cut and tapped for screw in studs and guide plates. I took that to the machine shop and had it checked. It was good, but the "recent" valve job was a lie as well. I had a valve job done on both heads and had my first head whacked and tapped. Then I bought some screw in studs, guide plates, and rocker arms from Speedway. By the time it was all said and done, I could have bought brand new heads from Scoggin-Dickey for less. Oh well . . .

Martin

 

[82355]

Drove down to Fairbury Nebraska and overpaid for this gem.



Pop up the ole 6.2 Litre hood.



Gather around and bask in it's glory.



Wait a minute, something is wrong here.



Oh well, let's hook up the tow bar anyway.



Pulling her out on the street.



Get her straightened out.



Push her on the trailer (this is her pretty side).



Front tires on the ramps.



Back tires on the ramps.



Unhook the tow bar. (Thanks again Jake, FMSTruck)



Pulling the Chevrolet with a Ford.



Pull her into the wash bay at work.



Scrubbed off and ready to unload in a different bay (we had unhooked the chains, so Joe had to ride along to hold the brakes . . . ).



Much easier to work on.



Here is what I was after all along.



SM465 with 32 spline output.



Hydraulic clutch bellhousing.



Hydraulic slave, master, and reservoir.



NP208, shifter, clutch/brake pedal assembly, and CV shaft.



The TH700R4 went out in my Suburban, and I don't really like automatics, so I bought this 1985 K10 for $500. It was more than I thought it was worth, but everything was there. I would of probably had that much in the TH700R4 by the time I was done rebuilding it anyway.

Martin

 

[82355]

I had a flywheel from one of my Camaros turned, and then realized it was the wrong one. So then I had the flywheel from the 4.3 turned and used the clutch from that truck. I was going to buy a new clutch, but when I stripped down the K10, I found it had an almost new LUK in it. So that saved me a $100 on the swap.



SM465/NP208 ready for the swap. I have a few spare SM465/NP205's, but I though this would make the swap much easier.



Tranny under the Burban.



That is how I got it up that high.



Because I used the SM465/NP208 instead of the SM465/NP205, I was able to reuse both of my factory drive shafts.



Cut a hole in the floor pan from underneath, where the punchout was, and cut the smallest hole possible in the carpet.



Mounting the shifter boot.



Looks almost factory.



Martin

 

[82355]

Notice the negative camber on the left rear tire?



Got it on the hoist at my buddies shop. Raised the other three tires off the ground. The left was still touching.



Snapped the axle shaft in the lame 10 bolt.



Bolting up the 3/4 ton rear axle from my old K20.



Eight lug, 16" wheels from my old man's 1998 K2500.



14 bolt full floater, with 4.10:1's



Here is what it looks like with 3/4 ton running gear.



I want to put these 35x12.50x16.5" BFG's on it.



I am pretty sure they would rub without a lift . . . . . . .



A little taller than the LT245/75R16" BFG's currently on it.



A friend of mine is parting out his 77 K5, so I am going to try to get his 4" lift from it. Then I will swap on a set of 16.5" rims and those BFG's (I paid $30 a piece for those).

Martin

 

[82355]

I was annoyed by the rust on my left rear quarter panel.



So armed with nothing more than a hammer, screw driver, hacksaw, and a tin snips, I did this.



Figured I might as well get this side while I was at it.



I think I missed my calling.



I broke my cell phone, and had to get a new one. It is a real POS, and it took me a bit before I figured out how to take a half way decent pic. They are still not as good as the pics my last cell phone took. I should buy a camera.

My room mate backed the race car trailer into it accidentally.







All it did was mangle up the running board.



You can see the piece of the tail light from the trailer on the running board.



Martin

 

[82355]

So I was trying to locate a 4" lift or so, and put on my 35's I have. Until then, I found a worn out set of BFG 33x12.50x15's on (ugly chrome) 15x10" wagon wheels. I mainly wanted to see how the SM465/4.10 combo drove with 33's, before I make the jump up to 35's.

$5 16.5" steel rim.



Using stripper to clean the old paint off.



Stripped.



35x12.50x16.5" BFG Mud Terrain on 16.5x6" steel wheel.



Grinding caliper to fit 15" rim over 3/4 ton caliper and backing plate.



Sprayed on a guide coat to figure out where to continue grinding.



Continue grinding, that was a long process, especially on the first side.



33x12.50x15" BFG Mud Terrain on 15X10 chrome wagon wheel.



Minus running boards.



Bigger pics per my buddy Joe's technical advice.



Still shotty quality, but these are the ugly new wheels.



I took some steel wool and shined this one up a little (polishing a turd?).



Then I got out the sawzall, and did some more "body work".







The wheel cranked to lock.



Martin

 

[82355]

I put 35x12.50x16.5's on the back to see how I would like the way it drove with 35's and 4.10 gearing.









It drove pretty decently actually. It had lots of power with 33's, but I thought it would be short on power with the 35's. It really wasn't too bad. Should be a lot better when I finally get around to installing my Vortec's and LT1 cam.

