1972 Suburban 4X4 3/4 Ton K20 "The Beast"

[nsiti]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Very cool burb and great work on it! I have a 2wd one that needs mostly all this rust repair as well. I'm not looking forward to having to pay for new rear ac lines either. Keep up the great work on it!

Hey Ryan, thanks for your words of encouragement and following along.

I don't recall the rear AC lines, which I bought from Old Air Products, being too high a cost. However, they weren't terminated properly for our trucks, which required some additional work. But I've gotten used to bumps along the way!

Regards,
Nick

[nsiti]

Small steps forward. Planning a run into year-end!

[jerry moss]

awesome job you are doing . what are the wheels on the beast ? i'm trying to make up my mind on wheels for my 69 3/4 ton 4x4- i have a set of oe 16.5 x 8.25 steel wheels but tires are expensive and hard to find, i have a set of 16 x 7 ford e-350 wheels and a set of old 16 x 8 white spoke wheels but i'm not real sure about any of them. my poor old suburban has been sitting about 8 or 9 years since i installed a rebuilt motor, 4 speed trans, 205 t-case, 14 bolt rear, dana 44 hd front, 4 inch all spring lift rear spring hangers off a 72, changed the entire dash, etc. but a major back operation a double knee replacement has kicked my ass. i've started slowly getting back into it and now i can't find all the parts i took off to do the inside--yeah i have a lot of crap around here, been looking for the steering column for weeks now and can't find it, LOL.

[nsiti]

Originally Posted by jerry moss

awesome job you are doing . what are the wheels on the beast ? i'm trying to make up my mind on wheels for my 69 3/4 ton 4x4- i have a set of oe 16.5 x 8.25 steel wheels but tires are expensive and hard to find, i have a set of 16 x 7 ford e-350 wheels and a set of old 16 x 8 white spoke wheels but i'm not real sure about any of them. my poor old suburban has been sitting about 8 or 9 years since i installed a rebuilt motor, 4 speed trans, 205 t-case, 14 bolt rear, dana 44 hd front, 4 inch all spring lift rear spring hangers off a 72, changed the entire dash, etc. but a major back operation a double knee replacement has kicked my ass. i've started slowly getting back into it and now i can't find all the parts i took off to do the inside--yeah i have a lot of crap around here, been looking for the steering column for weeks now and can't find it, LOL.

Hi Jerry and thanks for your nice feedback.

Regarding the wheels, here are the specs:

Wheels Detroit Steel Wheel Co. Delray $315.00 X4= $1,260.00 18" x 9" (8x6.5") 4.5" backspace (you can customize the specs depending on which tire you want).

I had them powder coated in metallic silver which I figured would go with the dark olive metallic body paint I'm going to go with.

Tires Mickey Thomson Baja Boss AT $350.00 X4= $1,400.00 LT295/70R18

I chose these tires because they were the narrowest I could find in this size, while being newly engineered hybrid all terrains that are 3 peak snow rated.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your build, which sounds great. I hope you persevere!

Regards,
Nick

[jerry moss]

Originally Posted by nsiti

Hi Jerry and thanks for your nice feedback.

Regarding the wheels, here are the specs:

Wheels Detroit Steel Wheel Co. Delray $315.00 X4= $1,260.00 18" x 9" (8x6.5") 4.5" backspace (you can customize the specs depending on which tire you want).

I had them powder coated in metallic silver which I figured would go with the dark olive metallic body paint I'm going to go with.

Tires Mickey Thomson Baja Boss AT $350.00 X4= $1,400.00 LT295/70R18

I chose these tires because they were the narrowest I could find in this size, while being newly engineered hybrid all terrains that are 3 peak snow rated.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your build, which sounds great. I hope you persevere!

Regards,
Nick

thanks Nick, i appreciate the fast response. again, awesome build you are doing, HAPPY NEW YEAR

[nsiti]

After an unacceptably long time, we finally found the time to remove the rear wood bed.

Sourced a perfectly sized, high quality, piece of marine wood, which we will soon shape.

Also took the opportunity to test-fit the 40 gallon Aero Tanks gas tank. The rear crossmember will be moved to a spot to provide proper front clearance and allow for a straight fuel line.

Hopefully now that the weather is improving, the project will move along at a faster pace!

[LockDoc]

-
Looking good. Glad to see you working on it again. Keep us updated.
.

[Beach-Burban]

Originally Posted by nsiti

After an unacceptably long time, we finally found the time to remove the rear wood bed.

Sourced a perfectly sized, high quality, piece of marine wood, which we will soon shape.

