Project-----"Shoestring Suburban"

[gearheads78]

Well It time to get started on my future cruiser / family hauler. I bought it about 9 months ago just after my twins were born. Extra money is really hard to come by since we are still paying medical bill from the twins so it will be a very low budget build.

I was told it ran and drove good but after going to pick it up 200 miles away the transmission would not even pull itself up my trailer. Its been sitting ever since picking it up.

My plan is to get it running good, replace the transmission, lower it bunch and add big n little rally wheels.

Its been painted once and looks ok. It has minor rust here and there but not too bad. The interior is decent so I won't be doing much with it for now. It is crunched a little on the RH front corner so I will have to do something with that. Today was a small step to move forward. I cleaned out a spot in the garage and moved it inside. Here are a few pics. I will update as progress moves forward.

[gearheads78]

few more pics

[gearheads78]

Day one minor progress tonight. I got rid of the ugly running boards. My job supervisors approved my work.


Only other thing I did tonight is took a whole bunch of measurements to figure out how low I want to go. The people that keep saying you can flip without a notch are nuts. There would be about an inch of clearance after removing the bump stop brackets.

[my4by2]

Looks like a good start! Your plan sounds nice & can't wait to see more pics!

[makman1297]

looking good.

[gearheads78]

Thanks guys.

I spent my lunch break brain storming and crunching numbers for the drop.

Stance and tire / wheel combo is everything to me and since I can't call up Intro for a new set of sweet billets like my last few builds it's that much more important with this build. This is what I have come up with. Tell me what you think.

Tires (F) 225-70-15 (R) 255-70-15 ( I already have these)
drop (F) 5.5" (R) 5"

This will give me the following specs
-crossmember to ground 4.5"
-front of frame before kick up 5.75"
-rear of frame before kickup 7.25" (this gives me a 1.5" rake at the rocker)
-ground to W/O front 25.75"
-ground to W/O rear 25.625"
-top of tire front .875" up inside the W/O
-top of tire rear 1.75" up inside the W/O

The front will be pretty easy to achieve. The rear is going to take some brain power to figure out. I will probably have to flip then raise it but not set in stone yet.

[gearheads78]

Not too much to report tonight. I have never heard the truck start. Its was already started and running when I picked it up. PO said it was because the battery was weak and he had to jump it off. I know the real reason now. I hooked up the jumper box ,sprayed some staring fluid down the carb and hit the key only to here the high pitched shriek of the starter against the flywheel and then nothing. I crawled under to find the tip of the starter teeth jammed against the flywheel.

I got it free and checked the clearance thinking it would be too tight and needing to be shimmed. What I found was the opposite. The teeth were barley engaging like when you have too many shims. The problem was there where no shims.

I went out back to my scrap pile where I had tossed some starters last summer and never hauled off. Sure enough there was one that looked like it would work and did perfectly after installing it.

The motor fired right up and runs a lot better than I expected it to since there is at least 9 month old gas in it. I does have a pretty good rocker or valve train noise on the driver side bank. I added that to my list of things to address.

[gearheads78]

Have not had much a chance to work on it since mid last week. I did pick up a used 700r4 that turned out to be a SRTA which was a nice bonus. It looks like it has had very little use. I got a set of 2" springs coming from a member off the site and I ordered my flip kit from airbagit dot com. He says he makes a c-notch just for the Suburban. I was going to make my own but I am trying to have this on the road for HotRod Power Tour in less than a month. I'm hoping it will be a nice time saver to have the C-notch pre-made.

I did get out to the garage for a couple hours tonight. All I had time to do was get the TH350 out. There was a whole 2 out of 6 bolts in the bellhousing.
I have spoiled myself having a lift the last few years. This sucked pulling it on the ground.

[grayharville]

I like the low budget builds, its always fun when you see how much you can do with nothing. are you keeping the thin paint? im diggin it!

[gearheads78]

Originally Posted by grayharville

I like the low budget builds, its always fun when you see how much you can do with nothing. are you keeping the thin paint? im diggin it!

Thanks man. For for now and as far as I can see in the future the paint will stay. I will do something about the rh front corner though.

I got the 700r4 from Tony.

[grayharville]

I know exactly what it came out of, a super clean burb. It should serve you well!
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[Cherub]

sweet burb. what year is it? looks to be a 78 like mine

[gearheads78]

Not near as clean as yours but it is a 78. When I was thinking about what to build last year seeing yours is what finalized my decision.

