Old Blue, 2004 Chevy Express AWD 5.3 Build Thread

[4wheeldrivevan]

She's no beauty queen but should be a great utilitarian work-truck/family vacation/surf fishing/bug-out mobile.

The Ford E-250 in the photo is also mine, it's been to Moab, Johnson Valley (King of the Hammers), Colorado, Maine - great North Woods, Florida etc...

I picked Old Blue up last year at a Copart dotcom auction for $950 in Long Island NY. It was a bit of an odyssey just to bid on it and then find a way to transport it back to Delaware. I had to bribe an old friend with a case of beer to get him to join me with his old Ford F350 7.3 and a borrowed sketchy trailer to pick it up.


I've got a grand total of about $5500 into it..... and that number keeps increasing.
2004 Chevy Express 1500 AWD with 5.3 LM7 Vortec 135 Inch wheel base 52 inch interior height. H-1500 or "H chassis"
The 2004-2007 engines made 295 hp and 335 lb·ft of torque.

I'll add photos and more details as work progresses.

Here's the work I've had done so far.

• Replaced all the fluids and belts
• Replaced the transmission $1500
• New Torque Converter
• New in-line Transmission filter
• Replaced side mirrors as they were broken off
• Fought with and finally won the fight to remove the under-mount spare tire. I ended up using a grinder and just cut it out as everything was rusted. I'll build a battery box to go where the spare tire was.
• Chevy Silverado 2" torsion Keys $25
• New Starter Battery - $100
• 00-06 Chevy Tahoe Suburban 1500 Upper Control Arm Kit 2-4" Lift $320
• New shocks up front $120 - Skyjacker
• Suburban Springs in the rear. 22-907 1992 - 1999 Chevy Suburban rear leaf springs, 2900 lbs capacity, 6(5/1) leaves - (generalspringkc)
• Had to install longer rear brake lines and had to have them custom made. If you need a set let me know I can have the shop make more.
• New Ubolts for rear axle/leaf springs
• New Bilstein rear shocks $150. I had purchased the Skyjackers that others here had recommended but my shop told me they wouldn't fit. I'm assuming they just preferred the Bilstiens because they ship with the metal attachment bar pre-installed at the top of the shock, vs having to use the old metal bracket and beat it through the top bushing with the Skyjackers. For anyone else doing the swap, just pay the extra for the Bilsteins to avoid the extra work.
• Red powder coated rear brake calipers (the originals were locked up. $150
• New wheels and tires $1000
  Kumho road venture AT51's. Why Kumho? They last forever and do everything I ask of them. I've had 2 sets of Bridgestone K02's and they wear too quickly for my liking.
• Kumho Road Venture AT51 All_Terrain Radial Tire-P265/70R16 112T - I probably could go a little larger... I may pick up a used 33" tire & rim and see if it fits without rubbing...
  
  
• Rims: ATX AX201 Bronze 16x8 6x5.5 Why these? They look beefy and a little different, and they were cheap, I got them for $115 each. I first saw them on an episode of "Dirt Everyday" on youtube where they were racing a 70's chevy van in the Gambler 500 road rally.

On the agenda for the coming week.

• New front windshield & gaskets - complete 1/22/2019 $199.00
• front end alignment
• Front brake calipers and new rotors
• new sparkplugs
• I've got a solar panel ready to be mounted on the new roof rack just as soon as I fabricate and install it.

Over the next few months

• New front and rear tube bumpers
• additional Hella or similar front lights
• Roof Rack with light bar and pop-up tent
• Side Ladders
• Cheap paint job

LM7 applications:2002–2005 Cadillac Escalade 2WD2002–2006 Chevrolet Avalanche2003–2007 Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana1999–2007 Chevrolet Silverado 15001999–2007 GMC Sierra 15002000–2006 Chevrolet Suburban/GMC Yukon XL 15002000–2006 Chevrolet Tahoe/GMC YukonTransmission4-speed automatic 4L60-E on 1500 (2003–2014)4-speed automatic 4L80-E on 2500 and 3500 (2003–2009)


Possible future upgrades........

