Adopting a Suburban Carryall, The Seahorse

[zamboni2354]

I saw you out there working on it and was wondering what you were doing...not enough to stop and help though..lol j/k - I was with the wife so I couldn't stop...

jeff

[argonaut]

Great...thanks, Jeff. A true friend! Hah!

I learned a valuable lesson yesterday: trust the wisdom of those that came before you. The first book I ever read on rebuilding small block chevys recommended that the rubber end gaskets for the intake manifolds suck. They squeeze and slip and slide out of place, so instead just recommend to use a fat bead of black rtv. And I always followed that...until now. I thought shoot, the factory used them, so can I! Sure enough they started sliping and sliding on me. So I had to pull the intake and rip them out. Grrr. Hopefully it still seals nicely. Lesson learned.

[vectorit]

If it's any comfort.. All of us have thought, and done the same thing.

[RedRoad]

yup

[argonaut]

Got the quadrajet hooked up, coolant refilled, fuel line and filter installed, PCV hoses arranged, divorced choke set up and idle mixture screws set at 2.5 turns out. She fired right up and warmed up. Next set dwell, timing and idle and she purrs. Swapped out spark plugs but still need to swap the wires. Its a bit of a pain in the butt on the 327 because of the way the front cylinder wires run between the motor mounts and the block. Also need to put the vacuum gauge on it and tweak the idle mixture screws a bit.

Its got nice power for a little mouse motor! Scoots the heavy burb pretty well, but then again the gearing is low. It'll do nicely with the overdrive of an NV4500 someday.

All I need to do is cut the extra length off of the u-bolts and torque them. Then re-bleed the master and its good to go as a daily driver! Actually it is probably going to get parked for a while so I can refocus on my pickup.

[piratexpress1369a]

just found this tread and you scored big time ..nice job getting back on the road

[argonaut]

Got all the u-bolts torqued. Fixed a coolant leak. Fixed a buggered fuel filter issue. Got part of the tailpipes installed so it at least dumps to the rear of the axle, which cut down on noise and exhaust fumes inside of the cab. Been putting around in it all day. Almost ready to venture outside of the local vicinity!

[argonaut]

Well last weekend I took Seahorse on her maiden voyage "out of town" to my buddy patenglish's house. Then this weekend I drove over to the Truck Shop on Saturday and compared notes with a guy who works there and owns a GMC burb.



Its has been running very well and staying cool, even in the heat. But the brakes just weren't right. They worked okay but had a really low pedal. And after re-bleeding the master cylinder and lines about ten thousand freakin' times I was getting sick of spilling brake fluid all over the place. I had installed a 1-1/8" bore unit for a corvette (just like the one I put on Big Ugly) but the pedal was always low. I even tried putting another Wilwood 10lb residual pressure valve on the rear line, to no avail.

I finally figured that it had to be my master cylinder; Thought that this truck might need a 1-1/4" bore master cylinder because the smaller bore just might not be moving enough fluid for the big 14 bolt drum brake wheel cylinders. So I picked up a 70's one ton master cylinder and some tubing and fittings (front and rear reservoirs are reversed). Got it all hooked up, bled it thoroughly and voila! Perfect brake pedal feel. Felt so happy that I put the dog in the burb and cruised out from my house in Long Beach. Went down PCH to Newport and Balboa Island and all around beach roads. Got several thumbs up and people walking up to the window at intersections asking about it. This burb seems to attract way more attention than the pickup; Who knew?!

[rodbearing]

Originally Posted by argonaut

I couldn't stand going a whole week without tinkering on the new baby. So after work today I pull off this beast of a 200+ lb winch bumper and replaced it with an original chrome bumper. Don't be fooled by the shiny photo, it has scuffs and scratches but hey, its a driver!
Anyone want a free winch bumper/battering ram??? I doubt it'll even fetch $20 at the scrap yard.



I also pulled off an old school trailer brake controller, bled the brakes and got the remote vacuum booster working. I think I still need to adjust the drums all the way around because it has a vicious pull to the left when I get on the brakes. I haven't actually pulled the drums to check for worn pads or frozen or leaking wheel cylinders since it requires yanking all four hubs, which I'm way to lazy to do right now.

Do you still have that front bumper? I have a 64 K-10 that could use it. Was also wondering if you could take a pic of the steering gear setup and how it attaches to the axle pitman rod. I have manual steering but would like to change axles to the open knuckle type. Mine are closed knuckle type. From what I can tell, the steering boxes are different at the output shaft. Thanks and you have a real nice burb there. Mine has a lot of rust too! Greg

[RANDY COX]

I bet the seahorse dropped alittle weight too...

[argonaut]

Unfortunately, rodbearing, that bumper is long gone.

[argonaut]

Alright guys. I put the Seahorse out to pasture.

Its living at my mom's house, keeping her little 64 2wd company. This way I can focus on finishing some projects on Big Ugly and figuring out how to buy a house. So probably no updates form me on this one for a while!

[mattbert56]

No worries man. Hah you get your drive yours everyday That victory on its own. Your burb makes me want a burb in all honestly. I enjoyed following this thread one of My favorites