Project: '72 Family Hauler

[LockDoc]

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Yup, I see why you need a Suburban....

You will love the 5.3/4l60e combo.

LockDoc

[Advanced Design]

The 5.3 will be a very nice upgrade. Looks like the kids are getting serious with the little Chevy.

[Bennett68C10]

I see the LS bug bit you Going to be a nice upgrade and make a really fun driver out of that Burb.

[mcbassin]

Very nice looking powerplant! looking forward to watching this one.

[shearjs]

It’s hard to believe I haven’t had an update in 4 months. I’ve started tearing down the 5.3 for the cam swap. I’ve pulled the heads and swapped valve springs but have not pulled the front cover to stab the cam yet. I’ve been waiting for a day when I have a couple consecutive hours to spend. I’ve also been pondering engine colors. The obvious choice is Chevy orange but I was thinking of maybe trying something else. Any color recommendations from anyone?

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by shearjs

It’s hard to believe I haven’t had an update in 4 months. I’ve started tearing down the 5.3 for the cam swap. I’ve pulled the heads and swapped valve springs but have not pulled the front cover to stab the cam yet. I’ve been waiting for a day when I have a couple consecutive hours to spend. I’ve also been pondering engine colors. The obvious choice is Chevy orange but I was thinking of maybe trying something else. Any color recommendations from anyone?

Looks like the helper is getting pretty serious there.

It's funny how the time flies by. I have been working on the '70 SWB for 8 or 9 years anyway. Not steady but between other projects. I am going to try and get busy on it this Spring.

LockDoc

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice new powertrain for the burb! Black will look nice on all the cast iron stuff or maybe paint the engine body color. Or even black block and accessories with body color valve covers and a body color shaved truck intake.

[shearjs]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

Looks like the helper is getting pretty serious there.

It's funny how the time flies by. I have been working on the '70 SWB for 8 or 9 years anyway. Not steady but between other projects. I am going to try and get busy on it this Spring.

LockDoc

Time sure does get away from you quickly! Do you have any build threads of your projects, previous or current?

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Nice new powertrain for the burb! Black will look nice on all the cast iron stuff or maybe paint the engine body color. Or even black block and accessories with body color valve covers and a body color shaved truck intake.

Thanks I’m excited about the power upgrade! I think I’ve finally decided on a paint scheme for the drivetrain. I hope to have some paint on them soon.

Last weekend I finally made a little progress. New cam, oil pump, timing chain, lifters and oil pan installed. Loosely sat the heads on but still need to torque them down. This cam should be good for some good low end power!

[04ls1gto]

Great choice on cam, I went with there 216/220 .550 lift and love it.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by shearjs

Time sure does get away from you quickly! Do you have any build threads of your projects, previous or current?


Thanks I’m excited about the power upgrade! I think I’ve finally decided on a paint scheme for the drivetrain. I hope to have some paint on them soon.

Last weekend I finally made a little progress. New cam, oil pump, timing chain, lifters and oil pan installed. Loosely sat the heads on but still need to torque them down. This cam should be good for some good low end power!

I'm not too good on the build threads. I post threads from time to time when I am working on something but they are usually sporadic. I will see if I can find a couple tomorrow.

LockDoc

[shearjs]

My little helper and I have been making some progress on tear down. Also plan on getting some color on the power train in the near future. More updates coming soon!

[shearjs]

It’s been a long time since an update. After getting the burb torn down we made the decision to sell our house and move across town so I rushed to throw it back together for the trip. The drivetrain is sitting in the position it will likely stay in. Once the new garage is semi organized I plan to pull the engine for paint and get back on this pretty quickly. This boat is almost too much for a rental trailer to handle.

[LEEVON]

That cam will work well in the burb. I have comp's version (similar specs) in my '50 pickup 5.3L. Originally I had a TH350 with 3500 stall, it didn't pair well. 700R4 with 2500 stall is perfect...

[shearjs]

We are finally settled after the move and I’ve been back at it. I recently primed/painted the engine, cleaned up and painted the front rails, cleaned the nasty firewall, removed old brake/fuel lines, pulled the fuel tank, welded in a new passenger rocker panel, and reinstalled engine. It’s been a busy few weeks. The progress on this old girl should (hopefully) go pretty quickly now!

[youngrodder]

I like the choice in engine color. Weird, I was thinking gold when you asked earlier for recommendations. Looks good.

Marc

[shearjs]

My next project is going to be this mangled mess on the dash. Has anyone tackled a cut radio hole with success? I think I have a couple different options with this one. I bought the middle dash patch panel from nsanepartz a while back, so option 1 is to cut out and replace the whole radio hole. Option 2 would be to stitch the vertical cuts back together and just try to recreate the round holes and the bottom lip without cutting out a substantial portion. I'm open to any ideas.

[gringoloco]

Your dash looks salvageable. Check out my build thread, I fixed a similar issue. Optimally, you’d use a full center section and seam it behind the dash pad and under the glove box/gauge panel. In your situation, I think I’d try to repair what you have before going that far.

Love this ‘burb! Love to have it in my garage

[04ls1gto]

Looking good, cut it out and weld new one in. It's only metal

[kehstr]

Nice rig, I will keep watching!

I know this is not what you have planned, but if this was my rig I would cut the dash the rest of the way and put an aftermarket radio in it. If you have ever pulled the radio out of one of these trucks you will know why, there is not much room up there (especially with A/C). However if you have your heart set on a factory style radio I would recommend trying to fix the existing sheetmetal. Would be good practice, and if you screw up, you cut it out and weld the new one in.

[shearjs]

I have learned that the one thing I am not is a metal fabricator. But all in all this has been good practice. With a little more grinding and shaping around the holes I think it will be good enough. Part of me would like to just paint the radio section and blend it in with the original paint, and part of me would like to just go ahead and paint the whole dash but I’m concerned the shiny paint won’t quite fit the rest of this project.

On a happier note, the headers came in and they fit quite well!

[shearjs]

Finally finished up the dash repair. It’s ready for a skim coat and some paint.

[gringoloco]

Solid work!

[CG]

Where did you guys get your 40 and 31 gallon tanks? Or at least what year and model truck they came out of ... Thanks.

[shearjs]

Originally Posted by CG

Where did you guys get your 40 and 31 gallon tanks? Or at least what year and model truck they came out of ... Thanks.

I ordered a fuel tank kit for an 87-91 blazer through rockauto. It came with the tank, sending unit, fuel pump, and straps for $163. I’ll purchase another high flow fuel pump to swap in. It is already baffled for fuel injection and should only require moving the crossmember to make room. I’ll update as I complete the install.

[polishspy]

Originally Posted by CG

Where did you guys get your 40 and 31 gallon tanks? Or at least what year and model truck they came out of ... Thanks.

Gas tank (40 gal, 82-91 burb), got it off ebay for $115, it is internally baffled which is nice.