Martin

 

[82355]

The body on this thing is horribly rusty for some reason, which is odd, because the floor pans, and body mounts are solid. I decided to just spray it flat black to match my K30. Doing it on a less windy day, in the daylight, with more prep, and sober friends probably would have been a better choice, but it was only $25 worth of rattle cans from Wal Mart.



















Martin

 

[82355]

When I swapped in the SM465 I gave my brother the TH700R4 core and the NP208. Turns out the one I got out of the junkyard truck had a stretched chain. It worked fine in normal four wheel drive, but one day at work I tried to pull a semi tractor into the shop in 4 low, and it started bucking. So I found a good NP208 for $50 on Craigslist, and went to buy it from the guy. As I backed out of his yard after picking it up, I snapped the rear yoke on my rear driveshaft. Not sure how. Luckily I was going so slowly, that it didn't damage anything. I just pulled the shaft out, threw it in the back, locked in the hubs, shifted it into 4 high, and drove home.



I had also purchased a set of leaf springs from some guy parting out a 1990 Suburban, and he was going to deliver them the next day. I called him up and asked if he still had the rear driveshaft. He did, and for $10, it was mine. O'Reilly's gave me the wrong U-joint, hence this next pic.


If you want to know the correct conversion u-joint to install a 3/4 ton 14 bolt full floater in a half ton, it's 447.

I put hub cabs on the rear axle to see how I liked them. I need to finished beading the wheels and painting them white.





Martin

 

[82355]

I finished glass beading one of my $5 16.5" wheels that was really rusty.



They turned out nice, but I forgot to take a picture after a coat of paint.



I ordered a set of zero rates from DIY4X for the front axle, to see if I could fit the 35's with them and my new 3 pack springs.





Right side assembled.



Spring pack compressed to tighten down pin.



Assembled spring pack.



It stands taller (it was hard to get a good picture in the shop).



Think a 35x12.50x16.5" will fit?



Martin

 

[82355]

Got the 35's on the front.



Backed her out of the shop and took a picture. 35x12.50x16.5's on all four corners.



Then we went road tripping, to make sure everything was gonna work.









The roof could definitely use another coat of paint.





Martin

 

[bftank]

looks good martin. paint job definitely makes the truck look better. the 6" 16.5" were what i used on mine as well. they seem to have a better ledge for holding a bead on the inside and the outside edge. what are your plans for the burb now?

 

[82355]

Thanks for noticing. I don't have any real serious plans for it. I usually base my plans on what good deals I can find on random parts (Craigslist, local boards, word of mouth). I do have a set of Vortec heads and a stock LT1 camshaft I need to get around to putting on/in the engine. It currently has a set of ported swirl ports off of a '93 K1500, and a GMPP LT4 Hot Cam. It runs okay as is, but the power doesn't really come in until right at 3000 RPM because of the cam, and cuts out around 5000 RPM bcause of the heads. It would sure be a lot more useful at lower RPMs, and to have a little broader powerband. I am also kind of looking to piece together a 4" lift for it, but I kind of like the height it sits now and fits 35's. I am not looking to get too carried away with it, because it is my daily driver. I have a bigger truck for a toy, a 1982 K30.



Martin

 

[dmoney]

nice bro!

 

[82355]

I prefer cargo (or barn) doors to the tailgate on the rear of Suburbans, but this might pose as a small problem for my newest idea. Anyone here done the cargo doors, to tailgate swap? Are the mounting holes there?



Pictures a guy on a local board texted me. It is a rusted out pos 1982 GMC Jimmy.



The tailgate is completely gone, along with the hinges, etc.



See?



The bed rails are fine though.



Topper is nice, tinted windows, and has vent windows.



Pretty well shot.



Pictures I took today when I went and looked at it.













I want to graft the bed rails and rear of the cab to the back of my Suburban and make it a removeable roof. I can buy the roof and as much of the sheet metal as I want to cut off for $50. I was thing about mounting a window permanently in the rear of the topper, and cutting my doors off at the body line. I would then cap the tops of the doors, and make a seal. I assume finding a tailgate would be much better, but I thought I could do that later. What is involved in swapping from cargo doors to tailgate?

Martin

 

[82355]

Brought it in the shop and put it on the hoist. So much handier than doing it on a creeper.



Got the old engine out, swapped cams and installed a new cheapo two piece timing cover.



New cam in, heads on, cheap Speedway roller rockers, and adjusted the valves.



GMPP TBI Vortec intake manifold. Should be a better piece for being built by GM.



Front view of the engine.



Was having a hard time dropping the engine in with the transmission in place, so I just pulled it out.



Engine bolted back in place.



Used the serpentine setup off of a '91 Camaro parts car I had. Had to carefully bend the aluminum AC lines to swap the compressor over to the opposite side of the engine.



Then did a little tine work to the inside of the air cleaner where it mounts on the throttle body.



Another shot of it in the engine. Needs a lot of cleaning, wire routing and other finishing details.



Martin

 

[82355]

Not that anyone really probably cares to see this thread, but how do you have it moved to the Build Thread section?

Martin

 

[COCHEV]

I care I'm jealous of your shop too!

I'm sure tRusty can move it for you...if you give him those factory hub caps...