Also took the opportunity to test-fit the 40 gallon Aero Tanks gas tank. The rear crossmember will be moved to a spot to provide proper front clearance and allow for a straight fuel line.

Hopefully now that the weather is improving, the project will move along at a faster pace!

Nice fitting tank, Nick…you’ll enjoy the range you get from carrying 40 gallons! Make sure to replace your body mount cushions BEFORE filling the tank…the back four on mine were inaccessible without dropping my 45 gallon tank, and full it weighed around 400lbs! What a pain it was!!! Keep up the good work!

Woody

[CDA 455]

Originally Posted by Beach-Burban

Nice fitting tank, Nick…you’ll enjoy the range you get from carrying 40 gallons! Make sure to replace your body mount cushions BEFORE filling the tank…the back four on mine were inaccessible without dropping my 45 gallon tank, and full it weighed around 400lbs! What a pain it was!!! Keep up the good work!

Woody

Basically;
Water weighs 8lb per gallon
Gas weighs 6lbs per gallon.

[HO455]

Good job!

I didn't know the fuel lines for the vents attached to the floor on the later trucks. Thanks for posting the photos. Learning more every day. I'm planning on putting a vent line on mine and going to an unvented cap along with some other updates in the next month or so. Nice and timely for me.

[nsiti]

Originally Posted by HO455

Good job!

I didn't know the fuel lines for the vents attached to the floor on the later trucks. Thanks for posting the photos. Learning more every day. I'm planning on putting a vent line on mine and going to an unvented cap along with some other updates in the next month or so. Nice and timely for me.

Thanks and happy to help.

We moved the gas tank rearward, to a spot where some existing holes in the frame can fasten the rear cross member. I'm attaching some more photos in the next post.

I'm also going with a vent line and an unvented gas tank cap. I have purchased a roll-over valve and plan to install a fuel vapor reducer from iiMuch. Note: I ordered in February and have yet to receive the item! Apparently, there is a new version which is coming out in a month.

https://www.iimuch.com/collections/f...ion-p-n-200024

I'm not sure where one can install it on a Suburban. It should be on the outside of the cabin, above the tank. Any suggestions?

[nsiti]

Originally Posted by Beach-Burban

Nice fitting tank, Nick…you’ll enjoy the range you get from carrying 40 gallons! Make sure to replace your body mount cushions BEFORE filling the tank…the back four on mine were inaccessible without dropping my 45 gallon tank, and full it weighed around 400lbs! What a pain it was!!! Keep up the good work!

Woody

Woody, thanks for mentioning the replacement of the body mounts. I bought a kit made of rubber from GMC Paul's, and installing them is one of the next few items on the list. I think your estimate of 400 lbs is spot on. I can only imagine what a struggle that must have been.

Cheers,
Nick

[nsiti]

Some fine tuning of the placement of the gas tank.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by nsiti

Some fine tuning of the placement of the gas tank.

It looks like that is going to line up really well. I had some problems with that on my Panel Truck.
.

[HO455]

It looks like things are moving along nicely.

As to the fuel vapor reducer you might be able to mount it where the factory mounted their fuel vent trap. They're behind the rear panel on the drivers side.

First photo is the factory 71-72 piece and the arrow in the second photo points to one installed. The last one from the factory manual.

A thread on the factory system.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=687417

[Ol Blue K20]

Coming together and looking good!!

[nsiti]

We're back at work on the Suburban and my mechanic promised me he would "kick it into high gear." Famous last words, but excited to be making some progress.

We removed the old suspension, which was a real bear given all the fused metal. Here are a few photos of our progress installing the new Offroad Design suspension with 5" lift. The truck looks awfully high to me, hopefully it settles down a bit!

[nsiti]

Following-up, we are hard at work assembling a small block 350 engine (stroked to 427) which I custom designed with the help of the good folks at Competition Products and their neighbors at Howards Cams.

I was pretty adamant about using all American manufactured parts (Dart, Callies, Howards, Clevite, AFR, etc.) which I believe I was 99% successful at. Here are some photos. She looks beautiful to my eyes.

Cheers, and hopefully more to come
-Nick

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by nsiti

Following-up, we are hard at work assembling a small block 350 engine (stroked to 427) which I custom designed with the help of the good folks at Competition Products and their neighbors at Howards Cams.

I was pretty adamant about using all American manufactured parts (Dart, Callies, Howards, Clevite, AFR, etc.) which I believe I was 99% successful at. Here are some photos. She looks beautiful to my eyes.

Cheers, and hopefully more to come
-Nick

Looks pretty nice to me! Nothing like new parts.....
.