[Cherub]

Originally Posted by gearheads78

Not near as clean as yours but it is a 78. When I was thinking about what to build last year seeing yours is what finalized my decision.

Thanks man but i honestly think i just take good pictures hahaha.

Your interior looks like its in great condition. Hey if you have it can you shoot me the color code for your burb? I think mine was the same color as yours originally.

[gearheads78]

Originally Posted by Cherub

Thanks man but i honestly think i just take good pictures hahaha.

Your interior looks like its in great condition. Hey if you have it can you shoot me the color code for your burb? I think mine was the same color as yours originally.

Is there anyhere to get it besides the glovebox? Mine was swaped out and does not match the truck.

I got some bad new thats going set me back on my project unless another car I have for sale sells quick.

Yesterday a get a call that my wife keeps hearing a buzzing noise from somewhere in the house about once every 5 min or so. I got home and tracked it down to the A/C compressor outside trying to start. I called my a/c guy and opens it up to find a snake had crawled across the capacitor shorting the wires, blowing up the capacitor, and frying all the wires all the way inside the compressor. I have to replace the whole outside unit now.
This is going to take some threads out of my shoestring for a while.

[silvereagle07]

Sweet build man ! I love shoe string budget builds.

[SBTork]

Post pics of that notch when you get it, I need one for mine.


Cool build too!

[Cherub]

Man sorry to hear that. To bad you cant put "4/60" a/c on the house. Well the burb isnt going anywhere and i cant wait to see your progress when you get back at it.

[gearheads78]

Originally Posted by Cherub

Man sorry to hear that. To bad you cant put "4/60" a/c on the house. Well the burb isnt going anywhere and i cant wait to see your progress when you get back at it.

Not going to be as bad as I throught. My A/C guy just called and came up with a good used unit and is going to install and charge it up for $550.00

Still going to be working on the Burb' just have to make due with what I have already bought and not going to be taking it on Power Tour like I wanted.

[Cherub]

man im glad it turned out ok

[grayharville]

Why no power tour? glad to hear the a/c worked out. damn snakes. I nailed a copperhead with the brushhog yesterday, found that little bugger cut up with his fangs latched onto a stick, just glad I got him before he got me or my niece.

[gearheads78]

Originally Posted by grayharville

Why no power tour? .

Because the little bit of money I had set aside just went to fix the A/C.

I had just read an article about a population explosion of poisonous snakes. Last night I was weedeating back behind the shop in 2ft growth. I sure was nervous every step I took.

[grayharville]

Ohh, I see.
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[gearheads78]

I got to spend a few hours in the garage today. I can't stand putting together dirty parts so I scraped all the old grease and dirt from the old crossmember. After degreasing with Purple Power I set the parts in the sun to dry while I ran to the parts store to get some semigloss black from the parts store. They were out so I ran across the street to the Home Depot and I am glad I did. I got some primer and Rustolium Painter Choice paint. This stuff is awsome. The cans spray great and you can spray from any position. Its great for parts where you have to spray up down and sideways. Great stuff!

I then unloaded the 700R4 and put it up on a trans jack so I didn't have to clean it on the ground. The Purple Power and a tooth brush made quick work of the grime. I didn't realize it but the SRTA transmissions are painted silver. The Purple Power was a little too aggressive and ate off a little of the paint.

I then needed to see how far back the crossmember will need to go. I still had the TH350 on the floor so I stood it up and measured it from the floor to the trans mount bolt hole. I then clamped a square to the bellhousing of the 700R4 so I would have a straight shot to measure against. I came up with 1 15/16 difference between the two transmissions. Looking under the the truck there are already some extra holes in the frame. What I decided to do is use the rearmost exhishing holes and drill new front one. This will get be a little under 2 1/2" back and I will slot the holes the the crossmember at the trans mount to make up the difference.

Since I can't really buy anything new for it for a little while I thought I would share the stuff I do have for now.

The wheels where a deal I found on C/L and few weeks after buying the truck last year.

The 3" Belltech spindles and 2" springs where new parts bought at used prices from members of this board.

The flip kit I am still not sure about. Looks like a body mount is going to be in the way.

Finally my light harness. I want my lights to be as bright as possible and member VH Coachworks makes this great relay harness.

[gearheads78]

more pics