Pac1218 valve springs
80lb siemens deka injectors$322.00
JEGS Hydraulic Roller Camshaft for 1997-2004 GM LS Series (Gen III)
walbro400 internal fuel pump$99.00
chinese 70-80mm turbo$325.00
50-60mm wastegate $80.00
megasquirt or stock pcm and tune it or have someone tune it on pumpgas and methano
Intercooler and Pipe $200.00
Turbo headers

 

[fire_strom]

Nice! I'm going to need to hear more about the

• 00-06 Chevy Tahoe Suburban 1500 Upper Control Arm Kit 2-4" Lift $320. -G

 

[Overlandtowater]

me too.

 

[4wheeldrivevan]

Why the replacement upper control arms? If you do a key lift (and max out the keys) without changing the upper control arms it throws all the angles out of whack as well as bottoming out with metal hitting metal if you hit big bumps (not on the way up, but on the way down after hitting a bump). The new control arms put the angles back to where they should be and gives things more room to go after hitting bumps. "correcting ball joint angle and castor for vehicles lifted 2-4”. " " This control arm kit will add performance to the Chevy and GMC truck by correcting the ball joint angle for lifted and leveled applications, increasing droop travel, and also increases caster slightly for better highway speed drivability. "

 

[Overlandtowater]

well I was wondering what brand, cognito, spc, something else?

 

[Overlandtowater]

never mind I'm an idiot.....I see the link...

 

[drsmonkey]

One thing to check on those UCAs... I've got Cognito UCAs for 1500 Silverado on my 08 awd van.

Cognito includes a limiting strap. The down travel on the OEM setup is limited by a stop on the UCA that hits a fixed stop. With the tubular UCA's if you don't limit the down travel somehow the tube will hit the OEM stop and bend the tubing. If you jack up your van and let the front suspension droop and look closely at the UCA you can see the potential problem.

 

[Len.Barron]

before you throw money at performance hard parts for the engine, take it to an experienced LS tuner or talk to one of the many that are out there. There's a lot of performance to be gained with just a tune..

 

[4wheeldrivevan]

I'll look into the limit straps, you'd think the people who sold these UCA's would include them if it was an issue, but nothing surprises me these days. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[4wheeldrivevan]

Out with the old headlights, in with the new.
New Leaf Spring was rubbing the frame, a minute with the grinder put an end to that, I cut off about 3/8" off the end of the bolt that was rubbing.

 

[4wheeldrivevan]

Almost ready for a new rear bumper.

Time for those used rotors to go... Nice looking new rear shocks


Good thing I replaced the leaf springs.... I've never seen a crack like that before.


These IFS front differentials sure are small compared to the Dana 60 I've got on another one of my vehicles.

 

[45Kevin]

They are small for sure. 7.25" ring gear I think.

But, I haven't read of anyone blowing one on here.
Maybe the saving grace is the biggest tire you can fit is a 33" without serious mods to suspension and body.

 

[4wheeldrivevan]

I think that by the time I'm done I will have replaced nearly every part of the vehicle....

Today I....

• Drained and filled the front differential. I filled it with the recommended 1.26 quarts of diff fluid. It seemed to be a half quart low, as I measured the amount that I took out and only saw about 3/4 of a quart.
• Removed the rear plastic door interior panels to remove and replace the original 6x9 speakers with something 15 years newer and not yet blown out.
• Purchased new axle u joints and tried to replace the U joints on the axle, but despite removing the rear u joint straps could not get the axle to come out. I put the straps back on and will try again another day. Will probably buy a new nickle plated Yoke to get rid of the "clunk" that I hear while accelerating and braking. I've read that this is a very common issue with GM trucks.
• Discovered a leak in the radiator while parked at Home Depot. Grrrrrr... As I said above, by the time I'm done I will have replaced or repaired every part of the vehicle.
• New Spark Plugs and Spark plug wires will be her in a few days via Amazon. Watch out, there seems to be a ton of counterfeit parts floating around ebay and Amazon. Who would think there was a market in cloning AC Delco parts? But there apparently is. If you see prices too good to believe...
• Oil take up rubber gasket and oilpan gasket also on the way in the mail to improve the oil pressure which hovers around 20 at idle and 40 under acceleration. Supposedly this is also a common issue with LS based engines.

 

[Overlandtowater]

looking good....I just realized you have the Kumho Road Venture AT51 we have a set of these on one of our half ton utility trucks Ive gone through 3 sets of tires on my f250 and he still has a ton of tread left.

 

[dleeallen]

Any issues installing the UCAs? Were you able to get castor within spec?